Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with electronics. The genre emerged within the indie and underground music scene of the 1980s and early 1990s. However, due to its abandonment of rock conventions, it often bears little resemblance musically to contemporary indie rock, borrowing instead from diverse sources including ambient, electronica, jazz, krautrock, dub, and minimalist classical.
Jimmy Layne Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "MacArthur Park", "Wichita Lineman", "Worst That Could Happen", "Galveston" and "All I Know". He had successful collaborations with Glen Campbell, Michael Feinstein, Linda Ronstadt, the 5th Dimension, the Supremes, Art Garfunkel and Richard Harris.
Portishead is an English band formed in 1991 in Bristol. The band is named after Portishead, Somerset, eight miles west of Bristol, along the coast. The band comprises vocalist Beth Gibbons, producer Geoff Barrow, and musician Adrian Utley; Dave McDonald, an engineer on their first records, is sometimes cited as the fourth member.
Swans is an American experimental rock band formed in 1982 by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. One of the few acts to emerge from the New York City-based no wave scene and stay intact into the next decade, Swans have become recognized for an ever-changing sound, exploring genres such as noise rock, post-punk, industrial and post-rock. Initially, their music was known for its sonic brutality and misanthropic lyrics. Following the addition of singer, songwriter and keyboardist Jarboe in 1986, Swans began to incorporate melody and intricacy into their music. Jarboe remained the band's only constant member except Gira and semi-constant guitarist Norman Westberg until their dissolution in 1997.
Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis, Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles "Talk Talk" (1982), "It's My Life", and "Such a Shame" before moving towards a more experimental approach informed by jazz and free improvisation in the mid-1980s, pioneering what became known as post-rock. Talk Talk achieved widespread critical success in Europe and the UK with the singles "Life's What You Make It" (1985) and "Living in Another World" (1986); in 1988, they released their fourth album Spirit of Eden, which was critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful.
Can was a German experimental rock band formed in Cologne in 1968 by Holger Czukay, Irmin Schmidt (keyboards), Michael Karoli (guitar), and Jaki Liebezeit (drums). The group used several vocalists, most prominently the American Malcolm Mooney (1968–70) and the Japanese Damo Suzuki (1970–73). They have been widely hailed as pioneers of the German krautrock scene.
Krautrock is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in West Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electronic music, among other eclectic sources. Common elements included hypnotic rhythms, extended improvisation, musique concrète techniques, and early synthesizers, while the music generally moved away from the rhythm & blues roots and song structure found in traditional Anglo-American rock music. Prominent groups associated with the krautrock label included Neu!, Can, Faust, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Cluster, Ash Ra Tempel, Popol Vuh, Amon Düül II and Harmonia.
Beth Gibbons is an English singer and songwriter. She is the singer and lyricist for the band Portishead, which has released three albums. She released an album with Rustin Man, Out of Season, in 2002, followed by an album with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2019.
Laughing Stock is the fifth and final studio album by English band Talk Talk, released in 1991. Following their previous release Spirit of Eden (1988), bassist Paul Webb left the group, which reduced Talk Talk to the duo of singer/multi-instrumentalist Mark Hollis and drummer Lee Harris. Talk Talk then acrimoniously left EMI and signed to Polydor who released the album on their newly revitalised jazz-based Verve Records label. Laughing Stock was recorded at London's Wessex Sound Studios from September 1990 to April 1991 with producer Tim Friese-Greene and engineer Phill Brown.
Bark Psychosis are an English post-rock band/musical project from east London formed in 1986. They were one of the bands that Simon Reynolds cited when coining "post-rock" as a musical style in 1994, and are thus considered one of the key bands defining the genre.
"MacArthur Park" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb that was recorded first by Irish actor and singer Richard Harris in 1968. Harris's version peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number four on the UK Singles Chart. "MacArthur Park" was subsequently covered by numerous artists, including a 1969 Grammy-winning version by country music singer Waylon Jennings and a number one Billboard Hot 100 disco arrangement by Donna Summer in 1978.
The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, were a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. Generally considered one of the most important groupings in the genre, it has contained or been associated with a large proportion of major English folk performers in its long and fluid history.
Mandalay were a trip hop duo from the United Kingdom, composed of multi-instrumentalist Saul Freeman and multi-instrumentalist-composer-singer Nicola Hitchcock. They released two albums and were briefly tagged as "Madonna's favourite band".
Circle is a Finnish experimental rock band formed in Pori in 1991. Their eclectic, ever-changing style has been associated with genres such as krautrock, heavy metal, progressive rock, and ambient. On some albums they have defined themselves as New Wave of Finnish Heavy Metal (NWOFHM).
Paul Douglas Webb, also known by the stage name Rustin Man, is an English musician. He was the bassist for the English band Talk Talk.
Lee David Harris is an English drummer and musician. Harris attended The Deanes School with Paul Webb, and they became good friends. They played in the reggae band Eskalator before being recruited to form Talk Talk in 1981. Harris played drums for Talk Talk until 1991. In the early 1990s, he and Webb formed .O.rang. He played drums on the Beth Gibbons and Webb album Out of Season (2002), Midnight Choir's Waiting for the Bricks to Fall (2003) and Bark Psychosis' Codename: Dustsucker (2004). He was also part of Ian Tregoning's Magnetik North project.
Nicola Hitchcock is a British singer and songwriter. She is best known for having been one half of the trip hop duo Mandalay. Following the demise of Mandalay, she has worked with various dance music and avant-garde musicians including Chris Brann and Ryuichi Sakamoto but has more recently returned to her solo career.
Third is the third and most recent studio album by the English band Portishead. It was released on 28 April 2008 in the United Kingdom by Island Records and a day later in the United States by Mercury Records. Portishead's first studio album in eleven years, Third moved away from the trip hop style they had popularised, incorporating influences such as krautrock, surf rock, doo wop and the film soundtracks of John Carpenter.
HitIt! Recordings was an independent record label established in 1994 by artist manager/record producer Ken Waagner as an in house label at the Chicago Recording Company.
