Iqu – Sun Q
Sonic Boom Records CD, 2004
Honestly, I don’t even know how I came to own this CD. Last week, when I was in the midst of cleaning out my studio – the process of which itself was a horror show of Grand Guignol proportions – I uncovered this CD on my desk and noticed that I hadn’t entered it into the database where I keep tabs on *everything*. I don’t remember buying it, or getting it in the mail, or receiving a promo. Hmmm. Maybe I hated it and wanted to get ridf of it? I put it aside to listen to it some time…
Today, I took it in the truck and listened on the way to work. Very fun. Honestly, I was surprised at how much fun I was having. I was dancing behind the wheel at red lights. I never do that. Well, maybe not never… Anyway… fun being fun and all fun aside, about halfway through it, I had a Screamer-Of-The-Day, This Is Fucking Brilliant moment. I’ll explain shortly.
IQU (pronounced ee-koo) is a Seattle-based electronic duo who make the old sound new again. On Sun Q, the second full-length from Japanese-American multi-instrumentalists Kento Oiwa and Michiko Swiggs, the duo jettison the improvisational vibe (and prominent stand-up bass) of their rough-hewn 1998 K Records debut, Chotto Matte a Moment!, in favor of tighter song structures, administering juicy timbres and melodic hooks in doses generous enough to captivate even the shortest attention spans. The band is versatile enough to cover a wide array of styles transparently. The flirtatious electro-disco single “Dirty Boy”, one of the three tracks featured here, makes the catchiest use of a guitar talkbox since Frampton Comes Alive! — think Panacea covering Julie London’s “Daddy” with rapid-fire scratching by guest DJ Suspence and goofy children’s-record samples sprinkled on top. Or better, Think Pink, only it’s a much better party. The breezy, samba-cum-JPop romance of Sun Q, with its smirking tongue-in-cheek title just glide over some pretty intense lyrics. And in Owia’s hands, the theremin sounds less like a holdover from a ’50s sci-fi B-film and more like a wailing, operatic diva – the Screamer Moment I was talking about. He uses it to great effect on an instrumental interpretation of Minnie Ripperton’s 1974 R&B hit “Loving You,” replacing those sweeping glissando vocals appropriately enough with his amazing theremin performance. For those who cherished the globetrotting, cartoon club pop of Towa Tei-era Deee-Lite and enjoyed the abstractions of German electronica innovators Mouse on Mars, Sun Q offers the perfect marriage between the two.
IQU describe their music as “Bento Box Pop”, and it has been featured in the films “Everything’s Cool”, and “Another Gay Movie”. I’ve featured three tracks here on Jukebox Heart, but you can listen to the entire album on the band’s website.
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Listen here:
IQU – Dirty Boy
5.08 MB | 5:32
[audio:http://www.jukeboxheart.com/screamers/iqu/dirtyboy.mp3]
IQU – Sun Q
5.03 MB | 5:40
[audio:http://www.jukeboxheart.com/screamers/iqu/sunq.mp3]
IQU – Loving You
3.93 MB | 4:17
[audio:http://www.jukeboxheart.com/screamers/iqu/lovingyou.mp3]