Shortly after the release of their debut Tales of Brave Ida, Daniel's brother Michael "Miggy" Littleton joined the band as a drummer and multi-instrumentalist.
CMJ praised it as "subtle, gentle and picturesque", Alternative Press gave it five stars, their highest rating, Pitchfork wrote "…Incredible Stuff".
Their performances with violinist Ida Pearle, cellist Elaine Ahn, and clarinetist Sue Havens gave them a distinct and complex "chamber pop" sound.
Violinist Jean Cook (Jon Langford, The Waco Brothers) joined the band at this time, followed by drummer Ruth Keating.
Recorded simultaneously with Lovers Prayers, a collaboration with outsider folk legend Michael Hurley led to 2009's Ida Con Snock which was released on Gnomonsong, Devendra Banhart and Andy Cabic's label.
[6] They have toured, collaborated, or played shows with many bands and artists such as Low, His Name Is Alive, Levon Helm, Michael Hurley, Tara Jane O'Neil, Bernie Worrell, Rachel's, Karate, Retsin, Beekeeper, Mates of State, Elliott Smith, Bob Mould, Cat Power, Death Cab for Cutie, The Magnetic Fields, The Secret Stars, The Holmes Brothers, Broadcast, Mark Eitzel, Steve Malkmus and many others.
Mountain Ocean Sun, a "free drone" music collective also released a CD on Home Normal in 2010 called Peace Conference.
Littleton's music has been featured in the films of Angel Velasco Shaw, notably Umbilical Cord which was shown at The Guggenheim, and 2008's The Momentary Enemy.
Her album You Are My Little Bird was a critical success and led to her being featured on NPR's All Things Considered, where she was interviewed by Melissa Block.
[13] Mitchell has also appeared as a vocalist and instrumentalist on recordings by His Name Is Alive, Retsin, Tara Jane O'Neil, Sasha Frere-Jones with Tom Ze, The Sands, Ted Leo, and Saturday Looks Good To Me.
[14] Mitchell and Littleton backed Lisa Loeb on her song "Stay (I Missed You)"[citation needed] which was a number-one hit in 1994 and appeared on the soundtrack for the film Reality Bites.
[15] Jean Cook, violinist for Ida, also performs with Jon Langford, The Mekons, The Waco Brothers, Elizabeth Mitchell (musician), His Name Is Alive, the Art Ensemble of Chicago,[16] and Mountain Ocean Sun.
[18] Ruth Keating drummer and multi instrumentalist, along with Karla Schickele, is a founding member of The Willie Mae Rock and Roll Camp For Girls.