NEW MUSIC - HELPING HAITI: EVERYBODY HURTS 2010

Equally as star-studded as the forthcoming We Are The World remake, Simon Cowell has put together a stellar line-up of artists for this charity cover of REM's 1993 hit Everybody Hurts.  All proceeds from digital and CD sales will be going to aid Haiti.

Among those featured on this version are Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue, Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, Susan Boyle, James Blunt, Leona Lewis, Jon Bon Jovi, Mika, Michael Bublé and many, many more of our favourites.  

The Everybody Hurts single will be released on February 16, 2010.  Although already great, it would've given it that extra punch to have all the artists together at the end in a series of big repeated choruses, don't you think?

Listen to Everybody Hurts by Various Artists Helping Haiti (courtesy of Sony Music) in full below:

PRODUCT WATCH: DYLAN'S CANDY BAR - THE "it" BAR

Dylan Lauren definitely needed money to make money, but she had a vision and business savvy.  She is the founder of now the world's largest candy store, Dylan's Candy Bar.  The daughter of fashion tycoon Ralph Lauren majored in Art History at Duke University and incorporated her expertise into her products, creating a very distinct and unique aesthetic.  She claims to have been inspired also by seeing Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory with her father as a child.

Hype aside, Lauren has some pretty amazing chocolate bars, my favourite being The "it" Bar with a 33% Milk Chocolate base and savoury, mildly spicy Jalapeño bits.  OMG.  So effin' good. The $6 CAN chocolate bar comes beautifully wrapped in silver foil and a cleanly designed casing with an embossed logo.  Other varieties include Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt, Milk Chocolate with Cocoa Nibs and Coffee and Dark Chocolate Layered With Milk Chocolate.

And it's not just me who's a huge fan of Dylan's Candy Bar products, David Beckham, Mika and Woody Allen are among her more famous clientele.  Lauren has also branched into fashion and beauty products at her store.  You can visit her official website for the full catalogue of products.  For those of you in Canada, you can find Dylan's Candy Bar at select Holt Renfrew locations, which is where I got Lauren to pose graciously for the above pic back on her Toronto visit last month.  Isn't she cute?

REVIEW: MIKA - THE BOY WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

The Boy Who Knew Too Much is the much-anticipated sophomore album from Brit Award winning singer-songwriter Mika. Admittedly the bar was raised quite high after having won widespread acclaim for his 2007 album Life in Cartoon Motion and expectations are high.

There are many fun moments on this album like current single We Are Golden, Blame it on the Girls, Touches You and Rain produced by one of my personal favourites Stuart Price. One cannot help but feel however, that something is missing in this collection of songs; that spark that generated so much interest the first time around. Indeed there are leaps and bounds in refinery, but perhaps we were expecting a bit more; The Boy Who Knew Too Much dwells perpetually on unresolved issues of adolescence which were already touched upon in Mika’s debut.

The album time-ports the listener back and forth from The Beatles' Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts (1968) to 1985 when George Michael was just beginning to hit his stride. Mika does it with his own signature brand of whimsical sass that makes us wonder "if Freddie Mercury were still alive...". Toy Boy explores the theme of homosexuality and sexual confusion (like earlier track Billy Brown) and will raise a few eyebrows; a shtick of sorts perhaps.

Preview second single Rain in full below (courtesy of Universal Music Canada):

Overall, Mika’s latest offering is fun fare for a Sunday afternoon, but alas, not as much fun as his first effort. The Boy Who Knew Too Much from Casablanca Records is due September 21st in Europe and the following day in North America. For more Mika, visit his Myspace Page. Grade: B