Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. A form of instrumental music, it may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody. It uses textural layers of sound which can reward both passive and active listening and encourage a sense of calm or contemplation. The genre is said to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual", or "unobtrusive" quality. Nature soundscapes may be included, and the sounds of acoustic instruments such as the piano, strings and flute may be emulated through a synthesizer.
Christian Fennesz is an Austrian producer and guitarist active in electronic music since the 1990s, often credited simply by his last name. His work utilizes guitar and laptop computers to blend melody with treated samples and glitch production. He lives and works in Vienna, and currently records on the UK label Touch.
The Verve were an English rock band that formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Simon Tong later became a member in their first reunion only.
Melvins are an American rock band formed in 1983, in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. They have mostly performed as a trio, as well as a quartet with either two drummers/bassists in recent years. Since 1984, vocalist and guitarist Buzz Osborne and drummer Dale Crover have been constant members. The band was named after a supervisor at a Thriftway in Montesano, where Osborne also worked as a clerk; "Melvin" was disliked by other employees, and the band's members felt it to be an appropriately ridiculous name.
Neurosis is an American avant-garde metal band from Oakland, California. It was formed in 1985 by guitarist Scott Kelly, bassist Dave Edwardson, and drummer Jason Roeder, initially as a hardcore punk band. Chad Salter joined as a second guitarist and appeared on the band's 1987 debut Pain of Mind before being replaced by Steve Von Till in 1989. The following year, the lineup further expanded to include a keyboardist and a visual artist. Beginning with their third album Souls at Zero (1992), Neurosis transformed their hardcore sound by incorporating diverse influences including doom metal and industrial music, becoming a major force in the emergence of the post-metal and sludge metal genres.
Dogwood is a punk rock band from Escondido, California founded in 1993. Their music has been compared to that of The Offspring, and they list Bad Religion, NOFX and Lagwagon as musical influences.
Healing Rain is Michael W. Smith's nineteenth album, released in 2004 and debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 200 Chart. It is a departure from his previous two albums which are live worship albums. Healing Rain is a pop CCM album, in a similar vein to his 1999 album This Is Your Time. The album was reissued as a DualDisc in 2005. Some of the album's tracks were recorded at George Lucas' Skywalker Sound, located in Marin County, CA.
Merzbox is a box set compilation by the Japanese noise musician Merzbow. It consists of 50 CDs spanning Merzbow's career from 1979 to 1997. 30 discs are taken from long out of print releases, while 20 are composed mainly of unreleased material. The box also contains two CD-ROMs, six CD-sized round cards, six round stickers, a poster, a black long-sleeve T-shirt, a medallion, and the Merzbook, all packaged together in a "fetish" black rubber box. It is limited to 1000 numbered copies. A Merzbox Sampler was released in 1997.
Lake Trout are a rock band based in Baltimore. Their music is a combination of rock, ambient, jazz, and many other styles, including influences from post-rock and post-punk. The band has released six albums since its inception, four in-studio and two live. Their most recent album entitled "Live" was released in December 2008.
The Art Box is a six-CD box set by English avant-rock group Art Bears. It contains all Art Bears album and single releases, plus new material, including live and unreleased Art Bears tracks, and unreleased remixes and reworkings of Art Bears material by other musicians. The box set also contains a book of photographs, artwork, articles, interviews and commentary on the CD tracks, the work process, the band and their tour of Europe in 1979. The Art Bears material was recorded between 1978 and 1980, while the work by other musicians was recorded between 1998 and 2003. The box set was released in 2004 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the band's formation. A double-CD entitled Art Bears Revisited containing Discs four and five of the box set was released later in 2004.
Negativland is Negativland's first album, released in 1980. Each copy of the album has a different cover. The initial pressing was 500 copies. Unlike all other Negativland albums, the album has no titles for the songs, just numbers. It is the rarest Negativland album, next to the misprinted Dispepsi albums and the U2 E.P.
Davide Rossi is an Italian violinist, string arranger, composer, conductor and a record producer, perhaps best known for having been the violinist, guitar and keytar-player for the British electronic music duo Goldfrapp from 2000 until 2013, and for his large contribution of electric violin parts and for all the string arrangements on all Coldplay's albums since Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, and The Verve's album Forth.
No Ordinary World is the seventeenth studio album by Joe Cocker, released on 9 September 1999 in Europe and on 22 August 2000 in USA. The US edition of the album features two bonus tracks and has different cover artwork. Notable songs on the album include a cover of Leonard Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan" and "She Believes in Me" co-written by Bryan Adams, who had also provided backing vocals for the song.
(No Pussyfooting) is the debut studio album by the British duo Fripp & Eno, released in 1973. (No Pussyfooting) was the first of three major collaborations between the musicians, growing out of Brian Eno's early tape delay looping experiments and Robert Fripp's "Frippertronics" electric guitar technique.
King Never is a rock band influenced by ambient, new wave, and progressive rock, based in Loomis, California, USA. Founded by Matt McCabe in 1995, the band has undergone different formations and member changes throughout its history.
Orphans, Misfits & Fragments is the second studio album by King Never, consisting of 11 tracks ranging from ambient soundscapes to vibey modern rock and progressive pop songs with an experimental edge. Released by Marathon Records on October 1, 2004.
Lullabies & Sleepless Nights is the third studio album by King Never founder Matt McCabe, and a return to form of his solo ambient music guitar looping explorations. Released by Marathon Records on January 1, 2007.
Possibilities is the fourth studio album by King Never. A concept album that is a mix of ambient, alternative, and progressive rock songs that chronicle a fictional character of "Sonja" thru a steam punk inspired world. Released on May 17, 2010.
37 is the fifth studio album by King Never consisting of 5 alternative and progressive rock tracks. Released on April 24, 2013, the album was remixed and remastered in 2016
All These Things is the sixth studio album by King Never. The concept EP is themed around World War I. Released on May 29, 2017
