NEW IMOGEN HEAP / MIKA COLLABORATION:

Imogen Heap collaborated with Mika on his new album that has been retitled 'The Boy Who Knew Too Much'. The song is called 'By The Time' and a 30 second clip can be heard below. Sounds good to me, looking forward to both of their new albums.

Also the video for Imogen's new single 'First Train Home' which was directed by Kayne West collaborator Es Devlin will premiere on AOL Music on Monday August 17th.

MIKA TO RELEASE "SONGS FOR SORROW" ACOUSTIC EP:


















Mika who will be releasing his new album later this year has decided to release a 4 track EP of acoustic songs called "Songs For Sorrow" to tie in with his small acoustic tour of Europe (dates below, it would be nice to see some North American shows added to this special tour). Mika will also be releasing a limited edition (10,000 copies worldwide) of the EP with a special super high quality deluxe 68 page book and specially commissioned artwork from some of Mika’s favourite artists (for 15 pounds, out June 8th). This EP will be available from his website and also on his tour. I've heard two tracks from the EP and they are fine, not his usual candy coated pop. Mika also has a newly constructed website, he talks about it and the EP in the clip below.



Tour Dates:

June 1st - Berlin Passionskirche, Germany
June 2nd - Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Holland
June 4th - Brussels, Ancienne Belgique, Belgium
June 6th - Milan Franco Parenti, Italy
June 8th - London Sadlers Wells, England
June 11th - Paris Cirque D’Hiver, France
June 12th - Paris Cirque D’Hiver, France
.

MIKA FINISHING UP SECOND ALBUM, SUMMER ACOUSTIC TOUR:





















What has Mika been up to recently you ask? He has another week or two of recording the new album in Los Angeles (he's been there on and off recording for 4 months) and is planning an acoustic tour of small venues this summer. He is again working with Canadian Greg Wells on the new album and describes the process as similar to working with Lego. He has been video blogging and editing a mini film/doc to go along with the new release (like Imogen Heap has been) during the recording process and his most recent two vblog's are below. He has worked with the Andrae Crouch Singers and Canadian violinist Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy) on the new cd. You get to hear snippets of some of the new material on the vblogs. Guessing the album will be released late summer or in the fall.

IMOGEN HEAP WORKS ON DUNCAN SHEIK ANIMATED FILM PROJECT:

















Imogen Heap has a new vBlog (#30) which is chalk full of information. Big news is that she has written a song with Mika (who has also recently got into the video blogging act) that may appear on his next album. She also flew to LA to sing at 'The O.C.' creator Josh Schwartz's wedding to Jill Stonerock in Santa Barbara, CA. She has written a song for an upcoming animated movie that is scheduled to air on NBC this holiday season (she plays a clip, the song could be called "It's Alright"). The animated movie "Macy's Presents Little Spirit: Christmas in New York," starring the voices of Danny DeVito, Lucy Liu, and Freddy Rodriguez centers on a boy who loses his dog right before Christmas, and features original songs and music by Duncan Sheik. It sounds like Duncan approached her to work on the project, will be interesting to see if a soundtrack to the TV movie gets released.

Some reissue cds coming out in the U.K. in the coming weeks that I'm looking forward to picking up at some point are:

Red Box - The Circle And The Square (order here) (And Red Box (Simon Toulson-Clarke) have a new record ready to release)











Thompson Twins - A Product of.../Set (order here)

IMOGEN HEAP NEW VIDEO BLOG - #24:









The always busy Imogen Heap has a brand new video blog (#24) up on YouTube that is chock full of news and she plays snippets of two tracks she's working on. One song is called 'Tidal' and the other is called 'Wait It Out' that may appear in a new Zach Braff film called 'Open Hearts'. Other news - she hung out with Hawksley Workman, spoke with Mika at the The Ivor Novello Awards, and bought a new instrument in Switzerland called a 'Hang' that she really likes, and has a personal trainer coming by twice a week to keep herself in shape.

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