Ida
Heart Like a River
Over ten years and six albums, New York City's Ida has mapped their own space in the American
underground. There is something to be said for substantial, consistent output. There is something to be
said for sticking around.
Over the last decade, Ida has come up from the wet ground of hush-core duo to an ensemble driven by
three stellar songwriters, all crafting a tendersweet sound that is flowing and ornate. All of their records
are unmistakable – they are marked by the distinct vocal triumvirate of Elizabeth Mitchell, Daniel
Littleton and Karla Schickele. In the indie-ground, where front-persons being able to carry a tune is a
rarity, Ida’s golden harmonies, which genuflect and soar skyward, stand alone. Their music may tend to
be "soft", but it is not shy, and that is evident on this new album you are holding. Taking cues from On
the Beach-era Neil Young, the band dives from whisper strums to righteous drone or overdriven solo.
They reference the early-mid seventies sound of rebel girls getting free: of Joni, of Rickie Lee – a little
haunted, spare, lush solitude, grown up, sad and tough. They also manage to sit nicely amongst their peers
and collaborators: His Name Is Alive, Low, Tara Jane O’Neil, Karate – as well as amongst the nu indiefolk cadre.
Their new album is a fantastic thing. It is one thing to hear a band that knows what they are doing and are
doing it well, it is another to hear a band ten years in and still in their prime. Ida are it. They are
continuing to extend themselves, continuing to evolve and beautify, not just as some exercise, but to get
at the core of what they are doing and hone their craft. And they give us this – this radiant album, which is
as fine as their best work, and as big and gorgeous as you are expecting it to be.
Tender harmonic dissonance… sweet and slow acoustic melodic tension… simple, lovely,
necessary.
-No Depression
Every once in a while an album comes along that just knocks the wind right out of you. Will You
Find Me is that good… the depth and beauty of the music finally matches that of the vocals… the
most intricate and beautiful album the band has offered yet.
-Time Out New York
… exquisitely crafted and utterly haunting.
-Entertainment Weekly
The careful harmonies and emotionally incisive lyrics of this Brooklyn-based quartet are powerful
enough to send a chill down the spine of the most jaded listener.
-The New Yorker
… a band that reaffirms your faith in the power of music.
-Minneapolis City Pages
Polyvinyl Record Co.
Post Box 7140 Champaign, IL 61826-7140
Tel: 217-403-1752
Fax: 217-403-1753
www.polyvinylrecords.com
Press Contact: Seth Hubbard
[email protected]
High Resolution photo / album cover art downloads: www.polyvinylrecords.com/press
Ida
Over the past decade, New York City's Ida has mapped their own space in the American underground
music scene, defying easy categorization with unpredictable, emotionally charged, frequently
memorable live shows, and a series of distinctly voiced records. Driven by three strong singer
songwriters and telepathic musicianship, Ida has never accepted the straitjacket of resting on their
accomplishments. Whether playing and singing quieter than Joao Gilberto in his living room, or
blasting full volume ecstatic guitar noise, Ida embraces a broad template of musical ideas- from
acoustic chamber pop, old time folk, and free improvisation to minimalist drones, shimmering
harmonies, Krautrock ambience, and bad Prince covers. Throughout it all, Ida has remained a
steadfast pillar in the independent community, collaborating with numerous individuals from well
respected bands, organizing and playing benefits for a wide array of political and artistic causes, and
running their own record label, Last Affair.
Ida formed in 1992 as a duo when fellow Brooklynites Elizabeth Mitchell and Daniel Littleton began
writing songs together. They soon enlisted friend and upright bassist Rick Lassiter to join them. The
trio recorded the Songs from the Ranch tape that winter on their 4-Track, and began playing shows in
New York City. When a copy of the tape fell into the hands of Jenny Toomey and Kristin Thompson,
owners of the staunchly independent and highly influential Simple Machines label, the two offered to
put out Ida's debut full-length.
In Spring 1994 at Excello Recording in Williamsburg Brooklyn, Ida recorded Tales of Brave Ida a
collection of hauntingly beautiful love songs and ambient instrumentals. When Lassiter moved back
to North Carolina, Daniel's brother Miggy (White Magic, Blood on the Wall) joined the band as
drummer and multi-instrumentalist. Ida hit the road on their first tour opening for Tsunami. Tales of
Brave Ida received enthusiastic reviews, eliciting comparisons to the forceful, somber sounds of the
Velvet Underground and Nick Drake. Ida had arrived.
The following year, Daniel began touring extensively with Liquorice, a 4AD band he founded with
Jenny Toomey. Despite a relatively slow year on the Ida front, the band released a 7" on Simple
Machines and wrote the songs that would make up their next album.
On the first day of the Blizzard of '96, Ida literally dug their way into the studio to record their
second full-length, I Know About You. The addition of Miggy on drums brought spartan, pensive
rhythms that added a powerful new dynamic to Ida's quietly intense sound. Lassiter's string
arrangements and the contributions of Daniel and Miggy's sister Cecilia on violin and viola, brought
new layers of dissonance and sonic depth to the recording. That spring Ida toured nationally with
Steve Immerwahr (Codeine) on bass and Elaine Ahn on cello. In the fall, Beekeeper bassist/vocalist
Karla Schickele joined as permanent bass player for Ida just in time for their second full U.S. tour.
1997 brought constant touring as well as the band's third full-length, Ten Small Paces. The album
was a scrapbook of sorts, nestling five covers from songwriters as diverse as Bill Monroe and Brian
Eno between ten original tracks. Recorded in various stops while on tour (including a recording
session with His Name Is Alive mastermind Warren Defever), the album exuded a loose, offhand
"mixtape" feel that perfectly suited the warmth and intimacy of the group. These qualities helped
make it one of the band's most beloved albums. Ida toured the first of several tours with the band
Low, and began touring regularly with genius violinist Ida Pearle (Ted Leo, Magnetic Fields,
William Parker). In Fall 1997, knowing the end of Simple Machines as a label was near, Ida signed
with Capitol Records.
In 1998, Ida released two EPs including The Ida Retsin Family, Volume One a collaboration with
Polyvinyl Record Co.
Post Box 7140 Champaign, IL 61826-7140
Tel: 217-403-1752
Fax: 217-403-1753
www.polyvinylrecords.com
Press Contact: Seth Hubbard
[email protected]
High Resolution photo / album cover art downloads: www.polyvinylrecords.com/press
Tara Jane O'Neil (Rodan) and Cynthia Nelson (Ruby Falls, the Naysayer). Additionally, Liz, a
former teacher at Roosevelt Island Day Nursery in NYC, recorded a critically acclaimed children's
album of old time acoustic folk songs. Shortly thereafter, Ida entered the studio to record Ida's
Capitol debut. It was the first time Ida had entered the studio with a recording budget.
The Capitol album Will You Find Me was completed in May 1999. However some significant
changes had taken place at Capitol Records since Ida's signing -the president was fired and the entire
staff was replaced by robots- and the band spent the next six months in limbo. Ida realized that even
though they had completed (recorded, mixed and mastered) one album, they had actually recorded
enough songs for two full-length LPs on Capitol's dime. Ida eventually won back ownership of their
Capitol master tapes.
Miggy left the band in the fall of 1999. For their fall 1999 tour, Ida got quieter than ever with an
ambitious 6-piece acoustic ensemble, including woodwinds and strings. Several of the shows were
part of a series of benefit concerts for Low Power Radio and the grass roots movement to save
community-based radio from the dominance of corporate radio stations and media consolidation.
They released Insound Tour Support: Ida Live At Carnegie Hall, an 18-song live document, culled
from performances at The Anthology Film Archive in NYC, a live WFMU broadcast, a raucous
Derby show in Louisville KY and many stops along the road.
In 2000, Ida found a new label home with New York's Tiger Style Record who released Will You
Find Me. The release was named album of the week by Jon Pareles in the New York Times, August
18, 2000, and named among the year end "best of" lists in both Spin, and the New York Times. The
quieter the band got, the more people seemed to pay attention. The band spent the year touring with
various ensembles including longtime member Ida Pearle, original drummer Miggy Littleton and
newer collaborators Trip Gray (Joe Morris Trio), Zach Wallace (Flashpapr), Dave Curry (Willard
Grant Conspiracy, Thalia Zedek), Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good to Me, Flashpapr), Jacob
Danziger (Flashpapr), Andrew Hall (The Moonlighters, Sparklehorse), and Amy Domingues
(Threnody Ensemble). They toured with Pedro the Lion, Low, Shannon Wright, and Julie Doiron. A
year later, Tiger Style released The Braille Night, the second of the Capitol-era albums which aptly
re-created the intimacy and magic of Ida's live performances. The Braille Night served as a fitting
companion piece to Will You Find Me, the perfect ending/beginning of a new century for the band.
In the years since the release of The Braille Night, Daniel and Liz took time away from Ida's intense
touring schedule to raise their daughter, Storey. They also released two childrens records, and Muki,
the debut album of their electro-acoustic side project Nanang Tatang. Daniel toured Japan and
recorded as a solo piano/harmonium/guitar playing singer songwriter. He also recorded and toured in
Italy as an improviser/noisemaker with Geoff Farina (Karate, Secret Stars). Karla toured and
performed as K., releasing two records on Tiger Style and a split EP with Low, and doing a dreamy
stint as Low’s guest keyboardist opening for Radiohead in Europe.
When Tiger Style went on hiatus in February 2004, Ida again found themselves without a label, after
having completed a new record. After talking with the folks at Polyvinyl Records, Ida knew they had
found the perfect label to help them to exist, and to put out their new record, Heart Like a River.
This record marks a period of renewed creativity for the band including collaborations with longtime
Ida co-conspirators Cecilia Littleton and original bassist Rick Lassiter as well as violinist Jean Cook
(Jon Langford, The Beauty Pill) and cellist Dominique Davison (Threnody Ensemble). Heart Like a
River also marks the first time the band has collaborated with producer/engineer Warren Defever on
an album from start to finish. After a long touring hiatus, Ida will again return to the road this winter,
with Jean Cook on violin and new drummer Ruth Keating (K, The Malarkies). Heart Like a River
will be released February 22, 2005.
Polyvinyl Record Co.
Post Box 7140 Champaign, IL 61826-7140
Tel: 217-403-1752
Fax: 217-403-1753
www.polyvinylrecords.com
Press Contact: Seth Hubbard
[email protected]
High Resolution photo / album cover art downloads: www.polyvinylrecords.com/press