Apollo Heights is an American shoegazing band that was formed in New York City in 2002. Consisting mainly of twin brothers Daniel and Danny Chavis, they play experimental rock music. They cite AR Kane and My Bloody Valentine as a major inspiration. Their debut album White Music For Black People was produced by Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins and features guest appearances from Mos Def, Lady Kier, David Sitek of TV on the Radio, Mike Ladd and Guthrie himself on guitar. The Chavis brothers were members of the alternative soul group The Veldt who released three albums on Polygram, Mammoth and Capitol Records. Although the Veldt is left out of references on the Chapel Hill music scene, they were a key band during the heyday of North Carolina music along with other bands of the time like Metal Flake Mother, Superchunk and Dillon Fence.
The Veldt recorded an EP titled Marigolds on Stardog Records in 1992 and Afrodisiac in 1994 on Polygram.
Mother Love Bone was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1988. The band was active from 1988 to 1990. Frontman Andrew Wood's charisma and songwriting helped to catapult the group to the top of the burgeoning Seattle music scene at the time. Wood died shortly before the scheduled release of the band's debut album Apple, resulting in the breakup of the band. The album was released a few months later, though many recollections of demos, b-sides, and live performances were released and given to the general public as well.
Lush were an English rock band formed in London in 1987. The original line-up consisted of Miki Berenyi, Emma Anderson, Steve Rippon and Chris Acland (drums). Phil King replaced Rippon in 1991. They were one of the first bands to have been described with the "shoegazing" label. Following the death of Acland, the group disbanded in 1996.
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth by Robin Guthrie and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981. In 1983, Heggie was replaced with multi-instrumentalist Simon Raymonde. The group earned critical praise for their ethereal, effects-laden sound and the soprano vocals of Fraser, whose lyrics often eschew any recognisable language. They pioneered the 1980s alternative subgenre of dream pop and helped define what would become shoegaze.
Snog is a band that was formed by Australian musician David Thrussell, along with fellow art school friends Tim McGrath and Julia Bourke in 1989. The band's music is a fusion of many different styles, including industrial, techno, ambient, experimental, funk and country music. The band name is a reference to "kissing and cuddling".
Joy Electric is the brand label for a series of electropop/synthpop productions by Ronnie Martin. Martin began producing music under the Joy Electric name in 1994, after the demise of Dance House Children, a band Ronnie was in with his brother Jason Martin of Starflyer 59. Starflyer 59 bass player and Velvet Blue Music owner Jeff Cloud joined Joy Electric from 1996 until 2002. Joy Electric is currently a solo act.
Rise Above Records is a London-based independent record label owned by Lee Dorrian, former member of Cathedral and Napalm Death.
A.R. Kane is a British musical duo formed in 1986 by Alex Ayuli and Rudy Tambala. After releasing two early EPs to critical acclaim, the group topped the UK Independent Chart with their debut album 69 (1988). Their second album, "i" (1989), was also a top 10 hit. They were also part of the one-off collaboration MARRS, whose surprise dance hit "Pump Up the Volume" was released in 1987. Ayuli is believed to have coined the term "dreampop" in the late 1980s to describe their eclectic sound, which blended elements such as effects-laden guitars, dub production, and drum machine backing.
The Electric Soft Parade are an English psychedelic pop band from Brighton, comprising brothers Alex and Thomas White, the creative core of the band, as well as a number of other musicians with whom they record and perform live, most recently including Andrew Mitchell and Damo Waters, as well as long-standing bass/keyboard player, Matthew Twaites.
Starflyer 59 is an American alternative rock band from Riverside, California, that was founded in 1993 by Jason Martin, brother of Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric. While Jason Martin has written nearly all of Starflyer 59's songs, the band has included a number of different musicians over the years, including Jeff Cloud, Frank Lenz, and Richard Swift. The band's sound was initially identified as an outgrowth of the shoegaze movement of the early 1990s, but the band's music has gradually evolved to the point of little resemblance to that of its early days.
Michael Sheridan is an Australian guitarist. Having played and recorded with an array of artists his versatility in original music spans the styles of rock, jazz/punk, industrial, metal, and sonic art including glitch & noise. He has released solo works such as Scaleshack,Digital Jamming and collaborations with Nicholas Littlemore and associates. He has been a member of several bands since 1975 including No (1987–1989) with Ollie Olsen and Marie Hoy, which were described as "One of Australias most compelling stage acts incorporating speed metal, hip hop and electro funk". In 1989 he followed Olsen to join Max Q with Michael Hutchence of INXS on vocals.
Echoes in a Shallow Bay is an EP by Scottish alternative rock band Cocteau Twins, released on 4AD. The EP featured four non-album tracks. It was issued on 29 November 1985, two weeks after another EP, Tiny Dynamine. The two EP sets, which featured complementary artwork, were also released as a combined double EP in a gatefold cover, and as an eight-track CD. The EP was reissued in 1991 as part of The Box Set and in 2005 as part of the singles/EP collection Lullabies to Violaine. A new vinyl version, sourced from digital files created from a new transfer of the original analogue tapes, was released in 2015, combined with the Tiny Dynamine EP.
Gary Edward William Day is a British musician who played bass for Morrissey, The Nitros, Carlos and the Bandidos, The Poncés and Dante's Eyes.
CCCP Fedeli alla Linea, officially written CCCP - Fedeli alla Linea, is an Italian band formed in 1982 in Berlin by vocalist Giovanni Lindo Ferretti and guitarist Massimo Zamboni. The band's style is self-defined by the members themselves as "Musica Melodica Emiliana—Punk Filosovietico". CCCP's works influenced dozen of artists such as Marlene Kuntz, Massimo Volume, and Offlaga Disco Pax.
Through the Wilderness is a tribute album with contributions from a variety of artists dedicated to American singer Madonna. It was released on November 27, 2007, by Los Angeles-based Manimal Vinyl Records. According to label head Paul Beahan, the idea for the album was conceived by him in a dream. He enlisted multiple artists to work on the project, including Giant Drag, Lavender Diamond, Winter Flowers and Chapin Sisters. Although he's not a fan of Madonna, Beahan wanted to see how her songs would sound when covered by different musicians.
Manimal Vinyl is a Los Angeles–based record label founded in 2006 by film/TV producer, composer and former fashion editor Paul Gebser-Beahan.
Lewis & Clarke is the pen name of American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer Lou Rogai. The name references the fellowship and correspondence between C. S. Lewis and Arthur C. Clarke, not the 19th-century explorers. He has released three studio albums, Bare Bones and Branches, Blasts of Holy Birth, and Triumvirate, as well as several singles and EPs. The moniker is also a metaphor for journey on many levels and the music has been described as art-pop or avant-folk. Rogai is the founder of La Société Expéditionnaire, a record label dedicated to creating "beautiful sounding records and tangible musical artifacts".
Juliette Commagere is a Los Angeles–based singer-songwriter who was formerly the lead singer and keytar player of the band Hello Stranger. In 2008 she began a solo career with the release of Queens Die Proudly.
Galahad is an English progressive rock band formed in 1985 in Bournemouth. They have released 12 studio albums, six live albums and three rarities collections, as well as two offshoot project albums under the names Galahad Acoustic Quintet and the Galahad Electric Company. Over the past 38 years they have played with the likes of Pendragon, IQ and Twelfth Night. Galahad have performed their own shows and at festivals in Europe and North America, and have sold tens of thousands of albums despite never having had a major record deal.
David Burris is an American filmmaker, television producer, writer and musician. He directed the feature film The World Made Straight and the short film The Side of the Road, which he also wrote. He was the executive producer on CBS's Survivor and a writer on the USA / SciFi series Good vs. Evil. As a musician, he was a founding member and songwriter for Sire/Warner recording artists Jolene and a recording and touring member of Mercury/Polygram recording artists The Veldt.
The Veldt is a pioneering alternative soul and shoegaze group formed in 1986 in Raleigh, North Carolina by identical twin brothers Daniel and Danny Chavis. The band took their name from a Ray Bradbury science fiction story. After signing with Capitol Records in 1989, the group went on to tour America opening for such groups as The Jesus and Mary Chain and the Cocteau Twins, whose member Robin Guthrie produced their initial recordings. Their 1994 album Afrodisiac is viewed as a classic of the shoegaze genre.