Satin Chic

Bottom/ Supernature (Mute, 2005) is the third album by British electronic duo Goldfrapp. The album represented a change in Goldfrapp's musical style, and featured pop and electronic-dance music; inspirations were disco music artist Donna Summer and New Wave band New Order. Goldfrapp is a British electronic music group known for their visual theatrics and contribution to the popularization of electronic dance music. The band's sound has progressed from an ambient sound in Felt Mountain (2000), through electronic music in Black Cherry to a more glam rock sound in Supernature, and most recently to a blend of ambient, folk, and electronic in Seventh Tree (2008). Will Gregory's musical background was classical music and has cited Ennio Morricone as his main influence. In 2003, Alison Goldfrapp modified her image, from a sophisticated Marlene Dietrich inspired look to that of a New Wave diva. The reinvented image included false eyelashes, customized T-shirts, military uniforms and fishnet stockings. Sections of the 2004 Wonderful Electric Tour stage show featured Goldfrapp in a white dress wearing a horse tail and dancers with deer heads, and were inspired by Goldfrapp's interest in animals and mythology. Top/ "Strict Machine" is an electronic dance song written by Goldfrapp and Nick Batt for their second studio album Black Cherry (Mute, 2003). The single describes laboratory rats in neuroscience experiments. Alison Goldfrapp read in a newspaper about experiments in which scientists stimulated rats' brains so that the rats would feel joy when following commands. She was inspired to write "Strict Machine" based on images of the experiment and "more human aspects of machines and sex and control."

You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio

Bottom/ Crazy Itch Radio (Astralwerks, 2006) by UK electronic dance duo Basement Jaxx features guest vocals by Lily Allen Middle/ Wild Planet (Island) is the second studio album by the The B-52's, released in 1980. The album has a slightly more psychedelic and even paranoid sound than that of their debut. The B-52's' sound is marked by the vocals and feminine harmonies of Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson, and the generally spoken-word male vocal counterpoint or sprechgesang of Fred Schneider. Presenting as a positive, enthusiastic, slightly wacky party band, the B-52's have focused on songs telling tall tales ("Rock Lobster", "Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland"), glorifying wild youth ("Love Shack", "Deadbeat Club"), or celebrating wild romance ("Strobe Light", "Hot Pants Explosion"), all set to a danceable New Wave beat. Top/ Guitarist Poison Ivy of The Cramps purrs on the cover of "Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?" from the psychobilly group's album A Date With Elvis (Big Beat Records, 1986). A punk rock band originally formed in 1976, The Cramps were part of the early CBGB's punk rock movement that had emerged in New York, along with other emerging acts like the Ramones, Patti Smith, and Television.

Wonderwall To Be Here

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.

Hymn Of The Big Wheel

Top/ Tormato (Atlantic, 1978) is the ninth studio album by British progressive rock group Yes, issued as the follow-up to 1977's acclaimed Going for the One. The original album title was to be Yes Tor, referring to a geological formation in southern England. The photographs taken by legendary design group Hipgnosis for the album cover were seen as so unimpressive that keyboard player Rick Wakeman, in frustration, threw a tomato at the pictures. The cover and title were adjusted accordingly. Yes are an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968, generally regarded as one of the archetypal bands and pioneers of the genre. They have sold over 60 million albums. The band's music blends symphonic and other "classical" structures with their own brand of rock music. Although the band's sole consistent member has been bass player Chris Squire, Yes are also generally noted for the distinctive high-register vocals of former lead singer Jon Anderson and the eclectic musical stylings of a succession of guitarists (including Steve Howe), keyboard players (including Rick Wakeman), and drummers (including Bill Bruford and Alan White). Long-term band members Squire, Howe, and White are currently touring with a lineup featuring vocalist Benoît David and keyboardist Oliver Wakeman. Bottom/ Despite acquiring a reputation as an example of the worst excesses of "prog rock", Tales from Topographic Oceans (Atlantic Records, 1973) became the band's fourth consecutive gold album. The album's concept, a two-disc, four-piece work of symphonic length and scope (based on the Shastric scriptures, as found in a footnote within Paramahansa Yogananda's book Autobiography of a Yogi), was their most ambitious to date. The four songs of the album symbolise (in track order) the concepts of Truth, Knowledge, Culture, and Freedom, the subjects of that section of text. On release it received notably hostile reviews. Gordon Fletcher in his review in Rolling Stone described it as "psychedelic doodling". Artwork for the album (design and illustration) was done by Roger Dean. Dean designed many of the group's album covers, forming a continuing story in pictures. Dean had also created the Yes logo. The cover of Tales from Topographic Oceans has often been included in lists of the best album covers of all time.

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.

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 & 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).

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.

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.

Every You Every Me

Top/ Sleeping With Ghosts (Astralwerks, 2003) is the fourth album released by European alternative rock band Placebo. The album has several songs based on a theme of relationships, whether in relationships that end badly as in "The Bitter End", power struggles in relationships ("Special Needs") or the idea that some are meant to be eternal soulmates (the title track, which may suggest that soulmates live forever). Singer-lyricist Brian Molko told Kerrang! magazine that he was trying to 'exorcise' the 'ghosts' of the past. Molko, who is known to favor Sonic Youth was notably influenced by the album Sister while writing the lyrics for Sleeping with Ghosts; at least two of the songs – "Sleeping with Ghosts" and "Plasticine" – feature reference to Sister lyrics. Bottom/ Placebo are best known for hit songs such as "Nancy Boy", "Pure Morning", "Every You Every Me", "Protect Me From What I Want", "Infra-Red", and "For What It's Worth". Their style has varied greatly. The band's first album featured a raw sound and a fairly minimalistic instrumental lineup, but proceeding albums have had a slower, more melancholic tone and they started experimenting with synthesizers and other, less traditional, forms of sound production (particularly after Black Market Music). When addressing Placebo's second album, Without You I'm Nothing, Molko said: "I'm cutting open a vein and letting it bleed for you." Molko has stated that the album Battle For The Sun (2009) is more optimistic than its predecessors. Due to their penchant for androgynous attire/makeup and raw guitar riffs, Placebo have been described by some as a glam version of Nirvana. The multi-national band were influenced by the likes of the Pixies, Depeche Mode, Nirvana, and Radiohead. During their concert in Sofia on 12 September 2003, the band dedicated the song "Centrefolds" to Johnny Cash who had died the same day, with Molko citing Cash as a key influence on the band. Art Direction & photography by Jean-Baptiste Mondino.

Away Birdies With Special Sounds

The Trials of Van Occupanther is the second album by American rock band Midlake. It was released on July 25, 2006, on Bella Union Records. It is a suite of lush, heavily melodic songs laden with multi-part harmonies, given evocative lyrical imagery set in woodlands, boats and log cabins, telling oblique but moving tales of pioneering, travel and isolation. The sound of the album has been compared to classic '70s rock outfits such as Bob Welch-era Fleetwood Mac, Crosby Stills and Nash and America, but there is still a heavy reliance on analog synthesizers carried over from their debut full-length album, 2004's Bamnan and Slivercork. Midlake was formed in 1999 by a group of jazz students at the University of North Texas. Their initial work – under the name The Cornbread All-Stars — consisted of funk/jazz explorations heavily influenced by Herbie Hancock. Later the band began to lean more toward an indie-rock sound. Tim Smith (vocals, guitars, keyboards) quit playing saxophone and began writing songs that were heavily influenced by bands such as Jethro Tull, Radiohead, and Björk. Bamnan and Slivercork was recorded at home in Denton, Texas and mastered at Abbey Road Studios. It showed a move in the direction of lo-fi psychedelic electronica, embracing influences such as Grandaddy and The Flaming Lips. Tim Smith is featured on the Chemical Brothers' 2007 album We Are the Night, contributing vocals to the track "The Pills Won't Help You Now". In February 2010 the band released The Courage of Others, which has garnered generally good reviews, notably "album of the month" in Mojo.

Check The Meaning

Alone with Everybody is the first solo album by English singer-songwriter Richard Ashcroft, released via Hut Records in June 2000. The songs "A Song for the Lovers", "C'mon People (We're Making It Now)" and "New York" were initially recorded with The Verve for their 1997 album Urban Hymns, but were never released. Upon its release, critical response to Alone with Everybody was generally positive. NME concluded its review by stating that "Ashcroft's newly discovered stability has done nothing to blunt his powers of communication or reduce his belief in the apocalyptic potential of music". The Verve (originally Verve) were an English rock band formed in 1990 in Wigan by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to shoegazing and space rock, by the mid-1990s the band had released several EPs and two albums. They also endured name and line-up changes, breakups, health problems, drug abuse and various lawsuits. Filter referred to them as "one of the tightest knit, yet ultimately volatile bands in history". The Verve were known for their music's complex, immersive sonic textures. Their commercial breakthrough was the 1997 album Urban Hymns. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and remains the band's most well-known song. "The Drugs Don't Work", the band's only number one single in the UK, became a concert staple for jam bands and other groups. The rest of the album alternated between wistful ballads like "Sonnet" and "Space and Time", spacey grooves like "Catching the Butterfly" and "The Rolling People", and all-out rockers like the Led Zeppelin-esque, pounding "Come On", the album closer. Soon after this commercial peak, the band broke up in April 1999, citing internal conflicts. The band's original line-up reunited in June 2007, embarking on a tour later that year and releasing the album Forth in August 2008. A year later it was announced that, for the third time, the band had split.

If You're Feeling Sinister

Praised for their wistful lyrics and catchy tunes, chamber pop darlings Belle and Sebastian have been called the greatest Scottish band ever. They are often compared to influential indie bands such as The Smiths, as well as classic rock acts such as Love, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake. The name Belle & Sebastian is inspired by Belle et Sébastien, a children's book by French writer Cécile Aubry. Belle & Sebastian were formed in Glasgow in 1996 by Stuart Murdoch and Stuart David. Lauded by critics, Belle & Sebastian's "wistful pop" has nevertheless enjoyed only limited commercial success. Bottom/ The Boy with the Arab Strap (Jeepster, 1998) is the third album from Belle & Sebastian, and has been called their best album. The inspiration for the album's name came from the band Arab Strap, who are also from Scotland and briefly toured with Belle & Sebastian. An Arab strap is a sexual device for retaining an erection. The album features several lead vocals by members of the band other than Stuart Murdoch. Stevie Jackson sings lead on both "Seymour Stein" and "Chickfactor", Stuart David gives a spoken word performance on "A Space Boy Dream" and Isobel Campbell sings lead on "Is It Wicked Not to Care?". Outstanding albums by Stuart Murdoch's band include Tigermilk (1996), If You're Feeling Sinister (1996), widely considered to be an indie pop classic, and Dear Catastrophe Waitress (2003), produced by Trevor Horn. In 2008 the band released The BBC Sessions, which features songs from the period of 1996-2001 (including the last recordings featuring cellist/vocalist Isobel Campbell before she left the band). On 6 July 2006, the band played a historic show with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. The opening act at the 18,000 seat sell-out concert was The Shins. Belle & Sebastian is currently on hiatus, and a new studio album has been planned for 2010. Top/ Storytelling (Jeepster, 2002) is a soundtrack album for Storytelling by Todd Solondz, a movie which the New York Times has called one of the best 1,000 movies ever made.

Solid State Survivor

Bottom/ Give 'Em Enough Rope (CBS, 1978) was The Clash's second album. Standouts include "Safe European Home", "English Civil War" and "Tommy Gun". The cover was designed by Gene Greif, using a postcard, "End of the Trail", photographed by Adrian Atwater, featuring Wallace Irving Robertson. Top/ Yellow Magic Orchestra USA (Horizon/A&M Records, 1979) was the American release of the first album by Japanese electropop band Yellow Magic Orchestra, also known as YMO. Featuring Ryuichi Sakamoto, the band is renowned as having pioneered the Synthpop and Electropop music genres, along with Germany's Kraftwerk. In August 2007, the band once again reformed, taking the name HASYMO, combining the names of
Human Audio Sponge and Yellow Magic Orchestra.

Watchers Of The Skies

Bottom/ Nursery Cryme (Charisma, 1971) is the third studio album by British progressive rock band Genesis, then in its "classic" lineup led by Peter Gabriel. Like Trespass, the preceding Genesis album, Nursery Cryme was also recorded at London's famous Trident Studios. The folky feel was retained on songs such as "Harlequin" and "For Absent Friends", but other tracks displayed a more aggressive and strident sound. The striking artwork for Nursery Cryme was painted by Paul Whitehead, who was also responsible for Trespass and Foxtrot. The album cover is a depiction of "The Musical Box" song and story, a ten minute epic touching on themes of death, reincarnation and lust, set in Victorian England: Cynthia, holds a croquet mallet —there is a hoop visible close by— but instead of croquet balls, there are a few heads lying on the ground. Together with "The Return of the Giant Hogweed," this became one of Genesis' more famous songs, acquiring status as of one of the band's signature tunes from their progressive rock-era. Top/ Pink Moon (Island, 1972) is Nick Drake's third and last album, following Five Leaves Left (1969) and Bryter Layter (1970). An "enigma wrapped inside a mystery", Nick Drake (1948 – 1974) was an English singer-songwriter and musician best known for his acoustic, autumnal songs, experimenting with open tuning and finger-picking guitar techniques. Drake suffered from depression and insomnia throughout his life, and these topics were often reflected in his lyrics. By the mid-1980s Drake was being credited as an influence by such artists as Robert Smith and Peter Buck. By the early 1990s, he had come to represent a certain type of 'doomed romantic' musician in the UK music press, and was frequently cited by artists including Kate Bush, Paul Weller and The Black Crowes. Although he failed to find a wide audience during his lifetime, Drake's work has grown steadily in stature, to the extent that he now ranks among the most influential English singer-songwriters of the last 50 years.

Perpetual Dawn

Bottom/ Grey Oceans is the upcoming album by CocoRosie to be released in May 2010. This will be the band's Sub Pop debut since their departure from Touch & Go Records. Nicola Meighan of The List has noted that "the US-born, Paris-based [Bianca and Sierra Casady] sisters’ foray into cry-baby drum’n’bass is bedimmed by a collage of folk, pop, electronica, jazzand opera – although it does verge on wilfully weird; and it does cross the line into musical theatre in the shocking, Broadway-touting ‘Hopscotch’. MusicOMH rates Grey Oceans 4 stars out of 5, with Sam Shepherd pointing out that "the whole album is an eclectic mix of folk, electronica, musical hall, eastern spirituals and stream of consciousness songwriting. Weird it may be, but when CocoRosie get it right, as with the cutesy pop and dark piano melancholy mix of 'Lemonade', or the beautiful ethereal balladry of the title track for example, they are unstoppable." Top/ Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts is the second album by the Frenchelectronica group M83. The album was released in 2003 on Gooom to positive reviews. The cover art is by Justine Kurland, and called Snow Angels. M83 is an electronic/dream pop act by French musician Anthony Gonzalez. It is named after a spiral galaxy, Messier 83. The band was founded in 2001 by Gonzalez and former member Nicolas Fromageau in Antibes. The musical style owes something to the shoegazing genre in its extensive use of reverb effects and lyrics spoken softly over loud instrumentals, though M83's songs employ considerably less guitar than most shoegazing bands such as My Bloody Valentine. For the third album released by M83, Before the Dawn Heals Us, Gonzalez decided to part from Fromageau and record mainly on his own. Saturdays = Youth, M83's fifth studio album was released on April 15, 2008 on Mute Records. It was recorded with Ken Thomas (known for his work with Sigur Rós, The Sugarcubes, Boys in a Band, Cocteau Twins and Suede), and Ewan Pearson (who has also produced for Tracey Thorn, The Rapture and Ladytron).