Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up was Shaun Ryder (vocals), his brother Paul Ryder (bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joined the band onstage as a dancer/percussionist. Rowetta joined as a second vocalist in 1990. They were initially signed to Tony Wilson's Factory Records label.
Creation Records Ltd. was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Alan McGee, Dick Green, and Joe Foster. Its name came from the 1960s band The Creation, whom McGee greatly admired. The label ceased operations in 1999, although it was revived at one point in 2011 for the release of the compilation album Upside Down.
Bloc Party are an English rock band, composed of Kele Okereke, Russell Lissack, Justin Harris and Louise Bartle. Former members Matt Tong and Gordon Moakes left the band in 2013 and 2015 respectively. Their brand of music, whilst rooted in rock, retains elements of other genres such as electronica and house music. The band was formed at the 1999 Reading Festival by Okereke and Lissack. They went through a variety of names before settling on Bloc Party in 2003. Moakes joined the band after answering an advert in NME magazine, while Tong was picked via an audition. Bloc Party got their break by giving BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq and Franz Ferdinand's lead singer, Alex Kapranos, a copy of their demo "She's Hearing Voices".
Heavenly Recordings is a London-based independent record label founded by Jeff Barrett in 1990. Heavenly released the first albums from Saint Etienne, Beth Orton and Doves, and early singles by Manic Street Preachers. Current Heavenly artists include Stealing Sheep, Mattiel, The Orielles, Confidence Man, audiobooks, Pip Blom, H. Hawkline, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Gwenno Saunders, Amber Arcades, Working Men's Club, Katy J Pearson and CHAI.
The Blue Aeroplanes are an English rock band from Bristol, the mainstays of which have been Gerard Langley, brother John Langley, and dancer Wojtek Dmochowski. All three had previously been members of the new wave "art band" Art Objects from 1978 to 1981.
Shack are an English band formed in Liverpool, England in 1987. Originally Shack consisted of Mick Head, his brother John Head (guitar), Justin Smith (bass) and Mick Hurst (drums).
Hagar the Womb are an English punk rock band, originally active in the early 1980s and part of the anarcho-punk movement. In hiatus from 1987, members went on to form We Are Going To Eat You and Melt, with vocalist Julie Sorrell. A 2011 compilation of their back catalogue brought members back into contact with each other, and invitations to reform and play gigs and festivals led to Hagar The Womb gigging again from 2012. The band released a new EP in 2016.
The Membranes are an English post-punk band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire in 1977, the initial line-up being John Robb, Mark Tilton (guitar), Martyn Critchley (vocals) and Martin Kelly (drums). Critchley soon left, with Robb and Tilton taking on vocals, and Kelly moving to keyboards, with "Coofy Sid" (Coulthart) taking over on drums.
King of the Slums were a British alternative rock band. Formed in Greater Manchester in the mid-1980s, the band specialised in a kind of electric violin and guitar-driven rock music, and released their debut single in 1986. Whilst the band earned some critical acclaim from the UK music press, commercial success eluded them and the group disbanded in the early 1990s following the release of their second studio album, Blowzy Weirdos (1991). An album of new material plus some older songs appeared in 2009 credited to both King of the Slums and Slum Cathedral User, which was the original name of the group. Three more albums followed, Manco Diablo (2017), Artgod Dogs (2018) and Encrypted Contemporary Narratives (2020) before the death of frontman Charley Keigher in 2021.
Hatcham Social are an English indie pop band. The group first met and formed in New Cross, London in 2006 and have since released a string of singles on indie labels, followed by three studio albums. With the debut album, they made headway in the mainstream media with The Guardian describing them as "irrestistible" and Tim Burgess calling them "a wonderful pop group with the world's coolest drummer."
The Chapman Family were an English indie rock band from Stockton-on-Tees, that formed in 2006. The band's final lineup consisted of Kingsley Chapman, Pop Chapman, Owen Chapman, Kevin James Chapman and Scott Chapman. The band's debut album Burn Your Town was released on 7 March 2011. They were notably part of the "10 Tips for 2009" shortlist published by NME.
Goldheart Assembly were an English indie pop/rock band from London, England.
The xx are an English indie rock band from Wandsworth, London, formed in 2005. The band consists of Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx, and formerly Baria Qureshi. They are known for their distinct and minimalist sound that blends indie rock, indie electronic, indie pop, dream pop and electro-rock and the dual vocalist setup of both Croft and Sim. Their music employs soft, echoed guitar, prominent bass, light electronic beats and ambient soundscape backgrounds.
Melodic Records is a British independent record label founded by David Cooper in 1999. Based in Manchester, England, the label have recently released their 132nd release as of October 2021 and celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2019. The label also run a label management arm, Melodic European Labels, which distributes and promotes overseas labels in Europe.
Pete and the Pirates were an English indie rock band from Reading, Berkshire, England. The band consisted of Thomas Sanders (vocals), Peter Hefferan, David Thorpe (guitar), Peter Cattermoul (bass) and Jonny Sanders (drums).
Flash Fiktion are an indie electronic band from London, England. Their debut album was released in 2012.
Lanterns on the Lake is an English indie rock band from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The band is composed of Hazel Wilde, Paul Gregory, Bob Allan and Angela Chan. The group's material is released in Europe by Bella Union and by PIAS in the US. The band were nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2020 for their fourth studio album, Spook the Herd. In 2023 Radiohead's Phil Selway joined the group to provide drums and percussion on their fifth studio album Versions Of Us.
Empty Pools is an English indie rock band from Bristol, England.
Idles are a British rock band formed in Bristol in 2009. The band consists of Joe Talbot (vocals), Mark Bowen (guitar), Lee Kiernan (guitar), Adam Devonshire (bass) and Jon Beavis (drums). Their debut album, Brutalism, was released in 2017 to critical acclaim, as was their second album Joy as an Act of Resistance in 2018. Their third album, Ultra Mono, was released in 2020, followed by Crawler in 2021.
A Brief Introduction To Unnatural Lightyears is the debut album by English musician Oliver Wilde, released on 23 June 2013 through Howling Owl.
