(Vocal/instrumental group, 1995–present) Foo Fighters, the post-Nirvana project of Dave Grohl with Taylor Hawkins (drums), Nate Mendel (bass) and Chris Shiflett (guitar) saw the drummer-turned-singer storm the charts again and again with an honest, workaday approach to rock that was, more often that not, humorously handled. Thankfully too, Grohl could write a melody, and ...
(Singer-songwriter, b. 1974) This Canadian singer recorded two teen-oriented albums that went nowhere in 1990 and 1992. Signed to Madonna’s Maverick label, major debut Jagged Little Pill (1995) was a multi-platinum success. Music aside, it was Morissette’s abrasive, honest, sharp lyrical concerns, ranging from anger at being jilted to confessional, that captivated. Singles like ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 2007–present) Florence Welch and her backing band won the prestigious Critic’s Choice Brit award in 2008. Debut album Lungs was released in July 2009, and was a slow burner; as her singles were released and her popularity grew, it gradually rose to No. 1 after 28 weeks in the charts. Her mix of soul and arty ...
In March 2011 the New Musical Express published a list of the Top 100 gigs that music fans ‘should have been at’. Green Day were at No. 68 and the gig in question was their famed performance at The Den in Wigan on 21 December 1991 where they not only performed tracks from their debut LP 39/Smooth and upcoming album Kerplunk ...
One of the most influential acts of the 1990s, Nirvana formed in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987 when Kurt Kobain (1967–94, guitar, vocals), Krist Novoselic (born 16 May 1965, bass) and Chad Channing cemented the line-up of Nirvana. Signed by Seattle’s growing Sub Pop label their first single was a cover version of The Shocking Blue’s ...
(Vocals, b. 1979) Despite being the daughter of superstar Ravi Shankar, Geetali Norah Jones Shankar is more jazz than world musician. Her debut Come Away With Me (2002) fuses elements of folk and soul into the genre, topped off with her sultry vocals, sounding as if they were beamed in from a smoky cellar bar. Her ability ...
With lyrics written minutes before they were recorded and the most ramshackle production imagineable, Nirvana’s 1989 debut album Bleach didn’t sound like the work of a group capable of toppling MTV’s fixation with hairspray rock; nor did its initial sales of around 15,000 copies. But that’s exactly what the trio from Aberdeen, Washington, went on to achieve. ...
February Grammy Award For Best Rock Album At the 47th Grammy Awards held on 13 February in Los Angeles, Green Day not only won Best Rock Album award for American Idiot but had their performance of the title track introduced by acclaimed film director Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino paid the band the ultimate compliment, stating that they had ‘released a ...
February Talking Heads’ ‘Once In A Lifetime’ With its African-inspired rhythm conflicting with the rhythm played by the band, ‘Once In A Lifetime’ made for an unlikely hit single for Talking Heads. Although it failed to dent the American chart, the song made more impact in Britain where it reached No. 14. Much of its success was due to ...
The impact of rap on the rock market was everywhere to be seen in the first years of the new millennium. White artists, black artists and rock bands attempting to incorporate the style made this area the biggest musical melting pot since the 1950s. The means by which music was accessed switched from CD to downloading from the internet, ...
May Townshend Wins BMI Award The CSI TV franchise provided good exposure and a whole new outlet for Pete Townshend’s music, and all three shows used his compositions for their title tracks. As a result, from 2001, he was consistently awarded BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) Awards in recognition of that body of work. The 2008 BMI Annual ...
Following the social and political upheaval of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, Europe enjoyed a short period of relative stability with Napoleon’s exile, the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in France and the establishment of the Vienna Peace Settlement in 1815. However, in the early 1820s a number of minor revolts broke out in Naples and ...
(Loo-e’-je No’-no) 1924–90 Italian composer Nono studied with Hermann Scherchen (1891–1966) and through him attended Darmstadt, where met Stockhausen and embraced the principles of integral serialism, exploiting them idiosyncratically but powerfully and expressively in Il canto sospeso (‘The Song Unsung’, 1955–6), which sets the words of Resistance fighters killed by the Nazis. Nono’s political commitment was as strongly evident ...
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An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...
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Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.
David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.