Customer Reviews

Will You Find Me

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From NOTES FROM HAMPSTEAD by Elias Canetti: "I cannot help myself. In the greatest misfortune I, the unbeliever, await miracles. Of all the old doctrines of faith, only one has remained intact for me: the miracle. But I don't want to know where it comes from; I don't want to make one happen. It should remain just what it is, inexplicable, intractable, just a miracle."

From Lester Bangs's review of ASTRAL WEEKS: "Because you're in trouble anyway when you sit yourself down to explicate just exactly what a mystical document, which is exactly what ASTRAL WEEKS is, means. For one thing, what it means is Richard Davis's bass playing, which complements the songs and singing all the way with a lyricism that's something more than just great musicianship: there is something about it that's more than inspired, something that has been touched, that's in the realm of the miraculous."

I feel the same way about Dan Littleton's guitarsmanship on a track called MAYBELLE. (And I love how Liz's violin-voice is complemented by Karla's viola-voice.)

Amid stories of sleeping cities that hum underneath pink moonlight and dreaming lovers who sit on fire escapes, Elizabeth Mitchell's hushed, at-your-elbow voice both haunts and caresses the material. At the same time, piano, strings adn close harmonies lift these songs like an open-window breeze blowing motes of memory through a dusty room.

This album is amazing. Will You Find Me was the first Ida album that I bought, it set Ida up there as one of my favorite bands with Radiohead and Elliott Smith. I must have listened to this album for a month staight and it never lost its effect on me, and I still enjoy listening to it now. Ida create's a sound that is so delicate, beautiful, and strangely powerful that I have never heard anyone that comes close to a comparison. The songs on this album have the ability to take you back to the an exact moment in your life when you first heard them. I think this is the most complete Ida recording they have put out, it really is Ida at their best, a work of brillience. I own cd's that are more melodic than this and I own cd's that rock more than this, but this is by far the most delicately beautiful album Ie own, BUY IT!

Ida is my favorite band, however, I do not mean to impose my personal opinion with this review. I find as a muscian that this album is very appealing. The openening track "Down On Your Back" hails the sweet harmonic sentiment of most Ida songs with a somewhat dark twist. Very interesting progression of chords and clever use of instrumentation throughout the entire cd makes this an incredible, dynamic and most of all interesting listening experience. Along with that, Littleton, Mitchell and Shickle prove to be an effective ensemble lyrically and vocally. Littleton has a quiet reverence with his soft spoken lullaby voice that at any given moment can turn into heartfelt outcry as in "Past the Past". Elizabeth Mitchell has by far one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard (listen to "The Radiator" you'll know what I mean). Karla Shickle has a sly almost sarcastic catchiness to her voice and rocks on the piano laden song "Man in Mind". All in all this is a great cd and a great start for anyone who wants to get familiar with this band. It will keep you interested from beginning to end.

i bought this the day before i went to the cd release party at which low, his name is alive, and the secret stars also played. i had only caught fleeting aural glimpses of their music before. after not even 24 hours of rapt listening, i was already kind of obsessed with a number of the songs (especially maybelle, shotgun, and man in mind) and was completely engaged when they played their set.

at any rate, will you find me is chock full of some of the most beautifully crafted and delicately performed pop music i have heard. the harmonies and instrumentation are so lush as to perhaps distract from the idiosyncracies that make the album so repeatable--i.e., the completely dissonant violin/accordion duet on down on your back, the incessant 4-against-3 piano drone of man in mind, the electronic intermezzos that link one song to another. their lyrics are unpretentious and effective, and their voices and songwriting nearly unparalleled among their ilk.

if i have one criticism, it is that the last half of the cd doesn't sustain the beautiful, vectored programming that characterizes the first 7 or 8 tracks. it lapses into more clearly country/folk-influenced, formulaic songs, some of which seem a bit redundant when placed next to one another (e.g., georgia and triptych), where they mightn't with different ordering. the concluding two songs tie up these loose ends adequately, however.

so, in short, buy this album. don't worry about lack of percussion or whatever--appreciate its delicacy. and see them live.

Ida's vocal arrangements are really something to behold. It's not often that a male-female arrangement achieves this degree of harmony and balance, but Ida's Daniel Littleton, Elizabeth Mitchell and Karla Schikele pull it off. Listening to their multipart singing reminds me of the most meticulous of vocal ensembles a la Everly Brothers, Simon & Garfunkel, and Crosby, Stills & Nash.

However, I'm not completely without reservations. While the band is highly skillful musically and a godlike presence sonically, very often Ida seems content with writing songs without any kind of build. The incredibly sparse percussion work doesn't help; while it all contributes to the mellow tone of the band, it certainly doesn't hurt to change your moods and rhythms from song to song, or to create peaks and valleys within a song structure. The first two tracks of Will You Find Me? just melts into a sublime-sounding, yet ultimately unresolved drone. Sure it's beautiful, but there could've been a much greater payoff to the music. And lyrically the band tends to write vague musings that evoke a shimmering of poetic mood, yet not quite achieving clarity of meaning or profundity.

I'm as big a fan of vocal harmony as anybody alive, and Ida's members prove themselves masters at it. I just wish they could liven things up a little by in stilling some dynamic -- some flairs, some surprises -- into their beautiful tapestry. Right now Will You Find Me? sounds like a 14-course meal of gourmet cream puffs -- sweet and lovingly prepared, but not filling enough, and somewhat bland after a while.

I can't tell you in words how good this album is. It is arguably Ida's best (and Ida has quite a few legendary albums), not only because of how good each song is, but because of how it all goes together, tied by a stream of strange dissonant sounds. It is absolutely perfect for a sad day, or the end of a night, or when you just need something to relax to. But again, words can't explain it. High points are "Maybelle," "Shrug," "This Water," "Turn Me On," "Man in Mind," "Firefly," and "Don't Get Sad." Aw, hell, every single song on the damn thing is great! Stop reading this and buy the album (or order it because your record store has never heard of it)!

I had never heard of this band until I read Stephen Thompson'sreview of this album... It intrigued me, so I wentout and ordered it...and I'm loving it. Mr. Thompson summarized it far better than I could, so I'll just quote him here:

"Ida has long made lovely, resonant music despite (or perhaps because of) its adherence to a fairly modest palette: The band's slow, quiet, deliberately paced pop has never needed many accoutrements to get across. But the New York band's fourth album Will You Find Me, released after an ill-conceived and basically unconsummated flirtation with a fickle major label, exponentially broadens Ida's sound, experimenting with diverse approaches to slow, low-key, sad-eyed pop. It's amazing how well it works: "Shrug" traffics in chilly, beat-driven ambience, but the song retains Ida's warm sincerity, never lapsing into detached artifice or posturing. "Man In Mind" revolves around little more than Karla Schickele's muscular vocal and a stirring piano hook. So it goes throughout Will You Find Me, w

I was thrilled when I heard of the "new" Ida album but realized it was a sort of best of rather than a new album. While I do love the songs, it may disappoint a longtime fan of Ida. Some criticism I have read of this album pertains to the lack of continuity. It is simply because it is not a cohesive album and reflects the change in style and line up of the band over the years. While some of the songs are so fabulous they can make me cry, I was disappointed that it was not all new. There are some new songs on the album and either way, I am still glad I bought it. I just thought I would warn those of you looking for a truly new Ida album.

This band is so amazing. I wish them many many prolific years of melody making. They make me feel better, and slow down my world. Thank you IDA! (a former member of the Grand St. family).