Ida

by Jason Ankeny
Indie folk-pop band Ida formed in New York in 1992 around the core duo of singers/guitarists Daniel Littleton and Elizabeth Mitchell. Littleton emerged in 1985 as a member of the Annapolis, MA-based punk group the Hated; after their 1989 demise, he continued in a series of bands including Three Shades of Dirty, Choke and Slack, which also featured future Tsunami frontwoman Jenny Toomey. Mitchell, meanwhile, first began performing as one half of an acoustic duo with singer/songwriter (and fellow Brown University alum) Lisa Loeb; both Mitchell and Littleton later played on Loebs breakthrough hit Stay. After signing to Toomeys Simple Machines label, Ida debuted in 1994 with Tales of Brave Ida, a luminous collection of languid, minimalist pop songs; following the addition of Littletons brother Michael (formerly of Baltimores Hassassins) on drums, they returned in 1996 with the stunning I Know About You. The addition of Beekeeper bassist Karla Schickele preceded 1997s brilliant Ten Small Paces; the same lineup resurfaced a year later with an EP, Losing True. While a member of Ida, Dan Littleton also played in Liquorice with Toomey and His Name Is Alives Trey Many; he and Mitchell were wed in late 1999, shortly after brother Michaels exit from the group. Following an ill-fated major label stay at Capitol, Ida finally released the full-length Will You Find Me on the Tiger Style imprint in the summer of 2000. A year later, the group returned with The Braille Night. The remix album Shhh.... was Idas only full-length release until 2005, when Polyvinyl issued Heart Like a River.