Being the solo work of Koji Nakamura, ex-frontman of the highly popular and influential indie-rock/shoegaze/electro band Supercar, it's perhaps understandable (if not inevitable) to want to compare the music of iLL to that of Supercar. This isn't helped by the fact that they are, in many ways, very similar. Similar enough to say with confidence that if you like one, you'll like the other.
Two of the largest missing pieces from the Supercar puzzle are bassist and vocalist Miki Furukawa, who brought the female voice to the Supercar equation and the more electronic slant that Supercar adopted later in their career (see Highvision.) iLL keeps the quiet and muzzy shoegaze vibe though, as well as the morose tone of Nakamura's own vocal delivery.
While Nyantora, another of Nakamura project, is almost 100% ambient electronic, iLL is rooted in rock, albeit very spaced out and simplified. Many of the songs are very repetitive and almost drone-like, though far from atonal. They often work themselves into a trance-like state with a wall of reverberant guitars and crashing drums. Again much like Supercar, the electronic elements are kept to a minimum, but when used are rather organic and raw.
iLL's output has greatly increased as of late, with two full length albums released in 2008. While many fans are still mourning the passing of Supercar, the can at least console themselves knowing that its shattered pieces are still spreading their own light into the music world.
Live
Official Site
MySpace
Releases:
ROCK ALBUM - 2008/08
Dead Wonderland - 2008/03
Sound by iLL - 2006/05
Flying Saucer
iLL TV 1
iLL TV 2
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