Michou

"The feeling I got the first time I listened to [Michou] was one that was similar to the feeling I get when I listen to the Postal Service or even Radiohead, something that sounds icy cool but at the same time very warm. "


- Phat Matt - 93.9 The River (Windsor/Detroit)

Michou • "Growing Younger" (Secret Sessions at TARA)

Windsor, Ontario folk-rockers Michou dropped by The Audio Recording Academy last week and laid down this version of new track "Growing Younger" as part of their set for the Secret Sessions. Hopefully the new tune is a sign that a follow up to last year's Myshkin isn't far behind.

At times lead singer Michael Hargreaves has a bit too much of a Ben Gibbard vibe, but it works with the tune's sentimental lyrics about staying friends with somebody you've professed your unrequited love to. The funky intro and background horns are a nice touch too.


- By Ian Gormely - Exclaim Magazine - Friday, August 14, 2009

Please copy and paste the following links in your browser to view articles and reviews about Michou.

http://stickymagazine.com/reviews/concerts/51-michou-and-we-are-the-take-get-fans-dancing
http://www.nxew.ca/2010/01/nice-to-re-michou.html
http://www.fazermagazine.com/new/viewPost.php?id=1413
http://turnupmyphoto.ca/cmwmichou/#more-180
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Even in a city like Windsor, it's possible to be a hopeless romantic. Just ask Michael Hargreaves. "You kind of create it. You make what you want," says the 19-year-old voice behind local indie acoustic act Michou. "If you want to live romantically, you can do that in any environment you want."

With his main influences being children's literature and various philosophers, Hargreaves gladly admits to not being macho at all, and comfortably refers to his music as "love songs." Well, love songs to a degree. Pale-skinned brides, neck-kissing fog and other creepiness lurk in his lyrics. Hargreaves blames the English in him. "I think there's more romance, actually, in something cold, something painful, something dark."

He's been writing music under the name Michou since he was 14, but it was only in September he formed a band to reproduce his recorded material in a live setting. "We're very ignorant, in the sense of the music industry, and we're hoping not to be totally destroyed by it," he says.
But not everything about the group is romantic. In many ways, they're downright goofy. Hargreaves recalls when he first asked his friends about forming a band: "They were like, do we get free beer? And I said, yes, you do. ... I think that's kind of the relationship we have. That as long as we can keep getting free beer for playing, we're OK with it."


- Dalson Chen

- The Windsor Star - Monday, January 14, 2008

This five-track disc has some of the cutest packaging I've received yet. The baby blue cardboard CD sleeve looks like it was home-crafted with a sewing machine and yellow thread. Inside, the music is just as charming: winsome acoustic DIY indie rock with nice-guy vocals, complemented by keyboard touches, various musical doodads and gentle percussion. I like the lyric about fighting and stabbing with a sword to win someone's love. But it's not just about indie-cool esthetics. The songwriting here is wonderful, with melodies so prettily poignant that they hurt. Singer Michael Hargreaves has a voice so clear, so sweet and earnest, that even a hard-hearted jerk like me can't help but smile. Recommended for those who aren't too Windsor-weary to appreciate a little romantic beauty in life.

Online: www.myspace.com/michoulondon.
Rating 5 out of 5


- Dalson Chen - The Windsor Star - Monday, January 14, 2008

It is important to realize that the world isn't just a collage of black and white, good and bad. Yet that we must understand that the bad times can turn out to be some of the best.

Truth.Explosion.Magazine: So where does this story begin?

Mike Hargreaves: We were walking back to my friends house in the pouring rain. We decided to take a short cut and go over this bridge.

TEM: Ohhh man – I think I see where this is going...

MH: It was an unfinished bridge, so we jumped off 12 feet down into some guys backyard on the other side. My four dollar flip-flops snapped: Big surprise.

TEM: Wow that must have really hurt?

MH: Yeah, but not as bad as my feet would.

TEM: Why is that?

MH: We had 2 hours to go...barefoot on pavement.

TEM: Man that sucks! What did your buddy do?

MH: He took off his flip-flops to be respectful or something.

TEM: Yeah man, Ive done that. Feet black as the night afterwards. So what happened after that?

MH: Well...we got there and we were starving, and all we did was rag on how shitty it was.

TEM: Naturally.

MH: The pavement was in my skin for the next week or so. It wouldn't wash off.

TEM: Sounds fairly shitty.

MH: Yeah, but say it hadn't rained, say we just went to his house in a cab. Got there. Ate, and sat around. Would that have been better?

TEM: It's funny how everything can be changed by one single moment, one happening in a course of movements. Life is weird like that.

MH: Yeah, but it's more about how it's the shitty times that we love to talk about. The good stuff isn't worth anything.

TEM: I totally understand that. The shitty stuff is more interesting.

MH: Exactly, and so I've really started to find pleasure in pain. In the sense that, all the pain that I experience I can appreciate for being important in my life.

TEM That's cool man. Finally, what is the "truth" about Mike Hargreaves?

MH: Well...I'm out going, and anti-social, which is a weird mix to have. I LOVE to read, and I'm a huge geek about it. I can't find anyone who is in common with me, because everyone is so damn unique. I recognize suffering as being inevitable so you sort of detach yourself from your feelings knowing how useless they are.


- Richard Kasoian - Truth Explosion Magazine

Every now and again, an artist comes along that challenges the
term and accompanying description of folk. Of all musical styles,
folk is the most ambiguous. Bartok wrote folk music, so did Dylan
and now Joanna Newsom, let alone any field recording from
Africa, New Guinea or even Northern Ontario. Yet, in today’s
must–define–everything music industry, folk is thrown around
frequently, so much so that anyone who plays an acoustic guitar
is grappling with folk music. But what is folk music? Where did it
come from, and what is it becoming? I surely cannot answer the
question, but more examples are coming forth to challenge any
simplistic notion that such a question can be answered. Take
Windsor’s Michou. The quintet, relatively fresh–faced in Canada
and on the heels of their debut full–length, tilt and toy around folk
music in their statements, but without any discordant twang,
pedal steel or high–pitched yodel. Instead, sounds attributed
more to emo and alt.rock flush through Michou, creating emotive
strands of sounds drenched in as much reverb as back country
lake water. But this is folk music, tried and true. Emo–folk maybe?
Well, only if that is such a thing to begin with, of course.
To start, Michou prefer acoustic instruments. Melodies are
coiled from traditional acoustic guitars and simple, featherweight
percussive rhythms. But there is much more to the band than just
that. Electronic elements poke and prod through each song, and
the debut in question, a nine–song set entitled Myshkin is a
heavily produced affair, full of Pro–Tool–esque gadgetry. To lead
singer and principle songwriter Michael Hargreaves, Michou is
more indie than folk, or maybe something in between. “We love
indie music,” asserts the singer. “While we have folk instruments
and may incorporate that texture, I feel that our folk sound is so
laden with pop that I rarely describe our music as folk anymore.
We are slowly adding a few new instruments, and the percussion
will become more extensive in albums to come. Plus, we have lots
and lots of instrumentation on the album and folk is usually
addressed in its simplicity. Still, it was important to get the basics
down first like rhythm and guitar. The guitar runs through all of
the songs and never truly has a break, and so that allowed it to
be the anchor. And the vocals typically came last. Most of the
vocal tracks were strategically sung last in a big oak closet with
only a lantern to provide light. No cues were given above a
whisper, and since he didn’t have monitors the whispering was
done through the walls. It was very eerie and challenging.”
Folk or indie, something or the other, Michou has created a
lovely set of catchy songs. Elements of twee, filtered mainstream
pop and Dylanesque brood ebb and flow through the tracks,
creating an incisive listen, one that like all good albums, reveals
more with each listen. Myshkin is also a think piece, revolving
around a singular theme based around Dostoyevsky. Hargreaves
elaborates: “We brought our theme to the studio with us. It’s not
just in the studio but also throughout our lives. Myshkin is the
protagonist in Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot. He is a Christ–like
character who, in a world of materialism, ends up being used up
by the society he lives within. It’s how we feel about the music
industry, and also the world. We feel pretty naive, and good–
hearted about our aims and goals, and the industry and the world
can seem pretty evil or materialistic. We just didn’t want to fall
into the wake of that materialism, and that feeling was with us in
the studio. I remember reading other Dostoyevsky books
throughout the sessions, as he is a big influence on how we go
about what we do.” Michou will celebrate the release of the album
at home in sunny Windsor before hitting the road, touching down in
Ontario and Quebec throughout May and June. The quintet cannot wait
to get on the road, as that is where Hargreaves feels the collective
with shine the most. “To be honest, I think we are fantastic live,”
beams the singer. “I tend to be very critical of our shows since I
don’t see many other bands play. When I see other bands I
remember why I like our live show. We may miss a note for the
sake of pushing each other over, but there is a lot to see, as there
are lots of instruments and small little connections between the
members on stage. It rewards careful observation and grabs your
attention at the same time through group claps, slamming stuff
and even running out into the crowd to break comfort zones.
Dostoyevsky didn’t have much of a comfort zone, so in the flesh
so either do we. It is a rewarding experience.”

Myshkin is out on June 5th independently. Check out their
MySpace at www.myspace.com/ michoulondon to pick up a copy,
or grab one when they come to town this week. Indie or folk, this
or that, it doesn’t matter. You will like Michou anyway.



- Shain Shapiro
- Hamilton's View Magazine - Thursday, June 5, 2008

Sometimes you encounter a band whose talent is so obvious, you hesitate to try to describe it. You just want people to listen. Such is the case with Windsor folk-rock quintet Michou. It's hard to believe this nine-track disc is their first full-length album, because it's just so swoon-worthy good. In general terms, it's acoustic singer-songwriter stuff put through the emo-indie filter. But that really doesn't do it justice. Singer Michael Hargreaves' voice is so gorgeous, and the band's songwriting is so beautiful and original, they transcend whatever prejudices anyone might have about the genre. Even if you're not one for sweetness, cleverness, romance and whimsy, Michou will make your heart ache. Just listen to the coda to the final track. "And if you die, that'll be the very day that I do. But I'll still need you." Who can get away with a line like that? Michou can.

Online: www.myspace.com/michoulondon.
5/5



- Dalson Chen - The Windsor Star - Monday, June 2, 2008