Ben Gibbard
Ben Gibbard (born August 11, 1976 in Bremerton, Washington) is an American musician and songwriter who has formed several indie bands. He is most notable as the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie; his other projects include The Postal Service and All-Time Quarterback. He has also created music under his name and under the band Pinwheel. Gibbard appeared as a guest on Jimmy Tamborello's (his Postal Service collaborator) Dntel album entitled Life is Full of Possibilities (2001) - Specifically, he contributed vocals to the song "(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan.
Joy Division
Joy Division were a post-punk band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom. The band dissolved in May 1980 after the suicide of its lead singer, Ian Curtis. Much of their popularity/reputation arguably resulted from frequent playings on air by iconic DJ John Peel, but it is easy now to overlook the impact that the first album, Unknown Pleasures, had on post-punk music at the time, as reference the number of prominent bands that cited this album as an influence.
Ches Smith
Ches Smith is an American musician whose primary instruments are drums, percussion, and vibraphone. He writes and performs music in a wide variety of contexts, including solo percussion, experimental rock bands, and small and large jazz ensembles. He has performed with Good For Cows, Marc Ribot, Secret Chiefs 3, Xiu Xiu, Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant, Carla Bozulich, Beat Circus, Ben Goldberg, 7 Year Rabbit Cycle, Ara Anderson and Fred Frith. He has also recorded and performed a full-length album of his own solo percussion pieces entitled Congs For Brums (2006).
Homeboy Sandman
Homeboy Sandman grew up in Queens, New York City and attended boarding school at New Hampshire
Lonnie Holley
Lonnie Holley was born on February 10, 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama, the seventh of 27 children. From the age of five, Holley worked various jobs: picking up trash at a drive-in movie theatre, washing dishes, and cooking. He lived in a whiskey house, on the state fairgrounds, and in several foster homes. His early life was chaotic and Holley was never afforded the pleasure of a real childhood. Since 1979, Holley has devoted his life to the practice of improvisational creativity.
Read more about Lonnie Holley on Last.fm.
David Bowie
David Bowie (born David Robert Jones on 8th January 1947 in Brixton, London, UK) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Active in six decades of popular music and frequently reinventing his music and image, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s. He has been cited as an influence by many musicians and is known for his distinctive voice and the intellectual depth of his work.
Zbigniew Preisner
Zbigniew Preisner (b. 1955) is one of Poland's leading film score composers, best known for his work with film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. Preisner was born on 20th May 1955 in Bielsko-Biała. He studied history and philosophy in Kraków; never having received formal music lessons, he taught himself about music by listening and transcribing parts from records. His compositional style represents a distinctively spare form of tonal neo-Romanticism.
Michael Cretu
Michael Cretu, also known as Curly M.C. (born May 18, 1957 in a suburb of Bucharest, Romania), is a Romanian musician best known as the creator of the Enigma project. His original name, Cre?u, means "the curly-haired". He has worked with many producers, musicians, and artists in his long career. These include Sandra Cretu, Frank Farian, Boney M, Goombay Dance Band, Peter Cornelius, Manfred "Tissy" Thiers and Mike Oldfield in his pre-Enigma days, and Jens Gad, Frank Peterson, David Fairstein, ATB, Jam & Spoon, Peter Ries, Ruth-Ann Boyle and Andru Donalds during the course of the project.
Slint
Slint was a math rock band consisting of Brian McMahan (guitar and vocals), David Pajo (guitar), Britt Walford (drums), Todd Brashear (bass on Spiderland) and Ethan Buckler (bass on Tweez). They formed in Louisville, Kentucky, United States in 1986. Though they disbanded circa 1991, they are considered to be a major influence on the post-hardcore, math rock, and post-rock scenes. Slint's first album Tweez was recorded by legendary engineer Steve Albini in 1987 and released in obscurity on the Jennifer Hartman Records label in 1989.