Showing 1 - 19 of 19
Artist: No Torso
Oslo, Norway-based No Torso is a ska outfit with hints of rock that proudly boasts a wide range of influence -- from bands like Hot Water Music and Minus the Bear to ska heroes the Specials, Madness, and the Slackers. However, their sound was mostly akin to a third wave version of the latter part of the aforementioned list. In addition to... [+] Read More
Artist: 3 Leg Torso
Originally an instrumental trio, featuring violinist Bela Balogh, cellist Gabe Leavitt, and accordionist Courtney Von Drehle, 3 Leg Torso is one of Portland, OR's truly eclectic bands. Their original tunes incorporate elements of modern chamber music, Middle Eastern, and Eastern European folk music, and Argentinean tango. CMJ described the... [+] Read More
Artist: Screaming Headless Torsos
Artist: Black Cat Music
San Fran Bay Area punkers Black Cat Music contains former members of such respected Berkeley punk bands as the Criminals and the Receivers. Sighting such artists as early Alice Cooper, Gun Club, Social Distortion, and Nick Cave as prime influences, Black Cat Music signed to the Lookout! label, issuing their debut album, Hands in the Ecstasy,... [+] Read More
Artist: Lost Tribe
Lost Tribe didn't so much start out as a band but as a collective of excellent studio musicians working on the side. Like the 1970s British group Brand X (Phil Collins' jazz fusion alter ego getaway from Genesis), Lost Tribe became a melting pot of the styles popular in the 1990s, mixing rhythmic jazz and rock with even some hip-hop elements.... [+] Read More
Artist: Jojo Mayer
Drummer Jojo Mayer was born in Zurich, Switzerland, on January 18, 1963. His father was bass player Vali Mayer, who brought him on tour in Europe and eastern Asia during much of his early childhood. Naturally, the musical environment rubbed off on him; he received his first drum set at age two and made his performing debut in Hong Kong just a... [+] Read More
Artist: Mayhem
Formed around 1985 by Necrobutcher and guitarist Euronymous (born Oystein Aarseth), Mayhem was the first death metal band from Norway to make much of an impact in their homeland, which in the early '90s developed a burgeoning underground scene rife with violent, sometimes anti-Christian activity -- as evidenced by Mayhem's non-musical history.... [+] Read More
Artist: Hasidic New Wave
Hasidic New Wave is a five-person group that blends the sounds of modern jazz and funk with the older traditions of Hasidic spiritual songs, resulting in both energetic improvisations and original works. Trumpeter Frank London and saxophonist Greg Wall share the duties of leader. The two musicians attended the New England Conservatory together... [+] Read More
Artist: Ziggurat (the)
Formed in the late 90's, The Ziggurat has strived to delve into the darkest corners of man's fear and bring the horrors found there to life through the power of Heavy Metal! Lyrics are based in Sumerian and Theology, Lovecraftian Stories and the Occult. From Radford VA, The Ziggurat has firmly established a following throughout the... [+] Read More
Artist: Necronomichrist
Necronomichrist has arrived to take the death metal scene by storm. Hailing from Athol, MA, Necronomichrist fuses death metal with black metal, progressive metal, and grindcore to bring brutal mayhem to metalheads everywhere. As one young fan put it, "It made me want to fall over and start twitching."A full length album, titled "Harlequin... [+] Read More
Artist: David Fiuczynski
Guitarist David "Fuze" Fiuczynski came to prominence with the 1994 release, titled Lunar Crush. An outing that also featured the heavy-handed and sweeping sound and style of Hammond B-3 organ specialist John Medeski, of "Medeski, Martin & Wood" fame. Thus, Fiuczynski's angular and often unorthodox phrasing along with ferocious chops and an... [+] Read More
Artist: Lenny MacDowell
Flautist Lenny MacDowell is based in Germany, where he's an integral part of the local smooth jazz and new age music scenes, as a performer, a producer, and as owner of the eclectic and productive Blue Flame record label. Although some of his albums have a heavy crossover pop influence, MacDowell's primary style involves elements of ambient... [+] Read More
Artist: Grief
No one ever accused Grief of being a thrash metal, speed metal or grindcore band. In the thrash, speed and grindcore fields, bands are known for insanely fast tempos; Grief's sludgy doom metal, however, brought extremely slow riffs to the metal underground. The band was heavily influenced by Black Sabbath, and doom warriors Saint Vitus have... [+] Read More
Artist: Lisa Haley
Lisa Haley, the girl with the blue fiddle, has put together a band of outstanding musicians all focused on bringing on some zyde-cosis fever. Zyde-cosis has some symptoms and here they are: An infectious rhythmic affliction resulting from direct exposure to Zydeco music. The ailment first attacks the toe-bones, causing them to twitch... [+] Read More
Artist: Paradox Trio
Paradox Trio -- which became a quartet soon after its formation but has continued to be known as a trio in name only -- was formed by Matt Darriau in 1994, a few years after the multi-reedist moved from Boston to New York City. The band has provided a small-ensemble context for Darriau to continue the sort of stylistic fusion he began exploring... [+] Read More
Artist: Darby Crash
Although he only appeared on a few singles, one full-length album, and one movie documentary during his short life, Germs' frontman Darby Crash certainly left his mark on the punk rock world. Few rock "singers" (the term is used loosely in Crash's case) pushed themselves to such dangerous and fearless extremes as Crash did at just about ever... [+] Read More
Artist: City
The East German rock band City was raised to cult status in their native GDR in 1977 when they released a song called "Am Fenster," which hit the charts for weeks in both German states (in fact, in 2000 it was declared "the best German rock song of the 20th century" by a survey of German radio stations). This was an exceptional occurrence as... [+] Read More
Artist: Mickey Katz
Long before Allan Sherman and Woody Allen showered the public with Yiddish slang -- and decades before the klezmer revival breathed new life into a once-popular ethnic music -- a little clarinetist with a lot of chutzpah blazed the trail, exposing "crossover" audiences to the language and the melodies of his forebears with a series of... [+] Read More
Artist: Dodô & Osmar
Adolfo Nascimento (Dodô) and Osmar Alvares Macêdo (Osmar) are two of the most important artists and inventors of northeast Brazilian music of all time. They electrified the Pernambucan frevo (creating a new genre, the frevo baiano), changing the face of the Carnival, first in Bahia, then in the rest of the country. The duo also created, in... [+] Read More
