Icy Demons is an experimental music project started by

Bablicon Bablicon was an Elephant 6-related free-jazz band consisting of members of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils. The band was formed in 1996 when Dave McDonnell (credited as The Diminisher), Jeremy Barnes (as "Marta Tennae"), and Griffin Rodriguez ...

's Griffin Rodriguez (credited as Blue Hawaii) and

Man Man Man Man is an American experimental rock band from Philadelphia currently based in Los Angeles. Their multi-instrumental style is centered on the piano playing of lead singer, songwriter, and lyricist Honus (Ryan Kattner). Honus is accompanied ...

Need New Body Need New Body is an avant garde music collective band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and beyond, numerous members of which have gone on to become members of the band Man Man. The band was formed from members of the defunct progressive rock/neo-psy ...

's Christopher Powell (Pow Pow). A project of various Chicago musicians, they have released three albums, ''Fight Back!'' on the

Elephant 6 The Elephant 6 Recording Company is a loosely defined musical collective from the United States. Notable bands associated with the collective include the Apples in Stereo, Beulah, Circulatory System, Elf Power, the Minders, Neutral Milk Hotel, ...

-associated label

Cloud Recordings Cloud Recordings is an American record label founded in 2001 by John Fernandes and Will Cullen Hart. List of artists on Cloud Recordings * Austyn Wohlers * Black Swan Network * Circulatory System (band) * Cult of Riggonia * Dream Boat * F ...

, ''Tears of a Clone'' on Eastern Developments Music, and ''Miami Ice'' on the label started by Rodriguez and Powell called Obey Your Brain.

Influences and style

Demons can be seen as a continuation of the

Canterbury Scene The Canterbury scene (or Canterbury sound) was a musical scene centred on the town of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Associated with progressive rock, the term describes a loosely-defined, improvisational styl ...

which involved acts like

Soft Machine Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966–196 ...

and

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...

. They do however move forward into new ground by mixing this Canterbury style with a noticeable

Krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...

influence, especially that of

Can Can may refer to: Containers * Aluminum can * Drink can * Oil can * Steel and tin cans * Trash can * Petrol can * Metal can (disambiguation) Music * Can (band), West Germany, 1968 ** ''Can'' (album), 1979 * Can (South Korean band) Other * C ...

. Some melodic lines and rhythmic patterns are strongly reminiscent of

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

's compositions. Other similar acts include

Aksak Maboul Aksak Maboul are a Belgian avant-rock band founded in 1977 by Marc Hollander with Vincent Kenis, and now revolving around Hollander and Véronique Vincent. Aksak Maboul hasn't stopped changing shape and form throughout its existence (the only pe ...

, Pit er Pat, Pop-off Tuesday, Lightning Bolt, and Cheer Accident.

Discography

* (2004) Fight Back! * (2005) Jump Off 7" b/w Pit Er Pat * (2006) Tears of a Clone * (2008) Miami Ice

Members (past and present)

* Griffin Rodriguez a.k.a. Blue Hawaii a.k.a. Tombstone G * Chris Powell a.k.a. Pow Pow a.k.a. Rick Daggers *

The Diminisher "The Diminisher" is the alter-ego of Chicago musician David McDonnell (born 1976), who was a founding member of the trio Bablicon, bass player Griffin Rodriguez informally assigned the moniker in reference to McDonnell's liberal use of the so-cal ...

a.k.a. Da Minister a.k.a. Thousand Rabbits Running * Moylando Calrissian *

Dylan Ryan Dylan Ryan (born April 21, 1981 in San Francisco, California) is an American pornographic actress. Adult film career Ryan began her pornographic career in 2004.

a.k.a. Ilcativo * Chris Kalis a.k.a. Smart Cousin * TA-FREAK-YA * Ali Hawkbar * Young Master Schneider * Yo!Hanan * Monsieur Jeri * Tim Conley a.k.a.

MAST Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mast ...

Shape Shoppe

Blue Hawaii also runs a recording studio in Chicago's south loop called the Shape Shoppe. Besides

and Icy Demons, he has engineered and mixed many local and regional bands' records. Most recently he has worked with Beirut to record the album ''March of the Zapotec'' and a forthcoming LP with rapper Count Bass D.

References

External links

Icy Demons official websiteIcy Demons on The Leaf Label
The Elephant 6 Recording Company artists American experimental musical groups Polyvinyl Record Co. artists {{US-experimental-band-stub