We Mean It, Man

Bottom/ Soundtrack album to the film Performance by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roegfeatures music from Randy Newman, Ry Cooder, Jack Nitzsche, Buffy Sainte-Marie, The Last Poets and Mick Jagger (Warner Brothers, 1970). Performance pushed boundaries by featuring extremely explicit sex scenes and use of drugs, both of which have been rumoured to be real instead of simulated. It has been reported that during a test screening, one Warner executive's wife vomited in shock. Middle/ Frontwoman Courtney Love and Los Angeles band Holereleased Live Through This (DGC, 1994) just four days after the discovery of Kurt Cobain's body, Courtney Love's late husband, singer/ songwriter of grunge band Nirvana Top/ Rising from the ashes of the pivotal punk group the Sex Pistols, iconic frontman John Lydon (formerly known as Johnny Rotten) and Public Image Ltd. (PiL) rolled out First Issue (Virgin Records) in 1978. Arguably the first post-rock group, PiL branched out to a more experimentalist sound, and early work is often regarded as some of the most challenging
and innovative music of the post-punk period. Album credits
read: "Public Image would like to thank absolutely nobody".

That Great Love Sound

Bottom/ Chemical Chords (Duophonic/4AD, 2008) by Stereolab includes the tracks "One Finger Symphony", "The Ecstatic Static", "Fractal Dream of a Thing" and "Vortical Phonotheque". Called "one of the most fiercely independent and original groups of the Nineties", Stereolab were one of the first bands to be termed "post-rock". Their primary musical influence is 1970s krautrock, which they combine with lounge, 1960s pop, and experimental music. They are noted for their heavy use of vintage electronic keyboards, and their sound often overlays a repetitive "motorik" beat with female vocals sung in English or French. Stereolab often incorporate socio-political themes into their lyrics. Some critics say the group's lyrics carry a strong Marxist message, and Gane and Sadier admit to being influenced by the Surrealist and Situationist cultural and political movements.
Top/ On Pretty In Black (Columbia, 2005), Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo from Danish pop duo The Raveonettes lay down hard-edged electric guitar songs overlaid with liberal doses of noise. Characterized by close two-part vocal harmonies inspired by The Everly Brothers, their songs juxtapose the structural and chordal simplicity of 50s and 60s rock with intense electric instrumentation, driving beats and often dark lyrical content, similar to another of the band's influences, The Velvet Underground.

Wonderwall To Be Here

Bottom/ Have One on Me is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom, released on February 23, 2010 via Drag City as the official follow up to the harpirst's highly acclaimed second studio release, 2006's Ys. It is a triple album produced by herself and mixed by long-time collaborators Jim O'Rourke and Noah Georgeson, with the accompanying arrangements by Ryan Francesconi. Have One on Me received perfect scores and extremely positive evaluations by many publications, as well as earning Newsom favorable comparisons to other singer-songwriters such as Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro, Rickie Lee Jones and Kate Bush. Allison Stewart of The Washington Post called Have One on Me "her magnum opus, a three-disc set being likened to a freak-folk Sandinista!, though it feels more like a musical Ulysses."Paste Magazine's Jeff Vrabel referred to it as a "panoramic dreamworld" and declared that "Have One on Me is packed with magic." Spin's Andy Beta expressed that Newsom "gives what few artists can deliver: a self-contained world of warmth, crystalline detail, and intimacy that lies far beyond a Twitter feed" in his 4 star review. Will Dean of The Guardian pointed that "at two-hours-plus, it's a record that demands concentration to appreciate its splatterings of beauty. But pour yourself a glass and listen, because they don't make them like this too often."Zach Schonfeld of PopMatters described it as "the closest Newsom will come to a Blood on the Tracks — a confessional opus, straight from the gut." Top/ The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn (Touch and Go, 2007) is the third full length studio album by CocoRosie. It was produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson, Björk's longtime collaborator. CocoRosie is a musical group formed in 2003 by sisters Bianca "Coco" and Sierra "Rosie" Casady. The sisters were born and raised in the United States, but formed the band in Paris after meeting for the first time in years. As children, the sisters spent summers with their father, an Iowa farmer who became interested in Native American religion, while he visited Indian reservations and took part in vision quests. The album's cover is a photo by Pierre et Gilles that features Sierra, Bianca, and Bianca in drag. Their music has been called "freak folk", and incorporates elements of pop,blues, opera, electronica, and hip hop. On May 13, 2008, CocoRosie released a new single entitled "God Has a Voice, She Speaks Through Me". The nomadic duo (currently and temporarily residing in New Mexico) spent much of 2008 writing and recording in Buenos Aires, Melbourne, Berlin, New York, and Paris, finding amazing and diverse musicians to collaborate along the way. The result is their 11-song 2010 Sub Pop debut, Grey Oceans. CocoRosie was named the 16th most influential artist of the decade by betterPropaganda in 2009.

You Can Be Special, Too

Top/ The album cover for Aion (4AD, 1990) by Dead Can Dance shows a detail from the Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch's triptych, The Garden of Earthly Delights. Assigning a musical genre to Dead Can Dance is difficult, as its style is particularly eclectic. However, its early work could be considered darkwave. In their later work, including and subsequent to the release titled The Serpent's Egg, Dead Can Dance would take ancient or various musics from around the world as primary sources, with contralto Lisa Gerrard singing glossolalia (commonly called "speaking in tongues"), giving it a very distinctive style. As a result, their later albums such as Into the Labyrinth (1993), Toward the Within (1994) and Spiritchaser (1996) sound quite different from the first three. Various sources have labeled those latter releases as neo-classical, or ethereal.
Bottom/ "More Than This" is a single from Roxy Music's eighth studio album Avalon (Virgin, 1982), generally regarded as the culmination of the smoother, more adult-oriented sound of the English art rock group's later work. Cover painting ‘Veronica Veronese’ by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1872. Bill Murray performs More Than This in a memorable karaoke scene in the 2003 movie Lost in Translation, directed by Sofia Coppola.

Truth Doesn't Make A Noise

Top/ Meg White and Jack White of punk blues duo The White Stripes delve into truth as number one theme throughout the album Get Behind Me Satan (V2 Records, 2005). In 2006, it was included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, edited by Robert Dimery.Middle/ Rather Ripped (DGC, 2006) by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth is the last album the band had to release to fulfill their contractual obligation to Geffen Records. Formed in New York City in 1981, Sonic Youth are inspired by the guitar symphonies of Glenn Branca(with whom most of the band have performed), the heavy protopunk of The Stooges, the punk poetry of Patti Smith, the Krautrock of Can, the psychedelic garage rock of The 13th Floor Elevators, as well as avant-garde composers like John Cage. The band were often praised for "redefin[ing] what rock guitar could do" using a wide variety of unorthodox guitar tunings, and preparing guitars with objects like drumsticks and screwdrivers to alter the instruments' timbre. Bottom/ "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)" is the second track to be released from The White Stripes' sixth studio album Icky Thump (XL Recordings, 2007), recorded at Nashville's Blackbird Studio. After Get Behind Me Satan, Icky Thump marks a return to the punk, garage rock and blues influences for which the band is known. Additionally, the album introduces Scottish folk music, avant-garde, trumpet, and bagpipes into the formula, whilst simultaneously reintroducing older characteristics such as the first studio recording of the early White Stripes song "Little Cream Soda", and the return of Jack White's in-studio slide guitar playing. The band has sold approximately 12 million albums worldwide, two million in the US alone, and their latest three albums have each won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. Meg White has said one of her all-time favorite musicians is Bob Dylan; Jack claims "I've got three fathers – my biological dad, God and Bob Dylan".

Orchestra Of Bubbles

Bottom/ Apparat is a German electronic musician (Sascha Ring) living in Berlin and one of the owners of Shitkatapult Records. Starting out with dance floor-oriented techno, he later started to create ambient music. Recent music is closer to glitch or IDM, accompanied with classical string instruments and other sounds. He collaborated with experimental techno artist Ellen Allien in 2003 on the album Berlinette, and again in 2006 on the album Orchestra of Bubbles.2007 saw the release of his own Walls (Shitkatapult). In March 2009 he released an album with Modeselektor under the name Moderat. Middle/ An unfinished version of the album Orchestra Of Bubbles (BPitch, 2006) by Ellen Allien and Apparat, was leaked on the net months prior its release. Ellen Allien, born Ellen Fraatz, is a German electronic musician, music producer and founder of BPitch Control music label. She lives in Berlin, Germany. She sings in both German and English. She has said that one of the main inspirations for her music is the culture of reunified Berlin; her album Stadtkind was dedicated to the city. Allien's music tends to be difficult to classify stylistically and is best described as a distinctive blend of techno and electromusic, which is dance-floor oriented, yet at the same time has noticeable experimental elements. Top/ Chromophobia (Kompakt, 2007) by Brazilian DJ and electronic music producer Gui Boratto (born 1974 in São Paulo) was awarded the title of Mixmag Album of the Month. Boratto's sophomore full-length, Take My Breath Away, was released in March 2009 on Cologne-based electronic music record label Kompakt Records. They specialize in microhouse and minimal techno, and are known for their Total compilation series. According to Grooves magazine, "Kompakt’s chief aesthetic objective has always been the perfect marriage of ambient texture and linear 4x4 structure—blending deep, granular sound design with the 4-bar rhythmic intensity and patterning that makes house and techno so club-effective".

Shake Well Before Opening

Bottom/ Loaded is the fourth album released by American rock band The Velvet Underground. The album was released in September, 1970, one month after Lou Reed had left the band, by Atlantic Records' sub-label Cotillion Records. Loaded is a commercial effort aimed at radio play, another step away from the Warhol-influenced days. The album's title refers to Atlantic's request that the band produce an album "loaded with hits". The album holds two of the best-known Velvet Underground songs, "Sweet Jane" and "Rock and Roll." When bassist John Cale was eased out of The Velvet Underground in 1968, Doug Yule (who had befriended the band in 1967) joined as Cale's replacement. He made his first studio appearance on their third album, The Velvet Underground (1969), playing bass and organ, as well as singing lead vocals on the ballad "Candy Says" (about the Warhol superstar Candy Darling), which opens the LP. Yule's contribution to the LP was considerable, and his distinct melodic style suited Reed's desire to move into a more mainstream direction. On Loaded, his role became even more prominent, singing lead vocals on several songs on the LP (Loaded’s spin-off single "Who Loves The Sun", "New Age", and "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'"), and playing six instruments (including keyboard and drums). Reed was critical of the album's final mix. After its release, Reed discovered that the album had been re-edited and resequenced without his consent. The band essentially dissolved while recording the album, and Reed walked off just before it was finished. Lou Reed has often said he was completely surprised when he saw Loaded in stores. He also said, bitterly, “I left them to their album full of hits that I made.” Almost three decades later, the album would be reissued as "Fully Loaded" with the edits restored and all versions included. In 2005, Loaded was #109 on Rolling Stone's reissue of their 500 greatest albums of all time. Top/ It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah (Radioactive, 1995) by alt-dance band Black Grape from England was Shaun Ryder's first musical project after the disintegration of Happy Mondays, due to his multiple drug addiction. The album cover featured a photograph of international terrorist Carlos the Jackal colored in pop art style. Shaun Ryder appears on "挑戦 (DARE)", a single by Gorillaz from their 2005 album Demon Days.

Lady Dada's Nightmare

Bottom/ Moderat (BPitch Control, 2009) is an album by the electronic project of the same name with origin in Berlin, Germany. Moderat started as a collaboration between Sascha Ring, also known as Apparat, and Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary, also known as Modeselektor. The album has received mostly favorable reviews. Fishpork calls first single "A New Error" one of the best tracks of 2009. Modeselektor is an electronic music band formed in Berlin, featuring Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary. The group draws heavily from IDM, glitch, electro and hip hop. In an interview the group said regarding their sound: "Happy metal, hard rap, country-ambient, Russian crunk. We don’t like it if people tag us as being a certain style or school or scene or whatever. We don’t really care about all that." Top/ Congratulations (Columbia, 2010) is the second album from MGMT. MGMT (officially pronounced em-gee-em-tee, but colloquially pronounced 'Management') is an American band based in Brooklyn, New York, consisting of Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. MGMT began writing for the album in early 2009 in a "small cabin in the woods", eventually heading to Malibu to record with Pete Kember, ex-member of Spacemen 3. VanWyngarden has stated that the album is influenced by the band's massive rise in popularity since Oracular Spectacular's release. MGMT stated that they would prefer not releasing any singles on the new album. In an interview with NME, Goldwasser explained: "There definitely isn't a 'Time to Pretend' or a 'Kids' on the album. We've been talking about ways to make sure people hear the album as an album in order and not just figure out what are the best three tracks, download those and not listen to the rest of it." On March 9, 2010, the band released the song "Flash Delirium" as a free download. MGMT have described the album as "a collection of nine individual musical tours de force sequenced to flow with sonic and thematic coherence." Writer Shelby Powell noted the group's homage to British pop musicians Dan Treacy of Television Personalities and Brian Eno of Roxy Music, complete with faux accents in MGMT's delivery on a few songs.

The Heavenly Music Corporation

On their first collaboration album (No Pussyfooting) (EG Records, 1973), a dense, multi-layered piece of ambient drone music, Eno (right) and King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp (left) used similar techniques that eventually became known as Frippertronics. Best known as the father of modern ambient music, with an art school background and inspiration from minimalism, English electronic musician, music theorist and record producer Brian Eno recorded four highly idiosyncratic and original rock albums, before turning to more abstract soundscapes on records such as Discreet Music (1975) and Ambient 1/Music for Airports (1978).

Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out

Top/ Berlin-based electropop duo Stereo Total get down with "Discotheque" (Disko B, 2006). Their music can be described as a humorous mix of synth-pop, New Wave, electronica, punk rock, and pop music. They also tend to embody a retro-hip European 1960s mod style, and references to that period can be found in their music. Some songs strongly evoke a mod/psych/garage-rock vibe, both in production aesthetic and lyrical content. Sixties French pop in the vein of Francoise Hardy can be heard in the mix also. Some of their tracks are playful, low-fi versions of pop/rock/soul songs that employ the use of analog recording equipment and reverberation.
Middle/ In 1983 British impresario Malcolm McLaren released Duck Rock (Charisma Records), an album which mixed up influences from Africa, Central and South America and the USA, including hip-hop. The album proved to be highly influential in bringing hip-hop to a wider audience in the UK. Two of the singles from the album ("Buffalo Gals" and "Double Dutch") became major chart hits on both sides of the Atlantic. Guest musicians featured on this album include Trevor Horn, Anne Dudley and J.J. Jeczalik, three artists who would eventually become the Art of Noise. Clips of the World's Famous Supreme Team radio show appear between songs. Cover artwork includes art by Pop/graffiti artist Keith Haring. Bottom/ Fingerlickin' good artwork for Let It Bleed (Decca/ABKCO, 1969) by the Rolling Stones displays a surreal sculpture designed by Robert Brownjohn.

Get The Balance Right

Bottom/ "Rock The Casbah" is a single from the album Combat Rock (Epic, 1982) by The Clash. One theory is that the song was inspired by the banning of rock music in Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini. The song gives a fabulist account of the ban by the Sharif or King being defied by the population, who proceed to "rock the casbah". The King orders jet fighters to bomb any people in violation of the ban. The pilots ignore the orders, and instead play rock music on their cockpit radios. The song's lyrics feature various Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, and Sanskrit loan-words, such as sharif, bedouin, sheikh, kosher, rāga, muezzin, minaret, and casbah. According to the album notes on the box set Clash on Broadway, "Rock the Casbah" originated when the band's manager Bernie Rhodes, after hearing them record an inordinately long track for the album, asked them facetiously "does everything have to be as long as this rāga?" (referring to the Indian musical style known for its length and complexity). Joe Strummer later wrote the opening lines to the song: "The King told the boogie-men 'you have to let that rāga drop'". The Clash made low-budget music videos for several of their songs, and the one for "Rock the Casbah" may be their most memorable. Filmed in Austin, Texas, it depicts an Arab, played by Austin actor Titos Menchaca, and a Hasidic Jew, played by local stage director Dennis Razze, befriend each other on the road and skanking together through the streets to a Clash concert at Palmer Auditorium, often followed by an armadillo, interspersed with the band performing in front of an oil well.
Top/ Once described as "the sound of the earth vomiting", English post-punk band Killing Joke's music influenced many later bands, such as Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Metallica and Korn. Ominous single "War Dance" was released on Malicious Damage in 1980. Jaz Coleman's vocals are sometimes a malevolent-sounding growl and sometimes emotional and melodic. Killing Joke's music typically consists of metallic guitars and heavy, tribal, and danceable rhythms.

Loops Of Fury

Top/ Tarot Sport (ATP Recordings, 2009) is the second studio album by the English experimental band Fuck Buttons. The album was produced by Andrew Weatherall. The songs "Surf Solar" and "Olympians" were released as singles. Fuck Buttons are a two-piece electronic group formed in Bristol, England early in 2004 by Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power. Hung was influenced by Aphex Twin, while Power was a fan of post-rock band Mogwai. Immediately after forming, they played live whenever possible, soon amassing a cult following. New-Noise said that "rarely have two men sounded so much like the end of the world" and British newspaper The Observer called their sound "A joyous racket of swirling atmospherics and percussive gunfire" in an article highlighting them in a new wave of intelligent, literate British pop music. Hung and Power use a variety of instruments including Casiotone keyboards and children's toys such as a Fisher-Price karaoke machine. Their name was chosen to sound "playful and abrasive". Mojo Magazine called Street Horrrsing, the band's 2008 debut, "A 50 minute melange of iridescent synths, psychedelic drone, distorted vocals and tribal rhythm." Time Out magazine described the band's live sound as "adrenaline pumping, ear purging slab of towering, pristine noise…". In 2009, the band appeared at the Australian All Tomorrow's Parties event, alongside acts such as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Necks and Spiritualized. The group are confirmed to play the ATP New York 2010 music festival in Monticello, New York in September 2010.
Bottom/ "Do It Again" (Astralwerks) is a song by the English electronic music duo The Chemical Brothers and was released as the first single from their 2007 studio album We Are the Night. The song also features Ali Love. The video for The Chemical Brothers"s "Do It Again" is similar to that of Fatboy Slim's "Ya Mama" video, which includes a tape that causes uncontrollable dancing.

Big Beat From Badsville

Bottom and top/ "Bikini Girls With Machine Guns", "The Creature From The Black Leather Lagoon" and "Her Love Rubbed Off" are some of the songtitles included in The Cramps' ninth album Stay Sick! (Big Beat Records, 1989). A punk rock band originally formed in 1976, starring lead singer Lux Interior and lead guitarist Poison Ivy (pictured above), The Cramps were part of the early CBGBs punk rock movement that had emerged in New York, along with other emerging acts like The Ramones, Patti Smith, and Television. The band is sometimes credited as one of the founders of the psychobilly genre of music. The content of their songs and image is campy, trashy Americana (alternately in the style of filmmakers John Waters and David Lynch), sexual fetichism, clever bad jokes, and cheap, retro horror B-movie clichés. Their sound was heavily influenced by early rockabilly, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll like Link Wray and Hasil Adkins, 1960s surf music acts such as The Ventures and Dick Dale, 1960s garage rock artists like The Standells, The Gants, The Trashmen, The Green Fuz and The Sonics, as well as the post-glam/early punk scene from which they emerged. They also were influenced to a degree by The Ramones and Screamin' Jay Hawkins, who was an influence for their style of theatrical horror-blues. In turn, The Cramps have influenced countless subsequent bands in the garage, punk and rockabilly revival subgenres. The band split after suffering the sudden death of lead singer Lux Interior in February 2009 aged 62. Middle/ Elvis Presley's self-titled debut album was released in mono in 1956. The cover design was borrowed, and commented on, by The Clash for the front of their 1979 album London Calling (see below).

Refractions In The Plastic Pulse

Top/ Music Has the Right to Children (Warp Records, 1998) is the studio debut album of the Scottish electronic music duo Boards of Canada, consisting of brothers Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin Sandison. The album was recorded at the Hexagon Sun studio, an atelier maintained by the duo, in Pentland Hills, Scotland. The songs utilize a number of field recordings and intense sound manipulation. Boards of Canada's music is reminiscent of the warm, scratchy, artificial sounds of 1970s media and contains themes of childhood, nostalgia and the natural world. The album received universal acclaimation upon release. Interviews with the Sandison brothers provide some insight into their creative inspiration. They have cited several acts that have influenced their work, including Joni Mitchell, The Incredible String Band, The Beatles and My Bloody Valentine, which use of distortion, pitch bending, and digital reverb
resulted in the sound that was to become known as shoegazing. They have also expressed a strong interest in the power of subliminal messaging and their work is full of cryptic messages, including references to numerology and cult figures such as David Koresh of the Branch Davidians, amongst other vague hints. Bottom/ Major releases by Boards of Canada include Geogaddi (Warp, 2002) and 2006's The Campfire Headphase. Geogaddi revisits the innocent, child-like melodic and harmonic structure found throughout the band's previous album, Music Has the Right to Children. The artwork of the album carries a distinct kaleidoscopic motif.

Dance This Mess Around

Bottom/ Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (Warner Bros, 1978) is the first album by New Wave musicians Devo from Akron, Ohio. The album was produced by Brian Eno, and featured a radical cover of the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and the controversially titled "Mongoloid". The name "Devo"(pronounced DEE-vo or dee-VO) comes "from their concept of 'de-evolution' - the idea that instead of evolving, mankind has actually regressed, as evidenced by the dysfunction and herd mentality of American society." Their style has been variously classified as punk, art rock and post-punk. Devo's music and stage show mingle kitsch science fiction themes, deadpan surrealist humor, and mordantly satirical social commentary via sometimes-discordant pop songs. They are best known for their 1980 hit "Whip It", and their work has proved hugely influential on subsequent popular music, particularly New Wave and alternative rock artists. Middle/ Sacrebleu (Yellow Productions, 1996) is the debut album from French producer and DJ Dimitri From Paris. His musical influences are rooted in 1970s funk and disco sounds that spawned contemporary house music, as well as original soundtracks from 50s and 60s cult movies such as Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Party. Dimitri fused these sounds with electro and block party hip hop he discovered in the 80s. And voilà! Top/ Kitschy lyrics and mood, and hook-laden harmonies, abound in The B-52's (Warner, 1979) eponymous New Wave debut album by Athens, Georgia-based rock band The B-52's. Because the words "Play Loud" appear on the original LP, this album is sometimes erroneously referred to as Play Loud. Shortly before his death, John Lennon considered the album to be his all-time favorite. Standouts include "Planet Claire", "Rock Lobster" and "Dance This Mess Around".

Book Of Brilliant Things

Ash Ra Tempel are one of the most notable German Krautrock groups of the 1970s, and are a notable example of cosmic or space rock. The group was originally founded by guitarist Manuel Göttsching, keyboardist/drummer Klaus Schulze (formerly of Tangerine Dream) and bassist Hartmut Enke in 1971. Ash Ra Tempel released its self-titled debut album, Ash Ra Tempel (bottom) in June of 1971 on Ohr. This release is considered by critics to be a classic of the genre; Schulze temporarily departed for a solo career shortly after its release. Their music is widely characterized as cosmic and atmospheric. The early albums were more psychedelic-oriented and all had one lengthy track per side: one more powerful and dramatic, the other of a more atmospheric nature. ART's last concert performance took place in Cologne in February 1973. Later, after recording the soundtrack Le Berceau de Cristal (top) for the movie directed by Phillipe Garrel starring Nico and Anita Pallenberg (soundtrack originally recorded 1975; unreleased until the 90's on Spalax Music), Ash Ra Tempel shortened its name to Ashra, making a more melodic, synthesizer-based music. In 2000 the band was reborn. Joined by longtime colleague Klaus Schulze, the album Friendship was released. Ash Ra Tempel has exerted a relatively large influence on later space rock and krautrock bands. Manuel Göttsching (born in Berlin, September 9, 1952) is a German musician and composer. As the leader of Ash Ra Tempel or Ashra, as well as a solo artist, he is one of the most important guitarists of the Kosmische Musik genre. New Age Of Earth (middle) was released in 1976 on Isadora/RCA and includes the tracks "Sunrain" and "Ocean Of Tenderness". His style and technique influenced dozens of artists in the post-Eno ambient and New Age scenes in the 1980s and 1990s. His 1981 album E2-E4 has also been influential in the development of house music.

Lullabies To Paralyze

Fever Ray (Rabid Records, 2009) is the debut solo album from Fever Ray, an alias of Karin Dreijer Andersson of the electronic duo The Knife, formed in Sweden with her brother Olof Dreijer and currently on hiatus. It was widely praised. Andersson was previously the vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band Honey Is Cool. Her vocal style is notable for both shrill and deep, distorted tones combined with her distinctive accent and the use of pitch-shifting, while her image as a performer tends to include the wearing of masks and other theatrical elements. "If I Had a Heart", the first single of the album, was released digitally on 15 December 2008. In 2009 the collection of feminist pornographic shorts Dirty Diaries was released with a soundtrack composed by Andersson. The Knife have listed David Lynch, Laurie Anderson, Aki Kaurismäki, Korean cinema, Trailer Park Boys, Donnie Darko, Doom, and Black Hole as inspirations for their work. In addition, Olof Dreijer cited techno, grime, and Southern hip hop, while Andersson named Sonic Youth, Kate Bush, dEUS, Le Tigre and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

What Can't Be Erased

Bottom/ Soon Over Babaluma (Mute) is a 1974 album by Can. It is their last album that was created using a two-track recorder. Critics generally agree that this is the band's last great album. It takes the ambient style of Future Days and pushes it even further at times, as on "Quantum Physics". The album also has its fair share of upbeat tracks, such as "Chain Reaction" and "Dizzy Dizzy". One of the most important krautrock groups, Can had a style grounded in the experimental rock of bands such as The Velvet Underground, with strong minimalist and world music influences. Through albums such as Tago Mago (1971) and Ege Bamyasi (1972), Can exerted a considerable influence on avant-garde, experimental, underground, ambient, New Wave and electronic music. Top/ Music of the Spheres (Universal, 2008) is the first classical album by English musician Mike Oldfield. New Zealand soprano Hayley Westenra is featured vocalist on "On My Heart" and the album also features Chinese pianist Lang Lang on piano. The album is based on the celestial concept, Musica universalis (Music of the Spheres). Initially the album was written with electronic elements, but as the album developed it became an orchestral piece. Oldfield wrote much of the music in the music notation software Sibelius on Apple Macintoshes. He stated that he would be recording the album with Karl Jenkins (of Adiemus) and a full orchestra at Abbey Road Studios. One of the album's tracks is entitled "Musica Universalis", which when translated into English is music of the spheres, an ancient philosophical concept that regards proportions in the movements of celestial bodies as a form of music.