Showing 1 - 25 of 44
Artist: Cardboard Brains
The rock group the Cardboard Brains formed in Toronto, Canada, in 1977. Original members were keyboardist and singer John Paul Young, guitarist and singer Vincent Carlucci, bassist and singer Patrick Gregory, and drummer Mickel Keena. After a couple of years, both Gregory and Keena left the band. Drummer Dave Richardson and bassist John Thomas... [+] Read More
Artist: Rubber O Cement
Rubber O Cement was a spin-off of Bay Area avant-gardists Caroliner (aka Caroliner Rainbow), whose severely warped Americana bore a faint resemblance to the severely warped electronic noise of its offspring. Normally a trio led by enigmatic Caroliner frontman Grux (who founded the group during Caroliner's late-'90s hiatus), Rubber O Cement was... [+] Read More
Artist: Steven Lewis
This graphic artist, not to be confused with the photographer of the same name, has been tastefully involved with the reissue market since the late '90s. His mode of folding together vintage photography of the subjects involved with classy layout design is as warm and inviting as one of those cardboard gospel or mariachi placards that get... [+] Read More
Artist: Pedal Steel Transmission
Forming around the songwriting team of guitarists Dan Schneider and Gary Pyskacek and their mutual love of Hank Williams, the Beatles, and psychedelic rock, Pedal Steel Transmission first took flight in Chicago in 1997. Adding bassist Bryan d'Ouville, the trio used various drummers in the recording of 2000's That Ain't Right. A somewhat uneven... [+] Read More
Artist: Kustard Kings
The Kustard Kings are the brainchild of Dave Terhune, a multi-instrumentalist and singer that has been a regular in the New York club scene for years. The band first came about in 1992 as a variation on the classic instrumentalists of the '60s. He recruited bassist Joe Katz, organist Joe McGinty, guitarist Kris Woolsey, and drummer Clem Waldmann... [+] Read More
Artist: O.S.T.
O.S.T. (Original Soundtrack, as well as a few other, less printable pseudos) is the one-man ambient/experimental electro project of DJ/producer Chris Douglass. A native of Edinburgh, Douglass left Scotland at the age of ten for San Francisco, where he's lived ever since. Raised on a heaping diet of John Coltrane and Max Roach (his mother is a... [+] Read More
Artist: Lazy Lester
His colorful sobriquet (supplied by prolific south Louisiana producer J.D. Miller) to the contrary, harpist Lazy Lester swears he never was all that lethargic. But he seldom was in much of a hurry either, although the relentless pace of his Excello Records swamp blues classics "I'm a Lover Not a Fighter" and "I Hear You Knockin'" might... [+] Read More
Artist: Twink
A mainstay of the British psychedelic movement, singer/drummer Twink was born John Alder, first surfacing in 1963 as a member of the Colchester-based Dane Stephens and the Deep Beats; when the group signed to Decca the following year, they adopted the name the Fairies. Rechristened Twink, Alder turned up in 1967 as a member of the seminal UK... [+] Read More
Artist: Michael Grogan
There are bands such as the Phoenix blues duo Doo Rag that actually play a cardboard box, but in Irish music when someone is called a box player, it means he or she plays the button accordion, also known as the box accordion. This Dublin recording artist's playing represents a major step in the development of the Irish box style. If he is a much... [+] Read More
Artist: Bigdumbface
When he's not wearing skeleton face makeup alongside Fred Durst in the more-macho-than-thou Limp Bizkit, Wes Borland tends to prefer a more subdued, playful brand of music. Big Dumb Face, which consists of him, his brother, and a group of pre-Limp Bizkit friends, reveals this softer, geekier side. And, because Limp Bizkit has been one of the... [+] Read More
Artist: A Kite is a Victim
The Florida-based soft rock band A Kite Is a Victim -- sometimes called AKIAV by fans -- spent years playing at local clubs, coffeehouses, and any other place they could land a gig. The group is known to show up dressed all in black, their music often quiet, soft, and even sad. Members are acoustic guitarist, songwriter, and singer Al Galvez;... [+] Read More
Artist: Frabjoy & the Runcible Spoon
Named in whimsical tribute to Simon and Garfunkel, Frabjoy and the Runcible Spoon comprised Kevin Godley, a former member of Graham Gouldman's Mockingbirds, and Lol Crème, once Godley's bandmate in the early-'60s group the Sabres.
Since that time, the pair had studied for diplomas in graphic design; together they designed the cardboard models... [+] Read More
Artist: Last Conservative
Initially calling themselves the Conservatives, this Buffalo group formed in 1997 and performed in and around the Buffalo area. After releasing several cassettes and EPs in early 1998, Last Conservative released their first single, "Cardboard Soul," on the Mary's Lounge Records compilation MLR-1. This was followed in early 1999 with the second... [+] Read More
Artist: Parts & Labor
Brooklyn's Parts & Labor create a boisterous delivery of electric guitars, sparse electronics, and rackety vocals. The experimental/noise rock collective came together in 2002 with keyboardist Dan Friel and bassist B.J. Warshaw. Friel and Warshaw originally met three years prior while the two were working at the Knitting Factory. Both had... [+] Read More
Artist: Laura Lee Perkins
Touted in the trade press as "the female Jerry Lee Lewis," rockabilly bombshell Laura Lee Perkins was born Alice Faye Perkins in Killarney, WV, in 1939. After spending her childhood singing in school and in church, at 17 she packed her belongings into a cardboard box and bought a one-way bus ticket to Cleveland, instead settling in nearby... [+] Read More
Artist: Emma
Part of the same mid-'90s Philadelphia psych-pop/space rock scene as Bardo Pond, the Asteroid #4, and Transient Waves, Emma also adds a hint of Joy Division-style darkness to their mellow sound. Basically singer/guitarist Rick Henderson (who also plays keyboards with Eltro, City of Horns, Ashtabula, the Wayward Wind, and others, often under the... [+] Read More
Artist: Nonc Allie Young
Nonc Allie Young was in his sixties and well into retirement before he put out a recording, which the accordion player put together in 1975 in France. A pair of cassettes, Allons Danser Avec Nonc Allie and Two Steppin' With Nonc Allie, followed in the early '90s. Despite the lag time between recordings, Young remained quite active through the... [+] Read More
Artist: Han Bennink
In the niche-oriented world of major-league jazz, it's almost unfashionable to be so multi-faceted a player as Han Bennink. Bennink is one of the unfortunately rare musicians whose abilities and interests span the music's entire spectrum, from Dixieland to free. His straight-ahead playing is absolutely convincing -- his time is solid, his sense... [+] Read More
Artist: Frankie Avalon
Discussing Frankie Avalon's career as a mover and shaker in 1950s rock & roll with anyone who takes their rock & roll even halfway seriously is to court derision. Avalon was the first of the manufactured teen idols, before Fabian and Bobby Rydell and the myriads of other pretenders to the throne who worked the turf with tight black pants and... [+] Read More
Artist: Fifty Foot Hose
Fifty Foot Hose were one of the most unusual '60s San Francisco psychedelic bands, in part because they weren't really that psychedelic. Like a few other acts of the time (most notably the United States of America), they were trying to fuse the contemporary sounds of rock with electronic instruments and avant-garde compositional ideas. Only one... [+] Read More
Artist: The Basin Brothers
It's impossible to sit still while Lafayette, Louisiana-based Cajun band the Basin Brothers, are playing. Led by fiddler, guitarist, mandolinist, and vocalist Al Berard, the Basin Brothers transform the traditional music of Louisiana's French Triangle into a highly energetic mixture of two-steps and waltzes. Taking their name from the Atchafayla... [+] Read More
Artist: The Cannanes
Australian indie-pop legends the Cannanes formed in Sydney in late 1984, originally comprising singers/guitarists Stephen O'Neil and Annabel Bleach, bassist Michelle Cannane and drummer David Nichols; namesake Cannane left the loose-knit group early the following year, the first in a seemingly never-ending series of line-up changes which became... [+] Read More
Artist: Scotty MacGregor
One of the most nonconforming children's artists ever to get national airplay, Scotty MacGregor stayed true to his own vision for six decades. Although better known as a pop songwriter and radio producer, MacGregor also created unusual songs for children that still have relevance today.
MacGregor grew up in the Philadelphia area, and it was... [+] Read More
Artist: Bob Masse
Canada's foremost rock poster artist, Bob Masse absorbed the influence of the psychedelic era to create eye-popping yet elegantly stylized art-nouveau designs distinguished by their fluid linework and intricate figures. A native of Burnaby, British Columbia, he began drawing as a child, regularly competing against his cousin to determine who... [+] Read More
Artist: Birth
There isn't that much of a resumé for Birth yet, which isn't surprising considering the relative youth of the group, originally from Cleveland and now based in Brooklyn. Birth consists of Joshua Smith, tenor and alto saxophone/live effects/processing; Joe Tomino, drums/percussion/metals; and Jeremy Bleich, bass. As of spring 2000, they were,... [+] Read More
