Novocaine For The Soul

Philharmonics is the debut studio album by Danish singer-songwriter Agnes Obel. It was released by PIAS Recordings on 4 October 2010 in Denmark, Germany and other European countries. Agnes Caroline Thaarup Obel (born 1981) writes, plays, sings, records and produces all her material herself. She is influenced by artists such as Roy Orbison, Joni Mitchell, John Cale, Sonic Youth, Patti Smith, Joanna Newsom, Kate Bush and also by French composers Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Erik Satie. Philharmonics has garnered generally positive reviews, with James Skinner from BBC saying that "the compositions... are slow, sombre, sepulchral even, but not without a sense of occasionally singular beauty". In Musicomh, Ben Edgell writes: "Obel sings with a hushed and tender grace that waxes wistful and serene over yearning cello, harp, and piano vignettes. She's a fey siren, with a dusky, near-whispered vocal that speaks to Ane Brun or Eva Cassidy." In the French cultural magazine Les Inrockuptibles, Johanna Seban mentions a "disarming purity". All of the songs in Philharmonics - except for "Close Watch" (by John Cale) & "Katie Cruel" (a folk traditional) - are original work. Obel lives in Berlin.

Hydrogen Jukebox

Maximum Balloon is the solo album debut of record producer and musician David Andrew Sitek, released on September 21, 2010 on Interscope . Maximum Balloon was number 24 on Rolling Stone's list of the 30 Best Albums of 2010. David Andrew Sitek (born 1972) is a guitarist and record producer based in New York City, best known as a member of the band TV on the Radio. He has also worked with bands such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, Foals, and Celebration, and produced free jazz-influenced remixes of songs by artists such as Beck and Nine Inch Nails. He is also a photographer and painter. Though Sitek has collaborated with several Brooklyn-based indie bands he looks upon the indie music movement with skepticism. In an interview with the Danish music magazine Soundvenue he explains that he is dissatisfied with the opportunistic turn music has taken, referring to the self-promoting indie bands moving to Brooklyn only to claim that they are from "the creative mecca" in order to get the attention of music magazines. "Those bands complaining about other bands selling out, got their iPod filled up with illegal music". This may explain why Sitek has settled down on the West coast in Beverly Hills, California. On his solo project Maximum Balloon Sitek collaborates with many of his old friends (among these are Karen O, David Byrne and Kyp Malone from TV on the Radio), whom he claims are still interested in creating beautiful songs, not only songs that the music magazines want to write about, which, he thinks, keeps the music interesting. In April 2008, Sitek was named Number One in NME's Future 50 list of the most forward thinking people in music today.

This Ain't No Disco

Top/ The front cover of Talking Heads' second album, More Songs about Buildings and Food (Sire, 1978), was conceived and executed by David Byrne. It is a photomosaic of the band made of 529 close-up Polaroid photographs. More Songs about Buildings and Food is Talking Heads' second album, the first of a string of three produced with Brian Eno. Driven by its rhythm section, the band's blend of funky bass, bubblegum, country, reggae and punk influences, with David Byrne's nerdy, off-kilter voice, established the group as a critical success known for their rabid live shows. Bottom/ Created by the notable graphic designer Tibor Kalman to represent the electro-centric direction the band had taken, the cover of Remain In Light (Sire Records, 1980) shows digitally distorted faces of Talking Heads band members. A mind-warping classic produced by Brian Eno, the album features funky African polyrythms. Eno and Byrne released the groundbreaking My Life In The Bush of Ghosts a year later.

Songs That Make A Difference

Top/ "This Is Radio Clash" (CBS) is a single released by The Clash in 1981. "This Is Radio Clash", like their previous single "The Magnificent Seven", is a dub reggae, rap, punk-funk song that was influenced by old school hip hop acts from New York City, like the Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of UK punk. Along with punk rock, they experimented with reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap and rockabilly. The Clash's politicized lyrics, musical experimentation, and rebellious attitude had a far-reaching influence on rock, alternative rock in particular. Their record label's A&R director dubbed them "The Only British Band That Matters," which fans picked up and transformed into "The Only Band That Matters". Middle/ Sandinista! is the fourth album by The Clash. It was released in 1980 on CBS as a triple album containing 36 tracks, with 6 songs on each side. Some critics have argued that the album would have worked better as a less-ambitious, smaller project. Others think of the album as a breakthrough that deserves comparison to the Beatles' White Album. Dub versions for some of the songs and toasting was done by Mikey Dread, who had first hooked up with the band for their 1980 single "Bankrobber". With Sandinista! the band reached beyond punk and reggae into dub, rhythm and blues, calypso, gospel and whatever else. The album clearly displays the influence of reggae and in particular producer Lee "Scratch" Perry (who had worked with the band on their 1977 single "Complete Control"), with a dense, echo-filled sound on even the straight rock songs. The song "Washington Bullets" was Clash lyric-writer Joe Strummer's most extensive--and most specific--political statement to date. In it, Strummer name checks conflicts or controversies from around the world; namely in Chile, Nicaragua, Cuba, Afghanistan and Tibet. The rock music world hailed Sandinista! as a masterpiece. Bottom/ "The Magnificent Seven" (CBS) was the third single from Sandinista! The song was recorded in April 1980 at Electric Lady Studios in New York City, built around a bass loop played by Norman Watt-Roy of the Blockheads. Joe Strummer wrote the words on the spot, a technique that was also used to create Sandinista!'s other rap track, "Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)". "The Magnificent Seven" represents the first attempt by a rock band to write and perform original rap music, and one of the earliest examples of hip hop records with political and social content. It is the first major white rap record, predating the recording of Blondie's "Rapture" by six months.

Pop Will Eat Itself

Bottom/ Distortion (Nonesuch, 2008) is an album by The Magnetic Fields. As the album's name implies, several of the musical performances featured were distorted by various means. In particular, this sound quality was influenced by the 1985 album Psychocandy by The Jesus and Mary Chain. No synthesizers were used to record the album; it is the second in a "no-synth trilogy", after the 2004 album i and before the 2010 album Realism. The Magnetic Fields is the principal creative outlet of singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt. While the particular musical style of the band is usually as malleable as Merritt's songwriting, they are commonly attributed to pop genres and subgenres: synthpop, indie pop, noise pop, and, most recently, folk-pop. The band is recognizable for Merrit's lyrics, often about love, that are by turns ironic, bitter, and humorous. Their best known work is likely the critically lauded 1999 three-volume concept album 69 Love Songs. Middle/ Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (Todomundo, 2008) is the first collaboration between David Byrne and Brian Eno since 1981's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and Eno's work producing and co-writing with Talking Heads. Both have described it as "electronic Gospel", in particular the track "Life Is Long." Byrne has speculated that the hopeful lyrics might be an antidote to being "completely pessimistic and cynical about politics and the state of the world." Eno has also said the album is about "paint[ing] a picture of the human trying to survive in an increasingly digital world." Themes of humanity struggling with technology are apparent on several tracks. Top/ Jollification (Epic) was the Lightning Seeds' 1994 album and contains the UK hit singles "Lucky You", "Marvellous", "Change" and "Perfect". Its cover, designed by Mark Farrow, featured the then innovative use of computer graphics to create an enormous strawberry with people's faces as its seeds. The Lightning Seeds are an alternative pop/rock band, largely the brainchild of writer, singer and guitarist Ian Broudie. The group has its origins in the English city of Liverpool, breaking through with the shimmery, psychedelic synth pop hit, "Pure", from the album Cloudcuckooland. More UK Top 20 hits by The Lightning Seeds include a cover version of The Turtles' breathy-trippy 1969 hit "You Showed Me" (written by Byrds members Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn), which was featured in the Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery soundtrack.

Mercedes-Benz by Sonic Nurse

Curated by Music Advisor Max Chavanne of SONIC NURSE | Le Design Sonique for CLM-BBDO advertising, this Mercedes-Benz TV commercial feeds on the track "She's a Rainbow", taken from the 1967 Rolling Stones' psychedelic outing Their Satanic Majesties Request (Decca/ABCKO). Radio commercials curated by SONIC NURSE were also aired by the brand of luxury and high-performance automobiles.

When The Machines Rock

Top/ Technique (Factory Records) is the fifth original album by New Order, released in 1989. Partly recorded on the island of Ibiza, it incorporates balearic and acid house influences into the group's techno-rock sound. New Order were an English musical group formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris. New Order were formed in the wake of the demise of their previous group Joy Division, following the suicide of vocalist Ian Curtis. They were soon joined by additional keyboardist Gillian Gilbert. New Order combined post-punk and electronic dance, and became one of the most critically acclaimed and highly influential bands of the 1980s. The band's 1983 hit "Blue Monday" saw them fully embrace dance music and synthesized instruments, and became the best-selling independent 12" single of all time in the UK. New Order were the flagship band for the Manchester based British independent label Factory Records, and their minimalist album sleeves and non-image reflected the label's aesthetics. Like the label 4AD Records, Factory Records used a creative team (most notably record producer Martin Hannett and graphic designer Peter Saville) which gave the label, and the artists recording for it, a particular sound and image. New Order's music has trodden the line between the rock and dance genres, which can be seen on signature tracks such as "True Faith" and "Temptation". They have heavily influenced techno, rock, and pop musicians including Pet Shop Boys, The Killers, and Moby and were themselves influenced by the likes of David Bowie, Neu!, Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire and Giorgio Moroder. They have also significantly influenced electro, freestyle and house. In June 2009, it was announced that Bernard Sumner had formed Bad Lieutenant, and that they had completed an album, Never Cry Another Tear. Middle/ "World (The Price of Love)" (London Records) was a 1993 single taken from the album Republic, New Order's first album after the demise of Factory Records, and their last for eight years. Bottom/ "Ruined in a Day" was released as the second single from Republic.

That Voodoo That You Do

Material is a musical group formed in 1979 and led by bass guitarist Bill Laswell. Early Material was primarily instrumental. The music was often funky — a few singles, such as "Ciquri", were popular in New York City dance clubs — but decidedly experimental. 1982's One Down marked a change towards relatively more accessible mainstream "funk and disco tunes delivered with a minimum of weirdness." "Memories" was one of Whitney Houston's first recordings as a featured vocalist. Herbie Hancock hired Laswell and many of his Material collaborators for his 1983 album Future Shock, including the important single "Rockit". Laswell has since used the Material name for a variety of projects featuring his usual revolving-door cast of talented musicians. Notable was 1989's Seven Souls, featuring William S. Burroughs reading portions of his novel The Western Lands; that song was also predominantly featured in The Sopranos' season six opener, Members Only. 1993's well-named Hallucination Engine was released on Axiom and features a vast array of guest musicians including Trilok Gurtu, Jonas Hellborg, Zakir Hussain, Bootsy Collins and William Burroughs again, this time on the hilarious track "Words Of Advice".

Toward The Within

Top/ Stratosfear is an electronic music album released in 1976 by the German group Tangerine Dream. It marks the beginning of the band's evolution away from their uncompromising early 1970s synthesizer experiments toward a recognizably more melodic sound, a trend they would pick up again in 1979's Force Majeure. Founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese, Tangerine Dream released this album following 1975's Rubycon and Ricochet. Drummer and composer Klaus Schulze was a member of an early lineup. Tangerine Dream's early "Pink Years" albums had a pivotal role in the development of Krautrock. However, the release of Phaedra in 1974 marked a divergence of that group from Krautrock to a more melodic sequencer-driven sound that was later termed Berlin School. In that same year Klaus Schulze delivered one more LP of pure Krautrock, Blackdance, and began to release more hypnotic versions of what TD was doing.Their "Virgin Years" and later albums became a defining influence in New Age music, although the band themselves dislike the term. Bottom/ EP "Lifeforms" by The Future Sound Of London (Astralwerks, 1994) features the ethereal voice of Cocteau Twins singer Elisabeth Fraser. The Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock music band active from 1979 to 1997, known for complex instrumentation and atmospheric, nonlyrical vocals. Though formed in the post punk and new wave era, the Cocteau Twins tended to defy concise categorization, and their music was a key influence on dream pop. Although the entire band was praised for their performances, Fraser received the most attention. At times barely decipherable, Fraser seemed to veer into glossolalia and mouth music.

Vortical Phonoteque

Bottom/ Do It! (Domino Records) is the fifth album by the band Clinic, released on 7 April 2008. Clinic are a Liverpool based indie rock band noted for their often fast-paced, eclectic sound. Ade Blackburn's distinctive acidic vocals are a trademark of the band, and they are also known for wearing surgical masks and costumes while performing and in promotional photos. Middle/ Rinôçérôse is a French band founded by Jean-Philippe Freu and Patrice Carrié that mixes rock music and electronic dance music. The duo of musicians also work as psychologists, calling themselves, "Psychologists by day, musicians by night". "Schizophonia" (V2, 2005) marks a new turning point in the band's music, with a more mainstream rock groove rather than a more ambient electronic sound. Included is the single "Bitch". Top/ Taking its cues from soul, funk, hip-hop or 60's pop, In The Mood For Life (Atmosphériques, 2009) is the third album by Wax Tailor. Wax Tailor is the alias of French trip hop/hip hop producer Jean-Christophe Le Saoût. A sweeping, cinematic hip-hop album that had critics citing similarities toDJ Shadow, RJD2 and Portishead, WT's debut album Tales of the Forgotten Melodies (Under Cover, 2005) was heralded as Radio Nova's album of the year. His sophomore effort, Hope & Sorrow was also very well received by audiences. Wax's track "Seize The Day" recorded with Charlotte Savary appears in the soundtrack of the 2008 Cédric Klapisch film Paris. Other musicians who have appeared alongside Wax Tailor include Marina Quaisse, Big Dada rapper Infinite Livez, Alela Diane, North Carolina hip-hop duo The Others, Ursula Rucker, Sharon Jones, Voice and A State Of Mind.

Psychic Karaoke

Top/ Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips are best known for being one-half of Luna, one of the most critically acclaimed rock bands of the past two decades. Wareham is also known for fronting the seminal indie band Galaxie 500. As Dean & Britta, they have scored for films (the Academy Award-nominated The Squid and the Whale among them) and worked with producer Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex) on their lauded debut album, L'Avventura (Jetset Records, 2003). After hearing the album, Peter Kember (a.k.a. Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3, Spectrum, & E.A.R.) fell in love with it and did a remix mini LP entitled "Sonic Souvenirs". Back Numbers (Zoe Records, 2007), also produced by Visconti, picks up where L'Avventura left off, with the spotlight on Dean & Britta's laconic, dreamy vocal interplay on originals like "Words You Used to Say" and "Wait for Me," along with covers of '60s gems such as The Troggs' "Our Love Will Still Be There" and Lee Hazlewood's "You Turned My Head Around." Luna was a dream pop/indie pop band formed in 1991 by Dean Wareham after the breakup of Galaxie 500. In mid-1993 Luna supported the reformed Velvet Underground on their European tour, after which they recorded their second album, Bewitched. Velvet Underground guitarist Sterling Morrison played guitar on two tracks. Luna's third album Penthouse was released in August 1995 to critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone declaring it one of the essential albums of the 90s. The album featured Television guitarist Tom Verlaine on the tracks "Moon Palace" and "23 Minutes in Brussels." Bottom/ Penthouse also featured a cover of Serge Gainsbourg's Bonnie and Clyde as a hidden track. The song featured Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab duetting with Dean Wareham. Bonnie and Clyde (Beggars Banquet) was released as a single in the UK and was named Melody Maker single of the week.

Dreams That Breathe Your Name

Channeling meaning and emotion through sound: picks by Music Curator Max Chavanne, founder and driving force at Sonic-Nurse.com, transcend music genres, breaking down musical boundaries. Top/ The album cover of Queen Of The Meadow (Jetset Records, 2000) by enigmatic art rock band Elysian Fields depicts Ophelia, a character from Shakespeare's play Hamlet, singing before she drowns. Elysian Fields is a Brooklyn, New York based band founded in 1995 by co-composers Jennifer Charles (vocals, instruments) and Oren Bloedow (guitar). Their music has been sometimes described as "noir rock", due to its sultry, dark and mysterious inflections, be it sonically or lyrically. The band uses mainly acoustic instruments, predominantly guitar, piano, bass and drums, with the occasional appearance of eastern instruments, classical strings, and subtle electronics, the focal point being the voice of Charles in the forefront. Their music is lush and melancholy, with poetic and surreal lyrics. Author of The Dark Stuff, Nick Kent says of their music, "Maybe we have their out-of-the-mainstreamness to thank for a sound that is still unique -- as sensual as a sleepwalker's wet dream." Bottom/ In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (Merge, 1998) is the second studio album by American indie rock band Neutral Milk Hotel. Pitchfork Media's M. Christian McDermott gave the album an 8.7 out of 10, referring to Neutral Milk Hotel as "one psych-rock band making music that's just as catchy as it is frightening" and said that the album "does a credible job of blending Sgt. Pepper with early 90's lo-fi." Jason Ankeny of Allmusic wrote, "lo-fi yet lush, impenetrable yet wholly accessible, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is either the work of a genius or an utter crackpot, with the truth probably falling somewhere in between."

Black Tie White Noise

Bottom/ Featuring Juno Reactor, Total Eclipse and The Infinity Project, Trip Through Sound (1997) unleashes an interstellar, urgent vibe. Some consider Blue Room Released to be one of the most important labels in the psychedelic trance genre. Top/ Cutting like a diamond: 100th Window (Virgin Records) is the fourth studio album from the Bristol-based trip-hop group Massive Attack. Of the band's original core trio, the album only features Robert Del Naja. Andrew Vowles departed shortly after the release of Mezzanine, and Grant Marshall refused to participate in the making of the record. Released in February 2003, 100th Window was written and produced by Del Naja and Neil Davidge, and features vocals from Horace Andy and Sinéad O'Connor (on tracks including "What Your Soul Sings"), as well as an imperceptible appearance by Damon Albarn. It is the first album by the band that made no use of samples, and contains none of the jazz or jazz fusion stylings of the band's earlier recordings. 100th Window received a generally positive, though somewhat muted critical reception, many arguing that whilst Massive Attack's previous three albums had all broken significant new ground for the group, 100th Window's dark, brooding sound was merely a continuation, although in some areas, less dark, of Mezzanine. The title of the album comes from the book The Hundredth Window: Protecting Your Privacy and Security in the Age of the Internet; this title is an allusion to the idea that one's security is compromised if even one window is left open.

I Am Your Shadow

Bottom/ Described by Dr. Dre as "the perfect epitome of anger expressed in music", "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" by The Smashing Pumpkins originally appeared on their album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (Virgin Records, 1995), from which it was the lead single. The Smashing Pumpkins are an American band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Less overtly sharing the punk rock roots of many of their alt-rock contemporaries, the Pumpkins have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, arena rock, shoegazer-style production and, in later recordings, electronica. Frontman Billy Corgan is the group's primary songwriter—his grand musical ambitions and cathartic lyrics have shaped the band's albums and songs, which have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land". Top/ Misery Is A Butterfly (4AD, 2004) is the sixth studio album by New York indie/shoegaze trio Blonde Redhead. Comprised of Kazu Makino and twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace, the band performs in multiple languages including English, Japanese, Italian, and French. Makino is noted for her high, eerie voice, which hovers over melodic guitar riffs and clockwork drum beats. The large span of time between Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons and Misery Is a Butterfly is attributed to Makino's recovery time after being trampled by a horse. Much of the visual and lyrical imagery of Misery Is a Butterfly is reflective of the accident.

Zing A Zing A Zing Boom

Bottom/ The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album (Asthmatic Kitty, 2006) is an album by indie rock singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens, consisting of outtakes and other recordings from the sessions for his 2005 concept album Illinois. The cover features a cartoon depiction of Stevens wearing a cape and costume held aloft by strings, a likely reference to the image of Superman he was forced to remove from the cover of Illinois. Top/ On the vinyl edition of the album Illinois, released on November 22, 2005, Superman's image is covered by a balloon sticker. The varied instrumentation and experimental songwriting on Illinois invoked comparisons to work by Neil Young and The Cure. Sufjan Stevens (born July 1, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and musician born in Detroit, Michigan. Stevens has released albums of varying styles, from the electronica of Enjoy Your Rabbit and the lo-fi folk of Seven Swans to the symphonic instrumentation of Illinois and Christmas-themed Songs for Christmas. He is considered part of the folk revival in indie pop, but his influences are very broad. His music has been likened to electronica and aesthetically compared to the minimalism of Steve Reich. Stevens' music often has spiritual themes, and many songs (most notably on Seven Swans) draw inspiration from Bible tales. The Age of Adz (pronounced "odds") was released on October 12, 2010 by Asthmatic Kitty Records. It is Stevens' first song-based full length album in five years, since the release of Illinois in 2005. The album features a heavy use of electronics augmented by heavy orchestration, and takes inspiration from the apocalyptic artwork of schizophrenic artist Royal Robertson.

We Own The Night

II (Drag City, 2006) was the third album from Espers (presumably so called because it was their second album of original material). Espers is a psych folk band from Philadelphia that is part of the emerging indie folk scene. Their music is reminiscent of late-sixties British folk as well as many contemporary folk acts such as Six Organs of Admittance. Most of the band's members have also featured on recordings by a number of other folk artists such as Nick Castro and Vashti Bunyan and as a result have become an important part of the psych-folk revival. Their album of cover songs, The Weed Tree, released in 2005, featured the band's versions of songs by artists as diverse as Nico, The Durutti Column and Blue Öyster Cult. An esper refers to an individual capable of telepathy and other similar paranormal abilities. The term is derived from the abbreviation ESP for extrasensory perception.

Morning Light Forgives The Night

Bottom/ Neil Halstead is an English songwriter and musician. He was a founding member of shoegazer band Slowdive, and is currently the principal singer and songwriter in dream pop/country rock group Mojave 3, also playing guitar in the band. In 2001, 4AD Records released a solo album, Sleeping on Roads. Following his departure from 4AD, a second solo album, Oh! Mighty Engine was released by Brushfire Records on July 29, 2008. The term shoegazer was applied to bands that followed My Bloody Valentine's example of abrasive guitars and ethereal vocals. Middle/ Sumday (V2, 2003) is the third album by indie rock group Grandaddy from Modesto, California. Musically, the band features guitars in the indie rock style, keyboards reminiscent of Philip Glass's minimalist style and vocals in the key of Neil Young. The band's musical style (somewhat classifiable as indietronic) often combines experimental electronic sounds with elements of folk and high-energy rock. Lyrics generally focus on isolation in a high-tech world grafted onto rural America. Top/ Recorded in Brittany, London and Paris, French pop/folk band Cocoon's sophomore album Where The Oceans End (Sober and Gentle, 2010) tells the tale of a boy who meets Yum Yum, a thousand-year old whale believed to swallow people's nightmares and problems, only to regurgitate happiness. Previous releases by Cocoon include EPs I Hate Birds and From Panda Mountains, and the band's 2007 debut My Friends All Died in a Plane Crash.

Pocket Symphony

Top/ Broken Boy Soldiers (Third Man/V2, 2006) is The Raconteurs' first full-length and contains the lead single "Steady, As She Goes". The Raconteurs (also known as The Saboteurs in Australia), are a rock group, featuring four members previously known for other musical projects, including Jack White of The White Stripes. The band is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Bottom/ Nixon (Merge) is a 2000 album by Lambchop. A band from Nashville, Tennessee, Lambchop is loosely associated with the alternative country genre, though its music resists easy classification. Allmusic refers to them as "arguably the most consistently brilliant and unique American group to emerge during the 1990s". Never a band with a "core" lineup, Lambchop through the years has consisted of a large and fluid collective of musicians focused around its creative centre, frontman Kurt Wagner. Initially indebted to traditional country, the music has subsequently moved through a range of influences including post-rock, soul and lounge music. Whatever the style, the characteristic mood of Lambchop's music is evoked by Wagner's distinctive songwriting - lyrically subtle and ambiguous, the vocals melodic but understated.

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".