Keith Matthew Thornton, better known by his stage name Kool Keith, is an American rapper and record producer from The Bronx, New York City, known for his surreal, abstract and often profane or incomprehensible lyrics. Kool Keith has recorded prolifically both as a solo artist and in group collaborations. Kool Keith is generally considered to be one of hip-hop's most eccentric and unusual personalities.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O, guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are complemented in live performances by second guitarist David Pajo, who joined as a touring member in 2009 and replaced Imaad Wasif, who had previously held the role. According to an interview that aired during ABC's Live from Central Park SummerStage series, the band's name was taken from modern New York City vernacular.
Julian Fernando Casablancas is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band The Strokes, with whom he has released six studio albums since their founding in 1998. Casablancas released a solo studio album, Phrazes for the Young, in 2009, and has released two albums with the experimental rock band The Voidz.
Sufjan Stevens is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released ten solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nominations.
The Lucksmiths were an Australian indie pop band formed in March 1993 by Marty Donald on guitar, Mark Monnone on bass guitar and Tali White on drums and lead vocals. Louis Richter joined on guitar in 2005. They released eight studio albums, First Tape, The Green Bicycle Case, What Bird Is That?, A Good Kind of Nervous (1997), Why That Doesn't Surprise Me, Naturaliste, Warmer Corners and First Frost (2008), before disbanding in August 2009.
Darren Hayman is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the writer, lead singer, and guitarist in Hefner. Since Hefner disbanded in 2002, Hayman has embarked on a prolific solo career releasing twelve albums under his own name and appearing on albums by Papernut Cambridge, Rotifer and The Great Electric. He has regularly worked with The Wave Pictures, producing an album for them, directing three of their music videos and briefly employing them as his backing band. In January 2011 Hayman recorded and released a song every day in the month of January, working with many collaborators. Hayman also paints and has exhibited his work at exhibitions about animals in space and racing dogs.
David Andrew Sitek is an American musician and record producer, known for his work with his band TV on the Radio. He has also worked with bands such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, Foals, Celebration, Little Dragon, Wavves, Beady Eye, and Weezer, and produced free jazz-influenced remixes of songs by artists such as Beck and Nine Inch Nails, and has contributed a solo track to the Red Hot Organization Dark Was the Night charity compilation. He is also a photographer and painter.
The Mint Chicks were a New Zealand noise rock and art punk group. The band is originally from Auckland and relocated to Portland, Oregon, USA in 2007.
Head Wound City is an American hardcore punk supergroup consisting of Jordan Blilie and Cody Votolato both of The Blood Brothers, Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Justin Pearson and Gabe Serbian, both of The Locust.
Hey Monday was an American rock band from West Palm Beach, Florida, formed in 2008. They released their debut album Hold On Tight in 2008, which produced the singles "Homecoming" and "How You Love Me Now". The album was followed up with their 2010 EP Beneath It All, which achieved moderate commercial success, and the Candles EP in 2011. Their final release, The Christmas EP, was released on December 6, 2011. The band is on hiatus and claims to be not "broken up". Cassadee Pope has since released three studio albums as a solo artist and became the first female winner of The Voice.
Dum Dum Girls was an American rock band, formed in 2008. It began as the bedroom recording project of singer and songwriter Dee Dee. She is currently based in Los Angeles. The name is a double homage to the Vaselines' album Dum Dum and the Iggy Pop song "Dum Dum Boys".
Acid Witch is an American heavy metal band formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 2007. They released their first album, Witchtanic Hellucinations, in 2008 on Razorback Records. The band then released two EPs, Witch House in 2009 and Midnight Mass in 2010. The band released their second album, Stoned, in 2010, on Hells Headbangers. In 2012, Witchtanic Hellucinations was re-released on Hells Headbangers.
Courtney Melba Barnett is an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. Known for her deadpan singing style and witty, rambling lyrics, she attracted attention with the release of her debut EP I've Got a Friend Called Emily Ferris in 2012. International interest came with the release of her EP The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas in 2013.
Tahliah Debrett Barnett, known professionally as FKA Twigs, is a British singer, songwriter, and dancer. She was a backup dancer for numerous musicians, and made her musical debut with EP1 (2012). Barnett's debut studio album, LP1 (2014), reached number 16 on the UK Albums Chart and number 30 on the US Billboard 200. It was nominated for that year's Mercury Prize. She released the EP M3LL155X (2015) and took a four-year hiatus, after which she released her second studio album, Magdalene (2019). After signing with Atlantic Records, she released the mixtape Caprisongs (2022). Her work has garnered acclaim and has been described as "genre-bending", drawing on various genres including electronic music, trip hop, R&B, and avant-garde.
Yonatan Gat is an Israeli American producer, guitarist, and composer based in New York City. His cross-genre work has been called "a vital new music form" by a "legendary live performer" by Magnet magazine, "melding punk, improvisation, world music, and avant garde".
Darren James Cross, previously known as Darren E. Spielberg-Cross, is an Australian songwriter, musician, record producer and video maker. Cross is the founding mainstay lead vocalist and guitarist of alternative rock group Gerling (1992–2007). He started the E.L.F. project in 2007, which issued an album, Plankton Icke and Tina Turner David City Limits (2010). His folk noir duo Jep and Dep were formed in 2012 with his domestic partner, Jessica Cassar on co-lead vocals, which have issued two albums. Under his own name he has released four studio albums, _Xantastic (2016), Peacer (2018), Keeping Up? (2020) and Distorder (2021). The artist's instrumental folk guitar project, D.C Cross has released four albums, Ecstatic Racquet (2019), Terabithian (2020), Hot-wire the Lay-low (2022) and Wizrad (2023).
Walter Martin is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the New York City indie rock bands The Walkmen and Jonathan Fire*Eater. Following the Walkmen's break-up in 2013, Martin launched a critically acclaimed solo career and has subsequently released seven studio albums.
Camp Cope were an Australian alternative rock band formed in 2015 in Melbourne, Victoria. The group's lineup consisted of lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Georgia "Georgia Maq" McDonald, bassist Kelly-Dawn "Kelso" Hellmrich, and drummer Sarah "Thomo" Thompson. The band were signed with independent Melbourne label Poison City Records, where Thompson also works, and independent Boston label Run for Cover Records distributed their releases in North America and Europe. In February 2023, Camp Cope announced their imminent disbandment with a series of final performances.
Andrew Savage, or A. Savage, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and painter, best known for his work as co-frontman for the rock band Parquet Courts.
Jake Robertson is an Australian musician from Central Coast, New South Wales, who moved to Geelong, Victoria in 2010. He has released music as Alien Nosejob, and in the bands Ausmuteants, Hierophants, Leather Towel, Modal Melodies, Smarts, and The Frowning Clouds. Many of these releases are on Anti Fade Records.
