An ever-shifting smorgasmobord of self-designated beautiful people and bitter, disgruntled social outcasts (these not being mutually exclusive). Or, more specifically, and alphabetised: Ambika Thompson (bass, vox), Andrea Augustin (trumpet), Andreas Schöllig (guitar), Julia Friedrich (violin), Martin Petersdorf (drums), Richard Murphy (keys, vox), Stacey Anderson (vox)
Influences
YOUR CHILDREN, mostly in a bad way.
Or, more effusively; vaguely pretentious but also designed to awaken some sense of the named in the reader...and alphabetised for neatness & obscurity (this is but a fluid and merely representative list; one aspires, zenlike, to the condition of a sponge):
action [ak-shuhn] v 1. to achieve (stated) goal, to get (usually specified) ball over the line, to avoid kicking to touch. Usage note: one need never bother learning verbs again, as they can all be elegantly replaced with an "action" + noun combination e.g. action the eating of dinner, action the waking from sleep, etc.
Allianz Direct for employing obviously psychopathic individuals as advertising frontpeople
Bach for being so magisterial and combining such technical mastery with such endlessly life-affirming music
Bacharach for introducing such wonderfully inventive chord and time changes to popular music, cloaked in the guise of reliable suaveness
Beatles for the synergy (as evinced by the subsequent solo careers) but mostly for trying anything...oh and the tunes too I suppose
Beckett for demonstrating the importance of focussing on the fundamentals of one's "vision" and dispensing with everything else
Beethoven for finding so many completely unrelated ways in which to be a genius, for the mindbendingly complete reinvention that was his late period, for the monstrous and bizarre Missa Solemnis and utterly mindboggling Op.111, but most of all for his personality...strong, intelligent, warm, joyous, sad, sometimes nasty, but always strong
Don Conroy...explanation unnecessary
Fair City for showing how nonsense can truly lead to the greatest joy
Gaudí for (although I can't claim to know anything about architecture) the breathtaking marriage of crystalline purity to such gnarled wildness
Hitchcock for (although not being my favourite director, in fact I don't think I have one) making deliberate technical innovations always serve the overall point of the movie
Mahler for the intellect and the sentimentality and the horror and the irony
Mussorgsky for showing that ugly can be beautiful...it helps to remember this when facing the mirror first thing in the morning
Nabokov for the delivery of black humour with such devastatingly eloquent style
Puccini for making one's heart swell (if a little guiltily) with the tunes
Wilson for (in his couple of anni mirabiles, at least) such relentlessly original chord changes and tunes that skipped and shimmied unpredictably around said changes
First off, should you wish to be kept abreast of the ever-inexhaustible supply of exciting Michael Knight-related news and exotic happenings and sexual misunderstandings and gigs and the like, then do email us at michaelknight@yesboyicecream.com and we will relate all.
Michael Knight are a Berlin/Dublin-based indie pop band. A mutually parasitic but sadly inescapable marriage of the stylish black humour of Vladimir Nabokov and the sophisticated pop sensibilities of Burt Bacharach, sung deadpan and upholstered with tinkly pianos, loud guitars and sweeping strings.
Our new album I'm Not Entirely Clear How I Ended Up Like This is hitting the shops RIGHT ABOUT NOW, but if you prefer to avoid people and the potential for collecting germs, you can always have it DELIVERED by clicking on this button, this button here:
"So much that is original and unusual about away-from-the-mainstream music-making informs this second album from Richard Murphy and his collective: a sleeve like a tattered, secondhand book; lyrics presented in play-script form; a sprawling opening track of Swingle-Singers-on-the-lash vocal ravings; the threat that beneath the formal, chamber-pop structures, chaos lurks and dissonance hums; the primacy of the artistic vision, with nothing sweetening or diluting its purpose. Deluded misanthropists, defeated idealists, becalmed lovers, materialistic arrivistes and vengeful exes people the “11 Tableaux”, with Murphy’s laconic singing and Bacharachian progressions just about joining the dots. Pretty odd, but rather fine." The Sunday Times
"I'm not entirely clear why Richie Murphy isn't already a huge star in his own country...From the post-modern sleaze of 'Coronation Street' to the ironic triumph of the title track, Murphy's theatrical wit and daring sense of melody puts him on a footing with the likes of Stephen Merritt, Neil Hannon and even Noel Coward. A truly victorious album." State Magazine
Our previous album Youth Is Wasted On The Young can be obtained in old-fashioned physical format by clicking here and in newfangled digital format at this link thanks to the nice people at www.indiecater.com
"Why Michael Knight aren't already huge is both baffling and beguiling; but there lies a persisting talent for songwriting within; sooner or later these songs will be discovered and consequently as eulogised as that hairy buffoon and his silly talking car are. I may as well say it in advance, then; I told you so." www.soundsxp.com
"Quirky and idiosyncratic, Youth Is Wasted On The Young is a singular debut. Full of harmonic vocals, swirling melodies and odd chord progressions, it's a complex yet accessible pop record" Hot Press
"There's a sophistication about Youth Is Wasted On The Young that's not found in many debuts, so redress the indignity of this album's criminal disregard and pick it up now" www.entertainment.ie
"Michael Knight's Richie Murphy is a writer of supremely beautiful songs which have a heart, a soul, a wry sense of humour and none of that upsetting necessity to make every lyrical couplet rhyme." In Dublin
"...completely bowled over by "Waves To The Shore" with its gorgeous guitar tone and boy/girl vocal melodies...This is quite a lovely debut from this band, from the (mostly) fantastic songs to the attractive children's book-ish artwork. Nice!" www.indiepages.com
"This is the worst album I've heard all year" Mick Hucknall
. . . this is just to let you know that my brother Philipp is in town and we will play a Crazy for Jane show at the Down by the River Festival on Saturday. The line-up is amazing, check it out www.myspace.com/downbytheriverfestival. We are so excited to be a part of this. It all takes place at Bar25. We go on at 2:45 in the afternnon, yes early, and we would love to see you by daylight. And then we can see all those other bands together. What do you say? If you want to come out tonight for a festival warm-up . . . they are screening "Berlin Song" at the Ping Pong Bar on Glogauerstrasse 21 at 9:30 p.m. tonight (Friday) and afterwards Crazy for Jane and Tomi Simatupang will play some songs. Yeah. So lots of opportunities to hang out and conversation and listen to music and watch clouds and the Spree and dreams and there is a swing at Bar25 . . .
Freunde,
am 05. Juli wird TV Noir das letzte Spektakel vor der Sommerpause im August inszenieren. Wie immer um 20 Uhr im Cafe Edelweiss im Görlitzer Park. Dieses mal mit dabei: Maximilian Hecker
Today my
album THE SINS OF SAINTE CATHERINE is released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland! It’s available in good stores,
online shops and digital outlets. I would appreciate it if you gave my tunes a
listen.
Cheers, The
Mighty Stef
PS: I’ll be
playing some gigs in Germany in September. Check out my profile
for details.
THE XPOSED INTERNATIONAL QUEER SHORT FILM
FESTIVAL
WILL HIT THE SCHWUZ WITH AN AMAZING NEVER
BEFORE COMPILED PROGRAM OF QUEER SHORT FILMS FROM TURKEY
PLUS
THE PARTY OF THE WEEK, THE XPOSED PARTY
WITH FREE SHOTS and MUSIC by Desolation Disko King, Das Ponymädchen, Mikki P and
Direct from Australia – Seymour Butz! Plus a konzert by SO LOW SUICIDE!
Online Now!
