ILYA >> Time slips through my fingers

California Month, tremor #11:

ILYA - "Isola"

(Notsuperstitious Records [Japan], 2002 / Second Nature Recordings [U.S.], 2003)

ILYA, always spelled capitalized, were from San Diego, and their very uncatchy name was bogarted from a famous Russian writer.  This song is a nocturnal feast of dark corridors and regret, with two dueling tempos (fast drums vs. slow vocals) giving it a disconcerting overall feel.  It is possible that I have not put any song on mix CD's more often than this one.

This song originally appeared on the band's 2002 CD called Japanese Mini Album, which was released only in... Japan.  (That disc also has appallingly lame remix of the song by someone named The Snodgrass.  I listened to it over and over trying to convince myself to upload it here, but I failed to find anything good about it.  JMA does have some very good songs on it, though, especially "Celda.")  The mp3 I'm posting is from JMA, but it's identical to the one on the band's true debut album, Poise Is The Greater Architect.  I have recently ascertained that Poise was recorded from January to June of 2002, then was self-released locally by the band themselves in Nov. 2002, then was reissued nationwide in June 2003 by Second Nature Recordings.  And I found out that guitarist Duane Pitre is from New Orleans, hell yeah.

Inside view of the Japanese Mini Album CD

This song is not exactly what most people have in mind when they think of "California music," that's for sure...  There was also a more well-known, dancey band called Ilya in the '00s; they had to change their name to San Ilya, apparently since San Diego's ILYA were around first.  The dancey Ilya had an album called They Died For Beauty.  (So the one with San in its name is not the one from San Diego... confusing.)  AllMusic Guide said "It's pretty amazing that Ilya [sic] licensed music to several independent films, was nominated for Best New Artist in the San Diego Music Awards, was voted San Diego's Best Indie Band, ended up on the Urban Outfitters in-store play list, had a song on MTV's Sorority Life, and released this stunning debut all without a record deal.  The haunting group crosses Portishead with San Diego's chilling Black Heart Procession to make for a moody set of trip hop, jazz rhythms, atmospheric rock, and entwined piano melodies. On 'Isola,' Blanca Rojas' gentle, gin-joint vocals are a dead ringer for Björk torch-singing in a dive."

Here is a clip of Blanca Rojas laying down a vocal take (possibly the final take, in fact) for this song in the studio in 2002:

This very mpeg clip, which was posted on their website, ilyamusic.com, is the main reason I went to see them in Oct. 2003, though I think this show flyer which I got from a telephone pole on Tulane's campus was another main reason:

I became sort of obsessed with this song just from listening to its 30-second preview clip on a new little online gizmo called the iTunes Store.  So, thanks iTunes Store.  They were selling ILYA panties at the merch table (staffed by Blanca herself), but I don't think anyone bought any.  I did buy my Poise CD at that show, and I just opened it and found an ILYA sticker and a Second Nature sticker, plus a little sheet of paper talking about Pilotram (see below).  The other bands on the bill were The Gunshy, The Show Is The Rainbow (whom I missed), and locals Silent Cinema.  Since it was about a week before Halloween, Blanca walked through the crowd passing out candy during Silent Cinema's set!  Plus, it took place in the attic of a pizza place (Mama Rosa's Pizza) on the north edge of the French Quarter.  And I went to one night of the Canal Street Projection Project earlier that night.  To call it a very memorable night would be putting it mildly...  I took some low-quality video clips and photos which I'll post if I find them.
I drove almost 100 miles to Baton Rouge to see ILYA again the following June, on the night the Pistons beat the heavily-favored Lakers to win the NBA championship.  Mama Rosa's closed down due to Katrina; I never did eat any pizza there, since that was the only time I ever went.
Guitarist Duane Pitre is now somewhat well-known experimental / ambient composer based in New York City, under the moniker Pilotram.  I would have to presume he had a large role in creating "Isola"'s eerie background soundscapes.  (I unfortunately missed Pilotram opening for Tristeza in '05 because I got there late.)

In addition to kindly giving away a free mp3 of the great song "Disturbed", ILYA's label, Second Nature Recordings, gives this bio:
"Emerging out of the vibrant San Diego underground, ILYA creates languishing and soothing musical textures that tap into the subconscious stream of thought.  ILYA's full-length debut for Second Nature Recordings conveys a provocative blend of sounds and styles that are quiet and haunting one moment, a wall of sound and explosive percussion the next.  Combining elements of Portishead, My Bloody Valentine, The Black Heart Procession and Massive Attack, with caressing vocals reminiscent both of Bjork's breathlessness and Fiona Apple's poetic beauty, resulting in an elegant tapestry of trip-hop, atmospheric rock, electronica, and ambient jazz."

By the way, the climax of "Disturbed" was head-splittingly loud in concert, with the band's guitar & bass players practically falling over and onto each other while contorting their bodies; it came off as a possible spoof of the act of headbanging, but it was real... so real.  Blanca was always like a genie lost in her own little world, doing her interpretive body movements amidst the often threatening music being spun around her.

I found an exciting screenshot that someone named Azure Divina took of ILYA's website when it was ilya.com, circa 2003:

Fun Fact: The Poise cover model holding those eggs is someone named Sally Dalton, according to the CD booklet.

Planets with similar climates: PJ Harvey - "Down By The Water" (1994), Slowdive - "Missing You" (1993), Cocteau Twins - "My Love Paramour" (1983), The Emerald Down - "Heavier Than Ether, Lighter Than Air" (2001), Björk - "Army Of Me" (1995) & "Human Behaviour" (1993), Portishead - "Mysterons" (1993).