favourite music

The Naked and Famous are a New Zealand indie electronic band from Auckland, formed in 2007. The band currently consists of Alisa Xayalith (vocals, keyboards) and Thom Powers (vocals, guitars).

The band has released four studio albums: Passive Me, Aggressive You (2010), In Rolling Waves (2013), Simple Forms (2016) and Recover (2020). Since 2012, the band has been based in Los Angeles, California.

Xayalith (born 1986 in Auckland) is the daughter of Laotian refugees and was raised together with a younger brother. Her father introduced her to his native folk music and, at the age of 13, she taught herself guitar. Powers had been playing in local bands from an early age after he had been taught to play guitar by his father.

Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2009. Its members are singer Mark Foster, guitarist Sean Cimino, and keyboardist Isom Innis.

Florence and the Machine are an English indie rock band that formed in London in 2007, consisting of lead vocalist Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, harpist Tom Monger, and a collaboration of other musicians. The band's music has received acclaim across the media, especially from the BBC, which played a large part in their rise to prominence by promoting Florence and the Machine as part of BBC Music Introducing. At the 2009 Brit Awards they received the Brit Awards "Critics' Choice" award. The band's music is renowned for its dramatic, eccentric production and Welch's powerful vocals.

Haim is an American rock band, based in Los Angeles and comprising three sisters, Este, Danielle, and Alana Haim. In addition to their primary instruments, each is proficient in several others. The group's pop sound on their studio work stands in contrast to the more rock-oriented sound of their live shows.

London Grammar are an English indie pop band formed in Nottingham in 2009. The band consists of Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman and Dominic “Dot” Major. Their debut extended play, Metal & Dust, was released in February 2013 by Metal & Dust Recordings, while their debut album, If You Wait, was released a few months later in September. The album reached No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Double Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The band's second studio album, Truth Is a Beautiful Thing, was released in June 2017, reaching No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart. The latest album, Californian Soil, was released on 16 April 2021 and became their second-consecutive No. 1 album in the United Kingdom.

Chvrches are a Scottish synth-pop band from Glasgow, formed in September 2011. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and, unofficially since 2018, Jonny Scott. Mostly deriving from the synth-pop genre, Chvrches also incorporate indietronica, indie pop, and electronic dance into their sound.

The xx are an English indie rock band from Wandsworth, London, formed in 2005. The band consists of Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx, and formerly Baria Qureshi. They are known for their distinct and minimalist sound that blends indie rock, indie electronic, indie pop, dream pop and electro-rock and the dual vocalist setup of both Croft and Sim. Their music employs soft, echoed guitar, prominent bass, light electronic beats and ambient soundscape backgrounds.

Michael Anthony Nock (born 27 September 1940) is a New Zealand jazz pianist, currently based in Australia.

Nock began studying piano at 11. He attended Nelson College for one term in 1955. By the age of 18, he was performing in Australia. He headed a trio that toured England in 1961 and then attended Berklee College of Music. He was a member of Yusef Lateef's group from 1963 to 1965.

During 1968–1970 Nock was involved with fusion, leading the Fourth Way band. After a few years he became a studio musician in New York (1975–1985) and then returned to Australia.

His 1987 album Open Door with drummer Frank Gibson, Jr. was named that year's Best Jazz Album in the New Zealand Music Awards.

Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent references to contemporary pop culture and 1950s–1960s Americana. She is the recipient of various accolades, including two Brit Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards, and a Satellite Award, in addition to nominations for six Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Variety honored her at their Hitmakers Awards for being "one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the 21st century."

Raised in upstate New York, Del Rey moved to New York City in 2005 to pursue a music career. After numerous projects, including her self-titled debut studio album, Del Rey's breakthrough came in 2011 with the viral success of her single "Video Games"; she subsequently signed a recording contract with Polydor and Interscope. She achieved critical and commercial success with her second album, Born to Die (2012), which contained the sleeper hit "Summertime Sadness". Del Rey's third album, Ultraviolence (2014), featured greater use of guitar-driven instrumentation and debuted atop the U.S. Billboard 200. Her fourth and fifth albums, Honeymoon (2015) and Lust for Life (2017), saw a return to the stylistic traditions of her earlier releases, while her critically acclaimed sixth album, Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019), explored soft rock. Her next studio albums, Chemtrails over the Country Club and Blue Banisters, followed in 2021.

The Moth & The Flame, sometimes known by initialism TMTF, is an American alternative rock band based in Los Angeles, California.

The Moth & The Flame released their eponymous debut album on November 11, 2011 (11.11.11). The album was initially not available for purchase in a digital format in appreciation of the album art work, and was instead only available to stream on Soundcloud; however, in November 2019, the band made the album available for purchase on vinyl and streaming on Spotify. The album was produced by Nate Pyfer and engineered by Scott Wiley (Neon Trees, Elvis Costello) and mixed by Mike Roskelley (Kaskade, Skrillex, Deadmau5). To promote their music, the band created large pieces (sometimes as much as 20 feet (6 m)) of anthropomorphic artwork, which they placed strategically in their home town of Provo, Utah, to alert fans of upcoming shows.

Yoann Lemoine (French pronunciation: ​[jɔan ləmwan]; born 16 March 1983), known professionally as Woodkid, is a French music video director, graphic designer and singer-songwriter. His most notable works include his music video direction for Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream", Taylor Swift's "Back to December", Lana Del Rey's "Born to Die" and Harry Styles's "Sign of the Times".

Lemoine is also a neofolk musician. On 28 March 2011, he released his first EP Iron EP. On 18 March 2013, he released his first album titled The Golden Age, which is an autobiographical record. He released his second album S16 on 16 October 2020, more than seven years later, following some single releases.

Yoann Lemoine was born in Tassin-la-Demi-Lune, near Lyon to a mother of Polish-Jewish origin. He studied illustration and animation at the Émile Cohl school, where he completed his diploma with honors. He then left for the UK to follow a silk screen printing process course at Swindon College. In 2004, Yoann moved to Paris. After a brief experience at H5, he joined Luc Besson's crew and worked on the project Arthur and the Invisibles for a year. In 2006, Yoann directed a series of roughs for Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette.

Two Door Cinema Club are a band from Bangor, Northern Ireland. The band formed in 2007 and is composed of three members: Alex Trimble, Sam Halliday, and Kevin Baird.

MS MR (pronounced Miz Mister) are a New York-based American pop duo, consisting of vocalist Lizzy Plapinger and producer Max Hershenow. The duo are signed to Iamsound, Kitsuné and Columbia Records. Plapinger is also known for her work as co-founder of the New York City/London-based Independent record label Neon Gold Records. Their music has been characterized as indie pop, alternative rock, dream pop and dark wave.

After both members graduated from Vassar College in 2010, MS MR released a four-song digital demo EP, Ghost City USA (2011), followed by two 2012 singles, "Hurricane" and "Fantasy". The music video for their debut single, "Hurricane", was released on April 26, 2012, with the single released on iTunes on July 10, 2012. It earned positive reviews for its "vintage" sound. The single charted at number 38 in Germany.

Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, known professionally as Lorde, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and introspective songwriting.

Daughter is an English indie folk trio. Fronted by North London native Elena Tonra, the band was formed in 2010 after the addition of Swiss guitarist Igor Haefeli and drummer Remi Aguilella from France. They have released four EPs and three albums, and are currently signed to Glassnote and 4AD (Europe). After playing the local London circuit, they toured supporting Ben Howard around Europe and have since played headlining tours around North America, Europe and Australia.

Alt-J (stylised as alt-J, real name Δ) are an English indie rock band formed in 2007 in Leeds, by Joe Newman (guitar/lead vocals), Thom Sonny Green (drums), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboards/vocals) and Gwilym Sainsbury (guitar/bass).

Their debut album An Awesome Wave was released in May 2012 in Europe, and in September 2012 in the United States, and won the 2012 British Mercury Prize. Sainsbury left the band in early 2014. Their second album, This Is All Yours, was released on 22 September 2014 and went straight to number one in the United Kingdom. In February 2022 the band released their fourth studio album The Dream and are currently playing as a trio.

The band's actual name is the triangle-shaped symbol Δ (the capital Greek letter delta). The band often makes references to triangles (for example, the song "Tesselate" mentions "triangles are my favourite shape", and they make triangle symbols with their fingers during concerts), which they say is just due to it being a visually appealing shape.

Broken Bells is an American indie rock band composed of artist-producer Brian Burton and James Mercer, the lead vocalist and guitarist for the indie rock band The Shins. Broken Bells compose and create as a duo, but are joined by Dan Elkan and Jon Sortland when performing live. The previous live band included Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band sidemen Nate Walcott and Nik Freitas, and Jonathan Hischke and Dan Elkan, both ex-members of Hella. Following their 2010 self-titled debut album, the duo released an EP, Meyrin Fields, in 2011 and their second studio album, After the Disco, in 2014.

Phoenix is a French pop rock band from Versailles, formed in 1995. Their lineup, which has remained unchanged since their formation, comprises Thomas Mars, Deck d'Arcy, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz ; additionally, Thomas Hedlund has been the band's session and live drummer since 2005. Their sound has been primarily described as indie pop, synth-pop, pop rock, and new wave.