ROCKWiRED READER'S POLL AWARD NOMiNEES CiAM GiVE THEiR DEBUT CD 'ANONYMOUS' THE RELEASE iT DESERVES

WRiTTEN BY BRiAN LUSH

In the summer of 2008, art-rockers CIAM generated quite a buzz with their debut release 'ANONYMOUS'. The bands cold electronic sound, punctuated by HADAR GOLDMAN's distorted electric violin and singer/guitarist JEFF SHAPIRO's near-robotic vocals was both captivating and unnerving, yet something was amiss. For a band that prides itself on it's visual presentation for live shows, it seemed as if the album 'ANONYMOUS' was only part of the story. "We're trying to do something that excites different senses and represents a creative atmosphere and a backdrop for our music or perhaps the other way around." said JEFF SHAPIRO back in July of 2008 "So it's more than just sitting down and writing a songs and putting chords together for it."

Curiously, 'ANONYMOUS is being re-released through SOMETHING TO LISTEN TO RECORDS. Aside from wider distribution, the re-release also comes with a DVD containing film clips and artwork. Finally, sound and vision have merged for CIAM and front man JEFF SHAPIRO is pleased with the package. "This is the proper release." says SHAPIRO " We are now on our producer JOHN FRYER's  label. You may know him from his days doing work for COCTEAU TWINS and NINE INCH NAILS. He's got a small label and he's got four bands at the moment. He recently got a distribution deal for his label in the States and it has given us the opportunity to release the album properly over here. The first time we released the album it was more of a promo thing. We had been working on films for a year and some of these films are part of our live shows. When it came to releasing the album properly, we thought that we'd like to include the visuals along with the music and to give people an idea of where we are coming from and what we are all about. We've paired this release with a second CD which has got some of the films and some other artwork. It'll be out in the States around March."

While 'ANONYMOUS' is getting a second round of buzz with it's latest pressing, CIAM is setting their sights on the future. "We're working on the next album at the moment. We're sort of halfway through it."

What can be expected from CIAM the second time around? SHAPIRO can only drop small hints."It's more energetic. We're kind of dark and atmospheric as you may know, but with this forthcoming project, I think the band is moving in a slightly different direction. We're not doing any covers to be honest with you. At the moment we've got twenty potential songs to choose from."