In 1995 Ollie Bown and Sam Britton, accidentally tuned into a pirate radio station and split their sides with hysterics at the machine-gun breakbeat frenzy they were soon to learn was called jungle. After the laughter subsided, Sam and Ollie turned their wholehearted attention to the domain of samplers and computers, consuming and producing more or less unfamiliar strains of drum'n'bass, tinged by longer standing influences such as no-wave and free jazz, psychedelic rock, minimal techno and avant-garde classical music.
Releasing their first album 'Kamikaze' in 1997, Icarus swiftly gained recognition in quirky corners of the drum’n’bass-crazed community and a reputation for out of the box experimentation. However, with the release of their second and third long players; 1999's Fijaka and 2001's 'Squid Ink' the once obvious ties with drum'n'bass became more distant as the duo experimented further with sound-design, music concrete, poly-rhythms and noise.
By 2002, the duo had clearly begun to carve out their own unique territory, reflected by the fact that their next two records Soviet Igloo and Misfits, were released on their own label Not Applicable with minimal publicity and distribution but a strong emphasis on conception. The records and live shows that accompanied them gained Icarus a cult following in the burgeoning underground electronic music scene and in 2004, The Leaf Label picked up on the momentum and released I Tweet the Birdy Electric, which made album of the year charts in The Wire and BBC Online.
2005 saw the release of Carnivalesque; an adaptation of a 30 minute live sketch into a studio-buffed precision product, an approach designed to document the development of an improvised electronic music style in which flourishes of rhythmic and harmonic structures are restlessly set up against each other. The approach has caused the duo to record all of their improvised live sets ever since and persue further the influence of software engineering and adaptive musical systems at IRCAM and Goldsmiths.
Their 6th long player entitled 'Sylt', released on November 19th 2007 on Rump Recordings builds on the duo's inquisitive approach to electronic music production, fusing and articulating unique compositional techniques developed over 10 years of creating music.
Apart from Icarus Ollie Bown has colaborated with Squidsoup, the Live Algorithms for Music Group, Adem and others, and has been finishing a PhD on the evolution of human musical behaviour at Goldsmiths. Sam Britton has collaborated with Ted Milton, Squint/Opera, Diemo Schwarz and others, and recently completed a masters course at IRCAM in Paris.
(Biography Last updated 6 May 2002)
Release date 19 November 2007
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"Sylt" is Icarus' first album in two years, following the understated Carnivalesque in 2005, and the acclaimed I Tweet the Birdy Electric in 2004, over which time the duo Ollie Bown and Sam Britton have continued working on related projects in electroacoustic performance, composition and music-related ... [more]
Release date 7 November 2005
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Celebrating the anniversary of any record label is always a strange thing, as the quality of releases are down to the bands the label chooses to work with. Still, ten years feels like a bit of a milestone. That’s especially true for The Leaf Label, which was launched by ex-4AD ... [more]
Release date 15 September 2005
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As Ollie Bown and Sam Britton delve further into their respective academic persuits... (Ollie is currently half way through a doctorate in evolutionary simulation at London's Goldsmith's College, while Sam is packing his bags to spend a year studying composition at IRCAM in Paris), Icarus, their somewhat suppressed collective alter-ego, ... [more]
Release date 4 May 2004
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A full-length compilation album for the price of a CD single, Delivery Room follows on from 2002’s Lost For Words and the Osmosis sampler from 1999.
The release of the compilation coincides with the long-awaited launch of The Leaf Label’s new website ( www.theleaflabel.com ). Both CD and website follow ... [more]
Release date 26 April 2004
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With I Tweet The Birdy Electric, Icarus present a rarified vision of the acoustic instrument; the cause célèbre of the 20th century as the lost art of the 21st. In a society obsessing over the possibilities of the technocratic welfare state, it has become more common to find computers wired ... [more]
Release date 10 July 2002
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Ollie Bown and Sam Britton produce their fourth long player after 2001's 'Squid Ink' (Output Recordings). The result of too much moving house and not enough continuity, 'Misfits' is a minimally-arranged mini LP made with two laptop computers in a vacuum. The artists were not present and neither was the ... [more]
Release date 18 February 2002
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Soviet Igloo (it's a mix of vodka and polar bear milk) is strangely new material from Icarus, following on from their last full-length album 'Squid Ink' and setting the scene for their next, 'Misfits'.
Benevolent Incubator: a mellow blend of 3, 5 and 7 bar basslines,1, 3, 4 and 6 bar ... [more]
12 May 2006
The Tom Arthurs and Ollie Bown Electric Duo will be performing a short set as part of the Creative Cyborgs event at the Dana Centre Dana Centre , organised by Blip on the 16th of May. They'll be presenting new material based on recently developed performance software. The performance will be accompanied by projections by Squint and Brittski as the first part of a funding commission from the Lighthouse in Brighton.
The ... [read full article]
21 December 2005
Blurt's Ted Milton and Sam Britton, from Icarus, will be giving a live performance of their collaborative work In Kharms Way at the Hackney Empire, London on the 14th January. The work is based on, and utilises, the texts of Russian author Daniil Kharms in an exciting mix of music, puppetry and spoken word.
20 September 2005
1. New Release - Carnivalesque
We're pleased to announce the release of Carnivalesque our latest long player since 2004's I Tweet The Birdy Electric. You can read more about the release, listen to tracks from the record and watch a film to one of the tracks here: http://www.icarus.nu/automatronic/media/carnivalesque.php
Also, Colin Buttimer, writing for the BBC had this to say about it: http://www.eleventhvolume.com/reviews/cds/files/icarus_carnivalesque.html
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2. Live dates and Tour information
30th September 2005
Live at ... [read full article]
20 February 2005
Since the release of 'I Tweet the Birdy Electric' in April last year, Sam and Ollie have found ourselves engaged in a number of quite diverse projects and releases.
'I Tweet...' continues to receive praise from the press long after its initial release, and was recently described by the BBC as "[opening] the door on a beguiling and original soundworld, at times frenetic, at times mournful, but fascinatingly detailed and frequently a lot of fun".
The ... [read full article]
15 February 2005
ARg! presents Where Is The Love? Here Is The Love at Hugo's Amazing Speaker Palace, Hackney, Friday 18th February...
Synopsis: Affably uncouth dancable mashup on 18th, with visuals.
In the way of visual projections - 16mm flickerbeams and celluloid scratchings by four quite well-known people: brittski, dc, squint and lalalalalala.
Featuring the Icarus Love Life Set. Motto: "If you're lucky" [see updated www.icarus.nu ]
Plus Dark and Lovely DJ activity from:
Sticky Balls Of Rice:
Congratulations must ... [read full article]
28 March 2004
After a notable absence of recorded material since 2002's 'Misfits', Icarus are pleased to announce the imminent release of a new LP on The Leaf Label.
Entitled 'I Tweet The Birdy Electric', the new record is filled with two years worth of experimentation and exploration into many new avenues. It will be in stores on April 26th and is available to pre-order through Posteverything now.
Since 2002 Ollie Bown and Sam Britton have frequently performed live (many ... [read full article]
10 December 2003
The Leaf Label are very pleased to announce that Icarus are to release their future work with us. The duo (Ollie Bown and Sam Britton) are two of the finest programmers working in electronic music, and we're honoured to have them on board.
They are currently working on their fifth album, following a career spanning almost 10 years with releases on Hydrogen Dukebox, Output, and, most recently, the incredible 'Misfits', which they released on their own ... [read full article]
12 July 2003
Wednesday 16th July
Union Chapel Studio
Compton Terrace
London N1 2UN
www.unionchapel.org.uk/location.php
In an unprecedented assault on the senses, ICARUS support BLURT at the Union Chapel for a further twist to the genre bending mayhem both bands are capable of unleashing.
BLURT have over 20 years played in almost every country in Europe including, as they disappeared, Yugoslavia and East Germany, and as they gained their independence, Poland, Hungary, Bratislava and Russia, simultaneously thriving on the threat of anarchy ... [read full article]
31 May 2003
Thursday June 12 & Friday June 13
Hoxton Hall, London, UK
In turns angry, frustrated, analytical and satirical, but always in awe of the absurd manifestation we call human society, the works of Daniil Kharms (1905-1942, Russia) bring to the front of our collective consciousness a final, desperate image of the human condition itself: a well oiled machine driving insatiably towards the edge of oblivion.
'In Kharms Way' presents a snapshot of this reality, animated and reconstructed by ... [read full article]
30 June 2002
To celebrate the release of the new LP - 'MISFITS'
4th July - SMALLFISH, LONDON
8pm, FREE, 372 Old Street, London, with support from Sola Adesina (no bar but, you can bring your own beer, etc.)
13th JULY - WORM INTERFACE FESTIVAL, KENT
details TBC
21st JULY - MISO, GLASGOW
doors open 6pm, 2, The basement @ The Captain's Rest, Great Western Road, Glasgow, near St. Georges Cross underground, limited places.
27th JULY - KOSMICHE, LONDON
doors open 8:30pm, 6/5, Upstairs ... [read full article]
