X is an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles. The original members are vocalist Exene Cervenka, vocalist-bassist John Doe, guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer D. J. Bonebrake. The band released seven studio albums from 1980 to 1993. After a period of inactivity during the mid-to-late 1990s, X reunited in the early 2000s and continued to tour. In June 2024, X announced a final album and farewell tour.
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth by Robin Guthrie and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981. They signed with the record label 4AD in 1982 and released their debut album Garlands. In 1983, Heggie was replaced with multi-instrumentalist Simon Raymonde. The group earned critical praise for their ethereal, effects-laden sound and the soprano vocals of Fraser, whose lyrics often eschew any recognisable language. They pioneered the 1980s alternative subgenre of dream pop and helped define what would become shoegaze.
Orgy is an American industrial rock band formed in 1997, from Los Angeles, California. They have described their music as "death pop". The band is best known for their cover version of the New Order song "Blue Monday", and the song "Stitches", both from their 1998 album Candyass. Then they released their second album, Vapor Transmission, which was released in 2000, with "Fiction " and "Opticon" as singles.
Terry John Bozzio is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons, U.K., and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missing Persons. Bozzio has been a prolific sideman, playing on numerous releases by other artists since the mid-1970s. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1997.
Jeffrey Nye Mangum is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who gained prominence as the founder, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of Neutral Milk Hotel, as well for his co-founding of The Elephant 6 Recording Company. Mangum is characterized for his complex, lyrically dense songwriting, exemplified on the critically lauded album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, as well as for his public image as a recluse associated with his extended periods of musical inactivity and minimal press interaction. An article published in Slate described Mangum as the "Salinger of Indie Rock." In 2023, Jeff Mangum received a Grammy award nomination for "Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package".
Geir Aule Jenssen is a Norwegian electronic musician and composer who records as Biosphere. A resident of Tromsø within the Arctic Circle, Jenssen is well known for ambient and ambient house pieces, often inspired by Arctic or mountain settings, and his use of loops and peculiar samples from science fiction and natural sources. His 1997 album Substrata was voted by the users of the Hyperreal.org website in 2001 as the best all-time classic ambient album. He has also composed several film scores.
The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous with traditional Irish music. They are regarded as having helped popularise Irish music around the world. They have won six Grammy Awards during their career and they were given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2002 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Some music experts have credited The Chieftains with bringing traditional Irish music to a worldwide audience, so much so that the Irish government awarded them the honorary title of 'Ireland's Musical Ambassadors' in 1989.
Chrome is an American rock band founded in San Francisco in 1976 by musician Damon Edge and associated with the 1970s post-punk movement. The group's raw sound blended elements of punk, psychedelia, and early industrial music, incorporating science-fiction themes, tape experimentation, distorted acid rock guitar, and electronic noise. They have been cited as forerunners of the 1980s industrial music boom.
Deerhoof is an American musical group formed in San Francisco in 1994. They consist of founding drummer Greg Saunier, bassist and singer Satomi Matsuzaki, and guitarists John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez. Beginning as an improvised noise punk band, Deerhoof became widely renowned and influential in the 2000s through their self-produced albums.
Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. There have been a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted the band between early 1973 and late 1974, the period of their greatest commercial success. They have had eight songs on the Billboard Hot 100; their highest-charting songs include "You're Still a Young Man", "So Very Hard to Go", "What Is Hip?", and "Don't Change Horses ".
Swingin' Utters is a Californian punk rock band that formed in the late 1980s. After U.S. and European tours supporting the release of 2003's "Dead Flowers, Bottles, Bluegrass and Bones", some band members concentrated on raising their new families. From 2003-2010, the band played frequently, though mostly limited to the west coast of the United States and Canada, taking a break from any longer, comprehensive touring or recordings. During this time, they released the "Live in a Dive" double live album on Fat Wreck Chords (2004), and "Hatest Grits", a b-sides and rarities compilation (2008). After a seven-year gap in the release of any new, original recordings, the band released the "Brand New Lungs" 3-song 7-inch ep in 2010, followed by the "Here, Under Protest" LP (2011), and have since released four more records, and have resumed touring internationally.
American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has released 40 studio albums, 21 live albums, 17 volumes of The Bootleg Series, 44 compilation albums, seven soundtracks as main contributor, 24 notable extended plays, 104 singles, 61 music videos, 17 music home videos and two non-music home videos. Dylan has been the subject of eleven documentaries, starred in three theatrical films, appeared in an additional thirty-six films, documentaries and home videos, and is the subject of the semi-biographical tribute film I'm Not There. He has written and published lyrics, artwork and memoirs in 11 books and three of his songs have been made into children's books. He has done numerous collaborations, appearances and tribute albums. The albums Planet Waves and Before the Flood were initially released on Asylum Records; reissues of those two and all others were on Columbia Records.
The Sir Douglas Quintet was an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas in 1964. With their first hits, they were acclaimed in their home state. When their career was established, the band relocated to the West Coast. Their move coincided with the burgeoning San Francisco psychedelic rock scene of the mid 1960s to early 1970s. Overall, the quintet were exponents of good-times music with strong roots in blues and Texas-regional traditions. The band's songs were most noted for the instantly distinguishable organ sound of Augie Meyers' Vox Continental.
Jack Endino is an American producer and musician based in Seattle, Washington. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands including Mudhoney, Soundgarden and Nirvana. He was also the guitarist for Seattle band Skin Yard, which was active between 1985 and 1992. Endino currently manages a studio in Seattle called Soundhouse, owned by Mike Sebring.
The discography of Richard D. James, a British musician, consists of six studio albums, three compilation albums, 14 extended plays, seven singles, and 12 music videos, all released under his best known alias Aphex Twin. James has also released one studio album under the alias Polygon Window, one studio album under the alias Caustic Window, and one collaborative album with Mike Paradinas. Three compilation albums and 35 extended plays were released under other aliases.
Black Fiction is an indie rock band from San Francisco, CA.
Michael Zapruder is an American musician and songwriter. He is a recording artist, and a co-founder of San Francisco's Howells Transmitter arts collective and record label.
Alice Melinda Cohen also known by the stage name Alice Desoto, is a New York City-based American singer, songwriter, musician and fine artist. She has performed as the lead vocalist for two major label bands, the Vels and Die Monster Die. The Vels were the more commercially successful of the two, with their 1984 single "Look My Way" peaking at No. 72 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Cohen has also pursued a solo career and has released seven studio albums since 2008.
The Mommyheads are an indie pop band who played from around 1987 through 1998, disbanded for a decade, and then reformed in 2008. Starting in New York City as the brainchild of singer Adam Cohen, the band produced a string of quirky and highly inventive releases on various independent labels, most notably Simple Machines. Their music has been compared to XTC and 80s King Crimson. They relocated to San Francisco in 1990. The band signed to Geffen Records in 1997, producing a single album for the label before breaking up in 1998. Jon Pareles from the NY Times wrote that their Geffen LP had "perfectly balanced melodies". They reunited to record a new CD in 2008 and have been active ever since.
Tim Cohen is a San Francisco based musician and visual artist. He has played in a variety of acts including The Fresh & Onlys, Black Fiction, 3 Leafs, Amocoma, Sonny & The Sunsets, Hattattak, The Latter, and The Forest Fires Collective. He also releases solo albums, first as Feller Quentin, then under his own name and, more recently, Magic Trick. He has been recognized as a figurehead in San Francisco's independent garage and psychedelic rock music scenes.
