Microhouse, buftech or sometimes just minimal, is a subgenre of house music strongly influenced by minimalism and 1990s techno.
John Len Chatman, known professionally as Memphis Slim, was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxophones, bass, drums, and piano. A song he first cut in 1947, "Every Day I Have the Blues", has become a blues standard, recorded by many other artists. He made over 500 recordings.
Guy Theodore Sebastian is an Australian singer, songwriter and producer who was the winner of the first Australian Idol in 2003, judge on Australia's The X Factor from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2015 to 2016, and coach on The Voice Australia since 2019. He represented Australia at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest, finishing in fifth place.
Electro is a genre of electronic music and early hip hop directly influenced by the use of the Roland TR-808 drum machines, and funk. Records in the genre typically feature drum machines and heavy electronic sounds, usually without vocals, although if vocals are present they are delivered in a deadpan manner, often through electronic distortion such as vocoding and talkboxing. This is the main distinction between electro and previously prominent genres such as disco, in which the electronic sound was only part of the instrumentation. It also palpably deviates from its predecessor boogie for being less vocal-oriented and more focused on electronic beats produced by drum machines.
Rufus C. Thomas, Jr. was an American rhythm-and-blues, funk, soul and blues singer, songwriter, dancer, DJ and comic entertainer from Memphis, Tennessee. He recorded for several labels, including Chess Records and Sun Records in the 1950s, before becoming established in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax Records. He is best known for his novelty dance records, including "Walking the Dog" (1963), "Do the Funky Chicken" (1969), and "(Do the) Push and Pull" (1970). According to the Mississippi Blues Commission, "Rufus Thomas embodied the spirit of Memphis music perhaps more than any other artist, and from the early 1940s until his death . . . occupied many important roles in the local scene."
New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather than trance, or to create a peaceful atmosphere in homes or other environments, and is associated with environmentalism and New Age spirituality.
Arnold Dwight "Gatemouth" Moore was an American blues and gospel singer, songwriter, radio disc jockey, community leader and pastor, later known as Reverend Gatemouth Moore. During his career as a recording artist, Moore worked with Bennie Moten, Tommy Douglas and Walter Barnes, and his songs were recorded by B.B. King and Rufus Thomas. He was noted for his mellow singing voice, much in the style of Billy Eckstine.
Anthony Cosmo Callea is an Australian singer-songwriter and stage actor who rose to prominence as the runner-up in the 2004 season of Australian Idol. Callea's debut single, a cover of Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli's song "The Prayer" is the fastest-selling single by an Australian artist, held the No.1 spot on the ARIA Singles Chart for five weeks, a record for the debut single of an Australian Idol contestant, and was the second-highest selling Australian single of the last decade.
James Edgar is an American musician and creative director from Detroit, Michigan. Influenced by Detroit techno, Rap and R&B, early in his career he released two hip-hop glitch albums under the names Michaux and Kristuit Salu and Morris Nightingale. His first solo album Color Strip (2006) came out on Warp Records after he signed to the label at age 18. This release was followed by XXX (2010) on !K7 Records in 2010. After his last solo LP Majenta (2012), he has released several EPS on his own Ultramajic Records, often designing the album covers with Pilar Zeta.
Idol Tryouts 2 is a various artists compilation album released by Ann Arbor, Michigan-based record label Ghostly International. It is the label's third compilation overall and the second in their Idol Tryouts series. Idol Tryouts 2 contains tracks from artists on the label and spans the musical genres of electronica, techno, electro, tech house and trip hop. Included in Idol Tryouts 2 is a second disc which highlights ambient music selections from Ghostly International artists.
Jeremiah Jermaine Paul is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is the winner of season 2 of American talent competition The Voice. Prior to his The Voice stint, he was co-nominated at the 48th Grammy Awards for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, in a collaborative work with Alicia Keys as the featured artist. Paul was a member of the short-lived R&B group 1Accord, which was signed to Shaquille O'Neal's T.W.Is.M. Records.
Pieros Kezou is a Cypriot composer, songwriter, and singer.
Feadz is a French music producer, DJ and songwriter currently signed by French music label Ed Banger Records. He combines the genres of hip hop, electronic, techno and French house in his music and frequently collaborates with label-mate and former girlfriend Uffie.
Troy Beetles, better known by his stage name Datsik, is a Canadian DJ and music producer. His first release was in the spring of 2009. He has since played at venues all over the world, including festivals such as Coachella, Ultra Music Festival, EDC Las Vegas, Stereosonic, Boonstock, Shambhala Music Festival, and Electric Zoo.
Alexander Ridha, better known by his stage name Boys Noize, is a Berlin-based German-Iraqi electronic music record producer, songwriter, and DJ. It is similar to the name of Ridha's label, Boysnoize Records, which he established in 2005. Ridha has remixed the work of a number of other artists, including Snoop Dogg and Depeche Mode. In 2019, he produced Frank Ocean's song "DHL".
Joshua Paul Randall, known professionally as J Rand, is an American singer, songwriter, actor and dancer. He was formerly signed to Interscope Records but left the label in early 2013. Following a performance alongside Flo Rida on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, USA TODAY named J Rand their "Artist on the Verge" for 2014. In 2017 he particapted with the boyband 5 alive at the talent show America's got talent. At the end of 2017 till November 2018 he was part of the musical show "Boybands Forever" and toured with 5 other boys in Germany. Shortly before the second tour in the fall of 2018 he published his new song "October" and used the tour and his fans to promote this and other songs. Since 2020 he hosts the online version of the talent show America's Idol" called IG Idol.
David Sweeten, professionally known as DJ Burn One, is an American DJ, record producer and songwriter. He has worked with a number of prominent hip-hop artists, including Wrekonize, Gucci Mane, Yelawolf, Rittz, Lil Wyte, SL Jones, Young Dro, ASAP Rocky, Scotty, Pill, and more.
Joyce Renee Cobb is an American singer specializing in jazz and R&B. She is closely associated with traditional blues and jazz in the style of Memphis Minnie, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan. She has had a wide-ranging career as a solo artist and vocalist, having charted several country, pop, and R&B singles in the 1970s and early 1980s, later recording as a jazz vocalist.
Shangaan electro is a dance movement and musical style born from a 21st-century reboot of local folk traditions in South African townships, Tsonga Disco and Kwaito House. The movement has been spearheaded by DJ Khwaya and the producer Nozinja in recent years, who has turned it into an iconic Afro-futurist strain of electronic dance music. Shangaan Electro is also called "Tsonga Electro" in the Limpopo province of South Africa.
Jarekus Singleton is an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Refuse To Lose was his first nationally and internationally distributed album. It was released on the Chicago-based independent blues record label Alligator Records on May 6, 2014. England's Blues & Rhythm called Singleton "a great, new blues talent…young, original, soulful and intense…superb, blistering guitar." According to Living Blues magazine, "Jarekus Singleton is making some serious blues noise...blending modern-day blues and emotionally intense soul with melodic, hot-toned lead guitar, funk-seasoned rhythms and hip-hop flavored lyrics." The Washington Post said, "Jarekus Singleton is an exciting new young blues guitarist with melody, hooks, swagger and a strong, original voice. His lyrics are modern, personal, acutely poetic and deeply mature." USA Today said of Singleton, "Stinging blues guitar and potent, original songs herald the emergence of a major new talent."
