(Dance/vocal group, 1987–present) Founders and exponents of a downtempo groove of trip hop, 3D (Robert Del Naja), Daddy G (Grant Marshall) and Mushroom (Andrew Vowles) began working together in Bristol in the late 1980s in a loose collective under the name of The Wild Bunch. Named after a line in a comic book, their debut album Blue Lines ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1982–present) Ben Watt (guitar) and Tracey Thorn (vocals, bass) travelled a fascinating road, from the jazz-inflected indie of their self-titled debut in 1984 to the trip hop and drum’n’bass of Walking Wounded in 1996. This crossover was catalyzed by Thorn’s guest appearance on Massive Attack’s Protection in 1994, and DJ Todd Terry’s remix of ‘Missing’, ...
(Electronica group, 1995–present) Like fellow Bristolians Massive Attack, Portishead were pioneers of the trip hop sound. Although the band – Geoff Barrow (keyboards), Beth Gibbons (vocals), Adrian Utley (guitar) and Dave MacDonald (drums) – kept a low media profile, their debut album Dummy (1996) with its laid-back, almost trance-like beats over which Gibbons sang was voted record ...
(Vocals, b. 1971) Born in Puerto Rico, Enrique Martin Morales, was a member of the Latin boy-band Menudo in the 1980s. As an actor he also enjoyed TV work in Mexico and America, notably as a singing bartender in General Hospital. Martin made his Spanish-language solo debut in 1991 and a string of albums like A Medio ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1980–98) The otherworldly tones of albums such as Treasure (1983) and Victorialand (1986) helped define ambient music. The Cocteaus comprised Robin Guthrie’s layered soundscapes and Liz Fraser’s spectral voice (also used by Massive Attack), plus bassist Will Heggie (replaced by Simon Raymonde). None of their lyrics could be discerned, but the atmospheric ‘Pearly Dewdrops Drop’ (1984) charted ...
Only two record labels in pop history have lent their name to an entire musical genre. The first is Detroit’s Tamla Motown. The other is England’s 2-Tone, a late-1970s/early 1980s imprint that still stands as the UK’s most politically significant pop phenomenon. 2-Tone was set up in 1979 by The Special A.K.A., a multiracial ska- and reggae-inspired ...
Jungle and UK garage are often cited as the only real British contributions to electronic music, but the slow motion beats of trip hop are also steeped in the multi-cultural sounds of UK music. Influenced by 1980s dub acts like On-U-Sound, Adrian Sherwood and African Headcharge and their own sound system backgrounds, Bristol based acts like Smith & ...
There is no escaping the crucial importance of World War I (1914–18) in the formation of the Modern Age (as the first half of the twentieth century has come to be known). The war changed irrevocably the development and directions of almost all pre-war innovations in politics, society, the arts and ideas in general. Declining economic conditions also altered ...
Although the art of the classical singer has traditionally been perceived as the pursuit of technical perfection and tonal beauty, the twentieth century enabled a re-evaluation of what that art should be. Due in part to the technological advances and harrowing events of the times, much of the music was innovative, challenging, moving, powerful and, ...
The history of opera is dominated by Italian and Austro-German composers. It is in Italy and Germany that we find the greatest number of opera houses. La Scala in Milan lays claim to be the most famous opera house in the world, and its opening night every season is a major event in the country’s social calendar. The theatre, ...
The two great architectural styles of the medieval age were the Romanesque and the Gothic. The Romanesque, with its round-arch forms borrowed from classical buildings, is a massive style, characterized by solid pillars supporting the great stone roof vaults that were a new feature of construction. It is often crowded with imaginative sculpture. During the twelfth century, ...
In 1937, Arnold Schoenberg said, ‘I have at last learned the lesson that has been forced upon me during this year, and I shall not ever forget it. It is that I am not a German, not a European, indeed perhaps scarcely a human being – at least the Europeans prefer the worst of their race ...
The legend of Sun Records seems to expand and shine brighter with every passing year, as successive generations discover the almost unbelievable array of musical gems that were created at that modest little studio at 706 Union Avenue, Memphis. Sun was the brainchild of one man and it is no exaggeration to say that without his contribution, not ...
Bells are a feature of ceremony and ritual. They are used for meditation and prayer, and to mark significant life events such as funerals and weddings. Bells are used to mark out the timetable of our daily lives – appearing as alarm bells, warning signals and in mechanized chimes in clocks. In Japan, bonsho temple bells are rung ...
Cymbals are thin metal discs played by being struck together or placed on a stand (suspended) and hit with sticks or beaters. They are made from beaten metal and so are distinct from crotales or antique cymbals, which are tuned cast metal discs. Turkish and Chinese Cymbals Suspended and crash cymbals used in western orchestral music, rock, pop ...
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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.