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Knifeworld
Knifeworld was a British-based psychedelic rock band led by Kavus Torabi. Originally a Torabi solo project, it became a full band in summer 2009. Knifeworld had connections with various English musical projects both inside and outside the rock world, having shared members with Cardiacs, Chrome Hoof, North Sea Radio Orchestra and Sidi Bou Said (band), Sidi Bou Said (London-based oud player Khyam Allami also served as the band's original drummer). History Beginnings Born in Tehran before moving to England while still a baby, Torabi had previously played with a succession of bands. Beginning his career in Die Laughing in Plymouth, he moved to London and came to public attention as one of the two singing guitarists in the Monsoon Bassoon. Playing what Torabi described as "LSD, lysergic Funk music, funk" and various reviewers described as psychedelic rock, psychedelia and math rock, the Monsoon Bassoon scored three Singles of the Week in a row in ''New Musical Express'' in 1997 an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Cawood
Charles Dennis Cawood (born 19 March 1988) is an English Multi-instrumentalist, multi-instrumental musician, composer and music journalist, known for his cross-disciplinary musical skills as well as his work with a wide variety of projects and artists. An active member of Kyros (band), Kyros, Stars in Battledress (band), Lost Crowns, Knifeworld, Mediaeval Baebes, My Tricksy Spirit, Join the Din and Tonochrome (as well as a regular collaborator with The Anchoress (musician), The Anchoress), Cawood has worked in art rock, pop, folk music, folk and early music as well as Music of India, Indian, Music of China, Chinese and Balinese music and a variety of other forms. He has also released two solo albums of ensemble instrumental music.. He played on Lucid, the 2014 solo album by The Fierce and the Dead guitarist Matt Stevens Biography Background and influences Charles Dennis Cawood is a native Londoner who began playing guitar at the age of eleven and developed an interest in exp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melanie Woods (musician)
Melanie Woods (born 5 May 1969) is an English musician and carpenter. She was the drummer and a vocalist for the rock band Sidi Bou Said in the 1990s. After their dissolution, she performed vocals on the first two albums of the North Sea Radio Orchestra and joined the cult rock band Cardiacs in 2004, performing on the single " Ditzy Scene" and playing on the subsequent 2007 tour before the band ceased their activities in 2008. Woods subsequently joined Kavus Torabi's psychedelic rock band Knifeworld on vocals, percussion and glockenspiel, and the Duran Duran tribute act Joanne Joanne as their drummer. She appeared on the 2010 Tim Smith tribute album '' Leader of the Starry Skies'' with Knifeworld and Sidi Bou Said, and the Cardiacs single " Vermin Mangle", released in 2020. Woods has also performed on solo albums by Claire Lemmon and Tim Bowness. Early life Woods was born on 5 May 1969 in London, England. Musician career 1990–2001: Sidi Bou Said and Umbrella Heaven Wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Believers Roast
Believers Roast is a record label formed in 2009 by musician Kavus Torabi, initially to only release recordings by Torabi and his band Knifeworld. The label expanded with the fundraising album '' Leader of the Starry Skies: A Tribute to Tim Smith'' in 2010 and has since released the collaborative album '' The Exquisite Corpse Game'' (2013) and albums by artists including Thumpermonkey, The Gasman, Karda Estra, Arch Garrison, and respective band members. History Founder Kavus Torabi set up Believers Roast in 2009. The label was initially conceived to only release recordings relating to Torabi and his band Knifeworld, which started out as a solo project. The label released the first Knifeworld single, "Pissed Up on Brake Fluid", on 13 July, and debut album '' Buried Alone: Tales of Crushing Defeat'' in August. The label expanded upon its second major release, '' Leader of the Starry Skies'', a tribute album by various artists to Cardiacs founder and frontman Tim Smith which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kavus Torabi
Kavus Torabi (born 5 December 1971) is a British-Iranian musician, composer, record label owner and radio broadcaster. A multi-instrumentalist, he is known for his work in the psychedelic, avant-garde rock field (primarily as a guitarist). Torabi was one of the founding members of the Monsoon Bassoon (as singer, guitarist and one of the two primary composers), was a member of the cult rock band Cardiacs, and fronts and plays guitar for the current lineup of legendary psychedelic band Gong (band), Gong. Torabi also leads his own group Knifeworld and is a member of Guapo (band), Guapo and the Utopia Strong. He sometimes tours and records with Mediæval Bæbes and Rob Crow, and frequently collaborates with other notable artists working in left-field music. Early life Torabi was born on 5 December 1971 in Tehran, Iran to an Iranian father and an English mother. His family moved to Plymouth, UK, when he was eighteen months old; originally planning to return once his father had made ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Monsoon Bassoon
The Monsoon Bassoon were an English independent rock band active between 1995 and 2001, notable for their exceptionally complex and energetic music. During their lifespan, the band won the NME's Single Of The Week award three times (for three consecutive single releases). They were an integral part of the "London math-rock" scene of the late 1990s and had a passionate underground following, particularly inspiring other bands. Sound The Monsoon Bassoon's music (largely created by guitarists Kavus Torabi and Dan Chudley) can be described as psychedelic rock or math rock (the band themselves sometimes used the tongue-in-cheek term " lysergic funk"). Their music drew on a variety of other sources including British and American art rock, heavy metal, folk music, avant-garde music, New York minimalism and progressive rock. Although the results sounded chaotic or confusing to some ears, the music was in fact carefully planned. Bass player Laurie Osbourne has commented "every note wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khyam Allami
Khyam Allami (born 1981 in Damascus, Syria)Khyam Allami, official biography (from homepage) is a British-based musician and musicologist of Iraqi descent. He is best known as a contemporary player of the Arabic oud lute (working both with traditional Arabic repertoire and with contemporary compositions and cross-disciplinary music) and has also written about and lectured on Arabic music. Allami has studied oud and composition with a variety of musicians and composers from the Arab world, including Ehsan Emam, Naseer Shamma, Abdo Dagher, Hazem Shaheen and Mehmet Bitmez. His most prominent public appearance to date has been at the 2010 The Proms, Proms concerts in London. He performed on 9 August 2010 as part of ''Prom 33: BBC Radio 3 World Routes Academy'' alongside one of hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Craig Fortnam
Craig Edward Fortnam (born September 1967) is an English composer, conductor and musician. As a boy he lived in Blewbury Oxfordshire, moving to Kingston-Upon-Thames in 1977. Fortnam is a skilled guitarist and bass guitarist, specialising in nylon-string acoustic guitar (which he plays in a style drawing on classical and African techniques and the work of Nick Drake) and also sings. He is best known as the leader, conductor and principal composer of the North Sea Radio Orchestra, but also leads the smaller band Arch Garrison and was previously a key member of several other bands, most notably the Shrubbies and Lake of Puppies. Career Musical education and early years in rock bands Fortnam trained in composition and guitar at Dartington College, England before moving back to London in the early 1990s to seek work as a musician. During this time, he played with several rock and folk bands connected with the cult English rock band Cardiacs, striking up a long-lasting relationship ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardiacs
Cardiacs are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Kingston upon Thames by Tim Smith (Cardiacs), Tim Smith (guitar and lead vocals) and his brother Jim Smith (bassist), Jim (bass, backing vocals) in 1977 under the name Cardiac Arrest. One of Britain's leading Cult following#Music, cult rock bands, Cardiacs' sound folded in genres including art rock, progressive rock, art punk, post-punk, jazz, Psychedelic music, psychedelia and Heavy metal music, heavy metal (as well as elements of Circus music, circus, baroque pop, medieval music, nursery rhymes and Sea shanty, sea shanties), all of which was topped by Smith's anarchic vocals and hard-to-decipher lyrics. The band's theatrical performance style often incorporated off-putting costumes and make-up, complete with on-stage confrontations. Their sound and image made them unpopular with the press, but they amassed a devoted following. Tim Smith was the primary songwriter, noted for his complex and innovative compositional style. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Sea Radio Orchestra
The North Sea Radio Orchestra (NSRO) is an English contemporary music ensemble and cross-disciplinary chamber music, chamber orchestra (plus choir, chorus). Formed in 2002, the NSRO was set up mainly as a vehicle for the compositions of its musical director, Craig Fortnam, but has also performed works by William D. Drake and Stars In Battledress (band), James Larcombe. The ensemble is notable for its post-modern fusion of Romantic music and later twentieth-century forms, and for its bridging of the worlds of contemporary classical music, British folk music, London art rock and poetry. Sound and presentation The North Sea Radio Orchestra is an ensemble of varying size, drawing on a pool of up to twenty members. It performs compositions which range from single-instrument solos and voice-and-guitar duos up to full chamber-orchestra-and-choir pieces (and all points in between, including assorted trios, quartets, quintets etc.). The instrumentation within the ensemble features woodw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inside Out Music
Inside Out Music is a German progressive rock record label originally based in Kleve, North Rhine-Westphalia, and dedicated to the publication of progressive rock, progressive metal and related styles. In 2009, it formed a partnership with Century Media Records and moved its base of operations to Dortmund, also in North Rhine-Westphalia. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music and became its premier label for progressive music. History The label was founded in 1993 by Thomas Waber and Michael Schmitz and started its publications re-issuing albums of new American prog metal acts like Symphony X and Shadow Gallery for the European market and then signing important prog artists like Steve Hackett. Inside Out signed a worldwide distribution contract with the German music company SPV and branched out with the U.S. division InsideOut US, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 2009, SPV had to file for bankruptcy, and Inside Out partnered up with Century Media R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guapo (band)
Guapo is a British experimental rock/art rock band formed in 1994 by drummer/percussionist Dave Smith and guitarist/vocalist Matt Thompson, though the band gained a wider audience with the contribution of multi-instrumentalist Daniel O'Sullivan. The lineup as of 2015 consists of Smith, guitarist Kavus Torabi, bassist Sam Warren and keyboardist Emmett Elvin of Chrome Hoof. Music Guapo have affiliations with the Rock in Opposition movement, after performing with bands such as Magma and Present at the Rock in Opposition Festival at Carmaux, France in 2007. The Trilogy The Guapo album ''Elixirs'' concludes a recondite trilogy of recordings initiated by ''Five Suns'' (2003) and ''Black Oni'' (2004), which has been referred to as the "Empire Strikes Back" record. Every record takes on new musical hues and offers disparate ideas and perspectives. However, an upheaval in the line-up, which of recent years had been anchored by the trio of Daniel O'Sullivan, Matthew Thompson, and David ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
