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Ida Hangs With Levon Helm In NY's Woods
11/24/2007
From: Force Field PR
Ida, a New York City band known for their quiet, even pastoral, take on urban life, has moved
to the woods. Now, it seems, the woods have moved into their music. Strange buzzing
sounds, incandescent acoustic drones and dissonant tone clusters of unknown origin suffuse
the gently strummed guitars, sparse piano notes and poignant personal narratives of Daniel
Littleton, Elizabeth Mitchell and Karla Schickele. The band will release Lovers
Prayers on Polyvinyl on Jan. 29th, 2008. It is Ida's seventh full-length album overall
and second for Polyvinyl.
Ida found an acoustically sublime haven in Levon Helm's home studio, a perfectly aged,
completely wooden structure located in the Catskill Mountains near Woodstock, NY. Ida came
to affectionately refer to it as "The Barn." After recording a song with Ida, Helm personally
invited them to play at the Midnight Ramble, a near mythical concert series he hosts at his
home. The "Ramble's" informal atmosphere seems shockingly incongruous with the high
caliber of renowned musicians who wander in (often unadvertised and unannounced) and
proceed to tear the roof off the place on any given Saturday night.
Playing at the Rambles inspired Ida to go all the way into their new "super woods, super
organic, slightly mystical" style by embracing a soulful looseness, and connecting with the
simple, joyful experience of playing songs for a small crowd in a sympathetic, intimate, rural
setting. On one night, Helm himself sat in for Ida's drummer who was about to give birth to
her first child.
Ida began working at The Barn with their new violinist Jean Cook (Mekons) and
drummer/multi-instrumentalist Ruth Keating, after completing the Heart Like a River Tour in
2005. The relaxed "clubhouse environment" and the ambiance of the space lent itself to the
loose, "audio verite" feel of the sessions. Most songs were tracked live with few
overdubs and a specific attention to natural room sounds rather than a reliance on digital
effects or processing. By abandoning studio "perfectionism" in favor of a more spontaneous
and experimental approach, Ida wound up with the clearest, most dynamic recordings they
have ever made.
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