Know that maybe I will be OK

Autumn is an excellent time to listen to Ingrid Michaelson, so her new CD Be OK coulndn't be more perfectly timed. This collection of new songs, covers and live performances benefits the national Stand Up to Cancer campaign. Unfortunately, this means that it's not available for DRM-free download anywhere. But it's well worth the trek to the store for a physical copy.

You can listen to two of the tracks at Michaelson's MySpace page, including the toe-tapping title track, which reveals the influence of Mika's "Love Today" in it, if I'm not mistaken. There's also the harmonic masterpiece "You and I" which sounds a little like something from the Dan in Real Life soundtrack (a high compliment from me, as you know.)

Other highlights from the album include a mournful cover of "Over the Rainbow" and "The Chain" live from Webster Hall. In general, this album has a sadder, more sober sound to it than her ebullient debut CD and somehow, that suits me just fine. Get the CD. You'll have some great music and you'll help a charity at the same time.

The British Influence

Ok, so I have an apology to make to the United Kingdom: When I was last there (in 2001), I thought their music scene was dead. All they had to offer was whiny, maudlin, self-indulgent, low-energy alternative pop. Think Coldplay, Travis, Aqualung. The genre was so saturated with second- and third-rate music-making that the term "Britpop" had taken on connotations that absolutely made me cringe.

But in the past five years, the British music scene has rebounded beautifully. I don't know exactly what started it, but suddenly there was Joss Stone's incomparable Soul Sessions, and then the undeniably funky debut album by Little Barrie. There was the truly unique and majestic beauty of Imogen Heap's Speak for Yourself. And now, just in 2007, we've had Mika, Jamie Lidell, the Guillemots, the Feeling, Lily Allen, Field Music... the list goes on and on. (For direct links to the MySpace pages of these bands, click here.)

The most recent British album to tickle my eardrums is James Morrison's Undiscovered. The soul popper is one of Starbucks's latest darlings, but don't be put off by the commercialism - the folks at Hear Music have incredibly adroit taste in music and this is the real deal. Check out a 3-minute intro to his CD (with lovely shots of London in the background) here.


Or check out a couple of live, acoustic performances Morrison did for AOL's Breakers series below. (If for no other reason, check it out for the pretty, pretty guitar.) For more live James Morrison, visit his MySpace page.

Somebody to love

I have news for British pop sensation Mika: if you don't want to be compared to Freddie Mercury, well... don't compare yourself to Freddie Mercury. On his MySpace page, he says of his music, "Think Beck via Queen..." and on the first track on his new CD, he sings, "I tried to be Grace Kelly/ but her looks were too sad/ So I tried a little Freddie..."

That said, he does sound like Freddie Mercury - and in my book, that's awesome. In fact, the best parts of the album are the parts where he unabashedly borrows Queen's theatricality, tracks like "Grace Kelly," "Love Today," "Big Girl (You are Beautiful)", and "Happy Ending."

The album is a bit inconsistent, swinging from clever pop-tronica (all of the above-mentioned) to generic New Wave rehash ("Relax") to sappy political ballads replete with strings and a children's chorale("Any Other World").

But when Mika channels Freddie Mercury, the results are irresistible - and it makes you realize the true greatness of Queen.

(By the way: I consider Mika to be a member of the new school of what I have named "happy-pop" - after years of maudlin, whiny, emo-tinged radio pop, I think we are finally seeing the natural reaction against that. Think OKGO, Scissor Sisters, Fountains of Wayne, Apples in Stereo... It's all peppy, major-chord music. Happy-pop. And I am a big fan.)