The angular indie rock unit Chavez was led by singer/guitarist Matt Sweeney, the former frontman of New Jersey's Skunk. Following the group's demise, Sweeney joined the New York band Wider, which included onetime Live Skull drummer James Lo; when Wider dissolved in 1992, Sweeney began playing with ex-Bullet Lavolta guitarist Clay Tarver. Lo... [+] Read More

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The early-'90s New York trio Codeine is one of the founders of the slowcore scene that includes groups like Bedhead, American Analog Set, and Low. Taking audible inspiration from the third Velvet Underground album and scene pioneers Galaxie 500, but adding a more aggressive tone and slowing the tempos down even further, Codeine sounded almost... [+] Read More

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Arising from the Louisville math rock scene that also spawned Slint and Rodan, Crain's slow, post-hardcore grind bore some resemblance to the likes of Helmet and the Jesus Lizard. However, their intricate compositions and time signature shifts were firmly a product of the Louisville scene, and even influenced some of the local bands that... [+] Read More

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Melancholy instrumental trio Dirty Three formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1992, led by classically-trained violinist Warren Ellis, who began writing and performing music for art openings and plays and also tenured in the groups Blackeyed Susans, Paranoid and the Nursing Mothers. After enlisting Blackeyed Susans' guitarist Mick Turner and... [+] Read More

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Pittsburgh math rockers Don Caballero were one of the first bands to expand on the work of genre innovators like Bastro, **** Magnet, and (especially) Slint. Their music was entirely instrumental, and while their guitar interplay was as complex and dissonant as any of their peers, the real driving force behind their precisely calibrated attack... [+] Read More

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Following the sudden demise of Rodan, guitarist Jeff Mueller kept Louisville's math rock flame burning with his new band, June of 44. Following in the footsteps of Mueller's earlier band, as well as scene progenitors Slint, June of 44 crafted loud, dissonant, complex guitar rock as intellectual as it was forceful. However, they weren't merely... [+] Read More

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A seminal influence on the avant-garde wing of indie rock, Rodan were habitually likened to fellow Louisville natives and math rock pioneers Slint. And it was true that Slint were a crystal-clear influence on the group's loud, angular art-punk -- easily heard in the extreme dynamic shifts, deliberate tempos, lengthy compositions, and half-spoken... [+] Read More

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Smooth R&B singer Rome was born Jerome Woods in Benton Harbor, MI. Early on, he sang along with his mother's soul records (Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke) as well as in the local church choir. He joined an R&B cover band named Fire & Ice while in high school, and traveled around the region performing in local clubs and talent contests as a solo act and... [+] Read More

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Thrill Jockey instrumental duo Rome are, like many of the acts on the Chicago-based independent label, generally grouped in as loose adherents of "post-rock," a period-genre arising in the mid-'90s to refer to rock-based bands utilizing the instruments and structures of the music in a non-traditionalist or otherwise heavily mutated fashion.... [+] Read More

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Allied to the more organic, instrumental groovesters in the American post-rock scene led by Tortoise, Ui focuses on angular grooves provided by a dual-bass attack. The New York band was formed in 1990 by bassist Sasha Frere-Jones (formerly of the group Dolores and probably better known as a journalist than a musician) and drummer Clem Waldmann.... [+] Read More

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