Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Matt Black and Jonathan More. Credited as pioneers for pop sampling in the 1980s, Coldcut are also considered the first stars of UK electronic dance music due to their innovative style, which featured cut-up samples of hip-hop, soul, funk, spoken word and various other types of music, as well as video and multimedia. According to Spin, "in '87 Coldcut pioneered the British fad for 'DJ records'".
Steven John Wilson is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosion and No-Man. He is also a solo artist, having released seven solo albums since his solo debut Insurgentes in 2008. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Wilson has made music prolifically and earned critical acclaim. His honours include six nominations for Grammy Awards: twice with Porcupine Tree, once with his collaborative band Storm Corrosion and three times as a solo artist. In 2017, The Daily Telegraph described him as "a resolutely independent artist" and "probably the most successful British artist you've never heard of".
The Unforgettable Fire is the fourth studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, and released on 1 October 1984 by Island Records. The band wanted to pursue a new musical direction following the harder-hitting rock of their previous album, War (1983). As a result, they employed Eno and Lanois to produce and assist in their experimentation with a more ambient sound. The resulting change in direction was at the time the band's most dramatic. The album's title is a reference to "The Unforgettable Fire", an art exhibit about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
The Dreaming is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Kate Bush, released on 13 September 1982 by EMI Records. Recorded over two years, the album was produced entirely by Bush and is often characterised as her most uncommercial and experimental release. The Dreaming peaked at No. 3 on the UK album chart and has been certified Silver by the BPI, but initially sold less than its predecessors and was met with mixed critical reception. Five singles from the album were released, including the UK No. 11 "Sat in Your Lap" and the title track.
Jana Hunter is an American songwriter and musician based in Baltimore.
Beatrice Alice Hicks was an American engineer, the first woman engineer to be hired by Western Electric, and both co-founder and first president of the Society of Women Engineers. Despite entering the field at a time where engineering was seen as an inappropriate career for a woman, Hicks held a variety of leadership positions and eventually became the owner of an engineering firm. During her time there, Hicks developed a gas density switch that would be used in the U.S. space program, including the Apollo Moon landing missions.
William James Basinski is an American avant-garde composer based in Los Angeles, California. He is also a clarinetist, saxophonist, sound artist, and video artist.
Mellow Candle were a progressive folk rock band. Principally Irish, the members were also young, Clodagh Simonds being only 15 and Alison Bools and Maria White 16, and still at school, at the time of their first single, "Feelin' High", released in 1968 on Simon Napier-Bell's SNB Records.
Richard Swift was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and short-film maker. He was the founder, owner, and recording engineer of National Freedom, a recording studio located in Oregon, and worked as producer, collaborator, muse and influencer for acts including The Shins, Damien Jurado, David Bazan, Foxygen, Jessie Baylin, Nathaniel Rateliff, Lucius, Lonnie Holley, The Mynabirds, Wake Owl, Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab, Gardens & Villa, Cayucas, Fleet Foxes, Mango Safari and Guster. Swift was a former member of Starflyer 59, The Shins, and The Arcs. He was also a part of The Black Keys' live band during their 2014–2015 tour, performing as their touring bassist and backing singer.
Insurgentes is the debut full-length solo album released by British musician and record producer Steven Wilson, known for being the founder and frontman of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. The album was recorded all over the world in studios from Mexico City to Japan and Israel, between January and August 2008, and released in November 2008 as a special deluxe multi disc mail order version, with retail release to follow in February 2009. According to Wilson himself, the album contained "the most experimental song-based music [he had] made." The album is named after the Avenida de los Insurgentes, the longest avenue in Mexico City near which part of it was recorded.
Richard David James, known professionally as Aphex Twin, is a British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic styles such as techno, ambient, and jungle. Journalists from publications including Mixmag, The New York Times, NME, Fact,Clash and The Guardian have called James one of the most influential and important artists in contemporary electronic music.
Clodagh Simonds is an Irish musician, songwriter and singer. She was born in Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland and raised and educated in Killiney, County Dublin.
Brian Peter George Eno, also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and visual artist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambient music and electronica, and for producing, recording, and writing works in rock and pop music. A self-described "non-musician", Eno has helped introduce unconventional concepts and approaches to contemporary music. He has been described as one of popular music's most influential and innovative figures. In 2019, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Roxy Music.
Andrew Liles is a British sound artist and multi-instrumentalist. He has a vast output of recordings that he has released since the mid-1980s, covering a variety of styles as experimental music, dark ambient music, progressive rock and hints of hard rock.
George William Lewis Jr., better known by his stage name Twin Shadow, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor based in Los Angeles. He has released five studio albums to date: Forget (2010), Confess (2012), Eclipse (2015), Caer (2018), and Twin Shadow (2021).
Laura Sheeran is an Irish singer, musician, composer and artist. She is the cousin of Ed Sheeran.
Alison O'Donnell is an Irish musician, solo and band singer-songwriter. Born Alison Bools in Dublin to an English mother and Irish father, raised in Dalkey and educated at Holy Child Killiney.
"No Sleeep" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Janet Jackson for her eleventh studio album Unbreakable (2015). Co-written and produced by Jackson and her long-time collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, it is the first record to be released under Jackson's independent label Rhythm Nation Records, distributed by BMG Rights Management. It was made available as the lead single from the album digitally on June 22, 2015, in addition to vinyl copies being sold on Jackson's official website in conjunction with pre-sale orders for the studio album and Unbreakable World Tour concert tickets. Lyrically, the song depicts Jackson longing to reunite with her lover, anticipating that when she does, the couple will get "no sleep". Due to its slow tempo and sentimentality, it has been described as embodying traits of the quiet storm radio style.
Headphone Dust is an English independent record label founded by the musician Steven Wilson. It's almost entirely focused on releasing Wilson's own music as well as his remixes of other artists. The only exception to this is the Irish band Fovea Hex.
Michael Begg is a Scottish composer, sound artist, and musician.
