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Looking at ICU

For all the charm they render, Olympia, WA-based Icu (pronounced ee-kooh) and their resourceful, cut-and-paste showcase of electronic gear only come by way of default.

"The problem is we don't have equipment. We don't have a computer, and we don't even have a decent sampler," explains Kento Oiwa, the guiding hand behind much of Icu's electronic forays. "The only sampler we have is a little toy sampler that Roland makes, an MS1."

But this problem could just as well be a clever gimmick. Icu's shoestring budget approach is actually the key to unlocking what they call drum 'n' haze, as in the jerky beat and bass-driven experiments of Squarepusher, engulfed in a warm, Stereolab-like analogue drift filled in by keyboardist Michiko Swiggs. Their earnest efforts not only replicate the heavily sequenced, polished (and pricey) sounds created by high-budget electronic music producers, but humanize them as well.

"You play the cards you're dealt," shrugs upright bassist Aaron Hartman.

"Take Jonathan Richman," Oiwa offers. "No one cares about what kind of guitar he's using. But at the same time, I'm sure if he found an incredible guitar, he'd play it."

Oiwa laughs: "I don't want people to get the idea that we're making music using lo-fi stuff and then disappoint them later if we get nice equipment."

Icu's debut full-length, Chotto Matte a Moment!, offers up plenty of lo-fi excursions, not too distant from their K Records labelmates in spirit. The album was recorded at Calvin Johnson's Dub Narcotic studio (which is stocked with gear older than most of its occupants) and exudes the chimey, indie-pop spirit you can find in bands like Heavenly and the Halo Benders. Oiwa is also the DJ for Modest Mouse, and has remixed Some Velvet Sidewalk.

"I think it's easier for punk kids to get into us," Oiwa muses. "They see us working hard when we play live. There's a certain live element that makes it very special." More bluntly, they rock. Hartman, with his frenetic basslines, is the apparent crowd-pleaser, which Swiggs complements with her groovy oscillations. Oiwa simultaneously mans tables, a sampler, guitar and a theremin. "I wish I had...six hands" he mumbles.

"I got my upright bass the same day Clinton got elected, Hartman recalls. I play electric bass, but I haven't really touched it in a long time. I just pull it out and play when I want to joke around."

"I like playing on that Squarepusher thing," Oiwa chimes in.

Before joining forces with Oiwa to create one of the first incarnations of Icu, Hartman played upright bass in Old Time Relijun (think Captain Beefheart meets the Contortions). Oiwa, who immigrated to the U.S. 11 years ago also plays guitar in Loud Machine, with a Japanese singer named Nissie (who also licenses K Records to Japanese indie-pop fanatics). The most recent incarnation of Icu includes Swiggs, whose melodies anchor the band's current sound.

"Aaron's got that jazz-funk background, and our common ground is [Krautrock and free jazz]," Oiwa says. "Sometimes Michiko, who's more into electronic music, and I will listen to something and compare it to Aphex Twin or µuziq, and Aaron will listen and compare it to Pink Floyd."

Icu and their friends introduce a way-overdue dance sensibility to the kids in Olympia, who "...are now just discovering what raves and dance music are," according to Oiwa. The band is also planning a tentative project with Portland, OR-based performance artist Miranda July, who works with slides, videos and spoken word. Although their audience mostly consists of crossover punk fans, Icu taps into a serious stream of progressive drone and jungle -- think Amon Tobin, but softer around the edges. Swiggs and Oiwa, along with some friends, also run a start-up production company called ODB and sponsor some of the only all-ages DJ events in Olympia.

"Sometimes it's like high-school night out," Oiwa says of the virgin Olympia scene. "It's mainly the younger kids who can't get into bars."

Chotto Matte a Moment! encapsulates the trio's enthusiasm. As Hartman puts it, "People just sit down and listen to the album, they picture us tweaking knobs and hooked up to a computer, but when we play live it's really hard. It's hard to keep the thing happening and have it still sound like electronic music."

"It's a matter of how much I can push myself," Oiwa shares. "and how fast I can move my hands and arms without hitting anything else."