Don Van Vliet was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the Magic Band, he recorded 13 studio albums between 1967 and 1982. His music blended elements of blues, free jazz, rock, and avant-garde composition with idiosyncratic rhythms, absurdist wordplay, and Vliet’s gravelly singing voice with a wide vocal range. Renowned as an enigmatic persona, Beefheart frequently constructed myths about his life and was known to exercise an almost dictatorial control over his supporting musicians. Although he achieved little commercial success, he sustained a cult following as an influence on an array of experimental rock and punk-era artists.
Wilco is an American rock band based in Chicago. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo after singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently during its first decade, with only singer Jeff Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt remaining from the original incarnation. Since early 2004 the lineup has been unchanged, consisting of Tweedy, Stirratt, guitarist Nels Cline, multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone, keyboard player Mikael Jorgensen, and drummer Glenn Kotche. Wilco has released thirteen studio albums, a live double album, and four collaborations: three with Billy Bragg and one with the Minus 5.
Gish is the debut studio album by the American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on May 28, 1991, by Caroline Records. The album was produced by Butch Vig and frontman Billy Corgan, with the latter describing Gish as a "very spiritual album" and "an album about spiritual ascension".
Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend college. The trio recorded three albums for Rockville Records, before signing with Sire Records and expanding to a five-piece. Shortly after the release of the band's major label debut album Anodyne, Farrar announced his decision to leave the band due to a soured relationship with his co-songwriter Tweedy. Uncle Tupelo split on May 1, 1994, after completing a farewell tour. Following the breakup, Farrar formed Son Volt with Heidorn, while the remaining members continued as Wilco.
Joan of Arc was an American indie rock band from Chicago, Illinois named after the French saint Joan of Arc. They formed in 1995, following the breakup of Cap'n Jazz.
No Depression is the first studio album by alternative country band Uncle Tupelo, released in June 1990. After its formation in the late 1980s, Uncle Tupelo recorded the Not Forever, Just for Now demo tape, which received a positive review by the College Media Journal in 1989. The review led to the band's signing with what would become Rockville Records later that year. The album was recorded with producers Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie at Fort Apache Studios, on a budget of US$3,500.
Summerteeth is the third studio album by the American rock band Wilco, released on March 9, 1999, by Reprise Records. The album was heavily influenced lyrically by 20th century literature, as well as singer Jeff Tweedy's marital problems. Unlike previous albums, Summerteeth was heavily overdubbed in the studio with Pro Tools. Tweedy and Jay Bennett wrote most of the album in the studio, a contrast to the band's previous albums, which were often recorded live by the entire band with minimal overdubs.
Red Red Meat was a 1990s Chicago-area blues-influenced alternative rock band. After their break-up, frontman Tim Rutili went on to form Califone, for which many of Red Red Meat's former members, including percussionist Ben Massarella, often record and perform. Tim Hurley went on to form Sin Ropas.
Califone is an experimental rock band from Chicago. The band is named after Califone International, an audio equipment manufacturer. Their work has been critically acclaimed.
Brian Deck is an American music producer and member of the band Red Red Meat. He co-founded Idful Music Corporation in 1988. Since becoming a full-time producer, Deck has worked with bands and artists including Modest Mouse, Iron & Wine, Califone, All Smiles, Fruit Bats, Gomez, The Grates, Holopaw, Baby & Hide, David Singer and David Berkeley. Brian currently works at Narwhal Studios in Chicago.
Anodyne is the fourth and final studio album by alternative country band Uncle Tupelo, released on October 5, 1993. The recording of the album was preceded by the departure of the original drummer Mike Heidorn and the addition of three new band members: bassist John Stirratt, drummer Ken Coomer, and multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston. The band signed with Sire Records shortly before recording the album; Anodyne was Uncle Tupelo's only major label release until 89/93: An Anthology in 2002.
Forbidden Places is the seventh studio album by American rock band Meat Puppets, released in 1991. It is their first release on London Records.
Perishable Records is an independent record label founded by Chicago musicians Ben Massarella and Tim Rutili in 1993. Rutili and Massarella were both members of Red Red Meat at the time, and released the band's "Hot Nikkity Truck Monkey" as its first single. The band was almost immediately after signed to Sub Pop, but after Red Red Meat broke up in 1997, the pair revived the label name and began releasing new material on it. Its first release after the dissolution of the Sub Pop contract was an album by Loftus, released in 1998. Perishable's recording studio initially was a renovated first-floor apartment in Chicago, and musicians recorded to 2-inch analog audiotape before moving on to processing using the digital audio workstation ProTools. The label's offices, in 1999, were in a truck wash in south Chicago that doubled as the office for Massarella's side business, BJ Transportation Service. In 2002, the label lost some of its flagship acts - The Fire Show had broken up, and Fruit Bats had signed with Sub Pop - and Massarella and Rutili openly talked about potentially winding down its operation. However, by 2003, the label was operating out of an erstwhile elementary school in the Pilsen neighborhood, where the group had also outfitted a studio it dubbed Clava. Clava was located in a converted garage next to the school, was financed by Massarella, and was operated by Brian Deck of Red Red Meat.
Tim Rutili is an American musician, filmmaker, and visual artist. He is best known as the founder of Red Red Meat and Califone, and his membership in supergroups Ugly Casanova and Loftus.
The Neighborhood is the fifth album by the rock band Los Lobos. It was released in 1990 and includes contributions from Levon Helm and John Hiatt, among others.
The Mind of Gil Scott-Heron is a 1978 album by spoken-word and rap artist Gil Scott-Heron. Like many of Scott-Heron's albums, the album's content primarily addresses political and social issues; however, The Mind of Gil Scott-Heron relies far more on his spoken word delivery than his other albums. Whereas much of the artist's earlier albums contained backup jazz-funk music from Brian Jackson, many of these tracks, which address contemporary issues such as Watergate, the pardon of Richard Nixon and the Attica Prison riot, are either live recordings or studio-recorded songs with little more than sparse drum backing or occasional instrumentation. "Jose Campos Torres" is about Jose Campos Torres, a U.S. Army veteran who was arrested and then murdered and tossed into a bayou by two police officers in Houston in 1978, spurring the Moody Park Riot. Many of the tracks featured were included on previous Gil Scott-Heron albums.
The Holmes Brothers were an American musical trio originally from Christchurch, Virginia. Mixing sounds from blues, soul, gospel, country, and rhythm & blues, they have released twelve studio albums, with three reaching the top five on the Billboard Blues Albums chart. They have gained a following by playing regularly at summer folk, blues, gospel, and jazz festivals. They have recorded with Van Morrison, Peter Gabriel, Odetta, Phoebe Snow, Willie Nelson, Freddie Roulette, Rosanne Cash, Levon Helm and Joan Osborne, and have gigged all over the world—including performing for President Bill Clinton. They won the Blues Music Award from the Memphis-based Blues Foundation for Band of the Year in 2005 and for the Soul Blues Album of the Year in 2008.
Joseph Adamik is a musician and composer best known for his involvement with the bands Califone and Iron & Wine. He has also performed since the early 1990s with many Chicago jazz musicians as well as recording and performing with many other groups across different genres.
Thank the Holder Uppers is an album by the American band Claw Hammer. The band's first major label album, it was released in 1995 via Interscope Records. Claw Hammer supported the album with a North American tour.
Territory is the second album by the American musician Alvin Youngblood Hart, released in 1998. It was his first album for a Rykodisc label. Hart supported the album with a British tour, as well as an appearance at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival.
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