The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 Tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation on guitars, Horace Panter on bass, Jerry Dammers on keyboards, John Bradbury on drums, and Dick Cuthell and Rico Rodriguez on horns. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude". Lyrically, they present a "more focused and informed political and social stance".
Michael Ronson was an English guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as one of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musician—who recorded with Bowie followed by several albums with Ian Hunter, also Morrissey—as well as a sideman in touring bands with Van Morrison and Bob Dylan.
Neville Eugenton Staple is a Jamaica-born English singer for the 2-tone ska band The Specials as well as his own band, The Neville Staple Band. He also sang with Ranking Roger in Special Beat.
London 0 Hull 4 is the debut album by The Housemartins, released in 1986. It contains the singles "Flag Day", "Sheep", "Happy Hour" and "Think for a Minute".
Falconer is a Swedish folk/power metal band from Mjölby, formed in 1999 by the former guitarist of Mithotyn, Stefan Weinerhall. Falconer carry on many of the traditions set by Weinerhall's previous band and play a style of power metal that utilizes folk instrumentation and melody to create a more medieval sound.
The Stranger is the fifth studio album by American singer Billy Joel, released in September 1977 by Columbia Records. It was the first of Joel's albums to be produced by Phil Ramone, with whom he would go on to work for all of his albums up until his 1986 album The Bridge.
Paper Aeroplanes were a Welsh alternative pop band founded in 2009 by Sarah Howells and Richard Llewellyn, although both members had played together since 2005. The band built up a fanbase through gigging in Cardiff in their early years, before later touring UK-wide and across Europe.
Steven Albini is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal engineer of Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex in Chicago. In 2018, Albini estimated that he had worked on several thousand albums during his career.
Sonic Boom Six are an English five-piece band from Manchester, United Kingdom. Their eclectic sound combines different elements of several genres and has been described by Kerrang! as "taking ska, pop, grime, dubstep, punk and metal apart, then rebuilding them as a hyperactive hybrid". Their lyrics tend to focus on social commentary with a live show known for "clashing activism and good times". The band's influences include Bad Brains, Public Enemy, The Fugees, The Specials, The Streets, and The Clash.
The Red Guitars were an English indie rock band active from 1982 to 1986. Based in Hull, the Red Guitars' first single "Good Technology" was a minor hit, selling 60,000 copies. Their singles "Marimba Jive" and "Be With Me" both reached number one on the UK Indie Chart.
Flipron are an English psychedelic pop band from Glastonbury, England, consisting of singer and songwriter Jesse Budd, pianist/organist Joe Atkinson, drummer Mike Chitty and bassist Tom Granville. They were signed to Tiny Dog Records in 2003.Their music has been likened to Tom Waits, Syd Barrett and The Kinks.
Wild Beasts were an English indie rock band, formed in 2002 in Kendal. They released their first single, "Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants", on Bad Sneakers Records in November 2006, and subsequently signed to Domino Records. They have released five acclaimed albums, Limbo, Panto in 2008, Two Dancers in 2009, Smother in 2011, Present Tense in 2014 and Boy King in 2016. Two Dancers was nominated for the Mercury Prize.
Ralfe Band is the work of English songwriter Oly Ralfe.
Hill of Thieves is the fourth solo album by Irish folk singer Cara Dillon. It is her first full-length release on Charcoal Records, the label formed in 2008 with her musical partner and husband Sam Lakeman. The album was recorded and produced by Sam and first became available in October 2008 at their live concerts. It is also the first release since she gave birth to their twin boys Noah and Colm at 26 weeks, after going into labour onstage at the Swindon Arts Centre, UK. It has been the most successful of her first four albums in relation to chart performance, entering at No. 7 in the UK Indie Album Charts
Oliver Knight is a British singer-songwriter and sound engineer. He is son to folk singer-songwriter Lal Waterson and George Knight. He is brother and stage partner to folk musician Marry Waterson.
Of Monsters and Men are an Icelandic indie folk/pop band formed in Reykjavík in 2010. The members are lead singer and guitarist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, singer and guitarist Ragnar "Raggi" Þórhallsson, lead guitarist Brynjar Leifsson, drummer Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson and bassist Kristján Páll Kristjánsson. The band won the Músíktilraunir in 2010, an annual battle of the bands competition in Iceland. In 2011, Of Monsters and Men released an EP titled Into the Woods. The band's 2011 debut album My Head Is an Animal, reached the No.1 position in Australia, Iceland, Ireland and the US Rock and Alternative charts, while peaking at No. 6 on the US Billboard 200 album chart, No. 3 in the UK, and Top 20 of most European charts and Canada. Its lead single "Little Talks" was an international success, reaching the Top 10 in most music charts in Europe, including No. 1 in Ireland and Iceland, and No. 1 on US Alternative Songs.
The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show is a British radio programme, broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music on Saturdays, between 6 pm and 9 pm, and between 10 pm and 12 midnight on BBC Radio 2. The Radio 6 Music show is presented live by Craig Charles and produced by Simon Hodge, Ben Appleyard and Snowboy for TBI Media. All varieties of funk and soul music are played, from classic tracks to the latest releases. It is the longest-running show on BBC Radio 6 Music, and has had the highest audience share of any programme on the network.
Stephen Lee Bruner, better known by his stage name Thundercat, is an American musician, record producer, singer and songwriter from Los Angeles, California. First coming to prominence as a member of crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies, he has since released four solo studio albums and is noted for his work with producer Flying Lotus and his appearance on Kendrick Lamar's critically acclaimed 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly. In 2016, Thundercat won a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Performance for his work on the track "These Walls" from To Pimp a Butterfly.
Turrentine Jones are an English indie rock band formed in 2012 in Manchester, UK. The band consists of Julian Neville (guitar/vocals), Joe Chilstone-Vause (bass) and Rich Watts. They have released one studio album: Our Days (2014) and one live album Live in York (2015) as well as two singles.
Aquilo is an English musical duo from Silverdale, Lancashire, consisting of Tom Higham and Ben Fletcher. They began gaining recognition in 2013 for their singles such as "Calling Me" and "You There", in addition to their five EPs.
