Crystal Stilts was formed in 2003 by Brad Hargett and JB Townsend. After releasing one single and an EP, the pair expanded to five members before signing to Slumberland Records in the US and Angular Recording Corporation in Europe and releasing their critically acclaimed debut, Alight of Night, in 2008.
Members:
Brad Hargett
JB Townsend
Kyle Forester
Andy Adler
Keegan Cooke
Justice is a French electronic music duo consisting of Gaspard Augé (born 21 May 1979 in Besançon) and Xavier de Rosnay (born 2 July 1982).The duo is one of the most successful groups on Ed Banger Records and is managed by the label’s head, Pedro Winter. Justice is known for incorporating a strong rock and indie influence into their music and image.
In June 2009, it was announced that Justice would be moving to WMG/Atlantic’s newly relaunched Elektra Records label, and plans to release a new album in early 2010.
K’s Choice is a Belgian rock band from Antwerp, formed in the mid-1990s and touring as recently as 2006. The band’s core members are siblings Sarah Bettens (lead vocals, guitar) and Gert Bettens (guitar, keyboard, vocals). They are joined by Eric Grossman (bass), Thomas Vanelslander (lead guitar), Reinout Swinnen (keys) and Koen Liekens (drums). The band has produced gold and platinum albums.
Their music can be described as guitar-based singer-songwriterrock or folk-rock. It ranges from very delicate and intimate singer-songwriter songs to songs that are stronger, more active and louder. Sarah’s smoky, enigmatic voice is the band’s best known characteristic. In the seven years between The Great Subconscious Club and Almost Happy the music changed from raw and guitar-based to a more subtle and delicate sound. Sarah and Gert write most of the music and lyrics. Most of it is written separately. Sarah mainly tries to express ideas in her songs, and has a hand in writing silly and tongue-in-cheek songs. Gert has one big theme: losing the one you love. While most of the songs are easily accessible and open, some others are strange and incomprehensible. This led Sarah to comment: Listening to the lyrics for the first time, you may find it hard to understand their meaning. When you listen to them a second time you may sense a basic truth in these cryptic words. If you do so, please let me know.
Ben’s Brother is a five-piece band from the UK, headed by founder Jamie Hartman. Their band was named after Jamie’s big brother Ben, in whose shadow he lived as a teenager. Jamie always considered himself the beta male of the family, which gave him the idea for the title of their debut album.
Their debut album, Beta Male Fairytales, was released on August 6, 2007, went to number 3 on iTunes UK and achieved Gold status. Successes followed in Europe and North and South America.
A song from their album, “God By Another Name,” became the first iTunes Store free single of the week to be made available in the iTunes Plus format. Beginning in September 2007, their song “Stuttering” was featured in a Dentyne Ice commercial in Canada and the U.S.. This turned into a larger partnership where the band gave away free songs to fans and flew a fan to see them play in Texas, via a specially created website.
The band made their American festival debut at South by Southwest in March 2008.
In 2008 the band were nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in the category of Best Song Musically and Lyrically for “Let Me Out”.
Dropped by EMI group despite the Ivor Novello Nomination and success with BetaMale Fairytales in the UK and around the world, they formed their own label and recorded their second studio album in Autumn 2008, going on to release the first single, Apologise (co-written with Natalie Imbruglia who has recorded a version for her forthcoming album), in early 2009 before being signed to Island Records for the forthcoming singles from album 2, Battling Giants, which contains a duet with Joss Stone – Stalemate – and other vocal collaborations including Jason Mraz on the title track and Jack MacManus, Cass Lowe and Pete Gordeno doing group harmonies on the other tracks.
On the 15th February Hartman announced via his twitter page that the band would continue to release music without the support of the record label Island Records
During the summer of 1996, as Nada Surf toured the United States with Superdrag, their song “Popular” became a summer anthem, and the band toured overseas.
In Europe, The Proximity Effect was released in September 1998, produced by Fred Maher. However, the album did not gain commercial success in the United States. On their official website, the band says:
[The Proximity Effect] was a mighty fine record. Elektra, claiming they “didn’t hear a single,” asked the band to go back in the studio to hunt for one. As this was months after they’d handed the record in, the band refused and were dropped. It’s pretty safe to say, though, that Elektra didn’t appear to be “listening” very hard. The Proximity Effect was released as scheduled in Europe. Critics loved it and fans bought it. Elektra still didn’t care, but the band did. So after wrestling the rights back, Nada Surf released The Proximity Effect stateside in 2000 on their own label, had their record release party at Luna Lounge in New York City, MarDev Records, and toured accordingly…[citation needed]
Their record label, thinking the album lacked a hit like “Popular”, had the band record many covers, including “Black & White” (The dBs) and “Why Are You So Mean To Me?” (Vitreous Humor), to use them as singles.
Tired of the requirements of the art director, the band judged the album was complete and perfect as-is (even though Elektra even suggested the inclusion of an acoustic version of “Popular”), and broke its contract. As a consequence, Elektra did not release the album in the US and dropped the band while they were on a promotional tour in Europe. Despite these events, this album was critically acclaimed in France, where the band made a 30-show tour in March 1999.
The Walkmen is an Americanindie rock band, with members based in New York City and Philadelphia. The band formed in 2000 with three members from Jonathan Fire*Eater—Paul Maroon (guitar, piano), Walter Martin (organ/bass), and Matt Barrick (drums)—and two from The Recoys, Peter Bauer (bass/organ) and Hamilton Leithauser (vocals, guitar). All but Bauer attended St. Albans in Washington, D.C.
They prefer the sound of vintage musical instruments, particularly the upright piano, and have often recorded at Marcata Recording, a recording studio built in Harlem in 1999 by the three former members of Jonathan Fire*Eater and later relocated to upstate New York.
Members:
Hamilton Leithauser
Paul Maroon
Walter Martin
Peter Bauer
Matt Barrick
They achieved chart success with their third single, “Hard to Beat” and then followed by other successful singles such as “Cash Machine“and “Living for the Weekend“,which all reached top 15 in the UK Singles Chart. Their debut album Stars of CCTV was released on 4 July 2005, and although receiving critical acclaim (NME called it album of the year and was nominated for the Mercury Prize and two BRIT Awards, Best British Group and Best British Rock Act ), it didn’t reach #1 in the UK albums chart until six months later on 22 January 2006. It originally peaked at number 6.The band’s second album, Once Upon a Time in the West, was released on 3 September 2007 and reached number 1 in its first week.
They are generally considered part of the indie rock scene, although Richard Archer has mentioned numerous times that they are heavily influenced by soul and dance music.
