Search - Ida :: I Know About You

Simple and perfect

Jonathan J. Casey | the twin cities | 05/05/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ida is one of my favorite live bands, and even though I miss Dan's brother on drums, the new chamber ensemble sound fits them very well. "I Know About You" was recorded before Miggy left and Karla joined. It is the first Ida album I bought, and it's still my favorite. "Little Things" starts with an incredibly simple yet perfect guitar line, and as with most Ida songs, builds and builds until your heart feels like it's going to burst. Dan and Liz's voices are perfect, alone or in harmony, and I can't imagine living without them (I mean that as the highest possible compliment, rather than in a creepy stalker sense). "Back Burner" is another wonderful song, with the lyric "like Caliban, you've seen it all without language to use" making a nice arc between Ida and one of my great literature loves, "The Tempest." "Tellings" is a gorgeous, more uptempo song, and "Thank You" pretty much drags out all the pain (e.g. "thank you for giving me nothing"). There is a different version of this available on a 7", without the strings and acoustic guitar. "When I Was Now" is as close to traditional folk as they get on this album, but Ida maintains a very unique sound thoroughout...balancing bleak raw emotion with moments of exquisite beauty. This is the record that comes to mind when asking Nick Hornby's question "do I listen to pop music because I'm miserable or am I miserable because I listen to pop music?" It isn't all a downer, though. It is often quite the opposite.If you like Ida, I'd urge you to seek out the song "Ain't No Lie" that was released as a His Name Is Alive song on the 4AD "Anakin" compilation - with Dan and Liz on vocals and (what I assume is) a Warn DeFever acoustic guitar backing. The split 7" they did with Secret Stars also has one of my favorite songs by Ida. Even though that's a song that brought me to tears the first time I heard it (no mean feat, that) the beauty of Ida lies in the contrast between these sublime songs of love and loss followed by wacky Prince covers. How often can you find a combination that perfect? Look for the latter on an Insound Tour Support CD and the "Poor Dumb Bird" 7"."

If this doesn't change you, nothing will

brandon trammell | flint, michigan | 07/08/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this album is track after track of raw emotion. starting right off with "little things" you know what you're in for. the lyrics this band writes are precise emotion. they know exactly what they are saying. "it's like the words that we said rolled over to play dead. and we kissed them goodbye and never questioned why." i have seen this band three times live and have been brought to tears by their performance everytime. no band has ever done that to me other than this. i can not stress clearly enough how much this record means to me, and if you have any interest in this type of music at all, you would do yourself much much good to buy this record."

My Favorite

Adrienne | 09/01/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a musician, I find most "popular" music very disapointing. Ida however, has redifined the boundaries of what we think of as "Popular Music." This is what America's youth and aged alike should be listening to. From haunting melodies, to inspiring lyrics, this cd has it all. The percussion work is far beyond that of professional, it is meaningful. Never have two voices sounded so pure. This cd should not only be a staple of everyone's collection, it should be the highlight as well."