Impossible Recording Machine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Impossible Recording Machine
Origin	United States
Genre(s)	Electronica, Ambient, Pop
Years active	1999–present
Label(s)	Positron! Records
Members
Matt Walker Jim Dinou

Impossible Recording Machine (IRM for short) is an American experimental pop band formed by Jim Dinou (vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar) and Matt Walker (vocals, guitar, bass, drums, programming). The duo had been working on and off together for nearly a decade before they were finally free from their earlier endaveours (Exo for Jim; Filter and The Smashing Pumpkins for Matt) to finally join forces and release their own music.

[edit] History

Impossible Recording Machine originally formed under the name Retina and released only one album: 1999's Batterie. The project resurfaced months later with a new name and a new sound, shifting from electro-industrial music to a more flowing mix of ambience, experimental music and pop music.

Their first release was to be a three-disc set titled Inertia . Acceleration . Interaction, with each disc being of a certain genre; Inertia (ambience), Acceleration (electronica/noise) and Interaction (pop). Their label, Positron! Records, suggested that this approach wasn't the wisest course of action. Their actual debut release, Axioms, has been called a "sampler record" by Matt and Jim, simply because there are five tracks from each of the genres mixed together to form an album.

Since Matt had toured with The Smashing Pumpkins and performed on several tracks from their Adore album, Billy Corgan generated some buzz by using the now-defunct Pumpkins website and having Zwan tour with IRM. In mid-2002, IRM announced that they were emptying their hard drives of older, unworkable material. The result was sonic debris, an "unofficial" release of thirty-eight tracks that fans could download and arrange into whatever compilation they desired. Some tracks were underdeveloped ideas later used on Axioms, while a handful of finished tracks sounded like they could have come straight from the abandoned Inertia . Acceleration . Interaction release; others still are merely short, unfinished studio creations.

After several live dates across the eastern United States and the release of Matt's solo album under the name Beautiful Assassins, IRM settled down in 2003 and started work on Echo The Moon, which they have called their "first true 'record'". Being perfectionists and knowing their cult fanbase, they released a preview track "Dark Side Of The Sun" on their website halfway through the recording process, only to state weeks later that the song had changed entirely (the final version appearing on the komposi002 compilation, as well as being re-named "The Darkest Sun".) Released mid-2004, Echo The Moon saw a more focused direction and powerful, emotive songwriting, along with a cover of Pink Floyd's "Fearless". A handful of their tracks have also appeared on Positron! Records' komposi compilations.