Mono

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Mono (UK band)

Mono was a British electronic music duo which had a hit in the late 1990s with their song "Life in Mono". The group's music is often described as trip hop, based on its similarities to contemporary electronic music acts including Sneaker Pimps and Portishead. Audible, and frequently cited, influences in Mono's songs include jazzy instrumentation reminiscent of 1960s spy film soundtracks and production styles rooted in 1960s pop music.

History

The band, formed in late 1996 in London, consisted of singer Siobhan de Maré and Martin Virgo on keyboards, synthesizer programming, and production. Virgo, trained in classical piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, had been working as a session musician since the early 1990s as part of the production team of Nellee Hooper, which led to credits on a remix of Massive Attack's "Unfinished Sympathy" (considered one of the landmark songs of trip hop's "Bristol sound") and Björk's 1993 album Debut. De Maré comes from a family with several generations of history in entertainment; her father was Tony Meehan, drummer for the Shadows, her grandfather was one of the Gongmen featured in the opening logo sequences in Rank Organisation films, and her grandmother was a dancer who worked with Shirley Bassey. She had been working as a session singer for hip hop and R&B musicians, as well as writing and touring, though much of this material consisted of underground and white label releases.

Mono (The Icarus Line album)

Mono was the first album from The Icarus Line. It was originally released May 8, 2001 in the U.S. by Crank! Records on CD, and Buddyhead on LP.

The album was recorded throughout two separate sessions in 2000. The first of these were conducted at the studio "Rotund Rascal" on Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood. This initial attempt at recording the entire album with Mark Trombino as engineer, ultimately resulted in only the completion of drums, bass, Alvin's guitars, and about half of Aaron's guitar tracks. In a bold move, the band fired Trombino, and resumed work over a month later with Alex Newport at Messenger's Studio in North Hollywood, also on Lankershim Blvd. Having recorded albums such as At The Drive-In's before at this same studio, Newport was comfortable in moving very quickly there with the band. The album, being recorded onto tape, as opposed to Pro Tools (as was customary for most bands of the time) resulted in the majority of the album being "first takes". The album was also mixed quickly by the band with Newport at Messenger's Studio. It was then mastered by Mark Chalecki in the Capitol Records building.