Ville Hermanni Valo is a Finnish singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead vocalist of the gothic rock band HIM. Influenced by the likes of KISS, Type O Negative, Faith No More and Black Sabbath, Valo began his career playing bass and drums in various bands around his hometown of Helsinki. In 1991, he formed HIM, which would go on to become one of the most successful Finnish bands of all time, and the first to receive a gold record in the United States. He performed as the band's lead singer and chief songwriter from their inception until their dissolution in 2017. Known for his deep, crooning bass-baritone voice, Valo is also credited as the creator of the heartagram, the band's trademarked symbol which nonetheless has achieved great popularity outside of the band's fanbase.
HIM was a Finnish gothic rock band from Helsinki. Formed in 1991 by vocalist Ville Valo and bassist Mikko "Mige" Paananen under the name His Infernal Majesty, the band broke up in 1993, before being reformed in 1995 by Valo and guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström. After being rejoined by Mige, as well as new additions keyboardist Antto Melasniemi and drummer Juhana "Pätkä" Rantala, the band, now called HIM, released their debut album Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 in 1997. In 2000, now with drummer Mika "Gas Lipstick" Karppinen and keyboardist Juska Salminen, the band released the album Razorblade Romance, which reached the number one spot in Finland, Austria and Germany. Their first single, "Join Me in Death", also charted at number one in Finland and Germany, eventually going platinum and gold respectively. Following the addition of Janne "Burton" Puurtinen on keyboards, HIM released Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights and Love Metal in 2001 and 2003 respectively. Both cracked the top ten in several countries, and allowed the band to tour the United Kingdom and the United States for the first time.
Cruising with Ruben & the Jets is the fourth studio album by the Mothers of Invention. Released on December 2, 1968, on Bizarre and Verve Records with distribution by MGM Records, it was subsequently remixed by Frank Zappa and reissued independently.
Mikko Henrik Julius Paananen, better known as Mige, is a Finnish musician and songwriter, best known as the bassist and founding member of the gothic rock band HIM. Born to an artistic family, Mige attended the Sibelius Upper Secondary School of music and dance, when he first formed HIM with Ville Valo. The band broke up after Mige began his national military service, but they reformed in 1995. HIM would go on to release eight studio albums and become one of the most commercially successful Finnish bands of all time. The band announced their retirement in March 2017, and played their final show on New Year's Eve 2017.
"California Love" is a hip hop song by 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman. The song was released as 2Pac's comeback single after his release from prison in 1995 and was his first single as the newest artist of Death Row Records. This is one of 2Pac's most widely known and most successful singles, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and also topping the charts of Italy, New Zealand, and Sweden. The song was nominated for a posthumous Grammy Award as a Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 1997.
DFA Records is an American independent record label founded in 2001 by Mo' Wax co-founder Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. They previously had a production team called The DFA, consisting of Goldsworthy and Murphy.
Ramon Ibanga, Jr., professionally known as Illmind, is a Filipino American record producer, songwriter, and educator. As of 2012, he lives in Brooklyn, New York.
DFA Compilation, Vol. 2 is a three disc box set released by the dance-punk label DFA Records. It contains tracks and remixes of various artists signed to DFA Records as well as other artists with a close affinity to the label. The first two discs are a collection of recording previously only available on 12-inch vinyl. The third disc is a mix CD of tracks featured on the compilation, and some others, mixed by Tim Goldsworthy and Tim Sweeny. The compilation was released on November 2, 2004.
"Dreams" is the debut single by Irish rock band the Cranberries. It was released in 1992 and later appeared on the debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?. It reached the top 40 on the US Hot 100 Airplay and the top 30 of the UK Singles Chart in early 1994. A 1990 demo version was released in Ireland only in the summer of that year under their initial band name, the Cranberry Saw Us.
"Underneath" is a song recorded for Alanis Morissette's seventh studio album, Flavors of Entanglement, which was produced by Guy Sigsworth. It is the album's first single. The song was digitally released on April 15, 2008 after originally being scheduled for March 25. According to Morissette, "'Underneath' is about how you can only change the world after you change yourself."
3OH!3 is an American electronic music duo from Boulder, Colorado, made up of Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte. They are best known for their single "Don't Trust Me" from their album Want, which reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100. Their second single, a remix of "Starstrukk" featuring Katy Perry from Want, was a top ten hit in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Poland, and Australia. They gained further recognition by featuring Kesha on the song "My First Kiss", which was made the lead single from their album Streets of Gold. The album later peaked at number seven on the Billboard 200.
Todd Edward Imperatrice, known professionally as Todd Edwards, is an American house and garage record producer, DJ and singer from Bloomfield, New Jersey. He currently resides in Los Angeles.
Morgan Wolf Page, also known as Grammy-Nominated Morgan Page, is an American DJ and music producer. His tracks include "The Longest Road", "Fight for You" and "In the Air". Page has received two Grammy Award nominations; a personal nomination for best remix with Nadia Ali and in 2009 his song was nominated for best remix; "The Longest Road". Page is signed to Armada Music worldwide.
Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, Chapters 1–13 is the seventh studio album by Finnish gothic rock band HIM. Released on 8 February 2010, the album was recorded at The Lair Studios and NRG Studios in Los Angeles, California, with producer Matt Squire. Following his time in rehab, Screamworks was the first HIM album vocalist Ville Valo worked on completely sober. This resulted in the band rehearsing the material more than ever before, as Valo had set out to prove himself and the band following his new-found sobriety. Musically Screamworks featured a more accessible and straightforward sound than many of its predecessor, reminiscent of the music of the 1980s. Much of the album's material was inspired by Valo's relationship with an undisclosed partner, whom he referred to as his muse for the record.
Gavilán Rayna Russom, known professionally as Rayna Russom, is an American electronic music producer, musician and DJ. Best known as the lead synther for the band LCD Soundsystem, Russom has also released music under various names, including Black Leotard Front, Black Meteoric Star and The Crystal Ark, as well as collaborative work with Delia Gonzalez. In addition to her musical work, Russom is also a visual artist and a writer. Russom lives in New York City.
Amanda Lucille Warner, known professionally as MNDR, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. She rose to prominence after being featured on Mark Ronson & The Business Intl's 2010 single "Bang Bang Bang", which peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart.
oOoOO is an American witch house/chillwave project created by Christopher Dexter Greenspan, currently based in Berlin. Along with White Ring and Salem, oOoOO is often recognized as a pioneer of the witch house sound. oOoOO's debut release was on Houston-based Disaro Records in January 2010, where he released a six-track CD-R encompassing his then-released work. The CD-R was limited to 100 copies, each with different artwork made by Greenspan himself. In the spring of 2010, tracks "No Shore" and "Cold" were also contributed for a 4-artist compilation cassette on Bathetic Records. oOoOO also contributed the track "Seaww" to a 7" split single with White Ring on Sweden's Emotion Records. oOoOO also contributed a remix of the Lindsay Lohan song "I Live For The Day" to the Lindsay Lohan tribute mixtape Let Me Shine for You, which was released on Tri Angle Records in 2010. His debut EP was released on 12" vinyl on Tri Angle Records in October 2010, and Tri Angle has confirmed future plans for an album. oOoOO's second EP Our Loving is Hurting Us was released on April 10, 2012 via Tri Angle. oOoOO's debut LP, Without Your Love, was released on June 24, 2013 via Nihjgt Feelings – a new label based in Turkey, co-founded by Dexter himself. oOoOO's second LP, Faminine Mystique, was released in 2018 in collaboration with Bosnian-German singer/producer Islamiq Grrrls. In 2020, Dexter and Islamiq Grrrls released their first LP under the name Drab City, Good Songs for Bad People.
Panshak Henry Zamani, better known as Ice Prince, is a Nigerian hip hop recording artist and actor. He rose to fame after releasing "Oleku", one of Nigeria's most remixed songs of all time. He won the 2009 Hennessy Artistry Club Tour. His debut studio album Everybody Loves Ice Prince was released in 2011. It was supported by three singles: "Oleku", "Superstar" and "Juju". In 2013, Ice Prince released Fire of Zamani as his second studio album. The album contained the singles "Aboki", "More", "Gimme Dat" and "I Swear". On 1 July 2015, Ice Prince was announced as the vice president of Chocolate City. He held the position until he left the label in 2016.
Tears on Tape is the eighth and final studio album by Finnish band HIM, released April 26, 2013 in Finland, April 29, 2013 in Europe, and on April 30, 2013 in the US and Canada.
"The Book of Love" is a song written by Stephin Merritt and attributed to The Magnetic Fields, an American indie pop group founded and led by him. "The Book of Love" appears on Magnetic Fields' three-volume concept album 69 Love Songs, which contains 69 tracks described as "love songs", 23 tracks in each of the three volumes. The three-volume album was released in 1999, with "the Book of Love" appearing in volume 1 as track number 12.
