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'".
Trip hop is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as "a fusion of hip hop and electronica until neither genre is recognizable", with slower tempos and a psychedelic sound. It may incorporate elements of funk, dub, soul, jazz, R&B, and other forms of electronic music, as well as sampling from movie soundtracks and other eclectic sources.
The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons in Manchester in 1989. They were pioneers in bringing the big beat genre to the forefront of pop culture. They released their debut album Exit Planet Dust (1995) and it eventually went on to sell over a million copies worldwide. After attracting Virgin Records, the duo achieved more widespread success with their second album Dig Your Own Hole (1997), which topped the UK charts. In the UK, they have had six No. 1 albums and 13 Top 20 singles, including two No. 1 hits.
Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin. Signing to Skam and then Warp Records in the 1990s, the duo received recognition following the release of their debut album Music Has the Right to Children in 1998. They followed with the albums Geogaddi (2002), The Campfire Headphase (2005) and Tomorrow's Harvest (2013), but have remained reclusive, rarely appearing live.
Synth-pop is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic, art rock, disco, and particularly the Krautrock of bands like Kraftwerk. It arose as a distinct genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of the new wave movement of the late 1970s to the mid-1980s.
The Blueprint is the sixth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z. It was released on September 11, 2001. It was released by Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. Its release was set a week earlier than initially planned in order to combat bootlegging. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2001 at Manhattan Center Studios and Baseline Studios in New York City. Contrasting the radio-friendly sound of Jay-Z's previous work, The Blueprint features soul-based sampling and production handled primarily by Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Bink, as well as Timbaland, Trackmasters, and Eminem, who also contributes the album's sole guest feature.
"California Dreamin'" is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and first recorded by Barry McGuire. However, the best-known version is by the Mamas and the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in 1965. The song is No. 89 in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The lyrics of the song express the narrator's longing for the warmth of Los Angeles during a cold winter in New York City.
Discovery is the second studio album by French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released internationally 12 March 2001 by Virgin Records. It marks a shift from the Chicago house sound prevalent on their first studio record, Homework (1997), to a house style more heavily inspired by disco, post-disco, garage house, and R&B. Comparing their stylistic approach to their previous album, band member Thomas Bangalter described Discovery as an exploration of song structures and musical forms whereas Homework was "raw" electronic music. He also described Discovery as a reflection of the duo's childhood memories, when they listened to music with a more playful and innocent viewpoint.
Deep Forest is a French musical group originally consisting of two French musicians, Michel Sanchez and Éric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electronic sounds and dance beats or chillout beats. Their sound has been described as an "ethno-introspective ambient world music". They were nominated for a Grammy Award in 1994 for Best World Music Album, and in 1995 they won the Award for the album Boheme. The group also became World Music Awards Winner – French group with the highest 1995 world sales. Their albums have sold over 10 million copies. Sanchez started his own career as a singer in 2005, while Mouquet continued working under the band's original name.
Graduation is the third studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West, released on September 11, 2007, through Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. Recording sessions took place between 2005 and 2007 at several studios in New York and Los Angeles. It was primarily produced by West himself, with contributions from various other producers. The album also features guest appearances from recording artists such as Dwele, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Mos Def, DJ Premier, and Chris Martin of Coldplay. The cover art and its interior artwork were designed by Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami.
Idlewild is the sixth and final studio album by American hip hop duo Outkast. It was released on August 22, 2006, by LaFace Records and served as the soundtrack album to the duo's musical film of the same name, which was released that same month. Containing themes relating to the music industry, the album also featured songs not included in the film while incorporating jazz, blues, swing, and soul styles in its music.
Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music creation, including recording the rapping of an MC, a turntablist or DJ providing a beat, playing samples and "scratching" using record players and the creation of a rhythmic backing track, using a drum machine or sequencer, it is most commonly used to refer to recording the instrumental, non-lyrical and non-vocal aspects of hip hop.
The Hair and Skin Trading Company is a British drone / avant-noise group, formed in 1991 by ex-Loop members Neil Mackay (vocals/bass) and John Wills (drums). Joined by Nigel Webb (Guitars) and Richard Johnston on samples, they released their debut album Jo in Nine G Hell on Beggars Banquet Records in 1992. They also played the Reading Festival that year, with tours of Europe, US and the UK, following their subsequent releases - with shows at CBGB's and the Knitting Factory, New York & Festivals such as C.M.J - New York, Roskilde Festival, Denmark and Phoenix Festival, United Kingdom.
Crystal Castles is the debut studio album by Canadian electronic music duo Crystal Castles; at the time of its release, the group consisted of producer Ethan Kath and singer Alice Glass. The two met each other in 2004 and both had an interest in noise music acts like AIDS Wolf & The Sick Lipstick. This inspired the two to start a project that made noise music, but instead of guitars, they would use electronic sounds made with a circuit-bent Atari 5200, which led multiple journalists to describe their genre of music as a chiptune style they did not intend it to be categorized as.
Givers is an indie pop group from Lafayette, Louisiana. The band is made up of vocalist and percussionist Tiffany Lamson, vocalist and guitarist Taylor Guarisco, and bassist and guitarist Josh LeBlanc. The band's origins date to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which displaced Lamson and Guarisco from their New Orleans apartment and school, leading them to return to Lafayette with little to do. The duo began playing music together, and they recruited the other members shortly before a last-minute performance at a local pub in 2008. The band came together as the result of the unplanned, improvised jam.
Talk That Talk is the sixth studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna, released on November 18, 2011, by Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records. It was recorded while traveling for the Loud Tour between February and November 2011, and was originally planned to be a reissue of her previous studio album Loud (2010). As executive producer, Rihanna enlisted a wide range of producers including Alex da Kid, Calvin Harris, Chase & Status, No I.D., and Stargate to achieve her desired sound. Following in the same vein as Loud, Talk That Talk is a dance-oriented pop/R&B crossover album that incorporates elements of hip hop, dubstep, electronic and house music. The album also contains subtle dancehall influences, whilst its lyrical content and themes revolve around a nihilistic, romantic and lascivious lover.
Brand New Machine is the third studio album by English drum and bass production duo Chase & Status. It was released on 7 October 2013 by MTA Records under exclusive license to Mercury Records. The album features vocal contributions from a new wave of British talent, including Louis M^ttrs, Moko, Jacob Banks and Elli Ingram, as well as contributions from Major Lazer, Nile Rodgers and rapper Pusha T. The duo toured the album with an arena tour beginning on 31 October 2013. They also headlined 1Xtra Live at the Bournemouth International Centre on the same day as the release of the album.
"Potential Breakup Song" is a song co-written and performed by American duo Aly & AJ and is the first single from their third studio album, Insomniatic. It was released on June 26, 2007, going on to top many video countdowns, and becoming Aly & AJ's most successful single to date. In November 2020, the song saw a resurgence in popularity due to its widespread use on the app TikTok, receiving over 26 million viewers for the month.
Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind is a box set of live performances by King Crimson, released on 2 September 2016. It is the first full-length release by the seven member incarnation of the group that formed in 2013.
Giza is the second extended play of duo Gatekeeper, consisting of musicians Aaron David Ross and Matthew Arkell. It was released in December 2010 by the label Merok Records. The duo made Giza with a setting of ancient ruins in mind, due to their interest of theories regarding ancient astronauts that they had garnered. They also expanded their film score influence to science fiction and fantasy films in addition to horror movies. Giza was promoted with music videos for all of the tracks. All of the videos were produced by production team Thunder Horse and were released online on the website 20JazzFunkGreats as well on a limited-edition VHS tape. The video for "Chains" was ranked number ten on a list of best music videos of 2010 by the magazine XLR8R.
