Music - Albums - Videos

Serge Gainsbourg (2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's varied musical style and individuality made him difficult to categorize. His legacy has been firmly established, and he is often regarded as one of the world's most influential musicians.

Biography
Personal life
He was born Lucien Ginsburg in Paris, France, the son of Russian Jewish parents, Joseph Ginsburg (1896 - 22 April 1971) and Olga Bessman (1894 - 16 March 1985), who fled to France after the 1917 Bolshevik uprising. His childhood was profoundly affected by the occupation of France by Nazi Germany, during which he and his family, as Jews, were forced to wear the yellow star and eventually flee Paris. Before he was 30 years old, Gainsbourg was a disillusioned painter but earned his living as a piano player in bars.
Discography
Albums
* 1958: Du chant a la une
* 1959: Disque No2
* 1961: L'Etonnant Serge Gainsbourg
* 1962: Disque No4
* 1963: Gainsbourg Confidentiel
* 1964: Gainsbourg Percussions
* 1967: Anna
* 1967: Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot: Bonnie & Clyde
* 1968: Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot: Initials B.B.
* 1968: Ce Sacre Grand-Pere
* 1969: Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg
* 1970: Cannabis
* 1971: Histoire de Melody Nelson
* 1973: Vu de l'exterieur
* 1975: Rock Around the Bunker
* 1976: L'Homme à tete de chou
* 1979: Aux armes et caetera
* 1980: Enregistrement public au Théâtre Le Palace (live)
* 1981: Mauvaises nouvelles des étoiles
* 1984: Love On The Beat
* 1985: Serge Gainsbourg live (Casino de Paris)
* 1987: You're Under Arrest
* 1988: Le Zenith de Gainsbourg (live)
* 1989: De Gainsbourg a Gainsbarre (Box Set)

The Sea and Cake is a pop/rock group with a pronounced jazz influence, which formed in the mid-90s in Chicago, Illinois out of the ashes of renowned local bands The Coctails and Shrimp Boat.

The group's name came from a willful reinterpretation (in the wake of an accidental miscomprehension) of "The C in Cake", a song by Gastr del Sol. Along with Shrimp Boat and The Coctails, groups related to The Sea and Cake include Tortoise and Gastr del Sol. Starting with 1997's The Fawn, the group has relied on electronic sound sources, such as drum machines and synthesizers, to color its music, but has retained its distinctive post-jazz combo style. The band has shied away from releasing singles, preferring the album format. Contrary to his multi-instrumentalist role in Tortoise, John McEntire essentially plays only drums in The Sea and Cake. Members Sam Prekop and Archer Prewitt each have released solo albums. The cover art of The Sea And Cake's releases are largely paintings by Eric Claridge and photographs by Prekop. (Postcards of some of the One Bedroom-era photos were sold on the band's 2003 tour.) Prewitt has been involved in publishing his own comic books and doing graphic design. The band was on hiatus from 2004 to 2007, returning with Everybody. The band's most recent album, Car Alarm, was released in October 2008.
Line-up
* Sam Prekop (vocals, guitar)
* Archer Prewitt (guitar, piano, vocals)
* John McEntire (percussion, drums, some synthesizer)
* Eric Claridge (bass, synthesizer)
Discography
Albums
* The Sea and Cake (1994)
* Nassau (1995)
* The Biz (1995)
* The Fawn (1997)
* Oui (2000)
* One Bedroom (2003)
* Everybody (2007)
* Car Alarm (2008)

Sade is an English group, which achieved success in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. The band's music features elements of soul, jazz, R&B, quiet storm, soft rock, funk, easy listening, and adult contemporary.

The lead vocalist, Sade Adu, is the only woman in the band and is the only one to appear on their album and single covers.
Band members
* Helen Folasade Adu - vocals
* Stuart Matthewman - sax and guitar
* Paul Spencer Denman - bass
* Andrew Hale - keyboards
* Paul Anthony Cook - drums (1983–1984)
Discography
Studio albums
* 1984: Diamond Life (# 2 UK Album Chart, Jul 1984)
* 1985: Promise (# 1 UK Album Chart, Nov 1985)
* 1988: Stronger Than Pride (# 3 UK Album Chart, May 1988)
* 1992: Love Deluxe (# 10 UK Album Chart, Nov 1992)
* 2000: Lovers Rock (# 18 UK Album Chart, Nov 2000)
* 2009: Untitled
Other albums
* 1994: The Best of Sade (# 6 UK Album Chart, Nov 1994)
* 2002: Lovers Live (# 51 UK Album Chart, Mar 2002)
EPs
* 1989: Solid Gold Series - Sade
* 1992: Remix Deluxe (Japanese)

Nitin Sawhney (born 1964) is an Indian-British musician, producer and composer. His critically-acclaimed work combines Asian and other worldwide influences with elements of jazz & electronica & often explores themes such as multiculturalism, politics and spirituality.

Sawhney is also active in the promotion of arts and cultural matters, and is a patron of numerous film festivals, venues, and educational institutions.
Collaborations and remixes
Sawhney has remixed a wide variety of artists over the years, including Sting, Natacha Atlas, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Jeff Beck and Paul McCartney (for McCartney's The Fireman project). He also collaborated with Paul McCartney on a song called "My Soul", which appeared on Sawhney's "London Undersound" album. His own work has been remixed by 4hero, Talvin Singh, MJ Cole and Quantic. He produced several songs on Cheb Mami's album Dellali. Last year he co-produced the second album from songwriter Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly entitled Searching for the Hows and Whys released through Atlantic Records . During 2006-2007 Nitin Sawhney wrote the music for Akram Khan and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's dance piece "Zero Degrees"; Antony Gormley created the set.
Discography
Albums
* London Undersound (2008) Cooking Vinyl
* Philtre (2005) V2
* Human (2003) V2
* Prophesy (2001) V2/BMG
* Beyond Skin (1999) Outcaste Records
* Displacing the Priest (1996) Outcaste Records
* Migration (1995) Outcaste Records
* Spirit Dance (1994) World Circuit
Compilations
* In The Mind Of... (2007) District 6
* All Mixed Up (2004) V2
* Fabric Live 15 (2004) Fabric

Eunice Kathleen Waymon, better known by her stage name Nina Simone (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), was a Grammy Award-nominated American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger and civil rights activist.

Although she disliked being categorized, Simone is generally classified as a jazz musician. Simone originally aspired to become a classical pianist, but her work covers an eclectic variety of musical styles besides her classical basis, such as jazz, soul, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop music. Her vocal style is characterized by intense passion, a loose vibrato, and a slightly androgynous timbre, in part due to her unusually low vocal range which veered between the alto and tenor ranges (occasionally even reaching baritone lows). Also known as The High Priestess of Soul, she paid great attention to the musical expression of emotions. Within one album or concert she could fluctuate between exuberant happiness or tragic melancholy. These fluctuations also characterized her own personality and personal life, worsened by bipolar disorder with which she was diagnosed in the mid-1960s, but was kept secret until 2004 after her death. Simone recorded over 40 live and studio albums, the biggest body of her work being released between 1958 (when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue) and 1974. Songs she is best known for include "My Baby Just Cares for Me", "I Put a Spell on You", "I Loves You Porgy", "Feeling Good", "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Sinnerman", "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", "Ain't Got No/I Got Life" and "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl".
Her music & message made a strong and lasting impact on culture, illustrated by the numerous contemporary artists who cite her as an important influence (among them Mary J. Blige, Elkie Brooks, Alicia Keys, Jeff Buckley, John Legend, Lauryn Hill and Peter Gabriel). Many hip hop and other modern artists sample and remix Simone's rhythms and beats on their tracks. In particular, Talib Kweli and Mos Def routinely pay tribute to her outstanding and soulful musical style. Many of her songs are featured motion picture soundtracks as well, including but not limited to, the The Big Lebowski (1998), Point of No Return (1993) Notting Hill (1999), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Before Sunset (2004), Inland Empire (2006), Sex and the City (2008), Revolutionary Road (2008), and Watchmen (2009).
Musical style
Simone standards
Throughout her career, Simone gathered a collection of songs that would become standards in her repertoire (apart from the civil rights songs) and for which she is still remembered, even though most of these songs didn't do well on the charts at the time. These songs were self-written tunes, cover versions (usually with a new arrangement by Simone), or songs written especially for Simone. Her first hit song in America was a cover of George Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 in the pop singles chart and number 2 on the black singles chart. In that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which would become her biggest hit years later in 1987, when it was featured in a Chanel no. 5 perfume commercial. A music video was then created by Aardman Studios. Well known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads (1964), "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne Me Quitte Pas" (a Jacques Brel cover) and "Feeling Good" on I Put A Spell On You (1965), "Lilac Wine" and "Wild Is the Wind" on Wild is the Wind (1966). Especially the songs "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Feeling Good" and "Sinnerman" (Pastel Blues, 1965) have great popularity today in terms of cover versions (most notably The Animals's version of the former song), sample usage and its use on various movie, TV-series and videogame soundtracks. "Sinnerman" in particular has been featured on movies like The Thomas Crown Affair and Inland Empire, and sampled by artists like Talib Kweli and Timbaland. The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album "Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don'tGetIt" on Lil Wayne's 2008 album "The Carter III". Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned a number of singles and album songs that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968 it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", a medley from the musical Hair from the album Nuff Said (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 2 on the UK pop charts and introducing her to a younger audience. In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder. The following single, the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody" also reached the UK top 10 in 1969. "House of the Rising Sun" featured on Nina Simone Sings The Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song earlier in 1961 (featuring on Nina At The Village Gate, 1962), predating versions by Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan. It was later picked up by The Animals and became their signature hit.
Film
The documentary Nina Simone: La Legende (The Legend) was made in the '90s by French filmmakers. It was based on her autobiography I Put A Spell On You and features live footage from different periods of her career, interviews with friends and family, various interviews with Simone herself while she was living in the Netherlands, and on a trip to her birthplace. A significant amount of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and titled simply Nina. Plans for a Nina Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005. The movie will be based on Simone's autobiography I Put A Spell On You (1992) and will also focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006. TV writer Cynthia Mort (Will & Grace, Roseanne) is working on the script, and singer Mary J. Blige will play the lead role. The movie is scheduled for 2009.

Nils Petter Molvær also known as NPM (born September 18, 1960) is a Norwegian jazz trumpeter, composer and producer. He is considered a pioneer in Nu jazz and especially the fusion of jazz and electronic music, showcased on his best-selling album Khmer, released by the German record label ECM in October 1997 in Europe and early 1998 in North America.

Molvær was born and grew up on the island of Sula, Norway, and left at the age of nineteen to study music at the conservatory in Trondheim. He joined the band Masqualero, alongside Arild Andersen, Jon Christensen and Tore Brunborg. Masqualero (named after a Wayne Shorter composition originally recorded by Miles Davis) recorded several albums for ECM Records, and Molvær recorded with other ECM artists before his 1997 debut solo album, Khmer. The record was a fusion of jazz, rock, electronic soundscapes, and hip-hop beats & quite unlike the delicate "chamber jazz" typically associated with ECM . Molvær's muted trumpet sound, sometimes electronically processed, had an obvious debt to Miles Davis's work of the 1970s and 1980s, but without being a slavish copy. For the first time, ECM released singles "Song of Sand", backed with three remixes, and "Ligotage". In 2000, a second album followed, Solid Ether, after which Molvær left ECM. He has recorded several albums since, and has also produced film and theater music.
Discography
In Masqualero
* 1985: Bande À Part
* 1987: Aero
* 1990: Re-Enter
Solo
Original albums
* 1997: Khmer
* 2000: Solid Ether
* 2002: NP3
* 2005: Er
* 2005: Edy (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
* 2008: Re-Vision (OST outtakes merged into an album)
* 2009: Hamada
Reprise albums
* 2001: Recoloured (remixes)
* 2004: Streamer (2002, live versions of previous tracks)
* 2005: Remakes (remixes)
* 2005: An American Compilation(compilation)
With others
* 1990: So I Write (Sidsel Endresen)
* 1990: Nonsentration (Jon Balke)
* 1993: Exile (Sidsel Endresen)
* 1994: Small Labyrinths (Marilyn Mazur)
* 1995: Hastening Westward (Robyn Schulkowsky and Nils Petter Molvær)
* 2001: Radioaxiom – A Dub Transmission (Bill Laswell and Jah Wobble)
* 2003: Electra (Arild Andersen)
* 2004: Seafarer's Song (Ketil Bjørnstad)
* 2007: A Pure Land (Sienna)
* 2008: Dome (Johannes Enders)

Matt Bianco is a UK band that was formed in 1983. They are mainly known for their success in the mid 1980s and their jazzy, Latin-flavoured music.

Popular during the mid 1980s in continental Europe, Matt Bianco epitomised the new jazz pop genre, that they shared with acts such as Working Week, Sade, Everything but the Girl, and The Style Council. The name suggests that Matt Bianco is a personal name, often referred to the main constant member and front man, Mark Reilly, but Matt is in fact "a made up spy, a secret agent; we loved spy TV themes and film scores"
The early years as a trio
Formed by Mark Reilly (vocals), Danny White (keyboards), & the late Kito Poncioni (bass) in 1982 from the shards of the abandoned art pop group, Blue Rondo A La Turk, for their first album, Whose Side Are You On?, they hired then unknown Polish vocalist Basia Trzetrzelewska. Her vocal arrangements gave the album a jazzy dimension that Reilly and White could not anticipate but made good use of. Mixmaster Phil Harding applied what would become his signature style to the recordings. Hits like "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" and "Half a Minute," which Basia would feature live throughout her solo career, turned Matt Bianco into one of the biggest acts of Europe in 1984. Basia & Danny White, subsequently a couple in real life too, left the group soon after the first album to pursue an apparently more lucrative solo career with Sony, under the name Basia, on the Epic label. They maintained their working relationship with Phil Harding, who would continue to work with Matt Bianco as well. Mark Reilly, now without a musical partner, found ex-Wham keyboarder and session musician, Mark Fisher, and recorded the next (self-titled) Matt Bianco album.
Albums
* 1984 - Whose Side Are You On? (UK Albums Chart #35)
* 1986 - Matt Bianco (UK #26)
* 1988 - Indigo (UK #23)
* 1991 - Samba in Your Casa
* 1994 - Another Time Another Place
* 1995 - Gran Via (German edition)
* 1995 - Gran Via + 5 (Japanese edition + 5 extra tracks)
* 1997 - World Go Round (first Japanese edition)
* 1998 - World Go Round (second Japanese edition + Lost in You 1997)
* 1998 - World Go Round Spanish Version (third Japanese edition + 5 new tracks in Spanish)
* 2000 - Rico
* 2002 - Echoes
* 2004 - Matt's Mood
Compilations
* 1990 - The Best of Matt Bianco (UK #49) (collection of best tracks from the European period 1983 to 1990)
* 1993 - Yeah Yeah
* 1998 - A/Collection (collection of remakes of hits and of stand-out album tracks) (Japanese edition including 17 tracks)
* 2000 - A/Collection (collection of remakes of stand-out album tracks and remixes of a few hits) (European edition including 16 tracks)
* 2005 - The Best of Matt Bianco: Platinum Collection (re-release of 1990 Best-Of album)
* 2006 - Wap Bam Boogie
* 2008 - The Best of Matt Bianco - Volume 2 (collection of best tracks from the German/Asian period 1991 to 2008 - Internet release)
Singles
Singles Europe 1983-1990
* February 1984 - "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" (#15 UK Singles Chart - 8 weeks in the charts), #8 Ireland.
* April/May 1984 - "Sneaking Out the Back Door"/"Matt's Mood" (#44 UK - 7 weeks), #22 Ireland.
* November 1984 - "Half a Minute" (#23 UK - 10 weeks)
* February 1985 - "More Than I Can Bear" (remix) - (#50 UK - 7 weeks)
* September 1985 - "Yeh Yeh" (#13 UK - 10 weeks), #15 Ireland.
* February 1986 - "Just Can't Stand It" (#66 UK - 2 weeks)
* June 1986 - "Dancing in the Street" (#64 UK - 3 weeks)
* May 1988 - "Don't Blame It on That Girl / Wap-Bam-Boogie" (double A-side) (#11 UK - 13 weeks), #8 Ireland.
* August 1988 - "Good Times" (#55 UK - 3 weeks)
* January 1989 - "Nervous / Wap-Bam-Boogie (re-mix)" (#59 UK - 2 weeks), #22 Ireland.
* April 1989 - "Say It's Not Too Late" (UK -)
* September 1990 - "Fire in the Blood" (UK -)
* December 1990 - "Wap-Bam-Boogie 1990" (UK -)
* February 1992 - "What a fool believes" #23 Ireland.
Singles Germany/Asia 1991-1998
* October 1991 - "Macumba"
* 1992 - "What a Fool Believes"
* September 1993 - "Our Love" (Japan)
* 1994 - "Our Love" (Germany)
* December 1994 - "Buddy Love"
* August 1995 - "Lost in You" (Germany)
* October 1995 - "Lost in You" (Japan)
* June 1997 - "Altozano"
* July 1997 - "Sunshine Day / Lost in You 1997"
* 1998 - "Boogie Mi Vista"

Marianne Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an award-winning English singer, songwriter, actress and diarist whose career spans over four decades. Her early work in pop and rock music in the 1960s was overshadowed by her struggle with drug abuse in the 1970s.

After a long commercial absence, she returned late in 1979 with the landmark album, Broken English. Faithfull's subsequent work, very frequently the subject of great critical acclaim, has at times been overshadowed by her personal history.
Over the course of her long recording career, Faithfull has continually reinvented her musical persona, experimenting in different musical genres and collaborating with such varied artists as Angelo Badalamenti, Beck, David Bowie, Nick Cave, The Chieftains, Jarvis Cocker, Billy Corgan, Marcella Detroit, Emmylou Harris, PJ Harvey, Antony Hegarty, Rupert Hine, Joe Jackson, Alex James, Lenny Kaye, Daniel Lanois, Sean Lennon, Metallica, John Prine, Barry Reynolds, Keith Richards, Sly and Robbie, Teddy Thompson, Tom Waits, Rufus Wainwright, Roger Waters, Steve Winwood and Patrick Wolf.
Nominations and awards
On 4 November 2007, the European Film Academy announced that Faithfull had received a nomination for Best Actress, for her role as Maggie in Irina Palm. At the 20th annual European Film Awards ceremony held in Berlin, on 1 December 2007, Faithfull lost to Helen Mirren. On March 5, 2009, Faithfull received the World Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement at the 2009 Woman's World Awards. "Marianne’s contribution to the arts over a 45 year career including 23 albums as a singer, songwriter and interpreter, and numerous appearances on stage and screen is now being acknowledged with this special award." The award was presented in Vienna, with ceremonies televised in over 40 countries on March 8, 2009 as part of International Women's Day.
Filmography
* Made in U.S.A. (1966)
* Anna (1967)
* I'll Never Forget What's 'is Name (1967)
* Three Sisters (1967)
* La Motocyclette / The Girl on a Motorcycle (a.k.a. Naked Under Leather) (1968)
* Rock and Roll Circus (1968/Released 1996)
* Hamlet (1969)
* Lucifer Rising (1972)
* Madhouse Mansion (1974)
* Assault on Agathon (1975)
* The Turn of the Screw (1992) (narration)
* When Pigs Fly (1993)
* Shopping (1994)
* Moondance (1995)
* Crimetime (1996)
* Intimacy (2001)
* Far From China (2001)
* Nord-Plage (2004)
* A Letter to True (2004)
* Paris, je t'aime (2006)
* Marie Antoinette (2006)
* Irina Palm (2007)
* Evil Calls: The Raven aka Alone in the Dark (2008)

Jolie Holland (born May 17, 1976 at Houston, Texas) is an American singer & performer who combines elements of folk, traditional country, jazz, & blues. She is one of the founding members of The Be Good Tanyas. Labelmates Tom Waits & Sage Francis are both outspoken fans of Holland's. Tom Waits nominated her for the Shortlist music prize. Sage Francis has said that Holland's album Escondida was his most listened to album of 2005. Holland also collaborated with him on two tracks on his album Human the Death Dance.

Contributions
* The Grey Funnel Line on Hal Willner's Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys (2006, ANTI-)
* Providing background vocals for Bad Religion frontman Greg Graffin's studio solo album Cold as the Clay.
* Providing violin for The Speakers' album, Yeats Is Greats
* Backing vocals on Chuck Ragan's album "Feast or Famine"
* Wrote words and performed Flood of Dreams in film King of California
* Providing background vocals for Steve Abel and the Chrysalids' album Flax Happyon. The tracks for which Holland provided background vocals are "Cinders of the Sun" and "Heart of Misery"
Studio albums
* The Living and The Dead 2008
* Springtime Can Kill You 2006
* Escondida 2004
* Catalpa 2003

Gilles Peterson (born 28 September c.1964) is a DJ, record collector and record label owner from London, UK.
Through his labels Acid Jazz, Talkin' Loud, and latterly Brownswood Recordings, he has been associated with the careers of countless well known artists of the 1990s such as Erykah Badu and Tony Rich plus Jamiroquai. He is also well known as a radio DJ. After starting out on pirate radio, and having shows on various legal London based radio stations, most noticeably including Kiss FM dance music station, he was recruited to the BBC's youth-oriented Radio 1 in 1998.

Peterson is known for his eclectic musical selections, and has even been occasionally mentioned as the new John Peel. However whilst the late John Peel had an "anything goes" range of tastes displayed on his show, Peterson's focus has always been Jazz music, generally Modern Jazz, with a strong emphasis on its use in a club environment, mixed with associated music styles. So you would hear him playing anything from dub and reggae through jazz, nu-jazz, funk, soul, neo soul, quality R&B to drum and bass, house, broken beat, hip-hop, Jazz-funk, latin, bossa nova, samba and beyond.
Widely acclaimed as a musical tastemaker, he spreads his influence on music listeners around the world mostly through his Worldwide radio show on BBC Radio 1 which is also broadcast live on the Radio 1 website and available for audio streaming online for seven days from broadcast. He also does another version of the show which gets syndicated to radio stations all over the world, such as FM4 in Austria and Radio Helsinki in Finland, and does a British Airways in flight entertainment show too. Parallel to this, his frequent DJing gigs around the world also have cemented a worldwide following perhaps rather apt, given the name of his radio show is Worldwide. He has recently been involved with the start of new record label Brownswood Recordings, named after the road in North London where the house he used to live is, though he has since had to move out of after his record collection became too big, and which now acts as a warehouse for his enormous collection of vinyl records. Incidentally, this new label should not be confused with Talkin' Loud, the previous label he was involved with, imprint label called Brownswood Records which was used to release music from the United Future Organization as well as other Japanese associated projects.

The Fun Lovin' Criminals (often referred to by their initials, FLC) are an American alternative rap / alternative rock group from New York City. Their musical style is eclectic, covering such styles as hip hop, rock, blues and jazz. Their songs often deal with life in a city, often explicitly New York City, but just as often urban life in general.

They cover such issues as organized crime, drugs, violence, poverty and politics. Their songs are often gritty or existentialist in nature but are just as often humorous or satirical. They are probably best known for their hit Scooby Snacks which features samples from films by Quentin Tarantino. In their native US they have something of a cult following. However the band gained a large following internationally, notably in northwest Europe, especially around the release of their first two albums in the late nineties. Their success has waned in recent years, their last album only reaching #57 in the UK charts, but they are still active and a new album is due out later this year. The band was formed in 1993 by Hugh Morgan, Brian Leiser and Steve Borgovini after Leiser, who was already friends with Borgovini, met Morgan at the club where they both worked. They started playing together and would provide the entertainment for the club when a booked act failed to show up. It was during one of these stand-in gigs that they came to the attention of EMI and they were offered a record deal. Their debut album, Come Find Yourself, was released in 1995 and while it was a commercial flop in the US it sold very well internationally, reaching #7 in the UK album charts. It was thanks to their success in the UK that they weren't dropped from their record label and instead, while still touring extensively, recorded their second album, 100% Colombian. However this also performed poorly in the US and they were subsequently dropped from their domestic contract but retained internationally.

Kieran Hebden (born 1977 in Putney, London, England, United Kingdom) is a post-rock and electronic musician. Hebden first came to prominence as a member of the band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist under the moniker of Four Tet.

Hebden's music typically eschews the traditional pop song format in favor of a more abstract approach his sound and melodies incorporate elements of hip hop, electronica, techno, jazz, and folk music with live instrumentation. Alongside recording his own material, Hebden has also performed remixes for a number of artists including Aphex Twin, Explosions in the Sky, Super Furry Animals, Radiohead, Matthew Dear, Sia, Nathan Fake, Bloc Party, Andrew Bird, Kings of Convenience, Battles, Madvillain, and Black Sabbath. Hebden's recent work includes a number of improvisational collaborations with veteran jazz drummer Steve Reid.
Albums (as Four Tet)
* Dialogue (Output Recordings, May 1999)
* Pause (Domino Records, 28 May 2001)
* Rounds (Domino Records, 5 May 2003)
* Everything Ecstatic (Domino Records, 23 May 2005); #59 UK chart
* Remixes (Domino Records, 25 September 2006)
* Ringer (Domino Records, 21 April 2008)

Finley Quaye (born 25 March 1974, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK) is a British musician. He won the 1997 Mobo Award for best Reggae act, and the 1998 BRIT Award for Best British Male Solo Artist.
Quaye is the son of Jazz musician, Cab Kaye the brother of noted guitarist, Caleb Quaye and jazz musician Terri Quaye. Born in Edinburgh, Quaye went to school in London, Spurley Hey High School in Gorton, Manchester and Edinburgh.

However, he left school with no qualifications. Before making records he took employment spraying cars, smoking fish, making futons, and as a stage-rigger and scaffolder. Finley's mother, Sharon Mcgowan, died when he was 10 years old, he was named Finley McGowan when he was born! His father was born in London, but considered himself as African. Although known as Cab Kaye his full name was Nii Lante Augustus Kwamlah Quaye. Kaye was the son of the pianist Caleb Jonas Quaye a.k.a Mope Desmond, who was born in Accra, Ghana. Kaye did not grow up with his father and only found out, in his twenties, about his father's history as a musician. Mope Desmond, Cab Kaye and Finley Quaye have all played Glasgow's Barrowlands, Wolverhampton's Wulfrun Hall and London's Cafe d'Paris.
The Band:
Finley Quaye - Vocal
Matthew Phillip - Drums
Lord Eric - Percussion
Winston Lewis - Percussion
Hamlet Luton - Bass
Chris Campbell - Guitar
Joel White - Hammond
Harry Brown - Trombone
Ray Carless - Saxophone
Mark Crown - Trumpet
The band have supported James Brown, Luciano, Weller, The Verve, Ben Harper, Fun Loving Criminals, Robbie Williams & The Stereo MCs.

Dimitri from Paris (born Dimitris Yerasimos in October 1963) is a French music producer and DJ of Greek origins. His musical influences are rooted in 1970s funk and disco sounds that spawned contemporary house music, as well as original soundtracks from 50s and 60s cult movies such as Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Party.

Dimitri fused these sounds with electro and block party hip hop he discovered in the 80s. Contrary to his musical pseudonym, Dimitri was born not in Paris but in Istanbul, Turkey. Born in Turkey to Greek parents, Dimitri grew up in France where he discovered DJing at home, using whatever he could find to "cut and paste" samples from disco hits heard on the radio, blending them together to make tapes. This early experimentation helped him launch his DJ career.
Compilation albums
* Monsieur Dimitri's De-Luxe House of Funk, 1997
* A Night at the Playboy Mansion, 2000
* Disco Forever, 2000
* My Salsoul, 2001
* After the Playboy Mansion, 2002
* In the House, 2004
* Neko Mimi Mode, 2004
* The Kings of Disco, 2004 compiled by Dimitri from Paris and Joey Negro
* TV Tokyo Animation Tsukuyomi–Moon Phase– Best Collection "Zenbu, Kikitakunacchatta…", 2005
* Super Disco Friends, 2005 compiled by Dimitri from Paris and DJ Muro
* Southport Weekender, 2005 compiled by Dimitri from Paris, Jazzie B, and Quentin Harris
* In the House of Love, 2006
* Cocktail Disco, 2007
* Return to the Playboy Mansion, 2008

Charles and Eddie were an American vocal duo made up of Charles Pettigrew and Eddie Chacon. The two originally met on a New York City subway train. Chacon was holding a copy of Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man," and so the two struck up a conversation and later started performing together.

Chacon had grown up in Oakland, California, where he was in a soul band, and later moved to Miami, Florida, where his recording career continued on projects with the Dust Brothers and Daddy-O. Pettigrew, meanwhile, was raised in Philadelphia, and went on to study jazz vocals at the Berklee College Of Music in Boston, while also singing with the pop band, Down Avenue. Charles and Eddie enjoyed a worldwide hit single in 1992 with "Would I Lie To You?"
Their song "I Would Stop The World" was featured in the 1993 film, Super Mario Bros. based on the popular series of video games. Their song "Wounded Bird" was featured in the film True Romance. After the hits faded away in 1996, Chacon worked as a songwriter for EMI, writing songs for girl group Eternal, plus Conner Reeves, Hanne Boel and others.
Pettigrew died of cancer on 6 April 2001 at the age of 37.

Chaka Khan (born March 23, 1953) is an American singer known for hit songs such as "I'm Every Woman", "I Feel for You" and "Through the Fire",

Also sung a modernized theme song for the hit children's TV show, Reading Rainbow in the show's later years. Khan was first featured as a member of the funk band Rufus before beginning her solo career. Though regarded as an R&B singer, she has performed numerous musical genres including funk, disco, jazz, ballads, hip hop, adult contemporary, pop and blues standards. Her contributions to funk and soul music in her early career earned her the title of the "Queen of Funk Soul" Khan is known for her perfectly pitched contralto vocals.

Acoustic Ladyland are a London based jazz/punk band consisting of Pete Wareham on vocals, tenor and baritone saxophone, Seb Rochford on drums, Tom Cawley on piano and Ruth Goller on bass guitar.

Tom Herbert played bass on their first three albums. They are part of the F-IRE Collective.
Acoustic Ladyland formed in 2001 and released their first album Camouflage, an acoustic album inspired by Jimi Hendrix songs, in 2004. Their second album, Last Chance Disco, an electric set of self-penned compositions, was released in 2005, and was the Jazzwise album of the year.