Singer/songwriter Beth Orton combined the passionate beauty of the acoustic folk tradition with the electronic beats of trip-hop to create a fresh, distinct fusion of roots and rhythm. Born in Norwich, England in December 1970, Orton debuted as one half of the duo Spill, a one-off project with William Orbit which released a cover of John... [+] Read More

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One of the most distinctive and celebrated producers of his time, Daniel Lanois was also a gifted composer and solo artist; whether performing his own material or helming records for the likes of U2, Bob Dylan and Peter Gabriel, the hallmarks of his singular aesthetic remained the same -- noted for his unparalleled atmospheric sensibilities,... [+] Read More

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Lisa Cerbone's early attempts at playing a musical instrument were furtive efforts. As a teenager, she would wait until the members of her little brother's band left their practice area, then creep in to have a go at the instruments they had left behind. Stymied when she tried to play songs written by others, she proceeded to write her own. She... [+] Read More

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Lisa Germano is one of those artists who's never belonged to one core crowd. Doing the big rock thing wasn't important to her, although time spent playing with John Mellencamp in the late '80s and early '90s opened her eyes to the ever-changing ways of the music business. Germano worked her craft without becoming a conformist; music is her soul... [+] Read More

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Growing out of the American underground of the late '80s, Liz Phair fused lo-fi indie rock production techniques and styles with the sensibility and structure of classic singer/songwriters. Exile in Guyville, Phair's debut album, was enthusiastically praised upon its 1993 release and spawned a rash of imitators, particularly American female... [+] Read More

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Formed in Duluth, Minnesota in 1994, Low was perhaps the slowest of the so-called "slowcore" bands -- delicate, austere, and hypnotic, the trio's music rarely rose above a whisper, divining its dramatic tension in the unsettling open spaces created by the absence of sound. Initially comprising the husband and wife team of guitarist/vocalist Alan... [+] Read More

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Born 29 years ago in Alabama, the ethereal-voiced Maria Taylor won over her first fans at age 15 as part of the Birmingham duo Little Red Rocket, a pop/rock group that brought comparisons to Belly. When that outfit, which issued two CDs -- 1997's Who Did You Pay and 2000's It's in the Sound -- disbanded after getting lost in the shuffle that was... [+] Read More

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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

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Penelope Houston is one of the most shocking reincarnations from the original punk era. She was the lead singer of the San Francisco band the Avengers, one of the very first full-out American punk acts, opening for the Sex Pistols on the last show of their legendary U.S. tour. After the group broke up in 1979, Houston worked for a time with... [+] Read More

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Like Lori Carson, Stina Nordenstam has spent a fair amount of her career shedding comparisons to Rickie Lee Jones. Though a little similar, the majority of Nordenstam's work is more fragile -- delicate enough to be knocked over by the slightest of breezes. Since the early '90s, Nordenstam has developed a highly intimate, childlike sound that has... [+] Read More

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Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos) was one of several female singer/songwriters who combined the stark lyrical attack of alternative rock with a distinctly '70s musical approach. Her music falls between the orchestrated meditations of Kate Bush and the stripped-down poetics of Joni Mitchell. In addition to reviving the singer/songwriter traditions... [+] Read More

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