Top Indie/Alternative Artists on Rhapsody Online

Modest Mouse

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:50 -0800

Under the close tutelage of indie rock kingpin Calvin Johnson, Modest Mouse have cultivated a twangy, folk-tinged rock sound that is nothing less than inspiring. Blending grainy, high-pitched vocals catchy guitar hooks and an aversion to traditional rock song structures, this humble threesome churn out track after track of gut-wrenching emotive romps. Not afraid to soar from melodic acoustic ballads to screeching digressions that verge on jam rock, Modest Mouse strike a balance between musical energy and expressive candor, finding an angsty, melancholic purity that eludes other indie bands.

U2

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:49 -0800

U2 began the '80s as a virtually unknown "alternative" group and ended the century as one of the most widely followed rock bands in the world. The Irish rockers were influenced initially by punk's raw energy, but they immediately distinguished themselves from their post-punk peers with a huge, soaring sound — centered on Dave "the Edge" Evans' reverb-laden guitars and Paul "Bono" Hewson's sensuous vocals — and songs that tackled social and spiritual matters with an open, tender urgency. U2 shunned the sort of ironic expression and electronic sweetening that were considered hip in the '80s — until the '90s, that is, when the band began drawing on such elements to reinvigorate and broaden its sound. By 2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind, U2 had revived its straight-ahead approach. U2 has maintained not only its massive popularity but also its status as one of the most adventurous and groundbreaking acts in pop music.

The band members began rehearsing together while students at Dublin's Mount Temple High School (the city's only nondenominational school). None was technically proficient at the beginning, but their lack of expertise mothered invention. The Edge's distinctive chordal style, for instance, stemmed largely from the guitarist's inability to play complicated leads, while bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. provided a rhythm section that was mostly pummeling ardor. The novice musicians quickly developed a following in Ireland and found a manager, Paul McGuinness, who remains with them to this day. They recorded independently before signing to Island Records in 1980.

U2's 1980 debut album, Boy, was produced by Steve Lillywhite. On it, the group earnestly explored adolescent hopes and terrors, rejecting hard rock's earthy egotism and punk's nihilism. Bono, U2's lyricist, was (and still is) a practicing Christian, as were the Edge and Mullen, and on their second LP, October (1981, also Lillywhite-produced), the singer incorporated imagery evoking their faith. Boy and October generated the respective singles "I Will Follow" and "Gloria," which got some airplay in the U.S. An American club tour generated further interest, thanks to U2's incendiary live performances.

War cemented U2's reputation as a politically conscious band; among its themes were "the troubles" in Northern Ireland, addressed on the single "Sunday Bloody Sunday." Another single, "New Year's Day," went to Number 11 in England and Number 53 in the U.S., while War topped the British chart and hit Number 12 Stateside. The group commemorated its 1983 tour with the live EP Under a Blood Red Sky, recorded at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.

U2's next studio album, 1984's The Unforgettable Fire, was the first of several fruitful collaborations with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. The album generated the group's first American Top 40 single, an ode to American Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., called "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (Number 33, 1984). The album hit Number 12 here, and the Irishmen supported it by headlining arenas around the world. In 1985 U2 was proclaimed "Band of the '80s" by ROLLING STONE and made a historic appearance at Live Aid. The following year, the group joined Sting, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed and others for the Conspiracy of Hope Tour benefiting Amnesty International.

U2 entered the pop stratosphere with 1987's The Joshua Tree, a critical and commercial smash that topped the albums chart that year and spawned the Number One hits "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," as well as "Where the Streets Have No Name" (Number 13, 1987). The LP, which was produced by Eno and Lanois, won the group Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Rock Performance. In 1988 U2 wrapped up a triumphant world tour by releasing Rattle and Hum, a double-LP that combined live tracks with new material, and featured guest appearances by Bob Dylan and B.B. King. Rattle and Hum seemed bombastic to some critics; an accompanying film documentary also garnered mixed reviews. The LP nonetheless shot to Number One, and produced a Number Three single, "Desire" (1988). The band's next LP, Achtung Baby, reached Number One and received rave reviews. The LP marked a stylistic departure, featuring more metallic textures, funkier beats, and intimate, world-weary love songs. (Bono was fond of saying at the time that the album was the sound of "four men chopping down The Joshua Tree.") Hit singles included "Mysterious Ways" (Number Nine, 1992), "One" (Number 10, 1992), "Even Better Than the Real Thing" (Number 32, 1992), and "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" (Number 35, 1992). Another track, "Until the End of the World," was featured (in differently mixed form) in Wim Wenders' 1991 film of the same name. Lanois, who produced Achtung Baby with support from Eno and Lillywhite, won a Grammy for his work.

In 1992 the band embarked on its Zoo TV tour, a flashy multimedia extravaganza that juxtaposed the rugged simplicity of its previous shows. Bono adopted a series of wry guises — the leather-and-shades-sporting Fly, the demonic MacPhisto — that he'd use for encores and, in the Fly's case, press appearances. In 1993, as the tour wound down, the band reentered the studio and made Zooropa, a quirky, electronics-drunk affair co-produced by Eno, the Edge and engineer Flood. The album reached Number One but yielded only the minor hit "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" (Number 61, 1993), which was also on the soundtrack to Wenders' 1993 movie Faraway, So Close. Johnny Cash sang lead on the track "The Wanderer." In 1993 the band renewed its contract with Island for an estimated $170 million. U2's contribution to 1995's Batman Forever soundtrack, "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me," was a Top 20 hit. Also in 1995 the group collaborated with Eno as Passengers on a largely instrumental album called Original Soundtracks I; the only track to get attention was "Miss Sarajevo," on which Bono shared vocals with opera singer Luciano Pavarotti. Proceeds from the single's sales went toward war relief in Bosnia. The same year Bono and the Edge cowrote with Irish folk singer Christy Moore a song about the peace process in Ireland, "North and South of the River."

In 1996 Clayton and Mullen recorded a rock version of the "Theme From Mission: Impossible" for the film starring Tom Cruise. It went to Number Seven on the pop chart. The following year saw the release of the electronica-heavy Pop; the album debuted at Number One in 27 countries, including the U.S., and garnered hit singles in "Discotheque" (Number 10, 1997) and "Staring at the Sun" (Number 26, 1998). U2 embarked on its next stage extravaganza, the PopMart tour, from 1997 to 1998. With a supermarket theme that played upon the concept of commercialism, the tour was even more grandiose than Zoo TV had been, with immense props that included a giant olive with a 100-foot-long toothpick, a 35-foot-high lemon, and a 100-foot-tall golden arch. At the tour's conclusion, U2 released a greatest-hits compilation with a remixed version of "The Sweetest Thing," previously the B side of "Where the Streets Have No Name." This time the song was released as a single (Number 63, 1998).

Bono returned to political activism in 1999, with much of his focus on fighting world poverty. He met with President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, as well as the Pope, as a representative of Jubilee 2000, a nonprofit group devoted to convincing nations to forgive third-world debt in the new millennium. He also co-wrote a song, "New Day," with Wyclef Jean of the Fugees; the single's proceeds benefited relief efforts in Kosovo and the Wyclef Jean Foundation. The pair performed the song at the United Nations, as well as at NetAid, a concert held simultaneously in London, Geneva, and New Jersey's Giants Stadium, while being simulcast live on the Internet, to benefit several causes, among them third-world debt relief and global poverty.

In early 2000, the Wim Wenders movie The Million Dollar Hotel, based on a story co-conceived by Bono, was shown at the Berlin Film Festival and released in many countries. Bono coproduced the film, made a cameo appearance in it, and U2 recorded three new songs for the soundtrack, one of which, "The Ground Beneath Her Feet," was written around lyrics by controversial author Salman Rushdie. In addition, Bono recorded tracks with Lanois and Eno as the Million Dollar Hotel Band. U2 released an album of new material in late 2000: All That You Can't Leave Behind (Number Three), featuring the single "Beautiful Day" (Number 21), which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" (Number 52, 2001) became something of an anthem for Americans recovering from the shock of the September 11th terror attacks. The band's Elevation Tour featured a heart-shaped catwalk in front of the stage which provided fans with close-up contact with the musicians.

In 2002, U2 performed at the halftime of Super Bowl XXXVI and issued a second greatest-hits collection, covering the 1990s and All That You Can't Leave Behind; it yielded a minor hit in "Electrical Storm" (Number 77, 2002). U2 released How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb in late 2004, which entered the charts at Number One, proving U2 one of the few sure things in the uneasy rock marketplace of the new millennium. The single "Vertigo" was featured in an iPod ad, and the group released a special-edition iPod loaded with all of its albums.

Bono's political-activism profile continued to swell, with ongoing African relief efforts on his part landing him on the cover of Time with fellow millionaire-philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates. In 2005 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Bruce Springsteen. The following year came the self-explanatory U218: Singles package. While the band worked on another studio album with Eno and Lanois, they released the concert movie U2 3D, which was filmed during their 2005 Vertigo Tour.

Muse

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:49 -0800

Growing up in the quiet English town of Devon, the three members of Muse dreamed of being in a rock band. At the tender age of 13, they did just that by forming (ahem) Gothic Plague. A few years and name changes later, the trio chose the name Muse and settled into their dramatic, Queen and Radiohead-inspired style of Brit rock. In 1997, they released a self-titled EP, followed by the Muscle Museum EP a year later. "Muscle Museum" was highly touted in the British press and the buzz over Muse was officially on. The trio signed to Madonna's Maverick Records after playing a music industry show and released Showbiz in 1999. Origin of Symmetry followed in 2001 and the band enjoyed some radio success. But they weren't able to break through in the U.S. until the release of 2003's Absolution, which made its way to the top of the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart. Their success continued to grow with the release of 2006's bombastic Black Holes and Revelations and the even more bombastic 2009's The Resistance, which captures Muse at their weirdest, grandest and most ambitious. - Linda Ryan

The Killers

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:44 -0800

What does it mean that one of the early 21st century's best British bands is actually from Las Vegas? They might not fit into a convenient theory, but the Killers haven't wasted much time since their formation in 2002: Even before their debut album, Hot Fuss, appeared on Island in mid-2004, they were already selling out headlining shows in England. Named for a fictional group in a New Order video, the Killers practice a tense, stylish brand of rock in the vein of U2 and Bruce Springsteen, with lyrical left turns that recall classic Bowie. With their roots in glam and new wave, and their undeniable talent, the Killers have helped breathe fresh air into the '00s alt rock scene. - Jaan Uhelszki

Radiohead

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:47 -0800

One of the 1990s' greatest success stories, Radiohead came to prominence largely on the success of their distorted, ingratiating single "Creep." Drolly repeating "I'm a creep / I'm a loser" in the pounding wake of arena rock guitars wasn't going to win them any artistic grants, but those lyrics and bouts with piercing feedback would not be soon forgotten. It wasn't until The Bends (1995) that Radiohead transcended the formula, crafting the patient, heart-wrenching "Fake Plastic Trees" and the magnetic, sunshine-driven "Black Star." Thom Yorke's signature falsetto began to operate in a more deeply emotional capacity at this point. Finally producing to the caliber of their songwriting, Radiohead's OK Computer demonstrated a staggering attention to detail, probably ranking as one of the greatest commercial artistic successes of the '90s. Rarely does a record offer masterpieces in varying moods. From the thunderously suspenseful "Airbag" to the moody chime of the blustery "Let Down," Radiohead emerged victorious. The alt-rock superstardom and critical gushing that followed pushed them into their darkest and most creative space yet, and they delivered the electronic-tinged Kid A in 2000 and Amnesiac in 2001. Many critics and fans claimed to not "get" the group's twisted, skittering melodies and complicated, chorus-free rock songs but to the devout the band's cerebral art rock was like manna from the heavens. 2003's Hail to the Thief offered up a mixture of guitar-driven tracks amid a more restless desire to experiment. In 2007, Radiohead shook up the music industry with In Rainbows, an album released via their website in which fans could name their own price. - Kelly Bauman

Pearl Jam

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 11:07:03 -0800

Many accused Pearl Jam of being a mainstream hard rock band that happened to hop on the alt rock gravy train at its busiest stop (Grungeville circa late 1991/early 1992), thereby reaping the benefits of constant exposure on suddenly flannel-friendly MTV with hit videos for "Alive," "Even Flow" and, most notably, "Jeremy." In the wake of the unpredictable success of their multi-platinum anthem-fest/debut Ten, Eddie Vedder eventually got used to being a celebrity. Not coincidentally, the band bravely began messing with its straight-ahead rock formula around that same time: "Spin the Black Circle" married punk with garage rock, "Off He Goes" put their own "Daughter" to shame for fireside ambiance, "Around the Bend" manifested the effects of Mirror Ball (their 1995 collaboration with Neil Young) soft and clear, and "Low Light" out-R.E.M.'d R.E.M. in its waltzing, acoustic beauty. In 2000, Pearl Jam began releasing no less than 72 volumes of live material chronicling the American and European legs of their tour in support of Binaural, which came out the same year. 2002's Riot Act proved that the band was as relevant as ever, and in 2006 they returned with a self-titled, heavy blast of anthemic anger at the state of the world. Pearl Jam are one of the few stalwarts surviving from the long-ago age of grunge hype, and they've actually become bolder and better with age. - Charles Hodgkins

Regina Spektor

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 13:19:45 -0800

By the time Regina Spektor's major label debut, Begin to Hope, arrived in 2006, the Russian-born singer already had a lengthy pedigree as a musician. She took up piano under the direction of her musically inclined parents while a child in Moscow. Her family eventually moved to the Bronx, where she continued classical studies at the Manhattan School of Music and started writing her own music. Her musical pursuits carried through college, and she graduated from a music composition program at Purchase College in 2001. Frequenting venues in Manhattan, she became associated with the so-called "anti-folk" movement and self-released 2001's 11:11, 2002's Songs and 2004's Soviet Kitsch, which Sire later reissued. A compilation of early recordings, Mary Ann Meets the Gravediggers and Other Short Stories, was released in 2006. In 2009, Spektor gathered an all-star production team to help her with Far, the much anticipated follow-up to Begin to Hope. - Nate Cavalieri

R.E.M.

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:47 -0800

Between 1983 and 1986, R.E.M.'s first four albums defined a type of music still taking shape at the time, an as-yet unnamed "alternative" rock then emerging on college radio. With Peter Buck's Velvet Underground-influenced guitars and Michael Stipe's murkily poetic lyrics, R.E.M. were the de facto kings of the underground in the '80s. Life's Rich Pageant, generally regarded as the band's fourth near-perfect album in a row when it came out in 1986, gave them an untouchable cache among their peers and fans. This popularity grew with the advent of alternative-themed radio stations and video shows on MTV, finally breaking when Green came out in 1988 and "The One I Love" became an inescapable MTV/radio hit. Out of Time followed in 1991 and yielded "Losing My Religion," which remains their most popular song today. The next three albums sold in astronomical numbers, and in 1997 Warner Bros paid them $80 million to re-up their contract. After signing the deal, founding bass player Bill Berry opted to leave the band, and between 1997 and 2008 R.E.M. released four studio albums amid a few collections and a live set. - Mike McGuirk

Wilco

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:40 -0800

Following the 1994 breakup of alt country pioneers Uncle Tupelo, co-founder Jeff Tweedy immediately formed Wilco. Over the next three albums, the band recorded the rootsy A.M., veered toward the orchestral pop of Being There, and earned a Grammy nomination for Mermaid Avenue (an album of Woody Guthrie lyrics for which the band and Billy Bragg wrote music), before running toward a sunny, West Coast-inspired pop utopia of complex introspection with Summer Teeth. Upon parting ways with founding member Jay Bennett, Wilco independently released (after some wrangling with Warner Bros.) Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It was with Foxtrot that Wilco succeeded at leaving any alt country vestiges behind, venturing into more moody, dislocated songwriting tangled up inside noise experiments and amputated guitar leads. Wilco's fifth album A Ghost Is Born continued to help the band search for their sound somewhere between sonic gambles and innovative production. Their sixth, Sky Blue Sky, came in the spring of 2007, sounding like a return to simplified guitar pop with sing-along songs that unfold and unleash stormy guitar solos courtesy of Nels Cline. Some songs even hint at a slight return to the band's twangy roots. - Eric Shea

Death Cab For Cutie

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:42 -0800

Long before The O.C.'s resident hipster Seth Cohen proclaimed his love for the band, the Bellingham, Wash., natives were cranking out sweet, cozy melodies for reflective romantics. After the success of a cassette put together by Ben Gibbard in 1997, the vocalist and guitarist decided to transform his solo project into a full-fledged band. When guitarist Chris Walla, bassist Nick Harmer and drummer Nathan Good came aboard, Death Cab For Cutie were born. The band took its name from a Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band song that appeared in the Beatles movie Magical Mystery Tour. By 1998, Death Cab's debut, Something About Airplanes, was released, recalling the off-kilter guitar pop of Built to Spill and the quietly passionate storytelling of Elliott Smith. The band went on to create three more LPs before signing to Atlantic Records and releasing the Grammy-nominated Plans in 2005. Nearly three years later, Narrow Stairs revealed a slightly changed Death Cab, which cited heavy metal as an influence. Though more Band of Horses than Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the brawnier approach worked; it was their first album to top the Billboard charts. - Stephanie Benson

Nirvana

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:44 -0800

The phenomenal success of Foo Fighters demonstrates that Nirvana were a talented trio, and not just a rickety pair of training wheels for Kurt Cobain's wild ride into fame and annihilation. Obscured behind a smokescreen of publicity and deadened by the effects of endless radio play, Nirvana's music nonetheless holds its own as some of the very best of the 1990s. Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl and Cobain managed to direct molten flows of white noise into melodic channels navigable by mainstream listeners. Cobain's lyrics, meanwhile, were imbued with the Pentecostal passion of someone speaking in tongues. Traveling in rapid pendulum swings from mania to catatonia, his singing conveyed the pain of a soul mortgaged deep in addiction and depression. He was a man trying desperately to make sense, through song, of the world around him -- something not often heard in Top-40 music. It's unfortunate that the nihilistic elements of Cobain's life and art were so widely and readily embraced by a Pied Piper-following cadre of Kurtophiles bent on viewing self-destruction as ennobling. Nirvana never aspired to be the anti-heroic role models that certain hopeless souls among us needed them to be. To make music that mattered is all they ever wanted, and they took genuine risks to achieve that goal. In the process, they inadvertently altered the geography of modern culture by popularizing (for better or worse) so-called "alternative" music. - Chad Driscoll

Lily Allen

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:47 -0800

Lily Allen is the precocious daughter of actor/comedian Keith Allen and film producer mom, Alison Owen. Despite a privileged background, Allen was somewhat of a handful growing up, often running away and getting expelled from various schools. By 15, Allen knew school wasn't for her, so she dropped out and eventually started working on music. Lily's sound draws on her parent's music collection, which included such groundbreaking, female-fronted acts as Rip, Rig and Panic, the Slits and Blondie. But her fondness for hip-hop and urban storytellers also shines through both in her style of delivery and in her rock steady beats. Allen's reputation as a formidable voice from the street grew via her myspace page, and that led to her deal with Parlaphone. In late 2006, Allen's single "Smile" hit No. 1 on the UK charts. In 2007, Allen's debut album, Alright, Still, was released in the U.S., followed by It's Not Me, It's You in February 2009. - Linda Ryan

Smashing Pumpkins

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:42 -0800

Billy Corgan and his Chicago cohorts arrived just as the alternative sea-swell was crashing ashore in the early 1990s, doing so with shiny, super-produced alt rock far removed from the Pacific Northwest's guttural Grunge rumblings. Corgan's obsessive, perfectionist nature helped rear an omnipresent triumvirate of crucial albums between 1991-95, each of which grandly built upon the scope and sound of its predecessor. Gish, Siamese Dream, and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness -- in addition to the myriad songs released as non-album tracks during that time -- were chiefly characterized by Corgan's vocals that could whisper one moment and wail the next, Corgan and James Iha's overdriven, buzzing, these-go-to-11 guitars, and Jimmy Chamberlin's propulsive, overwhelmingly powerful drum work that thrust "Silverf*ck," "Bury Me," and "Geek U.S.A." into fifth gear. Lineup changes and an electronica-embracing sound muddled the band's late '90s efforts, and the Pumpkins called it quits in 2000. After years of near-constant speculation, Corgan and Chamberlin partnered to reform the group in 2007, releasing the bombastic Zeitgeist and returning to the world stage. - Charles Hodgkins

The Dodos

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:55:21 -0700

The Dodos' songwriter and guitarist Meric Long grew up in the San Francisco suburbs and was making a name for himself as a solo artist in the Bay Area before hooking up with drummer Logan Kroeber for his self-released Dodo Bird EP in 2005. Long's intricate finger-picking and knack for sentimental melodies fit well with Kroeber's propulsive approach to the kit (he'd studied both African drumming and played in metal bands) and they self-released an LP, Beware of the Maniacs, in 2006. Their growing audiences in San Francisco led to some label interest and the following year they signed to Frenchkiss Records for their critically acclaimed sophomore LP, Visiter. In 2009, the duo added another Dodo to their nest, vibraphonist Keaton Snyder, and recruited producer Phil Ek (The Shins, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes) for their third album, Time To Die.

Alice in Chains

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:46 -0800

Alice in Chains' debut arrived at the outset of the '90s without a name for the market they were supposed to attract. Their sound was too unique to be considered metal and more visceral than mere straight-ahead rock, but it was soon lumped in with that of other prominent bands emerging from the overcast skies of Seattle around the same time. Gritty, down-tuned guitars kept their legion of fans headbanging to "Man in a Box" and "Would?," offering sharp contrast to their mellower acoustic output ("Got Me Wrong," "No Excuses"). However, it was Jerry Cantrell and Layne Staley's thick and dissonant harmonies which became one of their most imitated and original features, spawning endless copiers. Heroin-tinged lyrics and jagged, odd-time riffs foreshadowed their supposed demise, but their influence lives on in many of today's copycat bands. - Jessy Terry

Silversun Pickups

Sun, 6 Dec 2009 09:55:38 -0800

With their distorted vocals, winding guitars drenched in warm, crubling effect pedals and raw-riffing rock power, the Silversun Pickups rightfully garner many a comparison to alt-rock '90s heroes the Smashing Pumpkins (minus Billy Corgan's nasally croon, though). But that's merely what you'll hear on the surface of their sound. Beneath that veneer, the washed out guitar textures and barbed, melodic harmonies recall early Breeders and latter-day Nirvana. But the Pickups also have a tendency to lean hard on poppier West Coast indie rock songwriting sensibilities a la Earlimart. A product of L.A.'s incestuous music scene, founder Brian Aubert has said that the sum of his band's parts can be blamed on what he calls the "tumbleweed effect" -- it blows along and influences stick to it. He also says that the band was ushered onto the live stage before they were ready to play, which forced it to either crash-land or flap their wings and learn to fly. Listening to their 2006 debut long player Carnavas and follow-up Swoon reveals that they were able to pull off the latter. - Eric Shea

The Cure

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:43 -0800

Dubbed the "masters of mope rock," the Cure rose from Britain's late-'70s punk scene to become one of the biggest-selling "underground" acts of the 1980s. Frontman Robert Smith, who has been described as the "messiah of melancholy" and the "guru of gloom," is known for wearing death-white facial makeup, crimson lipstick, and teased black hair; he is rivaled only by Morrissey as a heartthrob for the discontented. The Cure's goth-pop style is characterized by self-obsessed lyrics, minor-key melodies, and Smith's distinctive vocal whine.

Robert Smith grew up in working-class Crawley, Sussex, a suburb of London. He recalls his childhood years as difficult, a time of run-ins with his parents and the law. At 17 he formed the Easy Cure with childhood friends Laurence Tolhurst and Michael Dempsey as a sort of catharsis for his feelings of frustration. The group's music has remained therapeutic for Smith.

The Cure made its initial splash in the U.K. with the 1979 single "Killing an Arab," which stirred controversy when it reappeared on the mid-'80s retrospective Standing on a Beach: The Singles. Some U.S. radio DJs used the song, which was inspired by Albert Camus' The Stranger, to advance anti-Arab sentiments; the group included a disclaimer with subsequent pressings stating that the song "decries the existence of all prejudice and consequent violence."

While the Cure toured in 1979 as the support act to Siouxsie and the Banshees, the headliner's guitarist quit the band. Smith was recruited to fill in on the tour, beginning an active collaboration with the Banshees. He ultimately devoted much of 1983–84 as a full-time member of the band, recording both the live Nocturne and a studio album, Hyaena. In 1983, he also joined Banshees bassist Steve Severin for a side project called the Glove, releasing one album, Blue Sunshine.

When Smith once again devoted himself to the Cure, the music evolved from the sparse punk pop of that song and other early singles ("Boys Don't Cry," "Jumping Someone Else's Train," "The Lovecats") to the dirgy, moody music of Faith and Seventeen Seconds, to the more focused hits on the later albums Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Disintegration, and Wish.

While the Cure had been a top hit-making indie band in the U.K. since the early-80s, it wasn't until the release of Standing on a Beach (and its CD-only counterpart, Staring at the Sea) (Number 48, 1986) that the band moved beyond its cult status in the U.S. The double-album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (Number 35) debuted in June 1987, spawning the minor hits "Why Can't I Be You?" (Number 54, 1987), "Just Like Heaven" (Number 40, 1987), and "Hot Hot Hot!!!" (Number 65, 1988). In 1989, Disintegration reached Number 12 and included the group's biggest hit yet, "Love Song" (Number Two). Wish is the band's most successful album to date, reaching Number Two and including the surprisingly upbeat "Friday I'm in Love" (Number 18). The subsequent tour was documented on record and a film, both titled Show (an additional live collection, Paris, culled from the same tour was also released in 1993).

In 1996 the Cure released Wild Mood Swings (Number 12), which attempted to broaden the band's sound to include a track of Latin-flavored pop, earning mostly negative reviews, and with "The 13th" (Number 44) its highest-charting single. Another best-of, Galore (Number 32), followed in 1997. Three years later, Smith unveiled the Cure's best-reviewed album in years, Bloodflowers (Number 16, 2000), the third part of a trilogy they began with Pornography and Disintegration. That same year, the Cure launched a world tour by announcing it would be the band's last. But Smith soon began to hedge on that promise, saying all the subsequent attention and sudden acclaim made him strangely...happy.

In 2001, the band released a greatest hits album and DVD on Polydor and toured extensively, doing a series of performances of Pornography, Disintegration and Bloodflowers for a set of DVDs, The Cure: Trilogy, released in 2003. The following year, the band released a four-disc, seventy-song boxed set, Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years) (Number 106, 2004). Meanwhile, the Cure signed with Geffen Records and began its new life on the label with an album titled simply The Cure (Number 7, 2004). That year, MTV honored the band with its Icon award. In 2005, the Cure recorded a version of John Lennon's "Love" for an Amnesty International charity album. In October 2008, the Cure released their thirteenth studio album, 4:13 Dream.

Beck

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:17:40 -0800

Beck Hansen spent his formative years in coffeehouses creating a suburban, angst-ridden persona that would eventually lead to a multiplatinum career and inspire legions of 7-Eleven slackers. Since the surprisingly successful 1994 single "Loser," Beck has continued onward and upward with a number of diversely creative, genre-jumping releases. He has emerged as one of the most colorful post-modern popsters -- from the contemplative One Foot in the Grave to the Dust Brothers-produced, folk-hop masterpiece Odelay and the futuristic party funk of Midnite Vultures. With albums like Mutations and Sea Change, Beck has shown that he's just as capable conveying the wounds of a broken heart as he is rapping about Cheez Whiz. Perhaps hoping to win back the post-modern tag, the troubadour returned to the beats in 2005 on the barrio-themed Guero and again in 2008 with Modern Guilt, produced by the equally trickster-like Danger Mouse. Magnetism and quirky charm dutifully intact -- he once threatened to play K-Mart retail stores exclusively -- Beck continues to party way past bedtime, singing, dancing and raking it in like it's 1999. - Jon Pruett

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:50:52 -0800

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs formed in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 2000, after guitarist Nick Zinner and vocalist Karen O met in a bar and began writing songs on an acoustic guitar together. They brought in an old friend (Brian Chase) on the drums, and decided to forgo the bass all together in an attempt to make as much of a punked-up, glammed-up racket as possible. An EP came out in 2001, when they also made their first live appearances opening up for the White Stripes. As the touring continued, so did the press. People were drawn to Karen O's punk rock/Flashdance-style of dress, not to mention her vocals, which could moan and shriek with passion and suffering. The band itself ran from dance-oriented 4/4 beats toward choppy post-punk; songs are clunky, spastic and melodic. Their debut album, Fever Too Tell, came out in 2003 and features the hit "Maps." They followed up that success with 2006's Show Your Bones. For their third release, 2009's It's Blitz, the trio took a slightly different approach, washing their gritty guitar rock in a wave of synths and dance beats. - Jon Pruett

MGMT

Sun, 6 Dec 2009 09:55:36 -0800

MGMT (pronounced Management) are a restless electronic-rock duo. The two members -- Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser -- came together in 2002 while attending Wesleyan University in Connecticut as art students. In 2005, they released the catchy synth scrum "Time to Pretend," which became an underground hit and led to their being signed by Columbia Records. Their debut, Oracular Spectacular, a collection of sweeping, electronic Flaming Lips-style noise-pop songs, was released in 2007. Critical and popular accolades for the band reached a high at the CMJ Music Marathon a few weeks after the album's release. A tour alongside Of Montreal and a remix from Justice helped the band continue to merge its twin tendencies towards psychedelic pop and electro. - Philip Sherburne

Phoenix

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 10:53:09 -0800

When Phoenix first hit American indie audiences, they were already tight with Beck and the French band Air. Hailing from the Parisian suburbs, Phoenix began putting their act together like any other suburban band -- in the garage. The band comprised of vocalist Thomas Mars, bassist Deck D'Arcy and guitarist Christian Mazzalai (his older brother Laurent "Branco" Brancowitz joined them in 1995 after playing in Darlin' with Thomas Bangalter and Guy Manuel de Homem-Christo, who would later become Daft Punk). On their first album, 2000's United, they lay down R&B-influenced grooves with 1980s-inspired synth pop to create their trademark sound of breezy, indie electro-pop. Their follow-up, 2004's Alphabetical, helped push the band a little further beyond the French music scene with the help of single "Everything is Everything." Next came extensive touring, the release of 2006's It's Never Been Like That and more touring. Phoenix made their biggest impact yet on the American audience when they performed on Saturday Night Live prior to dropping 2009's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. - Stephanie Benson

Iron and Wine

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:00:46 -0800

Lo-fi tapes of hushed acoustic indie rock go together with Miami like (tanning) oil and (salt) water, spring break and sobriety, Florida governor Jeb Bush and a problem-free day at the polls. See, what we're saying is they seem kind of incongruous. But Mr. Samuel Beam, aka Iron & Wine, was living in Miami crafting just such beguiling home recordings when Jonathan Poneman of Sub Pop "discovered" him via an indie magazine in Seattle. The mesmerized Poneman contacted Beam and hounded him for music until Beam finally mailed him two full-length CDs. Sub Pop almost released both right off the bat, but instead pared them down into Iron & Wine's debut, The Creek Drank the Cradle, released in 2002. A hi-fi studio recording (2004's Our Endless Numbered Days) and a few EPs (including 2005's In the Rein, a joint effort with Calexico) followed. For 2007's The Shepherd's Dog, Beam beefed up the musicianship, filling songs with eccentric worldly nuances, making it one of his most upbeat and cohesive albums to date. - Rachel Devitt

Fleet Foxes

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:00:43 -0800

Drawing from the music of their baby boomer parents, Fleet Foxes dissect the tunes and tones of pioneers like the Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills & Nash to create a cushy center of feel-good harmonic pop shimmering with gospel, folk and baroque embellishments. Receiving comparisons to My Morning Jacket and Sub Pop labelmates like Band of Horses and Iron and Wine, the Foxes started getting plenty of buzz in their hometown of Seattle even before the release of their debut album in June 2008. Gathering myriad instruments including acoustic and electric guitars, tom drums, mandolins, bass pedals, organs, dulcimers and their own delicate voices, the quintet revere the traditions of their influences while flaunting their own astute flair for wide-open melodies and lullaby harmonies. - Stephanie Benson

Talking Heads

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 13:20:19 -0800

Art school and punk rock truly came head to head when the Talking Heads formed in 1974. Although they sported neither spiked hair nor pinned shirts, they perfectly embodied outsider outlandishness, and their stuttering vocals, choppy rhythms and detached lyrics fit right in at CBGB's. This phase wouldn't last long, however, as David Byrne's smartly subversive songwriting was bound to find an audience bigger than New York's punk rock elite. With Fear Of Music (1979), the band began to radiate a kind of somber power, as they beefed up their previously lean sound with African rhythms. Remain In Light followed in 1980, and remains one of the more striking albums of that decade or any other. The rhythms were meticulous and yet completely driving, while the production was highly experimental with enough conventional flourishes to make "Once In A Lifetime" a radio success. Their blueprint now set, the group became hugely successful over the course of the 1980s, and their 1984 concert film is widely considered one of the best ever made. Their music was so immediate that their world beat-inspired songs still sound unique in whatever context they're heard. The group gave official notice that it was disbanding in 1991, bringing an inevitable close to one of the most creative and experimental commercially successful acts in rock 'n' roll. - Jon Pruett

Stone Temple Pilots

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:52 -0800

Though plagued by unaccepting critics over their career, Stone Temple Pilots have continued to win fans, selling more than 20 million albums and grabbing a Grammy in the process. Among the early harbingers of grunge, STP draw from influences such as Led Zeppelin and Black Flag to create their own influential sound. - Jessy Terry

Cake

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:48 -0800

Cake originally brought their brand of postmodern, sarcastic, genre-jumping, fun rock to wiseguys (and girls) everywhere in the early 1990s. Funk, hip-hop and both jam and alt rock came together, birthing a smash hit known as "The Distance" in '96. The song became one of the biggest competitive team sports soundtrack numbers since Queen's "We Are The Champions," Blur's "Song 2" or even Gary Glitter's "Rock And Roll Part 2." Cake work best when singer John McCrea is at his driest, serving up sardonic, trumpet-driven quips. They originally garnered a devoted following through constant exposure to the great suburban playground that is Sacramento, Calif. (by way of U.C. Davis parties). Despite lineup changes and a major label segue, Cake continue to innovate pop music with their formulaic blend of tuneful guitar bursts, mariachi-derived trumpet, funky-white boy rhythms, and McCrea's deadpan King-Missile-meets-Steven-Wright vocals. - Eric Shea

Gorillaz

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:45 -0800

The Gorillaz' image may be cartoonish, but with artists like Del the Funky Homosapian, Dan the Automator, and members of Blur, Cibo Matto, and Tom Tom Club contributing, their music is anything but lightweight. Experimental in nature and obtuse in scope, the Gorillaz' sound melds Damon Albarn's sharp pop sensibilities with Dan the Automator's eclectic bass-heavy, beat-driven hip hop. And although the combination doesn't always gel, when they hit the mark, it's usually with a bull's eye. Perhaps it was the cartoon facade, or the side-project feel of the collaborative, but when the Gorillaz's self-titled debut was released in 2001, critics predicted a short shelf life for the band. Despite this, the Gorillaz's album went platinum and the group scored a couple of hefty hits with "Clint Eastwood" and "19-2000." But when most of the members of the group went back to their day jobs, most assumed that was the end of them. But in July 2005, the band released its follow-up, Demon Days. As the title suggests, the Gorillaz's sophomore effort casts a darker shadow; however, this is tempered by slick-sounding beats and a variety of happy-go-lucky blips and bleeps. The group scored a radio hit this second time around with the single "Feel Good, Inc." - Linda Ryan

The Smiths

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:43 -0800

Articulate, broodingly charismatic frontman Morrissey and supple guitarist Johnny Marr made the Smiths one of the most significant English bands of the '80s. An avowed celibate whose lyrics disclosed a sexually ambiguous point of view, Morrissey was given to controversy, whether advocating animal rights or trashing Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and disco. The band's trancelike, guitar-based music angrily rebutted such British synthesizer pop as the Human League and Thompson Twins.

Son of a hospital porter and a librarian, Morrissey first expressed himself by writing; unemployed in the late '70s, he wrote a book on James Dean and another on the New York Dolls, whose English fan club he headed. He also played briefly in a band called the Nosebleeds. Veteran of such cult groups as Sister Ray and Freaky Party, Marr first met Morrissey at a 1979 Patti Smith concert, and by 1982 they decided to form a band. The pair eventually enlisted drummer Mike Joyce and bassist Andy Rourke for an eponymous debut that, on U.K. indie label Rough Trade (on Sire in the U.S.), entered the British chart at Number Two. An earlier single, "Hand in Glove," was then recorded with Morrissey's favorite female singer, '60s British pop idol Sandie Shaw, and scored Number 27 in the U.K. This coup, along with The Smiths' "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" (Number 10 U.K., 1984), established the band.

The meteoric rise continued with Meat Is Murder debuting at Number One on the British chart; the group also caused a stir with Morrissey's stage presence, the singer wearing a garland of gladioli in tribute to Oscar Wilde, a hearing aid in homage to '50s balladeer Johnnie Ray, and a ducktail haircut patterned after English rocker Billy Fury. Some critics sniped that the group's lyrics referred to child molesting, and Morrissey offended others with sharp comments about the all-star Band Aid benefit single for Ethiopian famine relief. His champions, though, hailed his oblique, angst-driven songs as latter-day examples of Ray Davies-styled social commentary. With ex-Aztec Camera guitarist Craig Gannon added, 1986's The Queen Is Dead (Number Two U.K.) fared handsomely, but a disappointing U.S. tour showed that the Smiths had yet to penetrate the American mainstream. Later that year Johnny Marr was involved in a serious car accident; during his recovery, Gannon was fired. A single, "Sheila Take a Bow," became a Top 10 U.K. hit in mid-1987, but later that year, with Marr deeming their musical approach exhausted, the Smiths disbanded. Strangeways, Here We Come and the live Rank were released posthumously.

Despite his prolific output — Viva Hate, Bona Drag, Kill Uncle, Your Arsenal, and Vauxhall and I — Morrissey's solo career hasn't quite matched his success with the Smiths, although the singer has attracted a rabid cult following in the U.S. He released 1995's Southpaw Grammar (Number 66) and 1997's Maladjusted (Number 61) to an ambivalent critical response. (My Early Burglary Years was a collection of B sides and rarities.) But a tour in 2000 enjoyed sell-out crowds without a new album or even a record deal.

Besides playing sessions with Bryan Ferry, Talking Heads, the Pet Shop Boys, and Billy Bragg, Marr served for a while with the Pretenders, The The, and Electronic without ever finding a permanent venue. Marr's low profile led to a reputation as British rock's most talented underachiever. But he reemerged in 2000 for the first time at the front of his own band, the Healers, which included former Dub Pistol keyboardist Lee Spender, bassist Alonza Bevan from Kula Shaker, and drummer Zak Starkey (son of Ringo Starr).

Rourke and Joyce played with the Adult Net before backing up Sinead O'Connor; Joyce eventually joined the reformed Buzzcocks. In 1996 they both sued Marr and Morrissey, complaining over the unequal sharing of Smiths earnings; Rourke settled out of court, but in 1998 Joyce won his case, with a British judge calling Morrissey "devious, truculent, and unreliable." A reunion is not expected.

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)

The Decemberists

Tue, 6 Oct 2009 09:54:17 -0700

The Decemberists are a Portland-based indie-rock band with a baroque bent. What sets the five-piece apart from the million other jangly rock groups (in the northwest alone) is their combination of breezy melodies, literate lyrics and nontraditional instrumentation (horns, piano, steel guitar and violins). The band formed in 2000 and is comprised of singer Colin Meloy, drummer Ezra Holbrook, keyboardist/accordionist Jenny Conlee and guitarist Chris Funk. In 2003, hometown label Kill Rock Stars re-released their debut album, Castaways and Cutouts, a collection of wistful indie-pop songs that showcase Meloy's creative-writing talents. Successive albums Her Majesty and Picaresque saw the band become more lush and baroque-sounding. In 2006, the band released its major-label debut, The Crane Wife, on Capitol Records. - Dan Shumate

The Cranberries

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 12:47:31 -0800

The success of the Cranberries' 1993 single "Linger" was certainly the result of their near-flawless sound. One listen to Dolores O'Riordan's voice -- an intense, piercing wail that soars emotively or shifts, at note's end, to a keen yelp -- and anyone within earshot is transfixed. Combined with the band's shimmering, folk-influenced guitar pop and excellent studio production, the Cranberries' popularity and chart success seems only logical. The singles that followed "Linger," "Zombie" and "Ode to My Family," both soared up the American and U.K. charts, resulting in multiplatinum album sales. By the time of their third LP, To the Faithful Departed, the band were already a household name on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Shins

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:09:56 -0800

With their jangly and melodic pop the Shins helped bring the pop traditions of 1960s pop bands — groups like the Beatles, the Zombies, and the Beach Boys — to a new generation of music fans under the catchall music sobriquet of “indie rock.”

The Shins formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the late 1990s under the name Flake Music. The group — featuring singer-songwriter James Mercer, bassist Neal Langford, keyboardist Martin Crandall, and drummer Jesse Sandoval — released one album, When You Land Here, It's Time To Return (1997) before changing its name to the Shins and signing a deal with Sub Pop Records.

Released in 2001, the Shins' proper debut, Oh, Inverted World, was a critical success, with haunting pop numbers such as "New Slang" and "Caring is Creepy." The album not only caught the attention of McDonald's — which placed "New Slang" in a television spot, but it also helped re-establish the profile of Sub Pop, which had been without a marquee artist for much of the late 1990s.

After touring behind World, the band parted ways with Langford and brought in Dave Hernandez to work on Chutes Too Narrow (Number 86, 2003), a less sleepy-eyed and more bustling follow-up. The Shins' biggest breakthrough, however, came the next year, when two of the group's songs were included in the winsome Zach Braff vehicle Garden State. The film's soundtrack was certified platinum, though its success riled some Shins fans, some of whom felt that the band's appeal was partly due to its well-kept secrecy.

Three years after Garden State's name-drop, the Shins released Wincing the Night Away (2007), which debuted at Number Two on the Billboard sales chart, a first in Sub Pop history and received a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Album.

Feist

Mon, 7 Dec 2009 10:13:51 -0800

One of the more unusual success stories in 2000s' pop music, the singer-songwriter born Leslie Feist has gone from performing with a sock puppet and calling herself Bitch Lap-Lap to becoming the toast of the NPR set with two albums of cooled-down grown-up pop under her birth surname. As a singer, Feist — who was born in Calgary and moved to Toronto as an adult, with stints in Paris and Berlin — possesses a slurry, flexible voice that at times recalls Rickie Lee Jones.

Feist first attracted notice as a teenage punk singer for a group called Placebo (no relation to the British rock band); she then became a guitarist for an outfit named By Divine Right after blowing her voice out. In 1999, while still playing with that Canadian rock band, Feist recorded her first solo album, Monarch (Lay Your Jewelled Head Down to little notice. (The disc would become a collectors' item in the wake of her later success.)

Soon after, Feist began working with her roommate, Peaches, the raunchy electro-punk singer (Peaches' eccentric live show is where the sock puppet came into play). The two appeared on 7 Hurtz's cover of Prince's "Sexy Dancer" on the Rex label's 2001 compilation If I Was Prince. Through Peaches, Feist met the producer Gonzales; around this time she also joined the sprawling Toronto band Broken Social Scene, and started guesting live and on the group's albums.

Gonzales and Feist began working together on lower-key, more reflective songs, including cover versions of the Bee Gees' "Love You Inside Out" and Ron Sexsmith's "Secret Heart." This material appeared as Let It Die, first issued in 2004 and a year later in the U.S., where it garnered the singer a devout cult following on the strength of single "Mushaboom." Die wasn't a blockbuster, but it has sold steadily since its release, especially in the wake of its follow-up, The Reminder (Number 16, 2007). That album's lead single, “1234” (Number Eight, 2007), became a hit thanks to exposure in an iPod TV ad and an imaginative video directed by Patrick Daughters featuring a cast of colorfully clad dancers. In 2008, Feist was nominated for four Grammy Awards and won five Juno Awards, including honors for Artist of the Year and Album of the Year.

The Dead Weather

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:06:00 -0800

Not sated by the success of their other gigs, the members of the Dead Weather first came together for an on-the-fly jam session in early 2009. From there, the synergy sizzled, and a new group of alt-rock heavyweights was born. Between the lot is a lengthy resume: Jack White is also leader of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs, not to mention an avid collaborator; Alison Mosshart offers her gritty howls as frontwoman for the Kills; Jack Lawrence plays an array of instruments plus bass guitar for the Raconteurs and the Greenhornes; and Dean Fertita lends his guitar and keyboard skills to bands like Queens of the Stone Age. With the Dead Weather, the prolific White proves his diverse skills, taking on drumming duties along with some guitar and vocals, while Mosshart, with her sly, suggestive rasp, leads her male charges through raw, bluesy garage rock inspired by classic-rock titans like Janis Joplin and Led Zeppelin. The band took no time getting its music out to the public, releasing its debut album, Horehound, in July 2009. - Stephanie Benson

Matt and Kim

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 11:46:47 -0800

Matt & Kim is a Brooklyn-based indie-dance duo prone to bright, bouncy songs that hearken back to the days of '80s alternative rock, MTV's 120 Minutes and open sentimentality on the radio. Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino began performing in 2004, winning over a devoted underground following that grew thanks to a successful online campaign through MySpace and YouTube. Refreshingly devoid of irony, the art-school grads deliver relentlessly exuberant pop songs with perfectly recorded drums way up in the mix, trading off vocal duties and avoiding even the slightest hint of aggression despite the fact that the tempos are uniformly hyperactive. A self-titled debut album appeared in 2006, and after Matt & Kim performed at such name-making events as Lollapalooza and the Pitchfork Music Festival, their second full-length, Grand, turned up in 2009. That same year, "Daylight" was featured in a Bacardi commercial. - Mike McGuirk

Alanis Morissette

Mon, 7 Dec 2009 10:13:49 -0800

A former child television and pop star in her native Canada, 19-year-old Alanis Morissette established herself as a very different sort of star with "You Oughta Know," Jagged Little Pill's first single. Backed by Flea and Dave Navarro, Morissette's wail of a woman scorned blends obsession, rage, blunt sexuality, and raw pain into a mob hit of a pop song and may be the best kiss-off song since "Positively 4th Street." Elsewhere on Pill, Morissette's confessional lyrics are as gawky, awkward, and self-important as their subject, adolescence. "You Oughta Know" is Jagged Little Pill's arresting standout, but the entire album — from "Ironic," "You Learn," to "Hand in My Pocket" has aged extremely well.

Three years later, Morissette and Ballard teamed up again to create Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. Although just as lyrically dense as its predecessor, it suffers from relative indirectness. In songs like "Front Row," Morissette offers paragraphs of inscrutable lyrics such as "I'd like you to be schooled and in awe as though you were kissed by God full on the lips." The single "Thank U" and hard rocker "Baba" allow rare moments of Morissette's emotional punch to shine though her lyrical spew.

Besides marking her first tiny step away from Ballard, MTV Unplugged is a premature live disc with little to recommend it. In addition to songs from her first two releases, Morissette pads the set with three new songs and a pointless cover of the Police's "King of Pain." Under Rug Swept (Number One, Top 200)represents Morissette finally taking full control of her muse by writing and producing the entire disc. Less dense than the sonic tapestries she created with Ballard, Under Rug Swept nonetheless finds Morissette with more than enough musical intelligence — from thick guitars and hip-hop beats to Middle Eastern flourishes — to go it alone, though her lyrics still read like binge entries in a therapy diary. On "Hands Clean," even her posse turns out to contain an "inner posse." But no matter how ridiculous her lyrics may seem, Morissette's increasingly expressive singing is strengthened by her genuine belief in each and every word. As prolific as she is verbose, she also released Feast on Scraps (2002), containing a DVD of a performance from the Under Rug Swept tour and an outtakes audio disc. That same year Morissette made a cameo on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, during which she and Larry David discussed urination.

So-Called Chaos (2004, Number Five), Morissette seemed more self-absorberd than ever . On "This Grudge" she goes back to the relationship that has haunted all her adult work, although this time even she realizes that it's "this grudge that's grown old." Still, she dutifully adds the detritus up to "14 years 30 minutes 15 seconds I've held this grudge/11 songs 4 full journals, thoughts of punishment I've expended." Yet, at the end of the song Morissette is still no closer to moving on. And so, stuck in a rut, So-Called Chaos becomes the sound of Morissette spinning her wheels by revisiting her old themes of verbose insecurity, self-discovery, and empowerment while allowing her music to stagnate under a pop sheen that -- like a nervous tick -- recycles the techno touches and Middle Eastern flourishes of earlier efforts .

Two peripheral releases followed: 2005's Jagged Little Pill Acoustic (Number 50, Top 200), a stripped-down version of her breakthrough album, and Alanis Morissette: The Collection (Number 51, Top 200), the latter yielding a minor hit with a cover of Seal's "Crazy." But the singer's comeback hit turned out to be a somber cover of Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps," which was released as a YouTube clip in 2007. Though never released as a single, the video garnered more than 12 million views in its first year.

Her first studio album in four years, 2008's Flavors of Entanglement (Number Eight, Top 200) followed on the heels of a broken engagement to actor Ryan Reynolds. Co-written and produced by Guy Sigsworth (Björk), the album surrounds Morissette's introspective lyrics with electronic beats, Eastern percussion and orchestral arrangements.

Carolina Liar

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:09:58 -0800

The singer for Carolina Liar, Chad Wolf, is from South Carolina, but after a chance meeting with big-shot Swedish producer Max Martin (Pink, Britney Spears), the budding songwriter was relocated to Stockholm. Backed by locals, he recorded what would become Carolina Liar's debut album, Coming to Terms, in 2008. With hints of classic new wave peppering pop music, Carolina Liar resurrect the sounds of the early '00s, echoing Snow Patrol and a more mainstream-ready Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Since the release of Coming to Terms, a handful of singles ("Last Night," "Beautiful World," "I'm Not Over") have appeared on such TV shows as 90210, Greek and One Tree Hill, among others. - Mike McGuirk

Nelly Furtado

Mon, 7 Dec 2009 10:13:45 -0800

Although she grew up in Canada, Nelly Furtado's parents were Portuguese immigrants, and she was raised surrounded by the rhythms of traditional Portuguese music. Still drawn to the beat years later, Furtado gravitated toward the popular rap and contemporary R&B groups of the day. Like many teenagers, she used music not only as a means of escape, but also as a way to fan the flames of her dreams. After graduating from high school, Furtado headed to Toronto, where she formed the hip-hop duo Nelster. Still working a day job, Furtado haunted clubs at night, until being spotted by Brian West and Gerald Eaton of the Philosopher Kings. The pair produced a demo that landed the chanteuse her deal with Dreamworks, and continued to turn the knobs on Furtado's 2000 debut, Whoa, Nelly!. Three years later, she issued the more reflective album, Folklore. Three years after that (and after giving birth to her daughter), Furtado took off in a completely different direction with Loose, a collection of sleek, sexy, hip-hop-infused dance pop (much of it, including the huge hit "Promiscuous," produced by Timbaland) aimed at conquering the top 40 -- which she certainly did. Another three years went by and it was time for -- you guessed it -- another new direction, this time with Mi Plan, a collection of Spanish-language pop. - Linda Ryan

Sufjan Stevens

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:08 -0800

Through a handful of masterful LPs, a few self-perpetuated myths (he claims to have been left on his parent's Detroit doorstep in 1975) and a memorable name, Sufjan (pronounced "soof-yawn") Stevens has charmed the Dickies off America's underground. As if all that wasn't enough, the guy claims to have taught knitting to the blind.

Stevens first took the stage while a student at Michigan's Hope College with little-known Michigan indie act Marzuki, though he left the band in 1999 to embark on a solo career in New York City. His first record, A Sun Came, debuted in 2000 to modest critical acclaim; Enjoy Your Rabbit followed it up in 2001. But it was Stevens' stunning dedication to his home state, 2003's Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State, that earned him a wide international following. Michigan's cleverly orchestrated songs and the songwriter's ambitions to release a record for each state of the union received loads of critical lip service and made Michigan a popular hit. Though its follow-up, Seven Swans, had no geographical themes, Stevens came back to the states for project 2005's Illinois. Two records came in 2006: a collection of outtakes, The Avalanche, and a sprawling three-disc collection of holiday music, Songs for Christmas. - Nate Cavalieri

The Airborne Toxic Event

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 13:20:38 -0800

When aspiring novelist Mikel Jollett was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease, suffered a bad break-up and received the awful news that his mother was diagnosed with cancer all in one week's time, The Airborne Toxic Event was born as a means of coping. Jollett abandoned novel-writing for songwriting and by the end of 2006, he had recruited guitarist/keyboardist Steven Chen, bassist Noah Harmon, drummer Daren Taylor and keyboardist/violinist Anna Bulbrook to help channel the pained-yet-relatable lyrics through their new wave-inspired indie pop musings. With Jollett's literary background, the lyrics read like stories set to music, while their dismal retelling is cloaked by the band's mostly upbeat tune. With ready comparisons to Arcade Fire and Interpol, The Airborne Toxic Event release their self-titled debut in 2008. - Jen Guyre

Arcade Fire

Mon, 7 Dec 2009 10:13:45 -0800

At once elegant and driven, the Arcade Fire's music shatters categories like "emo" and even "indie rock." The Montreal-based band earned lofty praise quickly, forming in mid-2003 and winning a large number of fans within a year and a half. Many of these adorers arrived along with the group's debut full-length release, Funeral, near the end of 2004. Voted Album of the Year by influential radio station KEXP, the record soon sold well over 100,000 copies (on the small North Carolina label Merge) and received the endorsements of David Bowie and David Byrne, the latter of whom was seen performing "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" with them onstage in 2005. If that didn't confer great power on this eccentric Canadian band's brutal and beautiful distorted noise collages, nabbing the cover of the Canadian edition of Time certainly signaled they'd arrived. The Arcade Fire formed around Win Butler and wife Regine Chassagne, soon growing to five official members and swelling on tour to nine. The combination of moodiness and joy in their semi-orchestral pop-rock coincided with a year in which several loved ones passed away (including Alvino Rey, veteran swing musician and grandfather of singer Butler and his brother, guitarist William) -- thus the title of Funeral and the music's reflection of ongoing life in the face of sadness. The group continued to tour and record throughout 2005, dazzling Europe and appearing at the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago. After a scheduled trek through the States in the fall of that year, they returned to Quebec and a newly built studio in a former church, where they plotted their next musical instillation while fans bided time with a reissue of the rare early self-titled EP the Arcade Fire had released not all that long ago. - Jaan Uhelszki

Bon Iver

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:17:43 -0800

Bon Iver (aka Justin Vernon) is a singer-songwriter from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. His smoldering, acoustic guitar soundscapes take cues from Will Oldham's side-project Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Iron & Wine. The band name is French for "good winter," which aptly describes the stark, drifting quality of Vernon's music. Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, was recorded while Vernon spent four months locked away in a cabin in rural Wisconsin, which is reflected in its bleak, barren sound. - Dan Shumate

Ingrid Michaelson

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 09:16:43 -0800

If there were a genre of music called Grey's Anatomy (and come on, there pretty much is), Ingrid Michaelson would be one of its key artists. Sensitive and smart, poignant and pretty, she writes intimate, introspective songs about love, heartbreak and growing up. Of course, she is the daughter of two sensitive artistic types -- Dad's a composer and Mom's a sculptor. Michaelson grew up on Staten Island, spent her childhood taking piano and voice lessons and got a degree in theater from Binghamton University. Along the way, she also started writing songs and self-released two albums. Pretty soon, her efforts earned her some high-profile fans -- namely, Old Navy and, yes, Grey's Anatomy, who decided Michaelson's dreamy, bespectacled musical aesthetic was just the thing for shilling casual wear and Meredith Grey's McAngst. And that, friends, is how you get to the top of the Grey's Anatomy genre, which is a pretty sweet spot in 2007. - Rachel Devitt

Band Of Horses

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 10:53:11 -0800

Band of Horses formed after the demise of Seattle favorites Carrisa's Wierd, an orchestral indie band with melancholy folk roots. Together for 10 years, they had a devoted following, but never managed to extend that local adoration beyond the edges of the Pacific Northwest. After the bust up, drummer Ben Bridwell (who had never written a song, ever) started writing and playing around town as simply Horses, eventually convincing former Carissa songwriter and frontman Mat Brooke to join him when he opened for an Iron & Wine gig. That event solidified the bearded duo, as the core members of Band of Horses, along with tipping them off (via I&W's Sam Beam) to their eventual new home at Sub Pop Records. With former drummer Bridwell now stepping forward to take the lead, with Brooke on bass, Band of Horses manage to retreat from any previous band memories by ditching their former dark orchestrations to expose an aching waft of twanging guitars that drift effortlessly into dream pop. While compared to groups like My Morning Jacket (who also choose not to shave, create a similar musical mood and wear their Neil Young influences proudly), Band of Horses lean much heavier on the positive, with an inspirational reverb that elevates even their more somber subjects. Their full-length Sub Pop debut,Everything All The Time, was released in 2006, and that's more than enough reason to start a stampede. - Michele K-Tel

Elliott Smith

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:27:54 -0800

Patron saint of indie music, Elliott Smith was once making folk based baroque pop on his own while simultaneously fuzzing-out amps in his former band Heatmiser. Upon "going solo," Smith's own moderately downtempo songwriting had tastefully expanded and grown with clever arrangements and matured instrumentation. Grand pianos and classically arranged strings took the place of grungy distortion boxes and toy guitars. The overall production was stepped up, but not stylistically compromised. And still, what remained consistent in these recordings was his ability to play the heartstrings better than any instrument in his back-line. An artist who single-handedly redefined the term "singer/songwriter," Smith influenced countless other bedroom four-trackers as well as a myriad of professional musicians, including Beck Hansen, Bill Callahan (Smog), Damon Gough (Badly Drawn Boy) and Chan Marshall (! Cat Power). Before he could finish what was to be his last album, From A Basement On A Hill, Smith took his own life on October 21, 2003. His nearly completed posthumous album was self-tracked on Smith's home recording devices, as well as with the infamous Hollywood producer Jon Brion. Collaborator David McConnell, explained that the CD was originally intended by Smith to sound lo-fi and dusty in its final production. However, since Smith's family had legal say as to how the album was to be sequenced and mixed, they handed the project over to engineer/producer Rob Schnapf and Joanna Bolme (an ex girlfriend of Smith's and member of Stephen Malkmus' band the Jicks) to make what they believed were necessary changes. It has since been re-mixed and released to a much-deserved overwhelming critical acclaim as well as a bit of controversy regarding the author's intent. - Eric Shea

Vampire Weekend

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:13:26 -0800

Despite a very gothic name, Vampire Weekend is actually a preppy indie-rock band from New York City. The quartet -- which includes singer Ezra Koenig, bassist Chris Baio, drummer Chris Tomson and keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij -- combines jangly rock and Afro-pop. Literate songwriting that's heavy on the happy vibes is combined with swirling guitars and African rhythms; imagine if Paul Simon had a World Studies-majoring love child with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Vampire Weekend formed in early 2006 while all four members were still attending Columbia University. Their self-released EP drew high praise from The New York Times, which called it one of 2007's best debuts. The band has since signed to XL Recordings, and its much-hyped first album was released in early 2008. - Dan Shumate

Pixies

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:42:42 -0800

In the alternative rock family tree, a big fat line runs from the Pixies directly to the chart-smashing noise pop and grunge that Nirvana broke with in 1991. Surfer Rosa, the Pixies' 1988 full-length debut of skronked-out, surf-damaged punk-pop, was a revelation to just about everyone who heard it. At first listen the remedial chord progressions, utterly nonsensical lyrics, and bizarre delivery sounded like the flailings of inept college rockers with a psychotropic casualty for a lead singer, but once the hooks were in, there was no escape. The Bostonians reminded everyone how to write a perfect, repetitive song that you knew by heart two seconds in. With wonder-twin powers Black Francis and Kim Deal writing paeans to sexually charged dementia, an idiosyncratic guitar sound, and what sounded like the Jolly Green Giant playing drums, the Pixies took the alt-rock world by storm, releasing four near-perfect records before self-destructing under the weight of their own talent, in 1993, after opening U2's Zoo TV tour. In their wake, Deal went full-time with her side-project the Breeders and began working on Last Splash, which would eventually go gold in the U.S., and Black -- as Frank Black -- starting penning a solo eponymous debut, which didn't fair so well. In 2004 -- with disparate and storied careers -- Deal, Black Francis, Joey Santiago and David Lovering reunited for a North American tour and several dates at European summer festivals. The group is currently rumored to be working on a new studio album, the first since 1991. - Mike McGuirk

Imogen Heap

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 13:19:29 -0800

Best known as the lead singer of trip-hop duo Frou Frou, Imogen Heap's solo work is at least as interesting -- if not more -- as her collaborations. A bundle of young, exciting and vibrant talent, Heap composes solo music that reveals both shrewd craftsmanship and eloquent passion. As a pianist/keyboardist, her skill is immediately apparent and quite impressive: there are passages on her debut i Megaphone that are simply dazzling. Song arrangements display a keen awareness of what is now -- drumbeats and basslines are consistently danceable while electronic noises swoop and swirl with a refreshingly understated gracefulness. As a vocalist, Heap brings a slinky, sexy toughness that's never riddled with melodrama. Even when she's at her most vulnerable, one can't help but think she's a born survivor who can weather any emotional storm. Heap and her co-conspirators do justice to her distinctive, honest vocal delivery and lyrics and her superb musicianship. - Will Lerner

The Avett Brothers

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:25:37 -0800

Thanks to relentless touring, a ferocious performance ethic and some flat-out kickass songs, the Avett Brothers have recently exploded onto the Americana scene. The young, mostly acoustic trio from Greenville, North Carolina comprises Scott and Seth Avett on banjo, guitar, and vocals, and honorary brother Bob Crawford on upright bass; they play Appalachian-style string band music with punk-rock abandon. If there was ever a band to make jaded rock 'n' rollers fall in love with acoustic music, it's the Avetts. From high and lonesome balladry to hip-hop inflected screamers to sweet, pop-grass harmonies, their sound spans styles and eras but always retains a disarming sense of honesty, passion and joy. - Jonathan Zwickel

Metric

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:58:27 -0700

Currently based out of Toronto, indietronic act Metric actually formed in Brooklyn in 1998. Vocalist Emily Haines and guitarist James Shaw met in a Toronto club after attending a concert by mutual friends and discovering they both hated the show. Their musical bonds established, the two mixed a few of their own songs together, creating what would become The MainstreamEP, a collection of demos. Upon moving to Brooklyn, they dubbed their project Metric after a sequence that Shaw played on his keyboard. A record deal (and the desire to escape their NYC hovel) then lead them to London. Yet in 2001 their first full-length, Grow Up and Blow Away, wasn't released due to legal conflicts. Returning to New York, they met drummer Joules Scott-Key (a Texan) and became a trio. However, it took two years before Metric put out their proper debut Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?, a disc full of new wave nods and punk-funk electronics. In 2005, the group released Live It Out, a record focused more on guitars than drum machines. The disc was so well-received it scored Metric a slot opening for the Rolling Stones, an experience they now call "surreal." - Michele K-Tel

Cat Power

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:44:28 -0700

Chan Marshall began playing and singing her haunting, musically spare avant-folk songs as Cat Power in the early 1990s, sometimes performing entire sets with her back to the audience. By 2006, she was recording with legendary Memphis soul musicians and had transformed from a whispering indie-rock shy curiosity into a husky-voiced folk-soul singer with the musical and emotional dynamics of a veteran singer such as Linda Thompson.

Charlyn Marie Marshall was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 21, 1972. She spent her early childhood moving among Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas, living by turns with each of her divorced parents and a grandmother. She quit high school while living in Atlanta and began performing as Cat Power, opening for some of the city's notable underground bands such as the Opal Foxx Quartet. In 1992 she moved to New York City and continued playing with underground rockers, attracting the attention of Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelly. In December 1994, she recorded her first two albums of punk-inspired folk, country and blues songs — Dear Sir, released the following year on Plain Recordings, and Myra Lee, released in 1996 on Shelly's Smells Like label – with indie guitarist Tim Foljahn and Shelly on drums. The larger independent label Matador Records signed Marshall in 1996 and released her third Cat Power album, the critically acclaimed What Would the Community Think, on which she continued referencing country and blues while maintaining her signature slow-burning vocal delivery.

After a three-month tour, Marshall dropped out of the music scene and began working as a babysitter in Portland, Oregon, before moving to a farmhouse in South Carolina ostensibly to retire. After a sleepless night inspired more songs, however, she returned to record 1998's Moon Pix in Australia with members of that country's experimental instrumental band Dirty Three. Having tired of her own compositions, she began performing cover songs that would appear on her next album, 2000's The Covers Record. Some of the songs that didn't make it on that album — including Bob Dylan's "Hard Times in New York Town" and a much-abbreviated, ethereal version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" — were broadcast on the late, legendary British DJ John Peel's Radio 1 show on the British Broadcasting Corporation.

In 2003, she released You Are Free featuring guest vocals from Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl on drums. The following year, she issued an experimental DVD, Speaking for Trees, in which she performed in the woods for two hours in front of a stationary camera with crickets chirping in the background; it was shot by artist Mark Borthwick and included a bonus CD of the 18-minute song "Willie Deadwilder."

In 2005, she hit road again where she began working on songs that would appear on Cat Power's highly acclaimed album of the following year, The Greatest (Number 34), which marked a radical improvement in sound and production. The album featured Memphis guitarist Mabon "Teenie" Hodges and his bass-playing brother Leroy "Flick" Hodges, veterans of Al Green's band. Shortly thereafter, Marshall cancelled her U.S. tour as a result of a nervous breakdown her record label said stemmed from exhaustion and alcohol abuse.

In spring 2006, she resumed touring, alone as well as with the Memphis Rhythm Band. That same year, she put together The Dirty Delta Blues Band with guitarists Judah Bauer (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion), Gregg Foreman (The Delta 72) and Erik Paparazzi (Lizard Music), and drummer Jim White (Dirty Three). Jukebox which came out in early-2008 was a sequel to 2000's The Covers Record admirably interpreting songs by the likes of Dylan, Hank Williams and Sinatra.

Aside from her music, Marshall has done commercial work as spokesperson for a Chanel line of jewelry and singer behind commercials for the Cingular phone and De Beers diamond companies.