Search Results for "Scott Frampton"

Tiny Lights were a perfectly lovely jumble of plaintive pop, Close to the Edge-style epics, jazzy forays and neo-hippie lullabies that, if not for a procession of label failures, might have found an audience as broad as its tastes. While the quintet’s brand of fragile, childlike folk-pop has led many a sincere young combo down…

As bassist for two of the finest post-punk/guitar noise bands of their era, Breaking Circus and Rifle Sport (the latter also contained Todd Trainer, later of Brick Layer Cake and Shellac), Pete “Flour” Conway had a hand in shaping both the harsh Chicago sound of the mid-’80s and its more loosely defined Minneapolis counterpart. He…

Rob Gallagher was one of a handful of London DJs creating a club phenomenon out of the residue of acid house and the beginnings of British soul (Soul II Soul et al.) when Gilles Peterson and Eddie Pillar signed him as the first artist on their new Talkin’ Loud label. The project developed into a…

Los Angeles studio hounds Greg Kurstin and Tommy Jordan (Geggy Tah comes from baby-sister pronunciations of their names) thrive on patchwork eclecticism. Grand Opening is an inventive first record, a multi-culti implosion that sucks in all manner of styles and instruments — in their hands, steel drums, melodica, glass bottles and piano sound as natural…

Los Angeles’ Congo Norvell, the namesake partnership of guitarist Kid Congo Powers (Cramps, Gun Club, Bad Seeds) and singer Sally Norvell (Prohibition), is said to have begun at the deathbed of a mutual friend. After that dramatic beginning, the two set about assembling a band of eccentrics that, by its very nature, would produce eccentric…

The cover-up of Pantera’s early glam-metal albums is one of hard rock’s best in-jokes. The band grows belligerent at their mere mention, all but denying the records’ existence amid threats and obscenities. (As the albums were released on a label owned by the Abbott brothers — later known as guitarist Diamond, later Dimebag, Darrell and…

Tokyo’s United Future Organization produces and remixes artists, programs clubs and club nights, designs fashion and, as a sideline, has a hand in the future of international funk. Led by DJs Toshio Matsuura, Tadashi Yabe and Raphael Sebbag, UFO is a unique blend of hip-hop style, raw soul grooves and acid jazz cool. While the…

After Chrome disbanded in 1983, the subsequent solo careers of its two members left little doubt about where most of the creative energies in the pioneering San Francisco proto-industrial synth-rock group resided. Helios Creed’s eight solo LPs are scary stuff, dark psychedelia filled with blasts of chaotic guitar and disorienting tape manipulations. Damon Edge’s solo…

Play the Velvet Underground’s “Sister Ray” at half-speed — go ahead, do it — and you’ve got Swans plus a sense of humor and the possibility that, if you just adjust the speed control, everything will get good. Take away the sense of humor and the speed control, and you’ve got Swans. In all probability,…

The domestic release of two records by Armageddon Dildos is the only fruit, and bitter at that, of Sire’s licensing agreement with German techno label Zoth Ommog. Under the guidance of Bigod 20’s Talla 2XLC, Zoth Ommog’s exported releases had a big influence on the American post-house underground club scene of the late ’80s, taking…

MC Solaar was, for a time, the biggest hip-hop star in France. That may not sound like much of a claim, but his translations (both musical and linguistic) of hip-hop have been instrumental in internationalizing the form, and his recordings-including guest spots on other artists’ albums-have given him substantial cachet among America’s rap cognoscenti. Born…

While all involved will insist that it is a band, Jamiroquai is, for all intents and purposes, Jason Kaye, a skinny Mancunian with a ’70s soul jones, a goofy hat (that’s him in silhouette on the cover of both records) and a knack for replicating the sound of Stevie Wonder. Emergency on Planet Earth is…

Los Angeles native Justin Warfield was still in his teens when he contributed three tracks to a 1991 compilation produced by Quincy Jones’ son. He was barely 20 when My Field Trip to Planet 9 was released, and that record’s promise, combined with his youth, led many to expect great things of the psychedelicized rapper.…

San Francisco’s Faith No More began on the indie scene’s Marshall plan, playing a muscular mongrel rock mix containing funk, metal, hip-hop, hardcore and keyboards that punks could easily appreciate. Leading off with the dynamic and inspirational chant/roar of “We Care a Lot,” the first album (a Matt Wallace production that was remastered and reissued…