Illumination (The Pastels Album)
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Illumination (The Pastels Album)
''Illumination'' is the fourth studio album by the Scottish band The Pastels, originally released via Domino Recording Company in 1997. The album shows the group honing in on a warmer, gentler and more subdued sound compared to their previous work. It is their last studio album to feature longtime member Annabel "Aggi" Wright as a full member before she left to concentrate on her career as an illustrator in 2000. Whilst The Pastels continued to release music, ''Illumination'' would be their last proper studio album for 16 years, until the release of ''Slow Summits'' in 2013. Reception Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album 3.5 stars out of 5, saying, "Scaling back the snappy production and crisp guitars of their earlier releases, the group crafts a collection of subdued, lovely melodies in the vein of the Velvet Underground's third album." He added, "While the Pastels lack Lou Reed's lyricism or the Velvets' assured experimentalism, the hushed ambience and sighing mel ...
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The Pastels
The Pastels are an indie rock group from Glasgow formed in 1981. They were a key act of the Scottish and British independent music scenes of the 1980s, and are specifically credited for the development of an independent and confident music scene in Glasgow. The group has had a number of members, but currently consists of Stephen McRobbie, Katrina Mitchell, Tom Crossley, John Hogarty, Alison Mitchell and Suse Bear. History Formation The group formed in 1981 amid the peak of the Postcard Records era of independent music in Glasgow. Brian Taylor, a friend at the time of Postcard's Alan Horne, recruited McRobbie, Hayward, and Simpson for his new band. The band first performed at Bearsden Burgh Hall, booked by McRobbie after he attended a Crass gig at the same venue. The band released their first single, "Songs for Children," on Whaam! Records in 1982, followed by their tape "Entertaining Edward" that same year on Action Tapes. The band released a series of singles from 1982– ...
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The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise was replaced by Moe Tucker in 1965, who played on most of the band's recordings. Their integration of rock and the avant-garde achieved little commercial success during the group's existence, but they are now recognized as one of the most influential bands in rock, underground, experimental, and alternative music. The group's provocative subject matter, musical experiments, and often nihilistic attitudes also proved influential in the development of punk rock and new wave music. The group performed under several names before settling on the Velvet Underground in 1965, inspired by the book of the same name. In 1966, pop artist Andy Warhol became their manager, and they served as the house band at Warhol's studio, the Factory, and his tra ...
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1997 Albums
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of '' Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of the most observed comets of the 20th century; Golden Bauhinia Square, where sovereignty of Hong Kong is handed over from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China; the 1997 Central European flood kills 114 people in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany; Korean Air Flight 801 crashes during heavy rain on Guam, killing 229; Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner land on Mars; flowers left outside Kensington Palace following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car crash in Paris., 300x300px, thumb rect 0 0 200 200 Titanic (1997 film) rect 200 0 400 200 Harry Potter rect 400 0 600 200 Comet Hale-Bopp rect 0 200 300 400 Death of Diana, Princess of Wales rect 300 200 600 400 Handover of Hong Kong rect 0 400 200 600 Mars P ...
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Isobel Campbell
Isobel Campbell (born 27 April 1976) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and cellist. She rose to prominence at age nineteen as a member of the indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, but left the group to pursue a solo career, first as The Gentle Waves, and later under her own name. She later collaborated with singer Mark Lanegan on three albums. Her latest studio album, ''There Is No Other'', was released in 2020. Campbell's music has been described as either indie pop, chamber pop or singer-songwriter. Regardless of genre, Campbell makes gentle and sombre music, often using classical instruments. Biography 1996–2002: Belle & Sebastian Belle & Sebastian was formed in 1996 by Stuart Murdoch and Stuart David; Campbell had met Murdoch at a New Year's Eve party at age nineteen, and then participated in a recording session with Murdoch and David sponsored by Stow College's Music Business Administration curriculum. They named themselves Belle & Sebastian after a children's book of ...
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Bill Wells
Bill Wells (born c. 1963)Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Bill Wells", in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, is a Scottish bassist, pianist, guitarist and composer. Biography Wells is completely self-taught, and began performing in clubs in Scotland in the late 1980s. He began arranging his own work and initially offered these to Bobby Wishart, but when Wishart declined the offer, Wells formed his own Bill Wells Octet, which has included Lindsay Cooper, Alastair Morrow, Robert Henderson, John Longbotham, Phil and Tom Bancroft. Wells' style of experimental jazz takes influences from Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach, Gil Evans, and Charles Mingus. Wells has collaborated with several prominent Scottish independent rock and pop musicians, including with David Keenan of Telstar Ponies and John Hogarty of BMX Bandits in the group Phantom Engineer, and with Stevie Jackson and Isobel Campbell of Belle & Sebastian in live performances and also in the studio; Wells recorded the ''Ghost o ...
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Dean Wareham
Dean Wareham (born 1 August 1963) is an American musician and actor who formed the band Galaxie 500 in 1987. He left Galaxie 500 in April 1991 and founded the band Luna. Since Luna's breakup in 2005, Wareham has released albums with fellow Luna bandmate (and wife) Britta Phillips (see Dean and Britta). They also work as film composers, notably on the Noah Baumbach films ''The Squid and the Whale'' and ''Mistress America''. He released a self-titled album in 2014 and reformed Luna in 2015. Early life Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Wareham is the son of John Wareham, author, and Margaret Wareham (née Owles). His family moved to Sydney, Australia, before settling in New York City in 1977. Wareham attended the Dalton School in New York and Harvard University, graduating with a B.A. in social studies. He has three siblings, including Louise Wareham, a novelist. Galaxie 500 Guitarist Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang began playing together as Galaxie 500 ...
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Norman Blake (Scottish Musician)
Norman Blake (born 20 October 1965, Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, Scotland) is a Scottish singer, instrumentalist and songwriter in the Glasgow-based band Teenage Fanclub. Blake and Sean Dickson (The Soup Dragons) were in The Faith Healers together, which also contained various members at different times Stevie Gray, Hugh McLaughlin, Brian Carson and Colin Murray to name but a few. Blake was a member of the Glasgow group, The Pretty Flowers, with school friend Duglas T. Stewart, Frances McKee, Janice Cochrane and Sean Dickson. After the group split Blake formed the Boy Hairdressers in 1986, the original lineup being really just Blake assisted by Dickson and Stewart. Later Blake was joined by Joe McAlinden, Jim Lambie and three future members of Teenage Fanclub Raymond McGinley, Francis Macdonald and Paul Quinn (after Macdonald's departure) ( Brendan O’ Hare also in joined the group at this time) The group recorded one EP for 53rd and 3rd Records featuring three of Blake's ...
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Gerard Love
Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Bellshill near Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake (vocals, guitar), Raymond McGinley (vocals, lead guitar) and Gerard Love (vocals, bass), all of whom shared lead vocals and songwriting duties until Love's departure in 2018. As of 2019, the band's lineup consists of Blake, McGinley, Francis Macdonald (drums, vocals), Dave McGowan (bass, vocals) and Euros Childs (keyboards, vocals). In concert, the band usually alternate among its songwriters, giving equal playing time to each one's songs. Although often pegged as alternative rock, the group have incorporated a wide variety of elements from various music styles in their songs. Teenage Fanclub have had a succession of drummers, namely Francis Macdonald, Brendan O'Hare and Paul Quinn. Keyboardist Finlay Macdonald (no relation) has also been a member. As of April 2021, the band have released eleven studio albums and two compilation albums. Histor ...
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Lou Reed
Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Although not commercially successful during its existence, the Velvet Underground became regarded as one of the most influential bands in the history of underground and alternative rock music. Reed's distinctive deadpan voice, poetic and transgressive lyrics, and experimental guitar playing were trademarks throughout his long career. Having played guitar and sung in doo-wop groups in high school, Reed studied poetry at Syracuse University under Delmore Schwartz, and had served as a radio DJ, hosting a late-night avant garde music program while at college. After graduating from Syracuse, he went to work for Pickwick Records in New York City, a low-budget record company that specialized in sound-alike recordings, as a songwriter and sess ...
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Slow Summits
''Slow Summits'' is the fifth studio album by the Scottish band The Pastels, released via Domino Recording Company in 2013. The album was their first proper studio album since 1997's '' Illumination'', having released a soundtrack album and a collaborative album with Japanese avant-pop band Tenniscoats in between. Background Stephen Pastel has explained that the large gap between albums stemmed partly from Annabel Wright's departure and being unsure of what direction to go in, but that their work on ''The Last Great Wilderness'' and providing music for theatre gave them an idea of the type of music they wanted to make and were capable of making; "We had a really good experience doing that and it progressed ideas that we had about the kind of music that we could make and the core elements of what The Pastels were about". A number of guests appear on the album including Gerard Love and Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub, Ronald Lippok of To Rococo Rot and Saya & Takashi Ueno of Tenni ...
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Alternative Rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstream or commercial rock or pop music. The term's original meaning was broader, referring to musicians influenced by the musical style or independent, DIY ethic, DIY ethos of late-1970s punk rock.di Perna, Alan. "Brave Noise—The History of Alternative Rock Guitar". ''Guitar World''. December 1995. Traditionally, alternative rock varied in terms of its sound, social context, and regional roots. Throughout the 1980s, magazines and zines, college radio airplay, and word of mouth had increased the prominence and highlighted the diversity of alternative rock's distinct styles (and music scenes), such as noise pop, indie rock, grunge, and shoegaze. In September 1988, Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' introduced "alternative" into their charting ...
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The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published on Saturday 26 March 2016, leaving only the online edition. The newspaper was controlled by Tony O'Reilly's Irish Independent News & Media from 1997 until it was sold to the Russian oligarch and former KGB Officer Alexander Lebedev in 2010. In 2017, Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel bought a 30% stake in it. The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004 British Press Awards. The website and mobile app had a combined monthly reach of 19,826,000 in 2021. History 1986 to 1990 Launched in 1986, the first issue of ''The Independent'' was published on 7 October in broadsheet format.Dennis Griffiths (ed.) ''The Encyclopedia of the British Press, 1422–1992'', London & Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992, p. 330 It was produc ...
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