Showing 1 - 25 of 38
Artist: Sedates
Artist: Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley may be the single most important figure in American 20th century popular music. Not necessarily the best, and certainly not the most consistent. But no one could argue with the fact that he was the musician most responsible for popularizing rock & roll on an international level. Viewed in cold sales figures, his impact was... [+] Read More
Artist: Lazy Smoke
An obscure Massachusetts band of the late 1960s, Lazy Smoke offered a sort of Transatlantic psychedelic sound with roughly equal debts to American and British influences. Their biggest debt was to the Beatles, and although they were hardly exceptional in that regard, the resemblance commanded more attention due to the fairly close similarity of... [+] Read More
Artist: Elysian Fields
With their self-titled debut EP, Elysian Fields offered a sort of noir rock, the sedate chanteuse vocals of Jennifer Charles quickly conjuring ballpark comparisons to Margot Timmons (Cowboy Junkies) and Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star). The music is neither as mainstream as Cowboy Junkies nor as doom-obsessed as Mazzy Star, with cameos by noted New... [+] Read More
Artist: Headcase
Headcase was an alias for Dean Garcia, who is best known as one half of Curve. Prior to starting Curve, Garcia was a session bassist for the likes of Eurythmics, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and Gang of Four. He also spent a brief amount of time in the mid-'80s as part of State of Play with future Curve partner Toni Halliday. Garcia began... [+] Read More
Artist: David Arnold
Film composer David Arnold seems to have risen to prominence with unnerving swiftness, but this is in fact an illusion, as Arnold spent many years paying his dues by writing scores for English television and documentary film projects, many of them produced or directed by his lifelong friend Danny Cannon. In between times, Arnold tried out for... [+] Read More
Artist: Darkest Hour
Washington, D.C.'s Darkest Hour is a supporter of the death metal/hardcore merger, founded in the early '90s by such outfits as Carcass and Entombed. Comprised of members Mike Schleibaum (guitar), Billups Allen (bass), John Henry (vocals), Fred Ziomek (guitar), and Ryan Parrish (drums), the band formed in the mid-'90s, inking a deal with the New... [+] Read More
Artist: Spain
Jazz great Charlie Haden has reared musically gifted sons and daughters who, interestingly, have not followed Dad's jazz footsteps, but opted for alternative rock turf instead. Petra Haden has done so in that dog. (sic), and Josh Haden, though he plays the same instrument as his father, leads Spain. Spain do have some decided jazz influences,... [+] Read More
Artist: Guy Evans
Evans was once upon a time best known for being the hyperactive drummer for Van Der Graaf Generator, a position that once led to a reviewer noting of the band's Pawn Hearts album that it contained "the latest installment of the ever-evolving non-stop Guy Evans drum solo." While his jazz-influenced drum work was one of the sonic linchpins of... [+] Read More
Artist: Antobal's Cubans
Born Eusebio Santiago Azpiazu but taking the name of Don Mario Antobal, Antobal (1890-1966) managed the career of his brother Don Azpiazu. Eventually, Don Azpiazu's band broke up and Antobal started a band of his own, drawing from some of the musicians his brother had used. Both men were from a well-off Cuban family of Basque heritage and... [+] Read More
Artist: Aarktica
Aarktica is one of several projects from Jon DeRosa. His other work includes the acoustic folk of Dead Leaves Rising, the country-esque Pale Horse and Rider, and playing guitar for Flare, chamber-pop band led by L.D. Beghtol (also a member of the Moth Wranglers and part-time member of Magnetic Fields). In addition to his recording achievements,... [+] Read More
Artist: Pat Boone
In the years immediately prior to the British Invasion, only one performer rivaled the chart dominance of Elvis Presley, and that was Pat Boone. With his trademark white buck shoes, perfectly combed hair and gleaming smile, Boone was the very essence of wholesome American values, and at a time when the rise of rock & roll was viewed as a sign of... [+] Read More
Artist: Fischerspooner
The new wave/electro-pop troupe Fischerspooner was formed in New York City in 1998 and has come to incorporate multimedia, strange handmade costumes, dancing, and performance art. Originally a duo formed by classically trained musician Warren Fischer and video-artist and experimental theater performer Casey Spooner for an impromptu rendition of... [+] Read More
Artist: Zinky Cohn
Zinky Cohn was a pianist associated with the late-'20s and '30s Chicago scene, especially the groups of clarinetist Jimmie Noone. Although playing jazz has never been a sedate enterprise, this era was certainly among the wildest in the history of this genre. One example of the type of playing experiences available to Cohn was Noone's Apex Club... [+] Read More
Artist: John Stanley
Before spending three years with Spike Jones & His City Slickers beginning in 1942, this trombonist worked regularly with Seger Ellis & His Choirs of Brass, obviously a proper placement for a trombone player, and in the hot jazz bands of Irving Fazola. He was part of a clique of jazz-inclined players based in Los Angeles in the early '40s,... [+] Read More
Artist: Bob Alexander
A person that has to ask what "hokum" is would probably not be ready for the answer, but the whole subject hasn't been discussed much in modern times, despite bands such as Billy Ransom and the Hokum Boys touring in the southern United States in the '80s. In the '20s and early '30s the idea of
"hokum" was commercially viable enough to inspire... [+] Read More
Artist: Big Dipper
A great band that never quite fulfilled their enormous potential, Boston's Big Dipper had impeccable indie credentials and an excellent line in crunchy post-post-punk guitar pop, but their later albums were no match for their early work.
Big Dipper was formed in 1985 when guitarist Gary Waleik and bassist Steve Michener left the original lineup... [+] Read More
Artist: Ed Harcourt
This former chef and member of indie-adolescents Snug has extended the range of ingredients, progressed from bass guitar, and long since raided the musical larder (playing piano/keyboards, guitar, banjo, drums, and kitchen sink). At the age of 23, it was alleged he had a backlog of 300-plus songs. They're not all searingly original, but this... [+] Read More
Artist: Fred Fortin
Fred Fortin popped his head up from the Quebec underground in 1996. Since then he has worked slowly, releasing a record every two years, but toured constantly. And despite a cruel lack of support from commercial radio and TV stations, his songs have galvanized the Quebec rock underground, stirring up a small revolution only comparable to the... [+] Read More
Artist: Guitars Unlimited
It is, as they would say, "très très difficile" to avoid confusion when it comes to the band name Guitars Unlimited in France. One should also not mistake any of the French Guitars Unlimited with the Los Angeles-based studio recording group of the same name from the '60s. In France, the aim of these multiple guitar groups is a much higher... [+] Read More
Artist: Kurt Cobain
As the lead singer and guitarist of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain's musical success began in his twenties and was heightened when he formed the band Nirvana. Hits such as "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Come as You Are," and "Heart Shaped Box" helped the group achieve international success.
Cobain was born in Aberdeen, WA. Hyperactive as a youngster, he was... [+] Read More
Artist: Yoko Ono
Few women in the history of rock & roll have stirred as much controversy as Yoko Ono. Although her romance with John Lennon was hardly the only factor straining the relationships between the individual Beatles, she made a convenient scapegoat for the group's breakup, and was repeatedly raked over the coals in the media for the influence she held... [+] Read More
Artist: Prodigy
Acknowledged as the more skilled member of the duo Mobb Deep on the mic, Prodigy spent years making a name for himself alongside partner Havoc on acclaimed albums such as Hell on Earth (1996) and Murda Muzik (1999) before releasing his first solo album, HNIC, on Loud Records in late 2000. With this album, Prodigy teamed up with a roster of... [+] Read More
Artist: Earl Johnson
During the 1920s and '30s, the state of Georgia produced some of the wildest records in old-time or "hillbilly" music. Compared with the relatively steady, subtle, and sedate recordings by such groups as Charlie Poole's North Carolina Ramblers, the Georgia string bands, defined by flamboyant fiddlers like Gid Tanner, produced screeching strings... [+] Read More
Artist: Frank Leithner
Frank Leithner was one of the earliest instrumentalists on the West Coast to establish a career as a session man on all the available fronts of radio, television, movies, and recording. He was a wholesome, low-key, and reliable fellow, born out by the fact that he was a boyhood chum of no less a Mr. Nice Guy than Ozzie Nelson. As a young... [+] Read More
