As much a performance art troupe as a band, Bongwater was the brainchild of guitarist (Mark) Kramer -- chief of the Shimmy-Disc label and a former member of Shockabilly -- and actress Ann Magnuson, best known to mainstream audiences for her role in the ABC sitcom Anything But Love as well as the feature film Making Mr. Right. Kramer and Magnuson... [+] Read More

Yes No

A collective of psychedelic-minded Japanese musicians headed by guitarist Masaki Batoh, Ghost records commune-minded free-range psychedelia with equal debts to the Can/Amon Düül axis of Krautrock, as well as West Coast psych units like Blue Cheer and Jefferson Airplane. Batoh grew up in Kyoto, where he attended a private school well-geared to... [+] Read More

Yes No

Named after history class notes on Abraham Lincoln, the Livonia, MI-based sonic manipulators His Name Is Alive formed when multi-instrumentalist/producer Warren Defever (also of shockabilly group Elvis Hitler) was still in high school. Defever, former schoolmate Karin Oliver (vocals), and drummer Damian Lang released self-produced cassettes of... [+] Read More

Yes No

Indie folk-pop band Ida formed in New York in 1992 around the core duo of singers/guitarists Daniel Littleton and Elizabeth Mitchell. Littleton emerged in 1985 as a member of the Annapolis, MA-based punk group the Hated; after their 1989 demise, he continued in a series of bands including Three Shades of Dirty, Choke and Slack, which also... [+] Read More

Yes No

In the wake of the rather acrimonious breakup of his previous band, Galaxie 500, singer/guitarist Dean Wareham issued a 1991 solo EP, Anesthesia, and appeared on the brilliant Mercury Rev single "Car Wash Hair" before announcing the formation of a new band, dubbed Luna, in 1992. Originally named Luna 2, the trio was a kind of alternative pop... [+] Read More

Yes No

If psychedelic music had a voice in '90s post-punk, Mazzy Star may have been its strongest reincarnation. That doesn't necessarily mean that fans of the Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead will find the band to their liking, however. Mazzy Star much prefered the dark side of psychedelia, as exemplified by the most distended tracks of the... [+] Read More

Yes No

Combining a romantic dreaminess with a massive array of instruments, occasionally heavy guitars, and fragile pop melodies, the Japanese folk-psych band Nagisa Ni Te (On the Beach) is among the most innovative and eclectic groups of the late '90s. Consisting of multi-instrumentalist Shinjii Shibayama, and his partner and musical inspiration... [+] Read More

Yes No

The neo-psychedelic group Opal formed in the mid-'80s, featuring former Rain Parade guitarist David Roback and former Dream Syndicate bassist Kendra Smith. Initially, the group was called Clay Allison, but the group dropped the name after one single; Roback, Smith, and drummer Keith Mitchell released the remaining Clay Allison tracks under their... [+] Read More

Yes No

A leading light of the Michigan space-rock scene, the Dearborn-based duo Windy and Carl comprised guitarist Carl Hultgren and bassist Windy Weber. Hultgren first began recording instrumental guitar-drone pieces in 1992, self-releasing a cassette, Portal, before teaming with Weber; by the end of 1993 they issued a single, "Watersong," on their... [+] Read More

Yes No

Yo La Tengo was in many respects the quintessential critics' band: in addition to its adventurous eclecticism, defiant independence, and restless creative ambition -- three qualities that virtually guarantee music press acclaim -- the group's frontman, Ira Kaplan, even tenured as a rock scribe prior to finding success as a performer. So... [+] Read More

Yes No