Adem
Encyclopedia
Adem Ilhan (ˈadem ˈilhan, ˈɑːdɛm ˈɪlhæn) is an English
musician of Turkish
descent from South London
, he is currently the bass guitarist in the post-rock
band Fridge
, alongside Kieran Hebden, and is part of the electronic duo Silver Columns
, with Johnny Lynch
.
His solo music is released under the name Adem, and is sometimes described as being part of the nu-folk
movement.
, appeared on Domino Records in 2004. Mixed by Hebden, the album found critical acclaim with limited commercial success. The album includes the song "Statued", which featured on the soundtrack of the film Dead Man's Shoes.
A second album, Love and Other Planets, was released on April 24, 2006 to generally favorable reviews.
In 2007 Ilhan released a collection of cover songs called Takes
. The album includes tracks originally written and performed by Yo La Tengo
, The Smashing Pumpkins
, Björk
, dEUS among others.
In 2008 Ilhan along with Jeremy Warmsley
& Mystery Jets
contributed the song "Grains of Sand" to the Survival International
charity album Songs for Survival
.
. In December 2006, Ilhan played a free concert in Barrhead Community Library
, commenting "I love libraries. [...] The existence of public libraries is one of my favourite achievements of human kind."
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
musician of Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
descent from South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
, he is currently the bass guitarist in the post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
band Fridge
Fridge (band)
Fridge are an English post-rock band, comprising school friends Kieran Hebden, Adem Ilhan, and Sam Jeffers. Initially Hebden played guitar, Ilhan bass, and Jeffers drums, but Hebden and Ilhan soon adopted a variety of other instruments, and by 1999's Eph the sampler was playing an increasingly...
, alongside Kieran Hebden, and is part of the electronic duo Silver Columns
Silver Columns
This music-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by [/w/index.php?stub&title=&action=edit expanding it].Silver Columns is the collaborative effort of Johnny Lynch, aka The Pictish Trail and Adem Ilhan, bassist in post-rock outfit Fridge.After releasing the singles "Brow Beaten"...
, with Johnny Lynch
The Pictish Trail
Johnny Lynch is a Scottish musician who performs under the stage name The Pictish Trail. Lynch runs Fence Records alongside Kenny Anderson.As of 2010 he also plays with Adem Ilhan in the band Silver Columns.-Early life:...
.
His solo music is released under the name Adem, and is sometimes described as being part of the nu-folk
Freak folk
Freak folk is a genre of folk music associated with contemporary artists such as Faun Fables, Animal Collective, Davenport, Devendra Banhart,CocoRosie, Panda Bear, Kelli Ali, Joanna Newsom, Bowerbirds, Woods, Greg Weeks, Hecuba, Akron/Family, Rio en Medio, Birdengine, Sufjan Stevens, Sean Hayes,...
movement.
Recording history
Ilhan's debut solo album, HomesongsHomesongs
Homesongs is the debut album by British singer/songwriter Adem Ilhan, who was previously best known for his work in the band Fridge with Kieran Hebden. It contains the singles "Ringing in My Ear" and "These Are Your Friends". The album's title alludes to the fact that the album was recorded...
, appeared on Domino Records in 2004. Mixed by Hebden, the album found critical acclaim with limited commercial success. The album includes the song "Statued", which featured on the soundtrack of the film Dead Man's Shoes.
A second album, Love and Other Planets, was released on April 24, 2006 to generally favorable reviews.
In 2007 Ilhan released a collection of cover songs called Takes
Takes
Takes is the third studio album by British singer/songwriter Adem. It is a covers album, consisting primarily of covers of 90s pop/alternative tracks.-Track listing:...
. The album includes tracks originally written and performed by Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...
, The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
, Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
, dEUS among others.
In 2008 Ilhan along with Jeremy Warmsley
Jeremy Warmsley
Jeremy Warmsley is a West London based singer-songwriter signed to Transgressive Records.-Biography:His musical style displays an electronica influenced approach to melodic pop songwriting, first heard on debut single 'I Believe In The Way You Move' , and further developed on his 'The Art Of...
& Mystery Jets
Mystery Jets
Mystery Jets are an English five-piece indie band, formerly based on Eel Pie Island in Twickenham, London. The band was formed by Henry Harrison , Blaine Harrison and William Rees when the boys were still at school and would send each other songs on cassettes...
contributed the song "Grains of Sand" to the Survival International
Survival International
Survival International is a human rights organisation formed in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of indigenous tribal peoples and uncontacted peoples, seeking to help them to determine their own future. Their campaigns generally focus on tribal peoples' fight to keep their ancestral lands,...
charity album Songs for Survival
Songs for Survival
Bruce Parry Presents Amazon - Tribe - Songs for Survival is a double album released by Kensaltown Records in support of a tribal peoples charity.-Background:...
.
Albums
- HomesongsHomesongsHomesongs is the debut album by British singer/songwriter Adem Ilhan, who was previously best known for his work in the band Fridge with Kieran Hebden. It contains the singles "Ringing in My Ear" and "These Are Your Friends". The album's title alludes to the fact that the album was recorded...
(29 March 2004) - Love and Other Planets (24 April 2006) UK #180
- TakesTakesTakes is the third studio album by British singer/songwriter Adem. It is a covers album, consisting primarily of covers of 90s pop/alternative tracks.-Track listing:...
(12 May 2008)
Singles
- "These Are Your Friends" (17 May 2004) (CD/10")
- "Ringing in My Ear" (13 September 2004) (CD/7")
- "Waves" (19 June 2006) (only as a download on iTunes 'Free Single of The Week')
- "Launch Yourself" (2007) (CD/7") UK #157
Other work
- Ilhan contributed a cover of Jeff BuckleyJeff BuckleyJeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
's "Mojo PinMojo Pin"Mojo Pin" is the first song on Jeff Buckley's 1994 album Grace. It was written by Jeff Buckley and Gary Lucas, and was first introduced on his EP, Live at Sin-é. Buckley stated that the song was about a dream of a black woman. Through a wash of bizarre images, the lyrics convey a feeling of...
" for the 2005 tribute album Dream Brother: The Songs of Tim and Jeff BuckleyDream Brother: The Songs of Tim and Jeff BuckleyDream Brother: The Songs of Tim and Jeff Buckley is a studio album performed by various artists in tribute to 1960s musician Tim Buckley, and his son, also a musician, Jeff Buckley...
. - Ilhan plays the bass and sings on English folk supergroup The Memory BandThe Memory BandThe Memory Band is an English folk group founded by Stephen Cracknell. The Memory Band has a rolling cast of collaborators from across the musical spectrum...
's 2006 album Apron Strings. - Ilhan is the founder and organiser of the Homefires Festival, which takes place at the Conway Hall in London, UK.
- Ilhan remixed the track "Welcome, Ghosts" for a special edition release of Explosions in the SkyExplosions in the SkyExplosions in the Sky is an American post-rock band from Texas. The band has garnered popularity beyond the post-rock scene for their elaborately developed guitar work, narratively styled instrumentals, what they refer to as "cathartic mini-symphonies," and their enthusiastic and emotional live shows...
's 2007 album All of a Sudden I Miss EveryoneAll of a Sudden I Miss EveryoneAll of a Sudden I Miss Everyone is the fifth studio album from American post-rock band Explosions in the Sky. It was released February 20, 2007.-Overview:...
. - Ilhan plays on Vashti BunyanVashti BunyanVashti Bunyan is an English singer-songwriter. In 1970, Bunyan released her first album, Just Another Diamond Day. The album sold very few copies, and Bunyan, discouraged, abandoned her musical career...
's 2006 album LookafteringLookafteringLookaftering is the second album by Vashti Bunyan, the much-delayed follow-up to 1970's Just Another Diamond Day, released in 2005 on Fat Cat Records.-Track listing:All songs by Vashti Bunyan.# "Lately" – 2:21# "Here Before" – 2:05... - Ilhan sang a cover of Johnny Cash's "I Walk the LineI Walk the Line"I Walk the Line" is a song written by Johnny Cash and recorded in 1956. It was performed with the help of Marshall Grant and Luther Perkins, two mechanics that his brother introduced him to following his discharge from the Air Force. Cash and his wife, Vivian, were living in Memphis, Tennessee,...
" for a 2006 Levi's "Slim Straight" Jeans commercial. - Vocals by Ilhan are featured on two tracks from the Emma PollockEmma PollockEmma Pollock is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and guitarist.-Early life:Pollock studied Physics at the University of Strathclyde and later Archaeology at the University of Liverpool...
album, The Law of Large Numbers; Letters To Strangers and Chemistry Will Find Me. - Adem mastered the single version of "You Only Went Out to Get Drunk Last Night" by Kid CanaveralKid CanaveralKid Canaveral is an indie pop band that formed in St Andrews in Fife, Scotland, but are now based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Since 2007 the band have released a number of well received singles, an E.P. and an album on their own label, Straight to Video Records, and in 2011 they signed with Scottish...
released in May 2010. - He collaborated with LauLau (band)Lau is a contemporary folk three-piece from Scotland, named after an Orcadian word meaning "natural light." The band is composed of Kris Drever , Martin Green and Aidan O’Rourke . To date, the band has released two studio albums and a live album.Their debut album, Lightweights and Gentlemen, was...
on the EP Ghosts (credited to Lau vs Adem, 2011).
Personal life
Ilhan attended the University of WarwickUniversity of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
. In December 2006, Ilhan played a free concert in Barrhead Community Library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, commenting "I love libraries. [...] The existence of public libraries is one of my favourite achievements of human kind."