The Magnetic Fields are an American band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocalist, as well as frequent multi-instrumentalist. Merritt's lyrics are often about love and feature atypical or neutral gender roles, and are by turns ironic, tongue-in-cheek, bitter, and humorous.
Synth-pop is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic, art rock, disco, and particularly the Krautrock of bands like Kraftwerk. It arose as a distinct genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of the new wave movement of the late 1970s.
Erasure is an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1984, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a member of synth-pop duo Yazoo. From their fourth single, "Sometimes" (1986), Erasure established themselves on the UK Singles Chart, becoming one of the most successful acts of the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. From 1986 to 2007, the pair achieved 24 consecutive top-40 entries in the UK singles chart. By 2009, 34 of their 37 chart-eligible singles and EPs had made the UK top 40, including 17 climbing into the top 10. At the 1989 Brit Awards, Erasure won the Brit Award for Best British Group.
Men Without Hats are a Canadian new wave and synth-pop band, originally from Montreal, Quebec. Their music is characterized by the baritone voice of their lead singer Ivan Doroschuk, as well as their elaborate use of synthesizers and electronic processing. They achieved their greatest popularity in the 1980s with "The Safety Dance", a worldwide top ten hit, and "Pop Goes the World". After a hiatus for most of the 1990s and 2000s, Doroschuk reformed the band in 2010, and released Love in the Age of War (2012). The group, based in Vancouver, has continued to perform, including tour dates announced in support of the release of two studio albums, Men Without Hats Again , in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Electronic were an English alternative dance supergroup formed by singer/guitarist Bernard Sumner and guitarist Johnny Marr. They co-wrote the majority of their output between 1989 and 1998, collaborating with Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of the Pet Shop Boys on three tracks in their early years, and former Kraftwerk member Karl Bartos on nine songs in 1995.
Ozric Tentacles are an English instrumental rock band, whose music incorporates elements from a diverse range of genres, including psychedelic rock, progressive rock, space rock, jazz fusion, electronic music, dub music, world music, and ambient music. Formed in Somerset in 1983, the band has released over 30 albums selling over a million copies worldwide despite never having signed to a major recording label. Throughout many line-up changes over the years, co-founder and guitarist Ed Wynne has remained the only original member of the band. The band is now credited as one of the major influences of the UK festival scene's re-emergence, becoming particularly associated with the Glastonbury Festival and their handmade series of cassette releases, mostly sold at gigs and through a fan club.
De/Vision is a German synth-pop musical group formed in 1988. The band started as a quartet consisting of Thomas Adam, Steffen Keth, Stefan Blender, and Markus Ganssert. Blender left the band in 1991 and Ganssert departed in 2000. The name De/Vision is a play on words. The majority of the band's lyrics are in English, but they have had some songs in German.
Season to Risk are an American noise rock/alternative rock band hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, United States.
Ektomorf is a Hungarian groove metal band.
Die Krupps is a German industrial metal/EBM band, formed in 1980 by Jürgen Engler and Bernward Malaka in Düsseldorf.
Poi Dog Pondering is an American musical group which is noted for its cross-pollination of diverse musical genres, including various forms of acoustic and electronic music. Frank Orrall founded the band in Hawaii in 1984, initially as a solo project. In 1985 Orrall formed the first line-up of PDP to perform its first concert at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. The band embarked on a yearlong street performance busking tour across North America. They eventually settled down in Austin, Texas in 1987, where they recorded their first three albums. In 1992, the band relocated to Chicago and they began to incorporate orchestral arrangements and elements of electronic, house music, and soul music into their acoustic rock style. The membership of Poi Dog Pondering has evolved from album to album, with Frank Orrall a constant player since the inception of the band.
The House of Terror is a museum located at Andrássy Avenue 60 in Budapest, Hungary. It contains exhibits related to the fascist and communist regimes in 20th-century Hungary and is also a memorial to the victims of these regimes, including those detained, interrogated, tortured, or killed in the building.
Suzanne Ciani is an American musician, sound designer, composer, and record label executive who found early success in the 1970s, with her electronic music and sound effects for films and television commercials. Her career has included works with quadraphonic sound. She has been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album five times. Her success with electronic music has her dubbed "Diva of the Diode" and "America's first female synth hero".
Ethnix are an Israeli synth-pop band formed in 1985 as Moskva by vocalist Ze'ev Nechama and keyboardist Tamir Kaliski. Their music is a mix of oriental and Western melodies. Ethnix is the oldest continuously-operating band in Israel, together since 1985.
Kombi is a Polish musical band from Poland, founded in 1969 in Gdańsk by Sławomir Łosowski. In the beginning, the group played mostly experimental, jazz music. In second half of the 1970s they turned into funk rock, later their style turned towards synth-pop. They used such musical equipment as Commodore 64 as a MIDI sequencer, Prophet 5, Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer, Simmons SDS-V electronic drum kit and Roland TR-808 drum machine. The band was known for its characteristic sound, based on state-of-the-art electronic instruments programmed by Łosowski, distinctive vocals and guitar playing by Skawiński and Tkaczyk's bass slapping style. Their most popular songs include "Słodkiego miłego życia", "Nasze randez-vous", "Black and White", "Kochać cię – za późno", "Za ciosem cios", "Nie ma zysku", "Przytul mnie", "Królowie życia" and "Nietykalni – skamieniałe zło".
Ákos Kovács is a Hungarian pop-rock singer-songwriter. He is known for his solo career writing and performing serious, poetic pop songs, as well as a member of the now defunct group Bonanza Banzai. Kovács uses his given name, Ákos, in his career. His name is written Akosh, to reflect the Hungarian pronunciation, when his music is distributed to English-speaking countries. His songs are on the top lists of Hungarian music.
Mandragora are an English space rock/world dance music band from Brighton, England, whose formative output can be described as psychedelic rock with ethnic sounds and tribal rhythms. Formed in 1983, the band have released 5 albums of their own, and a collaborative album with Phil Thornton. They built up a loyal following on the free festival circuit of the 1980s and 1990s, and were signed to Delerium Records. In recent years Mandragora have evolved into a world music/electronic dance act featuring singers and musicians from all corners of the globe.
Hungarian pop is the pop music scene of Hungary. It is often associated with Rezső Seress's song "Gloomy Sunday" which was covered by numerous artists. The most notable artists include Zsuzsa Cserháti, Kati Kovács, Zsuzsa Koncz, Judith Szűcs, Péter Máté, Locomotiv GT, Omega, Neoton Família, Karthago, Jimmy Zámbó. Among the new talents are András Kállay-Saunders and Linda Király.
Gábor Presser is a Kossuth Prize winning Hungarian musician, composer, singer. He was a band member in Locomotiv GT and Omega, and has been a prominent personality in Hungarian pop and rock music.
Zsolt Hauber is a Hungarian electronic musician and music producer. His songs have been used in commercials and television programs.
