Miami Ice is the upbeat and wide-ranging third full-length album from Chicago/Philadelphia ensemble Icy Demons. As on previous releases, the band's altered pop music draws on a wide range of musical vocabulary--sometimes within a single song. Though recorded throughout a very busy year, the album has a very natural feel and excited energy, like the warming of the senses in spring after a long winter. Icy Demons cofounders Chris Powell (a.k.a. Pow Pow) and Griffin Rodriguez (a.k.a. Blue Hawaii) use an odd assortment of vintage keyboards and ethnic percussion, and evoke a past that actually might prove to be the future. Icy Demons' exciting new touring group will blaze trails across the States this summer and fall. The band has supported Slint, Arcade Fire, and Man Man, as well as headlined their own tours. Their live shows are energetic and fast-paced, with the multi-instrumentalist members dancing around the stage playing interlocking rhythms. Rodriguez sings of dreams and endurance, alien paranoia and fun food, time travel and the western frontier. Outside of Icy Demons, Powell plays in Man Man and Rodriguez runs his Chicago recording studio, the Shape Shoppe. Both were previously members of the influential Philadelphia group Need New Body. Guest musicians on Miami Ice include Jeff Parker (Tortoise), Josh Abrams (Prefuse 73, The Sea and Cake), Tomeka Reed (highly esteemed Chicago improvisationalist/cellist), and Man Man guitarist Russell Higbee. "... one hell of a unique concoction, like a prog-fusion orchestron gone completely nuts." --Pitchfork
LP $9.75
07/15/2008
CD $9.50
07/15/2008