Bardo Pond was the flagship band of Philly's "Psychedelphia" space rock movement, which also included the likes of Aspera, Asteroid No. 4, the Azusa Plane, and tangentially the Lilys. Explicitly drug-inspired -- their titles were filled with obscure references to psychedelics -- they favored lengthy, deliberate sound explorations filled with all... [+] Read More

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Possessed of one of the coolest names around -- actually a Greek surname -- Texas' Charalambides made a number through the '90s and beyond for their many recordings exploring a haunting, psychedelic-informed brand of exploratory electric guitar instrumentals. Husband-and-wife team Tom and Christina Carter -- the former a veteran of the Mike Gunn... [+] Read More

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Shunning the burgeoning alternative rock movement, Cul de Sac intertwined elements of surf rock, Krautrock, Middle Eastern trance and folk music, post-rock psychedelia, and avant-garde to create a unique blend that garnered immediate critical attention. Formed in the early '90s by guitarist Glenn Jones, multi-instrumentalist Robin Amos, formerly... [+] Read More

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Experimental Audio Research -- E.A.R. for short -- was a loosely affiliated assembly of performers primarily spearheaded by Spectrum frontman Sonic Boom; from time to time, the group also included, among others, My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields, God's Kevin Martin, and AMM's Eddie Prevost. As a revolving exercise in guitar-based noise, each... [+] Read More

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Despite the group's rather complicated history and numerous manifestations, HiM is largely the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Doug Scharin. A member of the rich Midwest indie scene, Scharin began HiM as a side project during downtime from his various day jobs (including membership in Codeine, Rex, and June of 44). HiM's music is... [+] Read More

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Experimental guitarist Roy Montgomery was born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand, forming his first band, the teen garage combo the Psychedeliks, in 1971. After serving out the remainder of the decade in similarly obscure outfits including Compulsory Fun and Murder Strikes Pink, in late 1980 he co-founded the seminal Kiwi post-punk trio... [+] Read More

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Spectrum was the most high-profile and straightforward of the projects undertaken by Pete "Sonic Boom" Kember after the demise of the trance-rock avatars Spacemen 3. As his work as a member of the Experimental Audio Research coterie allowed Kember the opportunity to explore ambient textures and tonal constructs, Spectrum satisfied the... [+] Read More

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Formed from the ashes of the trance-rockers Spacemen 3, singer/guitarist Jason Pierce's group Spiritualized did not break away from his prior band's trademark hypnotic minimalism; instead, they perfected it. Drawing on the continued influence of the Velvet Underground, La Monte Young, and Steve Reich, Spiritualized staked out a common ground... [+] Read More

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Tortoise revolutionized American indie rock in the mid-'90s by playing down tried-and-true punk and rock & roll influences, emphasizing instead the incorporation of a variety of left-field music genres from the past 20 years, including Krautrock, dub, avant-garde jazz, classical minimalism, ambient and space music, film music, and British... [+] Read More

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