Ivy
Ivy is an indie-pop trio operating out of New York. They’ve been around since 1994, and have released only five proper albums since then. I was all about them for their first two records, 1995’s Realistic, and 1997’s Apartment Life. They put out a record in 2001 that I didn’t even know about, then went quiet for a couple of years. Another record that I didn’t know about in 2005. Because I didn’t know about those albums, and because I never heard anything about them after about 1998, I assumed that they were done. Then I sort of stumbled upon All Hours –an album that they released in 2011. I wondered if it was the same Ivy. The style is decidedly different. The new one is sort of disco-y while the first two records are really Euro-pop-oriented. Something more like some combination of The Cardigans and Autour de Lucie. I got that new album and I like it well enough, but I prefer the stuff from the first two records.
The band got off to a bit of a strange start. Singer Dominique Durand moved from Paris to New York in 1990. She met Andy Chase at a party. She told him that she didn’t like his band. A few years later, they were writing songs together, and they formed Ivy in 1994, with Adam Schlesinger (who also plays bass in Fountains of Wayne). A little later, Durand and Chase got married.
Here’s one of my favorite songs from Apartment Life
“Never Do That Again” by Ivy
I like that delay-laden electronic bit at the beginning, and the way that it slowly gives way to the acoustic guitar. It never completely goes away, but it backs way down in the mix, and it’s joined by so many other bits.
Around 2:15, there’s an electric guitar bit that’s really reminiscent of Galaxie 500. And there’s a really good reason for that. It’s Dean Wareham playing that bit. I think I had forgotten that tidbit until just now.
Since I have a ton of work left to do on my year-end list, I’ll have to leave it at that.
You can buy Apartment Life from the amazon store here.
this is that song 
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