Mike Uva explores a varied sonic palette on his solo records -- intricate electric and folk-guitar figures, slinky bass lines, fuzz-keyboard bursts, tape loops, and electric piano cascades. Against this detailed backdrop, he casts a lyrical spell of surprising melodic invention: haunting dreams and tales of loneliness, odes to suntan lotion and kitchen spatulas, cowboy-chord reworkings of Elizabethan song, and comic meditations on the weird and beautiful.
Mike's first solo record was Hook Boy. His second release is Where Have You Been.
Mike and his band Hook Boy have appeared with Cat Power, The Decemberists, Nina Nastasia, Trailer Bride, Lilys, Clem Snide, Brian Straw, April March, and Man Man. Mike Uva and Hook Boy are at work on an album (featuring new songs and exciting re-worked versions of older tunes); it will be released in early 2007.
DELUSIONS OF ADEQUACY: (PICK OF THE WEEK) "Where Have You Been is like the finest red wine: not too sweet, instantly affecting, enjoyed optimally through relaxed consumption, and it leaves an insatiable taste for more."
DAGGER: (TOP 15 "UNDER THE RADAR" RECORDS FOR 2005) "... This guy Mike Uva is really on to something. Dreamy folk from this virtual unknown but he gets help from pals playing accordion, tabla (?!), piano, loops and some stunning female vocals from Courtney Christenson. I guess this is a song cycle but I'm too busy to follow that lead, I just know that Mike Uva has written one charming record here."
THE BIG TAKEOVER: "This is a lovely record. Cleveland's Uva and his fine mixer Don Depew (Guided By Voices, Cobra Verde) are students of the "kiss" school - not the band, "keep it simple stupid." A mostly acoustic-based, home recorded, one-man pop record, Where Have You Been luxuriates in its verdant, cozy, hushed textures and Uva's detached but wry lyrics, whether thinking back on past loves ("Stuck in My Head"), trying, possibly successfully, to seduce new ones ("Protective Lotion"), or reflecting on recent adventures, like the Kinks/XTC/Joni Mitchell-like "English Garden." Guest vocals from some kind of angel named Courtney Christenson help - don't miss "Dinosaurs." As does a curveball like the electric guitar and speedy bass and drums "This is Real," which otherwise doesn't fit in here, but is the best track anyway. It's kind of like Blue Oyster Cult meets The Records, The Last, and '80s R.E.M. Superb! The whole LP is superb."
INDEPENDENT WEEKLY (NC): "Cleveland songwriter Mike Uva skirts the line between DIY neo-folkie and quirky auteur. His kitchen-sink approach to confessional songs employs everything from tape loops to engaging piano/guitar ballads, in another step forward for home recording musicians."
PUNK PLANET: "An excellent singer-songwriter effort."
SPLENDID: "An almost textbook example of jangly-pop perfection. . . . Where Have You Been exerts the lightest possible touch, brushing by with a slight breeze and leading you softly into a place for dreams. Summer afternoons remembered in winter, transient loves recollected in solitude, fragile melodies etched into hazy sounds -- they're all here in this oblique and lovely record."
MANSION ON THE HILL: "One of the great overlooked pop records of last year."
