Not many electronica bands want you to know how they achieve their sound, but icu don't hide behind a sampler or a MIDI system. They are straight-up analog, and that means all the beats, tunes, and scratches are done befor... more »e your eyes (and ears) via upright bass, turntables, electric guitar, and keyboards. Coaxing worldbeat melodies from obscure sources, DJ K.O. deftly blends his cuts and scratches to the slouchy bass rhythms and graceful keys. K.O. also happens to be a theremin virtuoso, and the strange, high-frequency emissions of this obscure tone-generating instrument are a refreshing addition to the overused electronic vocabulary of most dance music. icu repudiate the notion that electronic music is an aural deception. It's all-the-way live. And even though you can't buy it at the health-food store, it's still 100 percent organic. --Lois Maffeo« less
Not many electronica bands want you to know how they achieve their sound, but icu don't hide behind a sampler or a MIDI system. They are straight-up analog, and that means all the beats, tunes, and scratches are done before your eyes (and ears) via upright bass, turntables, electric guitar, and keyboards. Coaxing worldbeat melodies from obscure sources, DJ K.O. deftly blends his cuts and scratches to the slouchy bass rhythms and graceful keys. K.O. also happens to be a theremin virtuoso, and the strange, high-frequency emissions of this obscure tone-generating instrument are a refreshing addition to the overused electronic vocabulary of most dance music. icu repudiate the notion that electronic music is an aural deception. It's all-the-way live. And even though you can't buy it at the health-food store, it's still 100 percent organic. --Lois Maffeo
"This album is so, so much better than the reviews say. The band is a keyboard player, a standup bass player, and a third character who mans the theremin, turntables, and any other wack noises they require.IQU combines the playful joy of Mu-Ziq with the jazzy standup bass of Squarepusher's "Music Is Rotted One Note" with some of the abstract acid jazz of Amon Tobin. This is fun, fun music."
Resourceful, retro, post-modern, punk rock electronica
T. Smith | 11/06/1998
(5 out of 5 stars)
"After relishing many a live show and one wonderful 7" single, "Despite The Smell of Colors...Vol. i", the wait is over: icu have issued via K their beautiful document of analog electonica, Chotto Matte A MOMENT! This is modern DIY ethics at it's most hybridized, a bricolage of influence from the past and the present. icu's ernestness to express what somersaults through their brains is limited only by finance, and so the band are left to utilize only the tools which are readily available to execute their sounds. With upright bass plodding an amplified-acoustic groove that's somewhat reminiscent of Krautrockers Can, analog synthisizers whcih are hotwired, soldered and duct-taped after a weekend score at a local estate sale, a smattering of turntables, samplers, programmers, theremin chops to make Clara Rockmore blush and guitar tapestries which weave 70's psych and modern underground Tokyo noise, icu ultimately create an old standard: pop music. Make no mistake, this is lo-fi music in a genre otherwise considered high-tech...groove/psyche laced with Ninja Tune sounds cushioned by the charm of bedroom wizards such as Land Of The Loops. Chotto Matte A MOMENT! is fantastic, yet it merely scratches the surface of the band's potential, hints at what's to come in the future and really serves to fill the void of their amazing live performances...and a live band is what icu ultimately are. Another anomoly in the electronic music sphere. Trippy, funky, silly, ragged, rockin', sincere. This is icu, hinting at what is to come for the future of pop music in a world where influences and styles are consistently being blurred together and reinvented. Where rock, rave, DJ and dance collide. If only they could afford better equipment...but at the expensive of their resourceful charm?"
Almost there
T. Smith | 08/03/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"although i agree with the first reviewer that, at least in music, the ends justify the means and not vice versa, i disagree with their conclusion on icu (at least in part). if using an bonafide wood upright pumps life into this tired genre (as i believe it does here), then arm yerself with a string quartet and glen branca's army of guitars. whatever it takes. these days, the sweaty funk of the 70s has been reduced to the safe and stoic pings of way too many d&b hacks with way too much time on their hands. get a job! as for alt-rock, it really isn't that alt and it seldom rocks. i want a little panic and a little danger and snicker in my tunes, and icu delivers (partly). they're throwing some great organic curves, human moods, into their stuff - consequently, it's got life. and yopparai is the highlight - infectious frantic candy. love it.but my complaint (and it's big) is the sag in the last half of chotto. whistle thru bouncing baby buddah sound like filler. 4 tracks - that's a lot of drag! fortunately, the final unlisted track reminds me of what they can do. just hope that next time they do it thru an entire album. think of this as an expensive ep but worth it and buy it.other stuff i like: zoviet france, slint, we, yo la tengo, royal trux, tipsy - check 'em out!"
It's got a sense of humor
Ryan Sharp | Seattle, WA USA | 08/24/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This album is quirky, fun music. No, it's not perfect, but it's taking risks and and makes good on most of them. I'm pretty sure it doesn't sound anything like any other recording you own, and that should be a good enough reason to check it out."
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1
