Press
Reviews
New York Music Daily
Review of single 10-2016
"Mike Rimbaud recorded his grimly prophetic Going Down to Trumpistan – before last night’s election results.It’s sort of a mashup of early, classic Public Enemy and late 60s Carlos Santana. In his ominous baritone." - The Editor, New York Music Daily (Nov 09, 2016)
BLURT Magazine
Your Trusted Musical Guide
Listen to Mike Rimbaud’s Clash Cover
"Joe S would be proud!
Best cover song I’ve heard this new year? Thanks for askin’! That would be by NYC-based rocker Mike Rimbaud, the poetically named and politically charged roots/rock/punk/powerpop cat with a just-released album Put That In Your Pipe and Smoke It. The track, well, you might’ve heard it at some point in your music-consuming life, a little ditty called “Rock the Casbah.
By order of the Prophet – in 2015, now more than ever – you can hear it streaming over at his ReverbNation page…."
New York Music Daily
"Put That Dream in Your Pipe and Smoke it" review 2015
Mike Rimbaud: The Closest Thing to the Clash That NYC Has Right Now:
"Much like Ward White, Mike Rimbaud has quietly and methodically built a vast catalog of wickedly smart, catchy, relevant lyrical rock songs. Where White has drawn on janglerock, Americana, chamber pop and most recently, an artsy glam sound, Rimbaud looks back to new wave and punk, but also to reggae, and jazz, and Phil Ochs. White’s narratives are elusive to the extreme; Rimbaud’s are disarmingly direct, with a savagely spot-on political sensibility. A strong case could be made that no other New York artist represents this city’s defiantly populist past – or, one hopes, its future – more than Mike Rimbaud. He's playing the release for his characteristically excoriating new one, Put That Dream in Your Pipe and Smoke It. Rimbaud has never sung better than he does here. Where he used to snarl, he's more likely to croon these days, which is somewhat ironic considering how much unbridled wrath there is in thes
Set in The City
Your Trusted Musical Guide
"let me introduce you and let's go deep with Mike Rimbaud.
I can tell you that his tone is really sultry and sexy, and that applies to him speaking and singing. Add to that, the fact that he really writes from a deep place within, and you've just began to scratch the surface of this mysterious multi- talented artist.
SET: Mike, you have an almost underground cult following here in the city. For those who aren't in the know already; how would you sum up your musical style and message?
MIKE: I write rock 'n roll songs that will make you move, not only dance, but make you think. I'm constantly entertaining issues most songwriters would totally avoid."
Rolling Stone (French edition)
Music News & Reviews
The Return of An Underground Hero by Jean-Pierre Simard:
"Mike Rimbaud's guitars don't look down on either electricity or percussion and even less on organ and crawling synthesizers. All that to draw, with a charcoal pencil or oil, whole vignettes of urban American life like a roof troubadour, an image that first burst out with his first album, in the 90's, "Mutiny In the Subway" on which you could see him walk by the water tanks that top the buildings of the Big Apple. His art is anchored in a reality that recalls Bruce Springsteen, the storyteller of everyday life ("Losing is a Victory"), as much as the Marc Bolan of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, ("Searching for Yourself"). Rimbaud who navigates between painting and music, slays you with all this in a slightly broken voice, the voice of asphalt, the voice of cobble stones and if he wins it all, it is because of his authenticity. Rare and valuable, Mike is the man-on -the-street of New York.
ROLLING STONE (French Edition)February, 2011
LE DEBLOCNOT
French review of "Put That Dream in your Pipe and Smoke it"
"Mike est certainement une des rencontres les plus enrichissantes que j'ai pu faire ces dernières années, un artiste vivant pour sa musique, un gars plein de révoltes, de poésie aussi, un songwriter de talent, bon musicien, qui mérite une plus large reconnaissance, en France, comme chez lui. Entre "Night Rainbow" et ce nouvel album intitulé "Put that dream in your pipe and smoke it" (tiré d'une expression américaine, fait référence à la fin de l'american dream, on pourrait traduire par "prends le rêve américain et carre le toi..") Rockin' JL
KFJC Music reviews, California
Your Trusted Musical Guide
"When I first heard Rimbaud’s gritty voice delivering the lyrics on his fascinating songs, I felt like his music could be classified as country, but then I settled on everyman’s acoustic rock. This NYC musician treats subjects that range from Hurricane Sandy (4) to the woes of today’s economy (8) to the overscheduled nature of life (3, 10) to Beatles covers (11) to how underappreciated teachers are (5) (definitely #6 came to mind on this one). The first song is a treasure with its rainbow references. You’ll either enjoy this or wonder about it, either one of which is a good thing."
-KFJC Radio, California.
New York Music Daily
Music News & Reviews
Mike Rimbaud Captures the State of the City:
No other songwriter has captured the current climate in New York better than Mike Rimbaud. One powerful influence on Rimbaud’s work, lyrically speaking, is Phil Ochs, (check out the absolutely vindictive version of The Ringing of Revolution from Rimbaud’s 2012 album You Can’t Judge a Song by Its Cover). Rimbaud’s latest album Midnight Rainbow – streaming at his site – is an eclectic, characteristically tuneful, savagely lyrical, cleverly amusing mix of songs that span from straight-up four-on-the-floor rock, to new wave, garage rock, psychedelia and reggae. Rimbaud has listened deeply and widely; his thinly veiled references to other songs, especially from the Rolling Stones, are cruelly spot-on. Rimbaud plays all the guitars as well as banjo, backed by tersely tuneful bassist C.Fletcher and excellent drummer Kevin Tooley, with occasional keyboards from Marc Billon.
Britain in 1977 had the Clash: New York in 2013 has Mike Rimbau
New York Music Daily
Coney Island Wave review
“Coney Island Wave is one of the great New York rock records. It’s both a celebration of this city as well as an often savagely spot-on look at the state of the world, 2012, set to catchy, usually upbeat tunes that run the gamut from vintage new wave, to creepy garage rock, to old school soul.”
New York Music Daily
Review of "Can't Judge a Song By It's Cover"
"After seven albums of original material – and his excellent, most recent release, Coney Island Wave (chronicled here yesterday), literate rocker Mike Rimbaud decided to do an album of covers. Which can be tricky. In order to cover a song that’s worth covering to begin with, you either have to do it better than the original – no easy task – or completely reinvent it. Which is exactly what Rimbaud did with Can’t Judge a Song By Its Cover. To call this record ambitious is something of an understatement: tackling mostly well-known, iconic songs, Rimbaud makes it seem easy as he nails them, one by one. If you’re willing to buy the argument that there’s such thing as a classic album of covers, this is it."
by Delarue 2012 (New York Music Daily)
Village Voice
Review of "Beast Of Broadway"
"Lower East Side vet Mike Rimbaud took the name of his new band (The Subway Sun) from a set of cute cartoon signs that reminded ’50s commuters not to smoke or spit. But it’s that dingy, subterranean, through-the-grate kind of glow that informs his scruffy-voiced rock songs, invoking ’70s Costello and Springsteen along with an improbable hint of Brazil—the Baiana guitar (a surfy-sounding electrified acoustic).
(Kamenetz) –The Village Voice 2003
Le Deblocnot
French review of "Night Rainbow
“On en arrive au titre phare de l'album pour moi, "Jackhammer Jones", qui aurait pu figurer sur le "London calling" des Clash, (un autre appel à la révolution!), un solide rock aux touches psyché et punk, guitare en avant, avec un gros beat sourd qui cogne comme le cœur de New York, détruit par les marteaux piqueurs (jackhammer), au sens figuré, les puissances de l'argent.”
The New York Times
Music News & Reviews
"Mike Rimbaud, in basic black, wielded an electric guitar in songs that were terse, telegraphic and propelled
by urgent strumming. Mr. Rimbaud has a rocker’s rasp in his voice, and he knows how to get the most
power out of verses with few words. His songs crackle with New York’s nervy paranoia."
By JON PARELES The New York Times