Dust Brothers are the songwriters and producers E.Z. Mike and King Gizmo. They are famous for their sample-based music in the 1980s and 1990s, and specifically for their work on the albums Paul's Boutique by the Beastie Boys, Odelay and Guero by Beck, the soundtrack to the film Fight Club, and "MMMBop" by Hanson. They are based in Los Angeles, California.
The Microphones were an American rock band from Olympia, Washington, founded in 1996 and ended in 2003, with a short reunion following in 2007. The band was fronted by Phil Elvrum. Elverum was the principal songwriter and producer behind the band's albums, but he has also collaborated with other local musicians on his other recordings and tours. Many of Elverum's recordings from this period were released by the label K Records. Since 2003 Elverum has recorded and performed under the name Mount Eerie. The Microphones reunited in July 2019 for What the Heck Fest in Anacortes.
Feelings is an album by David Byrne, released on June 17, 1997 and noted for the collaboration with the British band Morcheeba.
Sufjan Stevens is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released a total of seven solo studio albums as well as multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has also received Academy Award and Grammy Award nominations.
Mirah is an American musician and songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York. After getting her start in the music scene of Olympia, Washington in the late 1990s, she released a number of well-received solo albums on K Records, including You Think It's Like This but Really It's Like This (2000) and Advisory Committee (2002). Her 2009 album (a)spera peaked on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart at #46, while her 2011 collaborative album Thao + Mirah peaked at #7.
The Need is an American queercore band formed by singer/drummer Rachel Carns and guitarist Radio Sloan in Portland, Oregon in the mid-1990s.
The Blow is an American electro pop band, comprising Khaela Maricich and Melissa Dyne. Maricich and Dyne write, compose, produce and perform all the music. It was formed as a solo project by Maricich in 2002, and she was joined by Jona Bechtolt, from Yacht, from 2004 to 2007. Melissa Dyne became part of the project in 2007.
Songs from the Black Mountain Music Project is a collaboration between Mirah and Ginger Brooks Takahashi with assorted guests. The album consists of nine full-length songs, interspersed with nine shorter instrumental interludes.
Eluvium is the moniker of the American ambient recording artist Matthew Cooper, who currently resides in Portland, Oregon. Cooper, who was born in Tennessee and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, before relocating to the Northwest, is known for blending various genres of experimental music including electronic, minimalism and piano. His albums often feature artwork and photographs by Jeannie Paske.
Anna Jordan Huff (Mercovich) is an American multi-media artist, composer, producer and actress best known by her stage name Anna Oxygen. After starting her music career as a member of the Space Ballerinas, a synthpop group then based in Olympia, she recorded her debut solo album All Your Faded Things (2003) with producer Justin Trosper, before releasing her second album This Is an Exercise (2006) on the Kill Rock Stars label. Her albums have featured guest vocalists such as Beth Ditto and Mirah.
Mount Eerie is the fourth and final studio album by American indie rock band The Microphones. Microphones frontman Phil Elvrum began work on the album after a long tour of Europe and North America. Released by K Records in 2003, the album is named after the mountain on Fidalgo Island where Elvrum spent much of his childhood. Elvrum would later use the same name for his next musical project, and release a follow-up EP to the original album in 2007.
April Matson is an American actress and singer. She is known for her portrayal of Lori Trager on the ABC Family cable television network series Kyle XY. She was also featured on the Fox network television series Quintuplets alongside Andy Richter, and in the 2005 film short Forsaken.
This Is an Exercise is an album by experimental electropop artist Anna Oxygen, released in 2006 on Kill Rock Stars. Allmusic described the album as "just as fascinating as it is chilly and alienating. In her songs, Oxygen explores some of the same issues of authenticity, creation, and consumption that Tracy + the Plastics do, but with a sci-fi/fantasy bent."
Thao Nguyen, also known as Thao, is an American singer-songwriter originally from Virginia and now based in San Francisco. She is the lead musician of the band Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, and has collaborated with Joanna Newsom and Andrew Bird. Outside of the band she has collaborated on projects with several artists including Merrill Garbus, The Portland Cello Project, and Mirah. Her music is influenced by folk, country, and hip hop.
Lori Goldston is an American cellist and composer. Accomplished in a wide variety of styles, including classical, world music, rock and free improvisation, she came to prominence as the touring cellist for Nirvana from 1993–1994 and appears on their live album MTV Unplugged in New York. She was a member of Earth, the Black Cat Orchestra, and Spectratone International, and also performs solo.
The Old Days Feeling is a collection of out-of-print, reissued, and unreleased songs by American musician Mirah. Additionally, the album features collaborative work by Phil Elvrum and Calvin Johnson of K Records. Released to a positive reception in 2008, the album received a score of 7/10 by PopMatters.
Gigi is a Canadian music recording project based in Vancouver, formed in 2005 by the songwriter Nick Krgovich and record producer Colin Stewart after Stewart acquired two vintage plate reverb units and asked Krgovich to write songs — Phil Spector-inspired 1950s and 1960s-style pop music — to make use of them. With 40 musicians from indie rock bands collaborating, the group released an album, Maintenant, on the Tomlab label in 2010, to mostly positive reviews.
Thao & Mirah is a collaborative studio album by Thao Nguyen & Mirah, released in 2011 on Kill Rock Stars. In support of the album Thao and Mirah toured with indie music artists such as BOBBY. It was well received by music critics; according to Pitchfork, "everything on Thao & Mirah feels of a cohesive collaborative piece, separate from either artist's solo work, a combination that synthesizes their individual strengths to outstanding effect."
Black Cat Orchestra was a musical group formed in Seattle, Washington, active from 1991 to 2004. It consisted, in various forms over the years, of Lori Goldston (cello), Kyle Hanson (accordion), Don Crevie (horn), Scott Granlund (saxophone), Jason Munger and Jeff Teitelbaum (bass), Matthew Sperry, Detonator Beth, Gina Sala and Jessika Kenney (vocals), Emily Marsh and Joseph Zajonc (drums), Jack Magai (percussion), and Friese Undine (harmonica). The band released two albums, as well as a collaboration with Mirah, To All We Stretch the Open Arm, and appeared on the David Byrne album Feelings.
Your Heart Breaks is an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington led by artist and musician Clyde Petersen. The group was formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1998. Petersen is transgender and his songwriting, particularly on album Drone Butch Blues (2019), often explores queer themes. The rest of the lineup of the group is fluid, however common collaborators include Karl Blau, Lori Goldston, Kimya Dawson, Kyle Field, Dylan Carlson and Adrienne Davies.
