“New York resident Ilia Bis and his sadness-tinged songs is the best thing that happened to Russian electronic music this year.”
- Afisha, Dec 2005 (“The Year's Resumé”) see original article on-line
)
"Tonearm is the stage name of Ilia Bis, a refugee from academia (he did graduate work in sound analysis and synthesis at the University of Chicago) who was born in Russia and grew up in Moscow. Tonearm mixes computer technology with rock-solid songwriting. There's a little bit of Syd Barrett, a little bit of John Lennon, and whole lot of heartrending loneliness in his work."
- The New Yorker, April 2006
- Rolling Stone RU , September 2006
)
“Tonearm ... who, like Matthew Herbert is predisposed against surrogate
samples, writes with passion and precision. Such tenderness used to be
Patrick Wolf's territory; such lively and well-built ballads are
overdue from places like Morr. Tonearm – a mathematician by way of music –
is a hero in his native land, at least for the Summer, until New York
reclaims him.”
- Gregory
Goldenzweig, Afisha, Aug 2005 see
original article on-line
)
“Tonearm ... feels equally at ease in a purely electronic environment
and in a dark foggy world of a Radiohead aesthetic. His output is varied
and eclectic; for a full impact, try to attend more than one of his
shows.”
- Commersant, July
2005, Leisure & Entertainment, Dec 2005
)
“Original songwriting, a beautiful, distinctive voice, ingenious
arrangements and thoughtful lyrics – all this sets Tonearm's aesthetic
vision apart from a pleiad of similarly inclined
artists.”
- Downtown, July 2005
)
- Time Out Moscow, Oct 2005
)
- Time Out New York , Aug 2006
“Tonearm -- a one-man band/concept, where live vocals and guitar are
diligently recotextualized by real-time computer processing. What you get
are incredibly melodic and touching songs, as if rearranged for a choir
of electronic machines.”
- “The
Face”, Sept 2005
)
“Ilia's expressive music manages to balance pure rock'n'roll with
out-of-this-world research in form and sound
design.”
- Your Leisure,
Aug 2005 see original article on-line
)
“This is a hard-to-describe mix of tender electronica and polytonal
IDM, with strong melodies and an aesthetic akin to that of Radiohead.
Whatever little time he spends in his hometown these days, it certainly
brings him his share of
admirers.”
- Leisure and
Entertainment, Sept 2005
)