Ilium

A fleeting teenage trio hailing from Chicago, Ilium fused the intricate math-rock textures of the city’s late-nineties avant scene with a melodic sweetness reminiscent of the Canterbury progressive groups of the 1970s. Although their pair of EPs offered little in the way of musical innovation, both remain highly approachable and reward repeated plays.

Taking its name from the invented locale of Kurt Vonnegut’s debut novel, Player Piano—a stand-in for the author’s then-residence in Ithaca, New York—the band was fronted by guitarist James Hughes alongside bassist Thomas J. Quinn and drummer Christopher Robert. While still in high school, Hughes assembled the group under the combined sway of the Tortoise/Gastr del Sol/Sea and Cake wing of Chicago experimental rock, Kraftwerk’s groove-centered minimalism, and the electronica-focused roster of Hefty Records, the imprint launched by his older sibling John Hughes III. The Hughes brothers are, in turn, the sons of filmmaker John Hughes, whose string of 1980s hits defined an era. Less than a year after forming, the three-piece joined the Hefty roster and issued the Plexiglass Cube EP, five untitled instrumentals recorded under the guidance of Chicago stalwart Bob Weston. A second release, the six-track Paint by Numbers EP, arrived in 1999, yet the band dissolved soon afterward once academic commitments took priority.