chill out

The Mem sound is characterized by soaring melodies and lush musical textures. With a newly-released debut album, "A Peek At Heaven Through Square Binoculars", and an exuberant live presence, the band is headed feet-first to the top. Mem's musical style has changed significantly over the last three years. Having previously released two very electic EPs in "Equilibrium" (2004) and "5 to 6" (2005), mem have once again reinvented themselves with the refreshing take on lo-fi indie pop featured on their debut LP.

Monolake was formed in 1995 as the duo of Gerhard Behles and Robert Henke, although on later albums the group consisted of Henke alone, with Behles focusing his time on running the Ableton software company. Their sound can generally be described as minimal techno filled with nice touch of fine tech dub, although the 1999 Gobi. The Desert EP, which contains a single 37-minute atmospheric piece, is a notable exception. Monolake first released an album and several 12"s on Berlin's Chain Reaction label, then on Monolake/Imbalance Computer Music, which is operated by Robert Henke.

There are at least 3 artists with the name Backbeat: 1) A band put together to record music for the film of the same name (about The Beatles' early days in Hamburg. This band consisted of Dave Pirner (vocals), Greg Dulli (vocals), Thurston Moore (guitar), Don Fleming (guitar), Mike Mills (bass guitar) and Dave Grohl (drums) 2) A British percussion quartet active since 1995, who have worked with artists such as Sanju Sahai and Shonosuke Okura. They are also a chamber music ensemble-in-residence at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester.

There are two known artists who go by the name Sidewinder: Eric Gieseke, also known as Sidewinder and DJ Spankinspock, is a musician from Boston, USA. He started on his musical journey in the 80s by entering the tracker scene, producing modules using ProTracker for the Amiga. He had several releases through groups like Megawatts, Porphyria and InfoCorner, until he withdrew from the scene in the mid 90s. Going from techno, rave and latin-inspired breaks, to house and even a few jazzy tunes, his music comprehends a vast variety of styles and is defined as playful and melodic with a true spirit.