Evoking the nightmare world of childhood trauma with insight, humor and surprising heart, the duo of ex-Landlords members Mr. Anus (guitarist Charlie Kramer) and Mr. Horribly-Charred Infant (vocalist John Beers) teamed as the Happy Flowers in their native Charlottesville, Virginia in 1983. They debuted the following summer with a pair of EPs,... [+] Read More

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The progressive-rock genre spawned many groups who became top-grossing arena acts -- Pink Floyd and Genesis are two -- as well as many who progressed right into obscurity. Henry Cow was one of the best-known and most widely traveled English bands of the progressive era (though only a cult-favorite in the U.S.), and their music has aged amazingly... [+] Read More

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When the Velvet Underground was America's most admired avant-garde rock band, it was easy to imagine solo success for principal songwriter Lou Reed and enigmatic Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, but no one could have predicted that some of the best solo recordings from a former member of this seminal band would come from drummer Maureen... [+] Read More

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Prior to Nirvana, alternative music was consigned to specialty sections of record stores and major labels considered it to be, at the very most, a tax write-off. After the band's second album, 1991's Nevermind, nothing was ever quite the same, for better and for worse. Nirvana popularized punk, post-punk, and indie rock, unintentionally bringing... [+] Read More

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Homemade freak/noise/outsider/prov "R0wq--un--Rawlllll," "nifi" (pronounced NEE-fee), "wuzz" (pronounced wooz like the "oo" in "book") anti-musician influenced by Half Japanese, the Stooges, Joe Meek, Lou Christie, Jandek, P ussy Galore, Harry P ussy, The Gerogerigegege, electric eels, Del Shannon, Guided by Voices, Suicide, ABBA, Ariel Pink's... [+] Read More

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Robyn Hitchcock is one of England's most enduring contemporary singer/songwriters and live performers, although he's been branded eccentric and quirky during the course of his long career. Hitchcock started his recording career with the Soft Boys, a punk-era band specializing in melodic pop merged with comedic lyrics. His voice veers between... [+] Read More

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Sonic Youth was one of the most unlikely success stories of underground American rock in the '80s. Where contemporaries R.E.M. and Hüsker Dü were fairly conventional in terms of song structure and melody, Sonic Youth began their career by abandoning any pretense of traditional rock & roll conventions. Borrowing heavily from the free-form noise... [+] Read More

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Noisy and experimental, Britain's Swell Maps experienced little commercial success during the course of their chaotic career, but in hindsight they stand as one of the pivotal acts of the new wave: not only was the group an acknowedged inspiration to the likes of Sonic Youth and Pavement, but their alumni -- most notably brothers Nikki Sudden... [+] Read More

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Conjuring a fiendish witches' brew of primal rockabilly, grease-stained '60s garage rock, vintage monster movies, perverse and glistening sex, and the detritus and effluvia of 50 years of American pop culture, the Cramps are a truly American creation much in the manner of the Cadillac, the White Castle hamburger, the Fender Stratocaster, and... [+] Read More

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Out of all the late-'70s punk and post-punk bands, none were longer-lived or were more prolific than the Fall. Throughout their career, the band underwent a myriad of lineup changes, but at the center of it all was vocalist Mark E. Smith. With his snarling, nearly incomprehensible vocals and consuming bitter cynicism, Smith became a cult legend... [+] Read More

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Of the countless bands to emerge from the New York City underground during the post-punk era, few if any were as unique and influential as the Feelies; nerdy, nervous, and noisy, even decades later their droning, skittering avant-garde pop remains a key touchstone of the American indie music scene. Named in reference to Aldous Huxley's paranoid... [+] Read More

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