Music Profiles

The Canterbury Scene

Lovable left-field corner of the art-rock kingdom.

Caravan

Puckish godfathers of the Canterbury scene.

Hatfield and the North

Relentlessly whimsical prog-rockers.

Martin Rushent

Visionary U.K. New Wave auteur.

John Wesley Harding

Witty folk-rock songwriter by day, respected novelist at night.

Pipas

Timeless minimalist twee-pop duo.

Italian Soundtracks

The sound of the art house.

ECM Records

Pioneering, jazz-centric label

Jan Garbarek

True jazz fusion at its most expansive.

Arvo Pärt

Idiosyncratic composer blending minimalism and mysticism.

Keith Jarrett

Boundary-breaking jazz innovator

Paul Williams

L.A. singer-songwriter who defined ‘70s pop

Paul Bley

Experimental brain, traditional heart.

Charles Bradley

Soul survivor makes his LP debut at 62.

Michael Chapman

First-rate fingerpicker and knockout songsmith.

Sonic Boom

Psychedelic upstart evolves into minimalist godfather.

Marcos Valle

A vital, uncompromising Brazilian artist.

Charlemagne Palestine

Underappreciated minimalist pioneer.

Lloyd Cole

Brainy lyrics and consummate coolness.

Jamey Johnson

Real-deal Outlaw Country rebel.

How To Dress Well

Sonic manipulation meets mainstream R&B.

Esperanza Spalding

Jazz bassist/singer colors outside the lines.

Flora Purim

Expanding the boundaries of Brazilian jazz, post-Tropicalia.

Peter Case

New wave frontman becomes a solo troubadour.

Bryan Ferry

Roxy Music frontman and stylish solo artist.

Steve Wynn

A true survivor of the first alt-rock generation.

Squeeze

The post-punk era's finest songwriting team.

Unrest

A key group in the Washington DC indie rock scene

Dwight Twilley

The definitive power-pop cult hero.

Tom Petty

Jangly garage-rock rebellion brought into the mainstream.

Elizabeth LaPrelle

Honest American folk without revivalist baggage.

Mark Eitzel

A putative sad sack with a switchblade sense of humor.

The Suburbs

The first link between dance-pop and hardcore.

Will Oldham

Unpredictable, wildly prolific alt-folkie

Damien Youth

Syd Barrett-inspired cult hero

MF Doom

Underground rap's confounding superhero.

Janelle Monae

Afro-Futurist mythology meets smart pop songcraft.

Cee-Lo Green

Do we think he’s crazy? Probably.

Lisa Germano

One of America’s most fascinating, underrated and reliable singer/songwriters.

Black Moth Super Rainbow

Lovely and creepy in equal amounts.

The Books

Sonic curiosities transmuted into ambient folktronica.

The Call

America's answer to U2 and Simple Minds.

The Box Tops

Future cult hero Alex Chilton's teenage band created timeless blue-eyed… >>

Laura Nyro

Many singers' favorite songwriter.

Kevin Ayers

Amiably eccentric art-rock singer-songwriter.

New Romantic

Defiantly glamorous hedonistic positivity in reaction to punk’s nihilism

Emitt Rhodes

Maker of gorgeous, McCartney-esque pop.

The Staple Singers

Chicago saints of gospel soul.

Field Music

Multi-instrumentalist brothers Peter and David Brewis

Mark Lanegan

The Pacific Northwest’s answer to Jim Morrison.

Rogue Wave

Catchy, ebullient indie pop overseen by singer-guitarist Zach Rogue

Gil Scott-Heron

Spoken-word performances with groove-conscious jazz and R&B

Bobby Charles

A mighty figure in early rock & roll

Owen Pallett

Wunderkind behind some of indie rock’s best orchestrations.

Wavves

A potentially fruitful rebirth of the lo-fi aesthetic, if he… >>

Vivian Girls

Brooklyn’s premier noise-pop revivalists.

Liars

Often abrasive but bracingly original.

Tim Buckley

One of the most eclectic, questing musicians to emerge from… >>

Spoon

Both critics’ darlings and one of the biggest-selling bands on… >>

Sparks

Singularly inventive duo with one of rock's most varied catalogues.

Nina Simone

An iconic, uncompromising and wide-ranging artist.

The Chills

Bittersweet, kaleidoscopic Kiwi-pop tunes.

Pulp

Oasis or Blur? How about Pulp?

Bill Callahan

An introspective singer-songwriter in the classic tradition.

Neko Case

Neko Case’s voice is a force of nature that flows… >>

Patrick & Eugene

Whimsical trad jazz, insistent dance beats, and arch, Madness-like ska-pop

Gary Numan

New Wave’s first synthesizer hero.

Yeasayer

Decidedly multi-cultural, genre-hopping indie pop.

Alex Chilton

One of rock's legendary curmudgeons, but who can blame him?

Ted Leo

Ted Leo has an uncanny knack for joining classic rock… >>

Chavez

Short-lived but influential NYC guitar heroes.

Eg White

Songwriter to the stars, who also made two of the… >>

Duran Duran

The original New Romantics.

The Left Banke

Baroque pop as heart-stoppingly beautiful as anything on Pet Sounds

Sparklehorse

Mark Linkous crafted strangely beautiful songs that often sounded celebratory… >>

Suzanne Vega

More than just another Village folkie.

All Tomorrow's Parties

All Tomorrow's Parties has evolved from a mostly artist-curated series… >>

Mogwai

Simple, melancholic musical narratives that gradually build into epic cyclones… >>

The New Pornographers

Clever, tuneful pop masterminds.

Tony Joe White

A Louisiana gumbo of country twang and R&B groove.

Mickey Newbury

Often-underappreciated early Nashville rebel.

Willie Nelson

The ponytailed philosopher king of outlaw country.

Kris Kristofferson

One of the biggest game-changers to ever hang up his… >>

The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips transformed themselves from a noisy, freak-rock novelty… >>

The Paisley Underground

Edgy ‘80s alt rock with psychedelic flavors.

The Chemical Brothers

The progenitors of Big Beat.

Cat Power

Southern singer/songwriter wielding a distinctively beautiful voice and a fascinatingly… >>

Asha Bhosle

Bhosle has pushed hundreds of innocuous film performances with her… >>

My Bloody Valentine

Late-blooming sonic pioneers turned musical hermits.

Throwing Muses

Stepsisters and creative foils Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly led… >>

The Wolfgang Press

One of the least 4AD-like of the 4AD bands.

David Sylvian

Former Japan frontman continually pushes musical boundaries in his solo… >>

Jim Carroll

Punk poet whose gritty but vivid imagery found its way… >>

Patti Smith

One of the most important figures in punk's development.

John Cale

Velvet Underground founder went on to an equally influential career… >>

High Places

Unexpectedly warm records that sound like what trees and animals… >>

Half Man Half Biscuit

DIY post-punks age surprisingly gracefully.

The Cure

Under the enormous hair and smeared lipstick lies a masterful… >>

Roky Erickson

He's a man, not a sideshow act.

The Zombies

Visionary British Invasion band who became baroque-pop pioneers

Meat Beat Manifesto

The genre-hopping cut-and-paste forebears nudged open the door for a… >>

T. Rex

Glam icon Marc Bolan and friends.

Little Boots

Singer-keyboardist Victoria Hesketh cheekily updates classic early '80s synth pop

R.E.M.

Single-handedly brought the term “jangle” into the rock-crit lexicon.

Husker Du

Husker Du melded the ethos of punk rock and hardcore… >>

The Byrds

Iconic, yet somehow still underrated.

Boards of Canada

A true headphone band if there ever were one, Boards… >>

Guided By Voices

Indie rockers with stadium-size inspirations.

Steely Dan

Much darker and more intriguing than their reputation suggests.

Modern Jazz Quartet

The MJQ took their cues from Bach as much as… >>

Stereolab

One of the most influential bands of the '90s.

William S. Burroughs

William S. Burroughs challenged the machinations of literature itself.

Low

Minnesota husband and wife bucked the grunge trend by crafting… >>

Bedhead

Not the first, but perhaps the best.

Red House Painters

Delicate folk-rock with a gently narcotic shimmer.

John Southworth

Lyrically cinematic songs informed by a sincere love of old-fashioned… >>

Matador Records

Possibly the best American indie of the last 21+ years.

The Magnetic Fields

The primary vehicle for prolific singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt

Merle Haggard

Ex-con becomes country icon.

Nick Lowe

From punk-era basher to rootsy crooner.

Robert Plant

Zep frontman turned Americana interpreter.

Belle and Sebastian

Much-adored indie pop band from Glasgow, Scotland, best known for… >>

Sly and the Family Stone

The first psychedelic soulsters to reach the kids as well… >>

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Synth-pop pioneer and multi-talented composer.

Peter Gabriel

One of the world’s most respected artists

Thomas Dolby

Often incorrectly thought of as a one-hit wonder, Thomas Dolby… >>

Talk Talk

A career built out of defying expectations.

Prefab Sprout

A masterful singer-songwriter goes into hiding.

Prince

A pioneering mix of pop, rock, R&B, and left-field eccentricity.

Hawkwind

Sci-fi hippies with quark, strangeness and charm.

Nick Cave

A singer-songwriter of the highest order.

Siouxsie and the Banshees

No one can stir the hearts of gothy teenagers like… >>

Kate Bush

A former teenage pop star's music becomes increasingly complex and,… >>

Destroyer

Dan Bejar's ever-shifting musical vision.

Chris Knox

The central figure of New Zealand's fertile indie scene

Circulatory System

The continuation of the Olivia Tremor Control following the departure… >>

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

An affectionate updating of the 1980s UK indie sound.

The Clientele

Meticulous odes to heartbreak from a slightly more romantic era.

Brian Eno

A "non-musician" who altered the course of musical history.

Mark Ronson

Hitmaking producer with a recording career of his own.

Robert Wyatt

Prog-fusion drummer turned affecting singer-songwriter.

Big Star

The ultimate power pop cult heroes.

R. Stevie Moore

From DIY upstart to lo-fi's Grand Master.

Leonard Cohen

Folk-rock's Canadian Poet Laureate.

Scott Walker

Teen idol turned adventurous art-pop crooner.

Tom Waits

The man who made mincemeat out of singer/songwriter clichés.

A Tribe Called Quest

The early 1990s' most influential hip-hop collective.

The Roots

From acid house through neo-soul and beyond, hip-hop's best band.

Iron and Wine

Influential indie-folk force Sam Beam.

Cass McCombs

A mysterious and always intriguing songwriter.

Pavement

Still the kings of scrappy slacker cool.

Television Personalities

Direct influence on several generations of UK indie scenes.

The Vaselines

Hank Williams

The man who personified country music.

The High Llamas

Eclectic experimentalists combine uncommon influences.

Solomon Burke

One of America’s greatest soul singers.

Fink

British chill-out DJ turned Nick Drake-influenced singer/songwriter

The KLF

Innovative duo often dismissed as smart-alecky provocateurs.

Robyn Hitchcock

More than a wacky guy writing songs about fish.

The Decemberists

The Decemberists made the Brit-folk side of progressive rock improbably… >>

Bert Jansch

Godfather of U.K. folk and fingerstyle master.

Sonic Youth

So good for so long that they're taken for granted.

Kasabian

Neil Young

Legendary both for his critical and commercial successes and for… >>

Sun Kil Moon

Mark Kozelek's ever-evolving second act.

Jack Penate

One of the UK's most promising young artists.

The Smiths Band

The most influential British band of the 1980s.