music

Music has always been a big part of my life, ever since I was a little girl. Actually, ever since I was in the womb - my mother would play Jean Michel Jarre to me before I was born, and as a result, I've always loved his music, and it's almost always been able to soothe me. I love a wide variety of music, old and new, and it can cause pretty strong emotional responses in me. I'm mildly synaesthetic, meaning that (at least in my case) I can see sound - it causes patterns and colours to appear over my vision faintly, whenever I hear something. Most of the time I don't take much notice of it, because for me it's normal, but it's great fun when listening to music. I also create music, when I can, and intend to have a lot more of my own stuff here than the one track currently on this page.

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Music I like • Music I make

Music I like

Here's a list of various artists/groups I like. This list is by no means complete, I like a lot of stuff, but here's a selection. Each entry will link to the artist/group's official homepage, Wikipedia article, and a Youtube search of their music, wherever possible. It will also include a few lines from that artist/group's Wikipedia entry, which I believe counts as "fair use" of copyrighted material. If you're curious, Wikipedia releases it's articles under the GNU Free Documentation License. Oh, by the way - one thing that irritates the hell out of me is Flash Only websites. I absolutely promise that I will *never* create a Flash Only site for my own music. However, some linked official websites are Flash Only (boooooo!!). So I guess they don't want any blind people reading their websites!

Banco de Gaia
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Banco de Gaia is an electronic music outfit from England, formed by Toby Marks (born 1964) in 1991. The music of Banco de Gaia is probably best categorized as ambient dub, but Marks works hard to cross genres, often using Arabic and Middle Eastern samples against a bass-heavy reggae, rock, or trance rhythm to produce deeply textured tracks that progress layer upon layer."

Boards of Canada
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Boards of Canada is a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Michael Sandison (born 10 June 1969) and Marcus Eoin Sandison (born 21 September 1970). Boards of Canada's unique sound is a product of their strong use of analogue equipment, mix of electronic and conventional instrumentation, use of distorted samples as well as live and radio or film lyrics, and their layering and blending of these elements. Their deliberate eschewal of a purely synthetic sound gives their music a warmer, emotive quality, often meant to inspire nostalgia."

Coldcut
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Coldcut is a dance music duo comprising English DJs Matt Black and Jonathan More best known for their hit "Doctorin' The House" and their remix of Eric B & Rakim's "Paid In Full"."

Deathboy
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • (no Youtube search available)
"DeathBoy is the nom de guerre of Midlands-born Scott Lamb, and also the name of his band. DeathBoy has made several albums worth of free music available for download from their website. This is part of Scott's "release early and often" policy, mirroring an ethic of the Open Source movement."

Deep Forest
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Deep Forest is a musical group consisting of two French musicians, Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez. They compose world music, mixing ethnic with electronic sounds."

Depeche Mode
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Depeche Mode are an electronic music group that formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex, England. They are one of the longest-lived, most successful and influential bands to have emerged from the New Romantic and New Wave era."

Eurythmics
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Eurythmics are a British musical duo, formed in 1980 by Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. Eurythmics' commercial breakthrough came with Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), whose hit single of the same name featured a dark, powerfully sequenced synth bass line and a striking video that introduced the orange crew cut Lennox sported to fame."

The Future Sound of London
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"The Future Sound of London (often abbreviated to FSOL) is a British electronic music band, the duo of Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans. Although often labelled as ambient, Dougans and Cobain usually resist being pigeon-holed into any one particular genre. Their work covers most areas of electronic music, such as ambient techno, drum and bass, trip-hop, ambient dub, pure ambient, and often involves extreme experimentation."

IAMX
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"IAMX is the solo musical project of Chris Corner. Corner has repeatedly said that IAMX is very different to his actual, real-life personality and is a kind of quasi "act". Whether an act or not, IAMX's music is primarily concerned with subjects such as outlandish sex, death, narcotic intoxication, bisexuality, obsession, alienation and vague allusions to politics."

James
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"James is an indie rock band from Manchester, England, formed in 1981. After an uphill struggle throughout the 1980s, they went on to become one of the most consistently successful acts of the 1990s, scoring a string of hit singles during the decade including "Sit Down" and "Laid"."

Jean Michel Jarre
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Jean-Michel André Jarre (born 24 August 1948 in Lyon, France) is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is highly regarded as one of the pioneers in the Electronic, Synth Pop, Experimental and New Age genres, as well as the organiser of record-breaking outdoor spectacles of his music, which feature laser displays and fireworks, linking music with the surrounding environment and architecture."

Ladytron
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Ladytron is a band formed in Liverpool, England. They create electronic pop music, using an array of vintage analogue equipment to achieve their distinct sound. Albums so far have focused on a balance between pop structures and analogue electronic sound, along with some more experimental leanings."

Massive Attack
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Massive Attack are a trip hop band from Bristol, England. Their musical style has been acclaimed for combining elements of jazz, hip hop, rock, and soul; lately darker, subtler forms of electronic music have been dominant influences."

Mercury Rev
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Mercury Rev is an American rock music group, formed in the late 1980s in Buffalo, New York. With their early records, Mercury Rev offered experimental, psychedelic rock, which gradually shifted to a melodic, ornate sound. The 1998 release of the acclaimed Deserter's Songs made Mercury Rev unexpected pop stars. Donahue's earnest, high-pitched vocals and concentration on relatively concise, melodic songs gave the band's material an entirely new feel and much increased popularity."

Nightmares on Wax
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Nightmares on Wax is DJ and musician George Evelyn (born c. 1970), also known as DJ EASE (Experimental Sample Expert), from Leeds, UK. The musical style is a combination of electronic sounds and hip hop beats, often regarded as "Chill Out"."

The Orb
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"The Orb are an English electronic music group known for popularising chill out music in the 1990s and spawning the genre of ambient house. Their early performances were inspired by ambient and electronic artists of the 1970s and 1980s, most notably Brian Eno and Kraftwerk. Because of their "trippy" sound, The Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs."

Orbital
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Orbital was an English techno duo whose career lasted from 1989 until 2004, consisting of brothers Paul and Phil Hartnoll. Orbital sometimes incorporated political and environmental commentary into their music. The track Forever on Snivilisation samples a speech by Graham Crowden from the 1982 Lindsay Anderson film Britannia Hospital, in which he lambasts humankind for its destructive ways; and the track You Lot on the Blue Album, features a confrontational, partially vocoded anti-genetic engineering sample from Christopher Eccleston, originally from the TV two-part series The Second Coming written by Russell T Davies."

Pink Floyd
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Pink Floyd are an English rock band that initially earned recognition for their psychedelic rock music, and, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. They are known for philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative cover art, and elaborate live shows."

Portishead
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Portishead is a trip hop band from Bristol, England, named after the town of Portishead, west of Bristol. With their use of live jazz samples and intentionally lo-fi sound, the band has been cited as influential by many modern musicians."

R.E.M.
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"R.E.M. is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by Bill Berry (drums and percussion), Peter Buck (guitar), Mike Mills (bass guitar), and Michael Stipe (vocals). R.E.M. was one of the first popular alternative rock bands, and gained early attention due to Buck's "jangly" guitar style and Stipe's cryptic vocals. Throughout the band's career, R.E.M. has sought to highlight social and political issues. According to the Los Angeles Times, R.E.M. is considered to be one of the United States' "most liberal and politically correct rock groups." The members of R.E.M. are "on the same page" politically, sharing a liberal and progressive outlook."

Sneaker Pimps
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Sneaker Pimps is a British Electropop band formed in Reading, England in 1995. They are best known for their first album Becoming X (released in 1996) and particularly the singles "6 Underground", "Spin Spin Sugar" and "Tesko Suicide" from that album. The band's founding members were Chris Corner and Liam Howe, who then recruited Kelli Dayton for vocal duties. After the first album, the band felt that demos for second album (on which Corner provided the guide vocals) better suited his voice, especially in regard to the more raw, personal quality of the lyrics. Some fans feel that the songs on subsequent Sneaker Pimps albums, Splinter and Bloodsport, have lost the bubblegum feel and have gained an emotional intensity, while others enjoyed Dayton's vocals precisely because of that feel."

Talking Heads
(No Official Site) • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Talking Heads were an American rock band that formed in the early 1970s and was based out of New York City. The group consisted of David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison, with auxiliary musicians brought in during later years. The band, with a sound that combined elements of punk rock, pop, funk rock, and art rock, became one of the first to be labeled "New Wave"."

Two Lone Swordsmen
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"The Two Lone Swordsmen are British house DJ and producer Andrew Weatherall and studio engineer Keith Tenniswood. Formed in early 1996, following the dissolution of Weatherall's influential Sabres of Paradise techno act, the Swordsmen have explored a variety of styles, from electro and 4/4 techno to post punk and downtempo breakbeat."

Ultravox
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"Ultravox (formerly Ultravox!) was one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the early 1980s. The band was particularly associated with the New Romantic movement, although it both pre- and post-dated New Romantic by several years, drawing inspiration variously from punk, the artier side of glam rock, and latterly straightforward synthpop."

UNKLE
Official Site • Wikipedia Article • Youtube Search
"UNKLE is a British musical outfit founded in 1994 by school friends James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy. Originally categorized as trip-hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and has employed a variety of guest artists and producers."

Music I make

Everything I put into this section will, unless I change my mind, be released under a Creative Commons license.

Quantum Strings is so far the only semi-complete track I've made and not lost along the way. Even this track is semi-incomplete, and never will be completed, because I've lost the source material. All that is available is this 4 minute, 50kbit ogg vorbis. Oh well! More on the way soon though, because DeathBoy is a wonderful guy and hugely helpful, and has helped me to learn how to use trackers!! Thanks DeathBoy, everyone else go buy his CDs! :)

These works by Marianne Ibbotson are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

marianne's space (xmoogle.org) and all of its contents (unless otherwise stated) are ©2007 by Marianne Ibbotson. Nothing from this website may be published on other websites or reproduced in other media without my explicit permission, again, unless otherwise stated or allowed by the licenses of individual files.