January 21, 2011

Albert Hammond, Jr.

by Albert Hammond, Jr.
Genre- indie pop, indie rock
Location- from Los Angeles, California
Other Works- Como Te Llama?, 2008
More Info- Albert Louie Hammond Jr. was born in Los Angeles, CA on April 9th, 1980.  His father is singer/songwriter Albert Hammond, and his mother is the Argentinian model Claudia Fernández.  Albert Jr. is a member of The Strokes as well.  He went to a prestigious boarding school when he was 13 where he met Julian Casablancas.  Later in 1998 he and Casablancas met in NYC and formed their band The Strokes with some of Casablancas old schoolmates.  Hammond Jr. often wears formal three-piece suits at shows and is set to put out a line of suits with designer/stylist Ilaria Urbinati in the future.  
See Also- The Strokes post
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January 13, 2011

Sun Airway

by Sun Airway
Genre- electronic, indie pop, indie rock
Location- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Other Works- Oh, Naoko EP
More Info- Sun Airway is a duo out of Philly made up of John Barthmus (vocals) and Patrick Marceill (formerly the A-Sides).  They have done remixes for Delorean, Caribou, and Here We Go Magic.
John Barthmus & Patrick Marceill
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January 10, 2011

The Mountain Goats

by The Mountain Goats
Genre- lo-fi, folk pop, indie rock
Location- currently: Durham, North Carolina but formed in Claremont, California
Other Works- too many to list, see allmusic
John Darnielle
More Info- The Mountain Goats formed in Claremont, CA by singer/songwriter John Darnielle.  He is pretty much The Mountain Goats, though he collaborates with other artists at times.  He is a spectacular lyricist.  While in California he went to Pitzer College where he graduated in 1995, he also worked as a psychiatric nurse.  The band's music is featured in the TV show Weeds.  In 2009, The band was on The Colbert Report.
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Lower Dens

by Lower Dens
Genre- indie pop, indie rock, drone pop, new wave
Location- Baltimore, Maryland
Other Works- no other albums as of yet
Jana Hunter
More Info- Lower Dens is a side project of singer and songwriter Jana Hunter.  She is joined by Will Adams- guitar, Geoff Graham- bass, and Abram Sanders- drums.  They are on Devendra Banhart's Gnomonsong record label.
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December 8, 2010

DJ Premier

by DJ Premier

DJ Premier
Genre- Hip Hop
Location- Brooklyn, NY
Other Works- Way too many to list...but one major one is the group Gang Starr.
More Info- Born on March 21st, 1966 in Houston, TX.  His name is Christopher Edward Martin, but is known by DJ Premier or Primo to name a couple.  DJ Premier has been making music since 1984, and is arguable hip hop's greatest producer.  One main project of his was Gang Starr in which he did the producing and instrumentals along with MC GURU.  See my post on Gang Starr as well.
DJ Premier  
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The Knife

by The Knife
 Genre- electronic, indie pop, synth pop, electro pop
Location- Stockholm, Sweden
Other Works- Silent Shout, 2006
The Knife, 2006
More Info- The Knife is a brother sister duo from Sweden.  Olof Dreijer and Karin Dreijer Andersson make up the band and run their own label Rabid Records.  The Knife has won many Swedish Grammis, but the two refuse to accept them and even go as far as boycotting the award ceremonies.  They once sent two people in gorilla suits to the ceremonies in boycott, angered that the awards favor male musicians.  They often wear masks of bird's beaks as well.  Karin has a side project named Fever Ray.  And Olof has other works under the names DJ Coolof and Oni Ayhun.
Links- Allmusic
Wikipedia
Pitchfork
Amazon
Olof Dreijer & Karin Dreijer Andersson
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Common

by Common
 Genre- hip hop
Location- Chicago, Illinois
Other Works- many...see Common on allmusic.com, or wikipedia
More Info- Born on March 13th, 1972 in the South Side of Chicago.  Common was previously Common Sense.  He had his debut album, Can I Borrow a Dollar? in 1992.  He is an artist and an actor and has won many Grammis.  He used to be a vegan, and is a supporter of animal rights.
Common
 Links- Allmusic
Wikipedia
Pitchfork
Amazon 
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ESG

by ESG
 Genre- electronic, R&B, dance, electro
Location- South Bronx, NY
Other Works- ESG, 1991
Step Off, 2002
Keep on Moving, 2006
More Info- ESG stands for Emerald, Sapphire, and Gold.  The band consists of the 4 Scroggins sisters...Deborah (bass, vocals), Marie (congas, vocals), Renee (guitar, vocals), Valerie (drums).  ESG formed when the girls were just teenagers with the help of their mother, buying them all instruments originally to keep them busy and out of trouble.  They based their sound out of their love for James Brown, Motown, and Latin music.  ESG was very influential on the following genres of music: post punk, no wave, hip hop, house, and disco.
Links- Allmusic
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Kanye West

by Kanye West
Genre- hip hop
Location- Chicago, Illinois
Other Works- The College Dropout, 2004
Late Registration, 2005
Late Orchestration: Live at Abbey Road Studios, 2006
Graduation, 2007
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010
More Info- Born on June 8th, 1977 as Kanye Omari West in Atlanta Georgia.  At the age of three he and his mother moved to Chicago, IL.  His mother, Dr. Donda West was an English professor, and his father was a former Black Panther and photojournalist.  His mother passed away on November 10th, 2007 after complications of surgery.  
Kanye has won many awards and Grammys for his work.  He runs his own record label, GOOD Music, which host such artists as Common and Kid Cudi.
Links- Allmusic
Wikipedia
Pitchfork
Amazon
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The Skygreen Leopards

by The Skygreen Leopards

Donovan Quinn & Glenn Donaldson
Genre- folk-pop, alternative, indie pop, indie rock
Location- San Fransisco, California
Other Works- I Dreamt She Rode on a Pink Gazelle & Other Dreams, 2001
The Story of the Green Lamb & the Jerusalem Priestess of Leaves, 2002
One Thousand Bird Ceremony, 2004
Child God in the Garden of Idols, 2005
Life & Love in Sparrow's Meadow, 2005
Disciples of California, 2006
More Info- The band formed in 2001 in San Fransisco.  The members are Donovan Quinn and Glenn Donaldson who is the founder of the Bay Area experimental folk label, Jewelled Antler.

Links- Allmusic
Amazon
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