Rapeman was an American noise rock band founded in 1987 and disbanded in 1989. It consisted of Steve Albini on guitar and vocals, David Wm. Sims on bass and Rey Washam on drums. In the years since their brief tenure, Rapeman’s sound has also been described as post-hardcore.
Ancient is a Norwegian black metal band from Bergen, formed in 1992. The band released six full-length albums released by Metal Blade Records to date and a variety of mini-albums, EPs and special releases. Ancient used to have the classic raw black metal sound, similar to Darkthrone's works. Beginning with The Cainian Chronicle, they moved towards a more Nordic/atmospheric black metal sound, akin to Emperor and a cleaner production. After a period of turmoil concerning their line-up, they went on to add gothic-style instruments such as violins, a female vocalist, and synthesizers to their music.
Slint was an American rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1986. The band consisted of Brian McMahan, David Pajo (guitar), Britt Walford, Todd Brashear, and Ethan Buckler. Slint's first album, Tweez, was recorded by engineer Steve Albini in 1987 and released in obscurity on the Jennifer Hartman Records label in 1989. It was followed two years later by the critically acclaimed Spiderland, released on the independent label Touch and Go Records.
Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded first as a solo project by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band became a trio with an initial lineup that included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of Naked Raygun. In 1985, Pezzati was replaced by Dave Riley, who played on Big Black's two full-length studio albums, Atomizer (1986) and Songs About Fucking (1987).
The Jesus Lizard is an American rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas by vocalist David Yow, guitarist Duane Denison and bassist David Wm. Sims. They relocated to Chicago, Illinois, in 1989, where they found kindred spirits in recording engineer Steve Albini and Touch and Go Records. With the addition of drummer Mac McNeilly, they began performing live, eventually attracting an international audience with their powerful live show.
The Hammer Party is a 1986 release of Big Black's early EPs made between 1982 and 1984. Originally released by Homestead Records, and later rereleased by Touch and Go, the LP came out at the same time as Big Black's Atomizer album, and featured the six songs from Lungs on one side and the six songs from Bulldozer on the other. The CD version was expanded to include Big Black's third record, Racer-X.
Absu was an American black/thrash metal band from Dallas, Texas. Their demos and first album leaned towards death metal, but later adapted to the thrash/black sound the group would become recognized for. Their lyrical themes are esoteric, including themes of Celtic, Sumerian and Mesopotamian myths and legends, alchemy, numerology, magick, and sorcery.
Atomizer is the debut full-length album by American punk rock group Big Black released in 1986.
Songs About Fucking is the second and final full-length studio album by the punk rock band Big Black, released in 1987 by Touch and Go Records, and reissued in 2018. The album includes a rendition of Kraftwerk's "The Model" in a remixed version from that which appeared on Big Black's then-recent single. The compact disc of Songs About Fucking added the other side of that single, a cover of Cheap Trick's "He's a Whore".
Steven Frank Albini was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (1992–2024), and engineered acclaimed albums like the Pixies' Surfer Rosa (1988), PJ Harvey's Rid of Me and Nirvana's In Utero.
Breaking Circus was a post-punk band from the 1980s, based in Chicago and later Minneapolis, founded by guitarist and vocalist Steve Björklund.
David Michael Riley was an American musician who was the bassist in the punk rock band Big Black from 1985 until the band's dissolution in 1987. Riley moved to Chicago in 1982 from Detroit, where he had worked as a recording engineer. He played on Big Black's two studio albums, Atomizer (1986) and Songs About Fucking (1987), as well as their Headache EP (1987), several singles, and two live albums. After Big Black, Riley recorded tracks with several other artists before being incapacitated by a stroke in 1993, losing the ability to walk. He became a blogger, and published a book in 2006 titled Blurry and Disconnected: Tales of Sink-or-Swim Nihilism. He died in late 2019 from squamous cell carcinoma.
Lungs is the first EP by American punk rock band Big Black. It was released in December 1982 on Ruthless Records and was reissued in 1992 on Touch and Go Records. A 19-year-old Steve Albini played nearly every instrument on Lungs, with "sax bleats" by Albini's college friend John Bohnen and drums being handled by "Roland," a drum machine that was credited as a member of the band. The EP was used to recruit the other members of Big Black. Lungs was recorded on a TEAC 3340 loaned to Albini in exchange for a case of beer.
The Advantage is an American rock band from Sacramento, California that formed in 1998 and specialises in doing covers of music from old NES games, also known as Nintendocore. The band is named after the NES joystick controller of the same name.
Flour is the musical project and nickname of Minneapolis musician Pete Conway, who wrote songs and played bass guitar in the bands Rifle Sport and Breaking Circus until the mid-1980s. He released four solo albums on Touch and Go Records from 1988 to 1994 on which he plays most of the instruments himself. Flour toured as a live band twice with a lineup that featured ex-Big Black guitarist Steve Albini on bass and former Breaking Circus percussionist Todd Trainer on drums before they went on to form the band Shellac. Flour's solo recordings feature the drum machine sound characteristic of Big Black, which was also toyed with by many other independent rock bands in the Midwest during that time period. Flour's third solo album Machinery Hill was described by Allmusic's Richard Foss as "an oddball masterpiece of grinding guitar, fluid bass, hammering drums, and very creative ideas".
"My Father My King" is a song by Scottish post-rock band Mogwai, which was released as a single in October 2001. Over 20 minutes long, and billed as a companion piece to the album Rock Action, a sticker on the cover of the single describes it as "two parts serenity and one part death metal". The song is regularly used to end Mogwai concerts – most recently, in 2015, it was the finale of all six of the band's 20th anniversary shows – and was often extended in length.
Racer-X is the third EP by American post-hardcore band Big Black. It was released by Homestead Records in 1985 and reissued by Touch and Go Records in 1992.
Sound of Impact is a live album by the American post-hardcore band Big Black. It was released in limited edition in 1987. The band did not include its name anywhere on the album.
The Very Long Fuse is the debut EP by American post-punk band Breaking Circus. It was released in 1985 by on Homestead Records.
Squirrel Bait is the first EP by the American punk rock band Squirrel Bait, released in 1985 through Homestead Records.
