Specimens | |
|---|---|
 Specimens in 2017 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alex Ives |
| Also known as | Specimens |
| Born | 7 July 1989 Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | specimensmusic.co.uk |
Alex Ives (born 7 July 1989), known by his stage name Specimens, is an electronic, experimental, ambient & drone musician of British/Jamaican descent based in London UK.
Starting out as a bedroom project in 2012, Ives officially released his first solo work under the name Specimens in 2015 with a Compact Cassette release on Shimmering Moods Records. [2] He subsequently went on to release a number of cassettes [3] on labels such as A Giant Fern & Tenderly Surrender ahead of his debut album 'Sculptures' in 2016. [4] Also in 2016 Ives launched his own label First Terrace Records [5] which has gone on to release artists such as Peter Broderick (Beacon Sound Choir), [6] Chihei Hatakeyama, Anna Homler, Pierre Bastien & Machinefabriek.
Ives started out as a guitarist and drummer in garage rock and punk bands, most notably as a former member of Thee MVPs. [7] In this band he toured extensively around Europe and America [8] supporting artists such as Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, [9] Pulled Apart by Horses, [10] Temples, Twin Peaks, [11] Ty Segall, Night Beats & Television. During this period he had releases on labels such as Burger Records, [12] Greenway Records, Slovenly Recordings, [13] Easy Action, Batchelor Records & more. He is also a founding member & drummer in the band Ice Baths [14] which released their debut album [15] in 2018 on the London-based label Blank Editions (Thurston Moore, Douglas Hart, Housewives). [16]
Final is a project of English musician Justin Broadrick, creator of the band Godflesh, which he started when he was just 13 years old. Unlike Godflesh, Final is primarily electronic in nature, taking on a space-like, dark ambient sound.
Stephen O'Malley is an American guitarist, producer, composer, and visual artist from Seattle, Washington, who has conceptualized and participated in numerous drone doom, death/doom, and experimental music bands, most notably Sunn O))).
Ashtray Navigations is an English experimental music group centred upon Phil Todd and active since 1991. Colloquially referred to as "Ash Nav", the group operates out of Todd's home in Stoke-on-Trent, from which he also ran the record labels Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers and, subsequently, Memoirs of an Aesthete. The project has also released music through labels such as Siltbreeze, Jewelled Antler, American Tapes, Fargone Records, Menlo Park, E.F. Tapes and Freedom From.
"Just Don't Give a Fuck" is the debut single by American rapper Eminem. The original version appears as the only single on his debut EP, Slim Shady EP. A re-recorded version appeared on his major-label debut album, The Slim Shady LP. According to the book Angry Blonde, this was Eminem's first "real" song, and was when he first came up with the "Slim Shady" theme. The song samples the song "I Don't Give a Fuck" by Tupac Shakur.
Cold Spring is an independent record label based in Northamptonshire, England, specialising in "all forms of extreme media, but particularly: Dark ambient, Neo-classical/Neo-folk, Orchestral, Power Electronics/Noise, Japanese Noise, Minimal, Death Industrial, Dark Soundtracks, Experimental, obscure electronics from Russia, China, Japan, Poland and others."
Rake. was an art rock/noise rock musical ensemble from Northern Virginia, founded in 1989. Not aligned with the post-punk/hardcore bands more commonly associated with the local underground music scene, Rake. took a more experimental route and were more closely associated with fellow Virginia-based bands Pelt and Wingtip Sloat. Throughout the 1990s, a relationship cemented via their principal label, VHF Records.
The discography of the experimental music group Psychic TV consists of over 100 full-length albums, over 15 compilation albums and over 30 singles and EPs.
UB44 is the third studio album of original material by UB40, released on the DEP International label in 1982. It was advertised as their 'fourth album' although Present Arms in Dub had been a remix album. The album reached No. 4 in the UK album chart and the early release of the packaging had a hologram cover. UB44 was the Department of Employment form letter sent to British unemployment benefit claimants when they missed their 'signing on' appointment.
The Wayfaring Stranger is an album consisting of three 10-inch, 78 rpm records by Burl Ives released on Asch in 1944. It should not be confused with Ives' 1944 album for Columbia Records (C-103) – also called The Wayfaring Stranger and itself a re-release of a 1941 album on Okeh Records – which contains different songs. The Asch album includes the first releases of two signature songs by Ives: "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" and "The Blue Tail Fly."
Zs is a Brooklyn, New York-based experimental band. Since the band's inception, Zs has incarnated as everything from a sextet to a duo, now solidified into the quartet of Patrick Higgins, Greg Fox (percussion), Sam Hillmer and Michael Beharie (electronics). While Zs' music has been variously categorized as no wave, noise, post-minimalist, drone, and psych, it is primarily concerned with making music that challenges the physical and mental limitations of both performer and listener. The band has been heralded by The New York Times as "one of the strongest avant-garde bands in New York."
Machinefabriek is the musical nom de plume of musician/sound artist and graphic designer Rutger Zuydervelt from the Netherlands.
Burger Records was an American independent record label and record store in Fullerton, California, United States. The label was founded in 2007 by Sean Bohrman and Lee Rickard, members of the power pop band Thee Makeout Party. The record/video store, co-owned by Bohrman and Brian Flores, was opened in 2009. The label ceased operations in July 2020, following sexual assault allegations levied at many of their artists and staff members.
Ritual Productions is a London-based independent record label launched in 2010.
Colour Me Wednesday are an English indie pop/pop punk band from West London, England, built around sisters Jen and Harriet Doveton. The band are noted for their melodic guitar pop, politicised lyrics and DIY punk method, including producing their own recordings, artwork and promotional videos.
Doe were a British indie rock band from London, England, consisting of Nicola Leel, Jake Popyura and Dean Smithers (guitar). The band released two studio albums and toured extensively in the UK, Europe and USA.
Mom Jeans is an American alternative rock/indie rock band formed in Berkeley, California in 2014.
First Terrace Records is an independent record label founded in 2016 by Alex Ives & Joseph Summers.
Crywank is a British anti-folk band based out of Manchester, England. The band is a duo consisting of vocalist/guitarist and founder Jay Clayton and drummer Dan Watson, who joined in 2012. Allmusic describes their body of work as containing "sadness, paranoia, misery, and dry humor", comparing them to AJJ or 'a sarcastic Bright Eyes'. The group have independently released eight full length albums. They have previously toured the UK, Ireland, Mainland Europe, Russia, South East Asia, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Canada.
Somewherecold Records is an American independent record label established in late 2004 by Jason T. Lamoreaux. The record company was founded in Lexington, Kentucky, but is currently headquartered in Shelbyville, Kentucky. It releases ambient, shoegaze, dream pop, slowcore, post-rock, space rock and drone music, with an international roster of artists spanning from the early 2000s to the present. Somewherecold Records has released music on vinyl records, compact discs, compact cassettes and digital audio formats, with global distribution through The Business.
Encore is a studio album by American recording artist Wanda Jackson. It was released in 1988 via Amethyst Records and contained 11 tracks. The album was a collection of gospel selections and her second album with the Amethyst label. It was re-released on the Tab label in 1989 and was sold exclusively in Europe. It was the thirty fourth studio album of Jackson's career.
