Showing 51 - 75 of 198
Artist: William Harris
Virtually nothing is known about bluesman William Harris; as a result of the rhythmic intricacy of the guitar work in evidence on the nine songs which comprise his recorded legacy, historians have placed him as a product of the Mississippi Delta, although the geographic references scattered among his music also suggest an Alabama background.... [+] Read More
Artist: Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde
Andre Harrell (Dr. Jeckyll) and Alonzo Brown (Mr. Hyde) first joined up in 1980 with Harlem World Crew, but they eventually broke from the group to form Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde, adding DJ George Llado (Scratch on Galaxy). The group became known most for their first single, "Genius Rap," which incorporated the Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love" and... [+] Read More
Artist: Nick VanEede
It took nearly a decade for Nick Van Eede to become an overnight sensation. Eede's breathy voice and photogenic appearance easily suited the tastes of adolescent MTV viewers when his band Cutting Crew sliced their way to the top of the pop charts with "{I Just Died" In Your Arms"} in 1987. While he may have seemed like a newcomer back then,... [+] Read More
Artist: Etchingham Steam Band
The Etchingham Steam Band was the product of sheer expediency -- parts of England faced brown-outs and other power cute during the mid-1970's, and one result was that Ashley Hutchings was left with a series of only partly completed recordings of his latest work. His longtime friend Martin Carthy suggested that he form an acoustic ensemble and... [+] Read More
Artist: Frankie Masters
Born April 12, 1904, Frankie Masters was a big band leader with a dozen or so hit records in the 1930s and 1940s. A fine guitarist and singer, Masters formed a swing band after dropping out of college in the mid-'20s, and the orchestra became the house act at the Sherman Hotel's College Inn in Chicago. Masters signed with Victor Records in 1927... [+] Read More
Artist: Innerzone Orchestra
The preserve for jazz-oriented recordings by Detroit techno auteur Carl Craig, Innerzone Orchestra first came together in the early '90s to record one of the most respected singles of Craig's career, "Bug in the Bassbin," for his own Planet E Recordings. With Craig on programming, and a group including percussionist Francisco Mora Catlett (a... [+] Read More
Artist: Pat Farrell
This Pennsylvania-based '60s band released a couple of singles for the Diamond label, and was fronted by Pat Farrell (real name Pat Sickafus). The group was originally called the Triumphs, and they were briefly known as the Razor's Edge before settling on Pat Farrell and the Believers. Sickafus wrote most of the Believers' songs, which were much... [+] Read More
Artist: DJ Suv
The fourth member of Roni Size's Reprazent collective has enjoyed a quiet rise in stature over the years. His work within different time signatures, particularly evident within the Free Beat EP for Full Cycle, brought an abstract feel to his sound that was not deliberately awkward, but more a reaction against a perceived militancy in drum'n'bass... [+] Read More
Artist: Gnac
Taking his alias from a reference to author Italo Calvino's story Luna e GNAC, in which the view from a family's apartment window shows the last four letters of a Cognac billboard, Manchester, England's Mark Turner began recording as Gnac in the mid-'90s. Influenced by Ennio Morricone and the Durutti Column's Vini Reilly, Turner's material is... [+] Read More
Artist: Losoul
The brand of dance music Germany's Peter Kremeier produces as Losoul is a hybridization of the various strains of house he has been exposed to since a teen during the late '80s, all the while adding a dollop of his own playful invention. While Kremeier's material has been thrown in with the remainder of the set dubbed micro-house, his work... [+] Read More
Artist: The Nerves
Chicago garage punk revival trio the Nerves was formed in 1996 by singer/guitarist Rob Datum and bassist Seth Skundrick. Founded in direct response to the lack of traditional rock & roll in a local scene increasingly dominated by the post-rock aesthetic, the group went through a series of drummers before settling on Elliot Dicks, ironically... [+] Read More
Artist: Hot Chip
Hailing from London, Hot Chip entered the picture with the release of their 2000 debut, Mexico. The EP was released by Victory Garden Records, a label owned and operated by members of London's resident lo-fi psychedelic rock institution, Southall Riot. The Mexico EP was a hypnotic wash of subtle -- nearly subliminal -- pulse-like techno beats,... [+] Read More
Artist: John B.
Among the youngest of the new-school drum'n'bass innovators, John B. has amassed an impressive discography in the short few years he's been producing jungle. With track credits scattered among the cream of the underground crop -- including Formation, New Identity, Shoebox, and Grooverider's Prototype imprint -- John B. has gradually come to the... [+] Read More
Artist: Unsane
New York City's Unsane assisted in pioneering a more aggressive, less studied version of noise rock, one that blended the scum/art industrial sturm und drang of Foetus, the Swans, Einsturzende Neubauten, and Sonic Youth with the decidedly more straightforward hardcore idiom favored by acts like Sick of It All. While developing the blueprint for... [+] Read More
Artist: Solas
Led by Seamus Egan, this Irish folk supergroup has invigorated the Irish traditional music scene by incorporating non-traditional instruments. The group's members make use of instruments like guitar, banjo and bouzouki to add a modern spice to their sound, which is heavily rooted in Irish reels, jigs and other folk song forms. A teen prodigy,... [+] Read More
Artist: Friends of Fiddler's Green
The fact that the Toronto-based Friends of Fiddler's Green have managed to operate almost entirely under the radar of the folk-music mainstream in the United States is probably equally due to that mainstream's obliviousness and to the vagaries of independent record distribution between the two countries. Whatever the explanation, any lover of... [+] Read More
Artist: Aron Orion
My name is Aron Orion, and i'm a musician, filmmaker, writer, and a proponent of the destruction of Dallas arts/music scene. I'm a deconstructionist.. a performance artist, a political activist, who uses his audio/visual talents to further his agenda.. I have been making indie music in the Dallas area for years, and have a small cult following... [+] Read More
Artist: Cab Calloway
One of the great entertainers, Cab Calloway was a household name by 1932, and never really declined in fame. A talented jazz singer and a superior scatter, Calloway's gyrations and showmanship on-stage at the Cotton Club sometimes overshadowed the quality of his always excellent bands. The younger brother of singer Blanche Calloway (who made... [+] Read More
Artist: Lonesome Sundown
Unlike many of his swamp blues brethren, the evocatively monickered Lonesome Sundown (the name was an inspired gift from producer J.D. Miller) wasn't a Jimmy Reed disciple. Sundown's somber brand of blues was more in keeping with the gruff sound of Muddy Waters. The guitarist was one of the most powerful members of Miller's south Louisiana... [+] Read More
Artist: The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Named in tribute to the legendary Rolling Stones guitarist and his influence in introducing Eastern culture and music into the world of Western rock and roll, the Brian Jonestown Massacre formed in San Francisco, California in 1990. Some 40 different members passed through the group's ranks over the next half of the decade, but throughout their... [+] Read More
Artist: In the Nursery
Formed in Sheffield, England by brothers Klive and Nigel Humberstone in 1981, In the Nursery explored a strange fusion of industrialized military rhythms and classical and film soundtrack music. Devoted more to the former in their early years, the band debuted in 1983 with the mini-album When Cherished Dreams Come True, also contributing to... [+] Read More
Artist: The Electric Prunes
The Electric Prunes were not so much a self-contained group as a front for some talented L.A. songwriters and producers; they by and large played the music on their records, but the vision and inspiration came from elsewhere. Nonetheless, they produced a few great psychedelic garage songs, especially the scintillating "I Had Too Much to Dream... [+] Read More
Artist: Arcon 2
Best known for his alternately jazzy and uplifting drum'n'bass and extreme, focused darkcore, Leon Mar (aka Fink, Noel Ram, Oil, and Arcon 2) has been producing dance tracks for the better part of a decade. At first little known in the jungle community (though his roots, like many of jungle proper's biggest names, lay firmly in hardcore), Mar... [+] Read More
Artist: DJ Shadow
DJ Shadow's Josh Davis is widely credited as a key figure in developing the experimental instrumental hip-hop style associated with the London-based Mo' Wax label. His early singles for the label, including "In/Flux" and "Lost and Found (S.F.L.)," were all-over-the-map mini-masterpieces combining elements of funk, rock, hip-hop, ambient, jazz,... [+] Read More
Artist: Park
Indie rock outfit Park can trace their roots to Springfield, IL, sometime in the '90s. However, lineup changes plagued the band, and by early 2006, Park was on their fourth incarnation of members. Boasting thoughtful lyrics over elements of post-hardcore, emo, and pop, the band was at times loosely described as a sonic cross between Alkaline... [+] Read More
