School of Language is a pseudonym of Field Music's David Brewis. The album Sea From Shore was released during Field Music's break from band activities in 2008. A second solo record, Old Fears, will be released in April 2014. Both School of Language albums were self-produced at Field Music's studio in Sunderland in the north-east of England.
Freya Hollick is a singer-songwriter from the country town of Ballarat, Australia. She records lo-fidelity songs and sings in a voice of ethereal beauty. The themes of her lyrics span from psychedelic imagery and fairytale characters to personal experiences, and those of friends and acquaintances. Freya's music is largely influenced by the Beatles, Nick Drake and the Velvet Underground, while she also takes inspiration from Syd Barrett, and more contemporary indie artists such as Eels and M. Ward. She is sometimes compared to Emiliana Torrini.
Combining elements of both rock and folk music, along with disturbingly personal sentiments, dark humor, and a voice able to channel both the falsetto highs of Neil Young and the wavering raspy low tones of Leonard Cohen, Toronto's Hayden Desser has spent the last 15 years creating uniquely affecting music. The critically acclaimed musician first appeared in the early '90s armed with only his four-track tape recorder, his unexpectedly low vocal range, and an extremely detuned guitar.
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.
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.
Adam Gnade's (guh nah dee) work is released as a series of books and records that share characters and themes; the fiction writing continuing plot-lines left open by the self-described "talking songs" in an attempt to compile a vast, detailed, interconnected, personal history of contemporary American life. The lyrics of the songs come from prose writing (not poetry or spoken word) and the material is performed live, solo, with Adam on banjo or four-string guitar, generally unamplified, sitting or standing in the middle of the crowd.
Decoder Ring was formed in 2001, in Sydney, Australia. Original line-up consisted of Matt Fitzgerald ( keyboards, guitar) Geoff Towner (bass, El Mopa), Pete Kelly (guitar, Sea Life Park), Kenny Davis Jr (keyboards, piano, The Jackson Code, The Blackeyed Susans) & Thomas Schutzinger (drums). Original line-up recorded the EP "Spooky Action at a Distance" (2002) and album "Decoder Ring" (2002). Geoff Towner departed in 2003 and was replaced by Ben Ely (Regurgitator).
Jay Farrar is an American songwriter and musician currently based in St. Louis, Missouri. A veteran of two critically-acclaimed music groups, Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, he began his solo music career in 2001. Beyond his established talents as a songwriter, he is a well-regarded guitarist, harmonicist, and a distinctive vocalist. His music is an informed expansion of traditional American roots music.
Mojave 3 are a dream pop/folk band which formed in Reading, England in 1993. The band consists of Neil Halstead (vocals, guitar), Rachel Goswell (vocals, guitar, bass), Simon Rowe (guitar), Alan Forrester (organ, vocals), and Ian McCutcheon (drums). Goswell, Halstead and McCutcheon were previously members of the shoegaze band Slowdive. The band initially existed as a trio consisting of Halstead, Goswell, and McCutcheon (hence the "3" in their name).
There are two bands with the name Galaxie 500:
1) an American alternative rock band that formed in 1987 and split in 1991
2) a francophone indie garage rock formed in 2002 in Montreal, Canada, and now known as Galaxie 1) Galaxie 500 formed in Boston, MA in 1986 and comprised vocalist/guitarist Dean Wareham (a transplanted New Zealand native), bassist Naomi Yang and drummer Damon Krukowski, longtime friends who first met in high school in New York City before all three attended Harvard University.