Mikky Ekko - Strange Fruit (2009)

Newcomer Mikky Ekko is a hard act to label. Where does he fit within the framework of rock & roll? His music doesn't offer any of the long solos, recurring themes, or suites so common in prog-rock (so categorizing his debut CD as such would not be totally accurate) yet it's a description that fits.

Ekko cites a huge number of musical influences. Among them are Beck, The Pixies, Bjork, Sigur Ros, Tom Waits, Elliot Smith, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Radiohead, Robert Johnson, Bob Dylan, The White Stripes, Nirvana, and Soundgarden. To this listener's ears his mostly low-key, brief, thirteen minute, five song, EP clearly shows traces of Radiohead as well as Bell X1, Pink Floyd, and Smile era Beach Boys. His vocals are reminiscent of Freddie Mercury in a mellow mood.

As is typical with a lot of prog-rock the lyrics are often not easily transparent so the listener must be in a thinking mood to fully appreciate them. However, since melody and sound textures are more important to Ekko's songs they are thoroughly fulfilling anyway.

Ekko is a Nashville native who proves that not everybody in town twangs and wears a cowboy hat. The CD was produced by Tim Lauer in his Nashville studio with Ekko co-producing.

No biographical information is available.

You can listen to clips from the EP on Mikky Ekko's MySpace page.

Comments

  1. Anonymous12:04 AM, May 13, 2009

    MIKKY ROX AND HE IS MY BUDDY

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bar L.10:27 AM, May 24, 2009

    Your comment on my blogged sparked a great memory - thanks! I wrote about it.

    ReplyDelete

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