People Are Talking About Mike Pope's "22 Tracks of Pure Magic"
FIND OUT WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Mike Pope releases debut albums with 22 tracks of pure magic… Now that Mike Pope has found his way out of the San Diego-specific woodwork, we’d love to maintain a mainline to his work worldwide. If ever there were an opportunity to support and encourage an artist to head back into the studio sometime soon, this is it.
-IMPERFECT FIFTH
Two albums here released simultaneously by one of the best kept secrets of the Southern California songwriting community. He’s a finger pickin’ guitar player whose songs have earned comparisons to Leonard Cohen, Lead Belly and Taj Mahal. These albums are quite different from one another, so let’s look at them one at a time.
A delightfully peculiar set – this is what makes some Americana music interesting… There’s self-reflection, lone wanderings, clever rhymes & watercolor faces with running hues from old rain. Pope’s from Southern California & his material is abstract gothic folk. His music is a hot cup of java & sugar spiked with moonshine. After a few gulps, it takes you places only found in vivid imaginations.
The guitars bristle in a Big Star era manner. It all inhabits an entirely different musical sphere than his previous work. While the folk tunes were sautéed & tasty this is deep fried with a crunch – tasty, nevertheless…. Produced by Daniel Cervantes and Jordan Andreen this LP is the antitheses of “Songs For People.” A grittier poetic punk vision tracked live as a single performance with each tune segueing to the next seamlessly.