music

Local Natives is an American indie rock band based in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. The band consists of Taylor Rice, Kelcey Ayer, Ryan Hahn, Matt Frazier (drums) and Nik Ewing (bass).

The National is an American rock band of Cincinnati, Ohio natives, formed in Brooklyn, New York City in 1999. The band consists of Matt Berninger (vocals), twin brothers Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner, as well as brothers Scott Devendorf (bass) and Bryan Devendorf (drums). Carin Besser, the wife of Matt Berninger, is not a band member but has written lyrics for the band alongside her husband since its 2007 album Boxer.

Andrew Wegman Bird is an American indie rock multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Since 1996, he has released 16 studio albums, as well as several live albums and EPs, spanning various genres including swing music, indie rock, and folk music. He is primarily known for his unique style of violin playing, accompanied by loop and effect pedals, whistling, and voice. In the 1990s, he sang and played violin in several jazz ensembles, including Squirrel Nut Zippers and Kevin O'Donnell's Quality Six. He went on to start his own swing ensemble, Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, which released three albums between 1998 and 2001. Weather Systems (2003) was his first solo album after Bowl of Fire disbandment, and it marked a departure from jazz music into indie music. Bird's 2019 album My Finest Work Yet was nominated for "Best Folk Album" at the 2020 Grammy Awards.

Bowerbirds is an American folk band formed in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, in 2006. The group comprises Philip Moore, Beth Tacular and Mark Paulson. Allmusic writer Stewart Mason places their sound on "the dividing line between the freak folk contingent led by Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom and the more straightforward sunshine pop of Lavender Diamond." Their debut album, Hymns for a Dark Horse, released under Burly Time Records in 2007, received favorable reviews from publications such as Pitchfork, Time Out New York and Prefix Magazine. Bowerbirds have toured in support of The Mountain Goats, with John Darnielle referring to the band as his "favorite new band in forever". Their second album, Upper Air, was released July 7, 2009. The band released The Clearing on March 6, 2012.

Robin Noel Pecknold (born March 31, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the principal songwriter and vocalist for the indie folk band Fleet Foxes, with whom he has recorded three studio albums, with the latest, Crack-Up, released on June 16, 2017. His voice type is tenor.

Robin Pecknold was born in Seattle in 1986. He is said to have written his first song at the age of 14. The song is called "Sarah Jane" and tells the story of a runaway who turns to prostitution. Pecknold released the song along with six others as a demo CD called St. Vincent Street around his hometown as Robin Noel Vaas. Later, the music of Bob Dylan would become Pecknold's primary influence.

Grizzly Bear is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002. For most of its tenure, the band has consisted of Edward Droste, Daniel Rossen, Chris Taylor, and Christopher Bear. The band employs both traditional and electronic instruments, and their sound has been categorized as psychedelic pop, folk rock, and experimental. The band is known for their use of vocal harmony, with all four members contributing vocals and lead vocals alternating between Rossen and Droste.

The Antlers is an American indie rock band based in Brooklyn, New York. The band's songs are written and sung by Peter Silberman. Their music is performed by Silberman and Michael Lerner (drums). The lineup formerly featured Darby Cicci. The band's instrumentation typically consists of vocals, electric guitar, keyboards/synths, drums and an array of other instruments including piano, horns, strings, and electronic elements. Silberman has said that the band's name is taken from The Microphones' song "Antlers".

Kristian Matsson (born 30 April 1983) is a Swedish singer-songwriter who performs under the stage name The Tallest Man on Earth. Matsson grew up in Leksand, and began his solo career in 2006, having previously been the lead singer of the indie band Montezumas. His music has often drawn comparisons to the music of Bob Dylan.

Since 2006, Matsson has released five full-length albums and two EPs. He records and produces these in his home, and usually records his voice and guitar together on one track. He is known for his charismatic stage presence.

He was previously married to Amanda Bergman, also known by the stage name Idiot Wind. Together, they wrote the music for the Swedish drama film Once a Year.

Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montréal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member Sarah Neufeld and multi-instrumentalists Paul Beaubrun, Dan Boeckner and Eric Heigle. Each of the band's studio albums features contributions from composer and violinist Owen Pallett.

Conor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, the Faint, Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Monsters of Folk, and Better Oblivion Community Center. Oberst was named the Best Songwriter of 2008 by Rolling Stone magazine.

Fanfarlo are a London-based indie/alternative band formed in 2006 by Swedish musician Simon Balthazar. They fuse elements of folk, indie rock and post-punk using eclectic instrumentation including trumpet, violin, mandolin, musical saw, clarinet and saxophone. Since their formation they have released three studio albums and one EP.

Sufjan Stevens is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released nine solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nominations.

Band of Horses is an American rock band formed in 2004 in Seattle, Washington. Led by singer-songwriter Ben Bridwell, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes, the band's current line-up also includes longtime members Creighton Barrett (drums) and Ryan Monroe, alongside Matt Gentling and Brett Nash.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is an American folk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2007. The group is led by singer Alex Ebert. The band's name is based on a story Ebert wrote in his youth, about a messianic figure named Edward Sharpe. Drawing from roots rock, folk, gospel, and psychedelic music, the band's image and sound evoke the hippie movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The group's first show was played July 18, 2007, at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, California. Their first studio album, Up from Below, was released on July 7, 2009, on Community Records and featured the popular single "Home". The group released their second full-length album, Here, on May 29, 2012, and third album, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, on July 23, 2013. Their fourth studio album, PersonA, was released in April 2016.

The Dodos are an American indie rock band consisting of Meric Long and Logan Kroeber.

The Dodos began playing music together in 2005, when musician Meric Long, who had been gigging steadily in San Francisco as a solo singer-songwriter, was introduced to Logan Kroeber through a mutual friend (a college acquaintance of Long's that happened to be Kroeber's cousin). The Dodos are a band of two, clean-cut halves. One of the duo was a student of West African Ewe drumming and intricate Blues fingerpicking guitar, the other hails from a background in heavy metal bands. Going from the raw, acoustic roots-rock on their albums ‘Visiter’ and ‘No Color’ to the more expansive, pop sound of ‘Time to Die’ and ‘Carrier’; guitarist-vocalist Meric Long and drummer Logan Kroeber have spent their career seeking to blur the line between the inherently melodic nature of Long's guitar and the rhythmic, atonal clatter of Kroeber's drums. The album ‘Individ’ can be seen as a resolution of this duality, combining their old acoustic sensibilities with an expansive vision and sound, and this performance served as further proof.

The Shivers is a musical group formed in 2001 in New York City, led by singer, primary songwriter and only consistent member Keith Zarriello. To date, the only other regular member of the band was Joanne Schornikow, who played keyboards and sang in the band at most performances between 2009 and 2012.

The Shivers’ first record, The Shakes, was recorded at Context Studios in Brooklyn. It was released independently and sold at shows and is now out of print. Shortly thereafter, Erdos left the band and Zarriello was left to continue on alone playing New York City clubs for the next few years both solo and with a revolving cast of musicians.

In 2004, Zarriello was spotted by touring musician Red Hunter who offered to take him on the road and release an album on his label/collective, Whiskey and Apples. The album, CHARADES, released in October 2004, received little critical attention but began to develop The Shivers a following. The track "Beauty" has gone on, in subsequent years, to receive good reviews on sites such as Pitchfork, who said Zarriello's voice carried a "mesmerizing eroticism", and was a subject of a column in The Guardian and Spin.

A Frightened Rabbit EP is an EP by Scottish indie rock band Frightened Rabbit, released on 31 October 2011 on Atlantic Records as a free download and on ten-inch, limited edition vinyl. Self-produced by the band, A Frightened Rabbit EP was the band's first release on Atlantic, and the first to feature contributions from guitarist Gordon Skene.

Noah and the Whale were a British indie rock and folk band from Twickenham, formed in 2006. The band's last line-up consisted of Charlie Fink, Tom Hobden (violin/keyboards), Matt "Urby Whale" Owens, Fred Abbott (guitar/keys) and Michael Petulla (drums). Doug Fink (drums), the brother of lead singer Charlie, and Laura Marling were also past members of the band.