Pharrell Lanscilo Williams is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he has produced songs for various recording artists. In 1999, he became lead vocalist of the band N.E.R.D., which he formed with Hugo and drummer Shay Haley. Williams has been widely referred to as one of the most influential and successful music producers of the 21st century, having had a significant impact on the sound of modern popular music.
Pitchfork is an American online music publication that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog.
Sufjan Stevens is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released nine solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nominations.
Kevin Drew is a Canadian musician and songwriter who, together with Brendan Canning, founded the expansive Toronto baroque-pop collective Broken Social Scene. He was also part of the lesser-known KC Accidental, which consisted of Drew and Charles Spearin, another current member of Broken Social Scene.
Tim Hecker is a Canadian electronic musician, producer, composer, and sound artist. His work, spanning atmospheric ambient albums such as Harmony in Ultraviolet (2006), Ravedeath, 1972 (2011) and Virgins (2013), has been widely critically acclaimed. He has released nine albums and a number of EPs in addition to a number of film scores and collaborations with artists such as Arca, Ben Frost, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Daniel Lopatin, and Aidan Baker.
Ezra Michael Koenig is an American musician, singer-songwriter, producer, and internet radio personality. He is best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of indie rock band Vampire Weekend. Additionally, Koenig is the creator of the Netflix animated comedy series Neo Yokio and also hosts the Apple Music radio talk show Time Crisis with Ezra Koenig. Time Crisis is airing its eighth season, as of 2022.
Ra Ra Riot is an American indie rock band consisting of vocalist Wes Miles, bassist Mathieu Santos, guitarist Milo Bonacci, violinist Rebecca Zeller and drummer Kenny Bernard.
Angel Deradoorian, also known mononymously as Deradoorian, is a musician based in Los Angeles, California. She is best known for her work with Dirty Projectors as full-time member from 2007 to 2012. She left to pursue a solo career. In 2015 she released a solo studio album, The Expanding Flower Planet.
Contra is the second studio album by the American indie pop band Vampire Weekend, produced by band member Rostam Batmanglij and released in January 2010 on XL Recordings.
Atoms for Peace were an English-American supergroup comprising the Radiohead songwriter Thom Yorke, the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, Radiohead's producer Nigel Godrich, the drummer Joey Waronker of Beck and R.E.M., and the percussionist Mauro Refosco.
Rostam Batmanglij, known mononymously as Rostam, is an American record producer, musician, singer, songwriter, and composer. He was a founding member of the band Vampire Weekend, whose first three albums he produced. He has been described by Stereogum as one of the greatest pop and indie-rock producers of his generation. Rostam also works as a solo artist and is a member of electro-soul group Discovery. He produced his first number-one album, Vampire Weekend's Contra, when he was 27 years old.
The Orchard is the second studio album of the American indie rock band Ra Ra Riot. On October 26, 2010 the song "Boy" was made available for 69 cents in iTunes Store and garnered some interest reaching a peak of no. 152 on the iTunes popularity chart while also charting at No. 34 on the Billboard Rock Digital chart.
Tennis is an American indie pop band from Denver, Colorado, United States, made up of husband-and-wife duo Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley. The duo formed in 2010, and released their debut album, Cape Dory, in 2011. Their second album, Young & Old, was released the following year. Their third album, Ritual in Repeat (2014), was released on Communion records.
Rustie is a Scottish musician from Glasgow. He is associated with the Numbers label collective and first received attention for his 2007 EP Jagz the Smack. He signed to Warp Records in 2009. His 2011 debut album Glass Swords won him widespread acclaim. His music blends disparate genres, including hip hop, rave, and video game music.
Charlotte Emma Aitchison, known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery by a promoter who invited her to perform at warehouse raves. In 2010, she signed a recording contract with Asylum Records, releasing a series of singles and mixtapes throughout 2011 and 2012.
James Hamilton Leithauser is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. From 2000 to 2014, he was the lead vocalist of the American indie rock band The Walkmen, with whom he recorded seven studio albums. Prior to The Walkmen's formation, Leithauser and bass guitarist and organist Peter Matthew Bauer were both members of The Recoys. Leithauser was born and raised in Washington, DC, and has lived in New York City since the 1990s.
Emotion is the third studio album by Canadian singer and songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen. It was released on June 24, 2015, in Japan and on August 21, 2015, worldwide through 604, School Boy, and Interscope Records. Looking to transition from the bubblegum pop-oriented nature of her second studio album, Kiss (2012), Jepsen found inspiration in 1980s music and alternative styles. She enlisted a team of mainstream and indie collaborators, including Sia, Mattman & Robin, Dev Hynes, Ariel Rechtshaid, Rostam Batmanglij, Greg Kurstin, and Peter Svensson of the Cardigans, culminating in a largely synth-pop-centric effort.
U.S. Girls is a Toronto-based experimental pop project formed in 2007, consisting solely of American musician and record producer Meghan Remy. She had released music on a variety of independent record labels before signing to 4AD in 2015.
Half-Light is the debut solo studio album by American musician Rostam, released on September 15, 2017. The album peaked at #6 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, and received generally favorable reviews.
