art rock

There are multiple artists under this name: 1) U.K. were a short-lived British progressive rock supergroup active from 1977 through 1980. In September 1976, singer/bassist John Wetton formerly of the British Psychedelic band Family (with Roger Chapman and Rick Grech) and drummer Bill Bruford, both alumni of King Crimson, worked on forming a band with Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman. The project was stopped by Wakeman's label. According to Bruford, "A&M Records were unwilling to let their 'star,' Wakeman, walk off with a used, slightly soiled King Crimson rhythm section, and the idea failed."

Yowie, a dual-guitar and drums trio from St. Louis, have been stunning audiences with their incomparable barrage of sonic kung fu. They accelerate the progressive-rock rhythmic sensibilities of Ruins and Magma and mutate them with the shrieker side of Big Black and Slayer. The band incorporates many variations in time signature, tempo, and tuning, to create a virtual audio maze, but no matter how complex things get, their compositions remain cohesive and compelling. After releasing their debut album Cryptooology on Skin Graft, they lost a guitarist.

No-Man is a British duo formed in 1987 by Tim Bowness and Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson. The band has so far produced six studio albums and a number of singles/outtakes collections (most notably, 2006's career retrospective, All the Blue Changes). Originally a sample-based proto-trip hop/ambient/electro-pop styled music, No-Man's sound has become more organic, diverse and band-oriented in subsequent years. The band has been lauded "Conceivably the most important English group since The Smiths" by Melody Maker music newspaper.