Andrew Maurice Gold was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who influenced much of the Los Angeles-dominated pop/soft rock sound in the 1970s. Gold performed on scores of records by other artists, especially Linda Ronstadt, and had his own success with the U.S. top 40 hits "Lonely Boy" (1977) and "Thank You for Being a Friend" (1978), as well as the UK top five hit "Never Let Her Slip Away" (1978). In the 1980s, he had further international chart success as one half of Wax, a collaboration with 10cc's Graham Gouldman.
Mark William Lanegan was an American singer and songwriter. First becoming prominent as the lead singer for the early grunge band Screaming Trees, he was also known as a member of Queens of the Stone Age and The Gutter Twins. He released 12 solo studio albums as well as three collaboration albums with Isobel Campbell and two with Duke Garwood. He was known for his baritone voice, which was described as being "as scratchy as a three-day beard yet as supple and pliable as moccasin leather" and has been compared to Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave.
Frou Frou are an English electronic duo composed of musician Imogen Heap and producer/songwriter Guy Sigsworth. They released their only album, Details, in 2002. The duo wrote, produced, and played instruments on the tracks, while Heap also provided lead vocals. In 2004, they recorded a cover of "Holding Out for a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler, which was used in the credits of the 2004 film Shrek 2. Frou Frou amicably disbanded later that year.
1200 Techniques are an Australian hip hop group formed in 1997 in Melbourne, Australia, consisting of DJ Peril as producer, percussionist, DJ; N'fa Forster-Jones as lead vocalist and Kemstar as lead guitarist. Whilst primarily being in the genre of hip hip, they drew influences from other genres including rock, funk, soul, electro, drum and bass, electro jazz and breakbeat. They released their debut studio album, Choose One, in March 2002.
Shimmy Disc is a New York City-based independent record label founded in 1987 by Mark Kramer. Before it was sold to the Knitting Factory, artists like Bongwater, Daniel Johnston, Fly Ashtray, Galaxie 500, King Missile, Boredoms, Ruins, Ween, Gwar, The Semibeings, and Uncle Wiggly recorded on the label. The label also released compilation albums such as Rutles Highway Revisited , 1990, which featured various artists from the label, and also introduced new artists like Paleface.
Walter Egan is an American rock musician, best known for his 1978 gold status hit single "Magnet and Steel" from his second album release, Not Shy, produced by Egan, Lindsey Buckingham and Richard Dashut. The song reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #18 on the Easy Listening chart. In Canada it reached #9. Overseas, it peaked at #32 on the Australian Singles Chart, Kent Music Report.
"Across the Universe" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song first appeared on the 1969 various artists' charity compilation album No One's Gonna Change Our World and later, in a different form, on their 1970 album Let It Be, the group's final released studio album. The original version featured on two different albums both titled Rarities: a 1978 British release and a 1980 US release. It was also included on their 1988 album Past Masters, Volume Two. The song has been covered by many artists, including David Bowie on his 1975 album Young Americans, which featured contributions from Lennon.
Andrew Wegman Bird is an American indie rock multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Since 1996, he has released 16 studio albums, as well as several live albums and EPs, spanning various genres including swing music, indie rock, and folk music. He is primarily known for his unique style of violin playing, accompanied by loop and effect pedals, whistling, and voice. In the 1990s, he sang and played violin in several jazz ensembles, including Squirrel Nut Zippers and Kevin O'Donnell's Quality Six. He went on to start his own swing ensemble, Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, which released three albums between 1998 and 2001. Weather Systems (2003) was his first solo album after Bowl of Fire disbandment, and it marked a departure from jazz music into indie music. Bird's 2019 album My Finest Work Yet was nominated for "Best Folk Album" at the 2020 Grammy Awards.
Mark Kramer known professionally as Kramer, is a musician, composer, record producer and founder of the New York City record label Shimmy-Disc. He was a full-time member of the bands New York Gong, Shockabilly, Bongwater, has played on tour with bands such as Butthole Surfers, B.A.L.L., Ween, Half Japanese and The Fugs, and has also performed regularly with John Zorn and other improvising musicians of New York City's so-called "downtown scene" of the 1980s.
Robin Beck is an American rock singer. She topped the singles chart in the United Kingdom in 1988, and Austria, Germany, Norway, Netherlands and Switzerland in 1989, with her single "First Time", which had come to the public's attention via its use in a Coca-Cola commercial. Other well-known songs of hers are "Save Up All Your Tears", "In My Heart to Stay", "Tears in the Rain" and "Close to You".
Technique were a British synthpop band from the mid-1990s featuring Kate Holmes of Frazier Chorus and singer Xan Tyler. The band was named after New Order's 1989 album of the same name, and they were signed to Creation Records, the record label owned by Holmes's husband, Alan McGee.
Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music and DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. They were founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after three years in 2011. He was then replaced by both Jillionaire and Walshy Fire. In June 2019, Jillionaire left the group and was replaced by Ape Drums. Their music spans numerous genres, mixing reggae with dancehall, reggaeton, soca, house and moombahton.
Return to Paradise is Australian singer-songwriter and producer Sam Sparro's second album. It was released on 1 June 2012. The album entered the Australian Albums Chart, peaking at number 41. In Belgium the album peaked at number 35 on the Belgian (Flanders) Albums Chart, and number 80 in the Netherlands on the Dutch Albums Chart. The album had less success in the United Kingdom, however, failing to chart in the top 200 or to produce any charting singles.
AlunaGeorge are an English electronic music duo from London, consisting of singer-songwriter Aluna Francis and producer George Reid. Since 2020, the duo has been on indefinite hiatus, allowing both members to pursue solo projects.
A Seat at the Table is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Solange. It was released on September 30, 2016, by Saint Records and Columbia Records. While recording the album, Solange released an EP, titled True (2012) and launched her own record label named Saint Records. Writing for the album began as early as 2008, while the recording sessions took place from 2013 to June 2016. Solange enlisted a variety of collaborators including rappers Lil Wayne and Q-Tip; singer-songwriters The-Dream, BJ the Chicago Kid, Kelly Rowland and Tweet; and musicians Sampha, Kelela and David Longstreth.
Coconut Oil is the debut solo EP by American rapper and singer Lizzo. It was released on October 7, 2016, by Nice Life Recording Company and Atlantic Records, Lizzo's first major-label release. Lizzo co-wrote each song on the album, while enlisting Ricky Reed, Christian Rich, Dubbel Dutch, and Jesse Shatkin for the album's production. The result was a departure from Lizzo's previous hip-hop releases. Lyrically, the extended play explores themes of body positivity, self-love, and the journey to those ideals. Coconut Oil received positive reviews from music critics.
Know No Better is the fourth extended play (EP) by American electronic music trio Major Lazer, released on June 1, 2017, by Mad Decent.
6pc Hot EP is the first extended play by American singer 6lack. It was released on June 26, 2020, through LVRN and Interscope Records. Production was handled by twelve record producers, including DJ Battlecat, Nick Mira, Stwo, Timbaland, Canadian producer London Cyr, and British producer Fwdslxsh, the latter two of whom executive-produced the EP. It features a sole guest appearance from rapper Lil Baby on the single "Know My Rights".
Let It Come Down is an American avant-garde art rock band composed of Kramer and Xan Tyler on the newly relaunched Shimmy-Disc label, in partnership with Joyful Noise Recordings.
In the Meantime is the third studio album by Canadian singer and songwriter Alessia Cara, released on September 24, 2021, by Def Jam Recordings. Cara collaborated with Jon Levine, Salaam Remi and Joel Little among several other producers on the project. Deemed as a concept album based "In the meantime between life and death", the album unravels the anxieties of introspection, healing, love and self-reflection.
