Mikki James

Don't get started thinking Mike G is some kind of Beastie Boys rip-off artist. Like the Beasties' Mike D, he is a genre-bender from New York, but the similarities pretty much end there. He has more in common with early Beck, whose fuzzy lo-fi pop-funk definitely seems a reference point for the up-and-coming young solo artist. Mr. G (that "G" stands for Gagliardi) also delivers endearingly goofy sex-obsessed lyrics in a sort of sweet, sort of sleazy adolescent style that recalls the barely post-pubescent Jonathan Richman of the early Modern Lovers days.

Mike G's debut album, Sugar Daddy, took shape during the late '90s in the singer's Manhattan apartment over the course of many late drunken nights when, after returning from yet another night at an East Village club full of romantic longing and sweet pop melodies, he'd turn on his four-track and start recording. It's nothing profound, but refreshingly uncontrived, consistently comic and ironic, and eminently hummable.
Jesse Ashlock

http://www.epitonic.com/artists/mikeg.html
- Epitonic (http://www.epitonic.com/artists/mikeg.html)

Mike G's Sugar Daddy is a record that defies musical genres and labels. It opens with bohemian jazz beats, but the succeeding 15 songs have everything from delirious pop hooks to New Wave inspired keyboards, hip-hop beats, funky, neo-white-boy-soul a la Beck, and bratty guitar riffs reminiscent of 1960s garage rock. The lyrics are simple - about mindless crushes and the consequences of love - but come across perfect against the kinetic, maniacal beats and guitar work. Sugar Daddy is not deep, soul searching or socially poignant - it's just riotous fun - and if you ask me, that's all music really needs to be.
- Nicole Seredszun
- Synthesis (http://www.synthesis.net/music/feature.php?bid=283)

Mike G makes lo-fi pop in the mode of Beck meets Guided by Voices. Almost every song seems to be written up to a punchline of some sort, and while such a technique is usually a formula for "trying to hard" slags, Mike G seems so unaware that what he's doing is reprehensible that it's incredibly heartwarming. Gently hooky songs about being a white guy obsessed with beautiful "multicultural" California chicks abound. Mostly instrumental stomper Uh-huh begs for some smart DJ to spin it under his crew, and delivered in endearing Gringo Spanish, the plaintive, bereft Frederique is the albums loveliest moment.

by Mr. Cold Meiser

- A CD Consumer Weather Report (http://www.cdconsumer.com/featmikeg.htm)

Mike G delivers this neat little record and comes across as some kind of 4-track hero. A lot of people try to release home recorded disks, but if the songs aren't there, it just ends up as crap that sounds like crap. It seems like most people that attempt it fail, but judging by the amount of basement-tape stuff I've heard lately, failure isn't stopping anyone from trying it anyhow.
Luckily for us, Mike G is a really good pop songwriter, and the lo-fi sounds actually make this one more appealing. If you can appreciate Ween's more tuneful moments but you can't take their forays into the stupid and scatological, you should go out and get this, because you'll dig it. There's also plenty of Beatles borrowing, and I can hear some hints of classic glam in there, too. And although the tracks are often crusty and noisy, the meticulous arrangement and performances (including piano on a few cuts) indicate that this was a fully realized project. Mike G clearly knows his way around a 4-track.
While the disk is decent, it looses steam near the end. I hate to compare this disk to Ween again, but I'm going to. (I feel justified because "Frederique" is a song with bad Spanish lyrics. I believe Ween has a patent on that gag.) Ween owes much of their success to the sheer variety of music they are simultaneously mocking and praising. Mike G pretty much shows the listener all of his tricks on the first eight cuts. (Although if there were any justice in this world, track 14, "I'm So Into You," would be a major radio hit.) But the good tracks here make Mike G someone to pay attention to in the future. I would recommend this to anyone who likes pop music.
- Nathan, 9/5/00

- Delusions of Adequacy (http://www.adequacy.net/reviews/m/mikeg.shtml)

The SeeThru Broadcasting label is so cool... You never quite know what to expect...but you can always bet it'll at LEAST be interesting... The music of Mike G contains a whirlwind of influences...and the tunes possess that strangely peculiar trait of an artist working in his own studio...creating music out of the pure love of making it...and enjoying the HELL out of himself. Listening to these tunes, it is easy to tell what a great time Mike had recording this disc. The title tune is a wonderfully heady 2000 trip forward, taking the basic sound of Harpers Bizarre and updating it. We particularly like the fact that tape hiss is obvious on many tracks. After all...which is more important...super clean and professional recordings...or recordings that contain heart and unique energy? We think that the latter is more important, and this disc is a good example of that. Not only does Mike G manage to come up with some totally cool tunes ("Anything You Want," "Uh-Huh," "Nothing in the Sky," "When We Speak")...but his lyrics...and particularly his delivery...make the songs somehow seem even bigger and more important. The end result? This is a wonderfully sparkling disc chock full of exciting energy and fresh ideas... Totally great stuff. Love it. See the label's web site at

- Seethru Broadcasting (http://www.seethrubroadcasting.com. )

Singer/songwriter Mike G. (born Gagliardi) is a humorous musical guy and a hopeless romantic who writes from the bottom of his broken heart. Not as quirky as Wally Pleasant, Mike G.'s witticism reflects the skilled rawness of Marc Bolan, the lyrical intelligence of Jonathan Richman, and the dry caricature of Ween. He makes the uncomfortable things seem bearable. Mike G. released his debut album, Sugar Daddy, in mid-2000. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, - All Music Guide (http://www.babysue.com/LMNOP-Reviews-August-00.html)