UKMIX
http://redhotcountry.co.uk
Coming up
fast in the popularity stakes is country music. Those who love are mad about it
and those who don't hate it to death. Either way if Lyle Lovett et al are your
cup of tea, then pop along and check it out.
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http://www.gnn.com/gnn/wic/music.26.html
Yes,
Elvis is alive and living in cyberspace. This shrine, created by schoolgirl
Andrea Berman to 'honour Elvis and his cultural and musical legacy', is a must
for fans. Visitors can tour Graceland, starting outside those famous gates.
Listen to sound clips from classics like Love Me Tender, Heartbreak Hotel and
Hound Dog.
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http://www.windham.com
Windham Hill
is a Los Angeles-based, independent record company and if you're into any of its
artists - such as the Jazz Passengers and the Steve Morse Band - you'll love
this site. For each artist, there's tour information, a biography and a
discography; and for each release, there's a song list, album notes, reviews and
a sound clip. If you visit the Listening Room you can download video samples as
well as music. Theres also an Interact section where you can chat with others
about all things musical.
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http://www.war-of-the-worlds.com/
Just
when you thought the quadruple concept album was dead and buried along comes the
Web site of this hangover from the seventies. Julie Covington, Justin Hayward
and other deadbeats were involved in this awful enterprise and it's here again
in all its glory with complete spoken text and lyrics of the album, sound
samples and clips of music. The whole thing is designed to publicise the newly
released CD. Quick, run for the hills before it's too late.
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http://www.demon.co.uk/volume/home.html
Logical
sideways move for Volume, the monthly multimedia
music-paper-CD-and-CD-Rom-type-book-affair, which is most remembered for always
having a fish on the cover. This includes bits and pieces from back and current
issues, further explorations into its unhealthy obsession with techno and
trance, and more references to songs from those indie bands that go in the
charts at No. 38 and then drop straight back out again. One major omission is
the lack of sound files, making a mockery of the title and spirit of the
magazine. Highlights include spoof pop news in Graham and Arthur's Newsround
(Graham and Arthur are Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews, the two young rogues
responsible for Father Ted, Paris and the episode of Coogan's Run that featured
Mike Crystal). Hurrah!
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http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/4210/
They
want you, they want you, they want you as a new recruit"" - the Indian, the
cowboy, the biker, the cop and the soldier are here in all their macho glory.
With 20 million singles and 28 million albums sold worldwide the Village People
are no laughing matter. This site has the obligatory discography, lyrics, and
history plus individual biographies of the members of the band - none of whom
have gone on to great things I'm afraid. Not badly designed, this is a genuinely
enthusiastic site.
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http://www.clubuk.co.uk/agency/
A
comprehensive listing of DJs covering just about everything, from house and
garage, through trip hop, hip hop and onto indie and retro. There are a few
links to the club scene around the UK which have great pics of the venues but
where the punters have sadly packed up and gone home for an early night and a
hot milky drink.
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http://www.muohio.edu/~carmance/sp/
The
other Seattle band, the 'Kins have managed to move from US college and Reading
crowds to Top 10 success with their recent album and singles. This fan site
holds everything you need to know about the band, their records and tour dates.
Following the recent death of a fan at a gig in Dublin, the site also hosts the
Stop Moshing pages which highlight the dangers that fans may encounter at gigs.
The Pumpkins' Web site also includes images from their recent appearance on The
Simpsons.
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http://www.rwcc.com
Of course we don't
hate Rick Wakeman, the wacky white-haired ex-Yes man, is now a true English
eccentric and, after several appearances on Danny Baker, a noted after-dinner
speaker as well. Having perpetrated some perfectly awful electric piano in his
early years, Rick has matured into an engagingly oafish raconteur and celebrity
showbiz monster and it's this cheeky sense of silliness and mischief that
infects his own personal Web pages. A dash through his discography, live
appearances and assorted merchandise is complemented with a warmly written
biography which manages to mention, alongside his important life moments,
playing golf with Tarby and being a judge on Masterchef. Fans may find the small
ads of interest and for the rest of us it's still good fun.
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http://web2.airmail.net/jkinney
The
page for those who seek the wailing of washed-out rock stars. This is an
excellent celebration of Stevie Nicks. For most people Fleetwood Mac are an
'Albatross' but this site turns expectations on their head. It's all here;
Stevie's songs, concert photos, set lists, press, chat and a mailing list.
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http://www.netchart.co.uk/
Caffeine-fuelled
pages for the Pepsi Network Chart Show (bit show to change the logo, what?) in
which the Top Ten is the only section done on sales. They make the rest up!
Apart from the chart, there's some crap clip art of a ghetto blaster and that
lardy loud-mouthed DJ, Dr Fox, gets a look-in. So what if it's the most listened
to show on the radio? It's rubbish! Well, this site is, anyway.
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http://archive.uwp.edu/pub/music/lyrics/
Karaoke
without the kitsch music? That round in Pop Quiz where contestants have to guess
the song from a few words read out in the wrong rhythm? Just two fantastic games
you can use the Lyrics Page to play! If you want to find out what Elvis mumbled
in the third verse of Heartbreak Hotel or how many times Abba say –ah-ha” in
Voulez Vous then this simple-to-use, search and destroy database picks out the
lyric or performer you're looking for and presents you with the searched on
song's words. Bonus result if it includes chord changes.
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http://www.cen.uiuc.edu/~pzurich/zztop.html
An
exhaustive look at the tres hombres from Texas with a full catalogue listing.
There's nothing special about the design, it seems all the energy has been
directed to straight rockin' information. The biogs are short and funny and the
tone of the site as a whole is in keeping with the persona the guys put across
in their work. Of late, the band has moved away from the cartoon characters of
'Gimme All Your Lovin' and 'Legs' back towards their blues roots, though, given
a recent performance on later with Jools Holland, the volume pedal is still
definitely stuck at 11. Much like the footie sites on page 68, this has been
crafted out of a passion for a subject rather than an exercise in good Web
design . Lots of wimmin, whiskey and whining guitar licks, if you like that sort
of thing!
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http://orion.zianet.com/files/users/jjohnson/
Fannish
weighty tome for troubled Hollywood film star, torch singer and tragic gay icon.
Packed to the rafters with catalogues of films, LPs, magazine articles and
sundry MGM memorabilia, Jim Johnson's fawning hagiography pays scant attention
to the more salacious aspects of Judy's life † five husbands, mental breakdowns
and a speed freak to boot † but instead trades lists, links and knowledge like a
game of top trumps. It's like saying Somewhere over the Rainbow is just a cute
film about a girl and her dog. Lacks opinion and personality, which is shameful
given that its inspiration is a woman with so much of both, but Garland fans
will love it!
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http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~mwheeler/high_llamas.shtml
Anything
about The High Llamas calls for big-time touting. Names like Brian Wilson, Burt
Bacharach and John Barry often appear in the same sentence and the band's main
man, ex-Microdisney mister, Sean O'Hagan is always described as a real
cleverclogs. Been playing too much with his Camberwell mates i.e. Stereolab, eh?
Anyhow, Mike Wheeler's semi-offical site is hardly a revelation, but it's all
you really need. Some introductory wav. files for beginners, the usual words and
pictures, an article from Mojo etc. The message board doesn't get above the
level of album reviews and the links page doesn't lower itself to larks about
real Llamas. Shame. It's all a bit like Hawaii, the last album † everso nice,
but not enough.
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http://flatearth.tdolby.com/
Little
hint in the address here, this is barmy conceptual epicentre of hyperactive pop
head honcho, Thomas Dolby. Perhaps you could never stomach his wacky specs, wild
Magnus Pike arm waggling or mad scientist screechy mumblings, but that's no
reason not to visit his excellent Web site. Aside from snippets of the hits
(including She Blinded Me Wth Science and I Scare Myself), there's an index of
lyrics, a press archive and a spooky video section. Uploading your own
electro-nonsense is definitely 'on' although some of the formats (MPEG/CD for
instance) are not exactly commonplace. The Test Lab is an extraordinarily useful
little page that allows you to test whether PC, Mac or Unix, you have the
appropriate helper application to play a particular file. If you don't the
'help' button takes you straight to Mr Dolby's download room so you can get it
straight away. Hit me with technology.
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http://www.artofsilence.co.uk
The
Art of Silence is the brainchild of JJ Jeczalik, founder member of the Art of
Noise. JJ's site pushes back the boundaries, at least as far as sampling is
concerned. In the spirit of the Art of Noise, the Web site includes a number of
samples for visitors to download. JJ is also keen to receive mixes and will post
the best (or should that be the worst) onto the site. However, the site is
spoilt by poor navigation and page layout. Pages which cry out to be viewed in
one piece require the use of the scroll bar. It just goes to prove that even
without frames you can still produce a site which looks messy and
unattractive.
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http://www.moose.co.uk/pub/userfiles/tonyjudge/home.htm
Those
who recall the likes of Wreckless Eric, Lene Lovich, Jona Lewie and a young man
called Elvis will love this homage to the mighty Stiff Records. Still in its
early days, the site contains a full discography from the first single (Nick
Lowe) through the full catalogue. Just remember † if it ain't a STIFF it ain't
worth a F*$£!
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http://www.maths.monash.edu.au/%7Erjh/stereolab/index.html
Boffo
duophonic ultra-high frequency fun with super electric sooper groop, Stereolab.
Longstanding lo-fi convert Robin has drawn pie charts and graphs of fans' fave
tracks and LPs, and added a link to –the amorphous body study center art school
sesh” by Charles Long and the band. Along with the usual discography, song
words, pix, personal tributes and Lab reports, there's a 1991 Quicktime clip of
a Rough Trade live performance and a spot of French Disko from Channel 4's The
Word. Absolute top emperor tomato ketchup.
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http://www.users.interport.net/~joholmes/index.html
Move
over Mike Flowers Pops, this is the real thang... Space Age Bachelor Pad music
is to the cocktail nation what Waikiki is to Hawaii! A firey brew of Martini
madness and swingin' singles † the lush strings of Mantovani, the Polynesian
sway of Martin Denny, the tinkly bossa of Ferrante and Teicher and loungecore
lizard Lenny Dee. This stack of back catalogue, reissues and your Uncle Lou's
record collection is shot through with the percussive exotica of a bar after
hours † discographies, clubs and magazines plus stylish society discussion. All
it lacks is the English contingent. Calling Karminsky, calling Count Indigo. Dig
this!
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http://leeds.soundcity.co.uk/soundcity/main.html
All
the information you'll need on Sound City's annual knees up, coming live and
direct this year from lovely Leeds. As well as the venues and line-ups (Manics,
Cast, Orbital, The Wannadies, Whipping Boy) there's also a list of industry
seminars, including one on the Internet and the music business. Paul Saunders,
one of the creators of Virgin's Raft site, will also be in attendance.
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http://users.aimnet.com/~mladonn/
Saddo
seditionary indulgence for punks that never died! Give the reunion tour a miss,
stick on God save the Queen and smash your way through this tribute † anarcho
nonsense of the nth degree. Despite some song lyrics and a few old snaps of Sid
bleeding on stage and Johnny Rotten looking... well, rotten, this doesn't really
live the Pistols' legacy. The ordered structure of the pages seems at odds with
the band's rebellious ethos. They may not have minded the bollocks, but expect a
great deal here.
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http://www.rise.co.uk/pulp/
Pure
70s suburban kitsch and Saturday Night Fever trash aesthetic put Pulp's official
arsing around on the Internet in a different class. Band member profiles, past
press coverage and exclusive interviews look as though they were pulled straight
from the pages of Jackie, whilst mini skits from recent videos mean the mighty
Jarv performs much snaked-hipped, skinny-arsed finger twitching in the privacy
of your own desktop. Forsaking the airbrushed gloss of glam pop photography, the
band has opted for seedy send-in snaps from sweaty faced pubescent post-gig
fans. Is this you? An appropriately awkward, messy bit in an otherwise flashy,
fun-filled official package.
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http://www.demon.co.uk/pastel/
PastelBlue's
a CD and video store that wants your business, and is willing to bribe you with
muso and vid charts, search facilities, links to a currency calculator,
LaserDisc lists, and the very cool Internet Movie Database. I know they're
trying to appeal to yer lugholes, but the site designer should go to the
imagination storeƒ apart from some blinky text, it's words words words. And no
sounds either. Shame.
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http://www.osmond.net
Lots of little
Osmonds everywhere, said 70's tribute band Denim and the Net has now been
occupied by everyone's favourite Mormon family. This is the official site put
together by Big Alan Osmond (apparently called Big Al by the family as 'he is
the tallest') and in my short time on this site I learned a lot. Marie Osmond is
still unmarried and has her own range of dolls, Donny is appearing in Joseph in
Boston, Branson Missouri is the family's second home and site of the Osmond
Family Theatre which currently has the family in the Hot Country Revue on Ice -
I kid you not! All the references to The Family are a bit scary and Mansonesque
and there's definitely something spooky about the whole thing. Maybe it's just
me.
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http://www.orchestranet.co.uk
A Web
site about orchestras might not immediately appeal, but you should take a look
at this site to see how you make a potential dry subject fun. The main reason
for this is that the authors of this site don't take themselves, or their
subject, too seriously. You can vote in the OrchestraNET Classical Music Survey,
play Name That Tune and even write a review for the site. There is also
information about almost every orchestra in the country, along with contact
details, plus links to their Web sites, where relevant.
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http://www.elmail.co.uk/music/motown
You
won't find the Manic Street Preachers' first single here at the home page of
Detroit's Motown Records. What you will find are clips and news from a selection
of new, former and faithful artists all with that unique Mo'town soun'.
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http://www.fanemporium.com/michael.html
The
Man, The Music, The Magic...and The Mullet. Michael's Web site, like his music,
is a great disappointment. His Boltness is strictly business when it comes to
selling membership for the fan club - $28.00 gets you two 8x10-inch mono photos,
a colour one, biography, badge and membership card. Discounts on merchandise,
specially reserved concert seats and a Michael Bolton bumper sticker can all be
had with the Michael Bolton Gold Card.
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http://www.rise.co.uk/menswear/
Plenty
of sucked-in cheekbones, skinny-hipped swagger, tight under the arms
suit-wearing and badly dyed hair. Best bit is daft poseur polaroids of pretend
celebrity mates (you don't have to make it up, y'know) in Simon Snaps Stars.
Worse bits are the boring, yawny biogs, fill-out form for the fan club and lack
of anything much else. Geek glam indie stardust style over paucity of worthwhile
content. Sounds familiar!
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http://www.lso.co.uk
If the Jilly
Copper book didn't put you off for life and the spirit of the Last Night of the
Proms is still firing your patriotic spirit then this one's for you. A monthly
updated site of news, concert information and historical background of the LSO,
it is well annotated, easy to use and well presented. Bookings via email are
promised in the near future dragging the gentile world of classical music in the
21st Century. Ludwig van lives. And he's going multimedia.
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http://194.128.198.201/maiden/
Officially
sanctioned satanic pop ritual from long-time metal merchants, The Maiden (Nobody
calls 'em that † Ed). Following the departure of comedy novelist, Bruce
Dickinson, the band are reincarnated with recent recruit, Blaze Bayley, formerly
rebel frontman with ferocious foaming Brit rockers, Wolfsbane. Tired tour info,
album details, fan club minutes and kosher merchandise will satisfy fans but few
others. Who rhymes 'daughter' with 'slaughter' these days anyway?
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http://www.mindspring.com/~neppie/deb/
Not
without irony this deliciously daffy Debbie Gibson tribute is excellently put
together nevertheless. There are all sorts of simpering snippets and samples of
songs and spontaneous radio singalongs, TV appearances in QuickTime as well as
autographed albums, fan snaps and letters from the lovely lady herself. Even if
you can't name one of her hits, or you're actually thinking about Tiffany
instead. Debbie has a quote for all her online debheads, ""I've learned to have
a sense of humour about myself. Lord knows everyone else does!"" Never a truer
word.
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http://www.mistral.co.uk/lars/eternal.html
You
can forgive these three saucy songstrels anything, even that poncy power ballad
that was all Whitney-ed up for their assault on the American chart. I Am Blessed
is not how the rest of us felt girls, with the exception, perhaps, of one Lars
Janssen whose labours have made this unofficial homage to Eternal a very popular
place for fans to hang out. Sadly lacking in sound files, it has plenty of all
the other usual stuff † biogs, discography, pictures, lyrics, tour dates and
press coverage. Just one point of information, however, when Louise left the
band, Lars made the difficult decision to really let her go alone, coverage was
halted at the cursory three line biog and the site became a Louise-free zone.
Never liked her anyway.
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http://www.led-zeppelin.com/emagic.html
Still
the essential Led Zeppelin site, Electric Magic has risen from a Canadian-based
magazine of the same name and has just been revamped with a shiny new address.
This site is a real labour of love and anyone with even a passing interest in
the band will spend hours here. A full discography with complete lyrics, a photo
archive and lots of top inline movies if you view the site with IE3. A great
site suddenly got better - a case of the site doesn't remain the same !
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http://www.eccosys.com/ELEBUGI/index.html/
Just
a quick mention for a Japanese hip hop mag, which can be read in either English
or Japanese. It's got some quite good graphics and The Verdict, Sound Sauce and
Rotation are full of reviews, samples and a hip hop chart. Best of all, though,
if you're off to Japan, you'll find a list of shops, clubs and kinda hip hop
stomping grounds where you can check out the phattest soundz.
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http://www.Dischord.co.uk/Dischord/
Discord
adds a distinctly British flavour to the growing ranks of music and lifestyle
mags 'n' zines on the Internet, publishing articles on anything from easy
listening and angsty lads' thirtysomething literature to house music's debt to
black, gay disco and Japan's hardcore anime. Its posse of established pedigree
writers † Jay Strongman, David Lubich † have something of a reputation as
regulars on the UK music and club scene. The writing is of a high standard and
text is prioritised, but its overall tone † purposely one presumes from the
title † strikes a rather jarring note. Dischord seems to be the mouthpiece for a
bunch of aggrieved hacks using it to voice their gripes against the mainstream
media and established music press. While they may have a point, they come across
as angry old men. These purely parochial grievances over who or what is not
getting published these days are rather wearing and, in an otherwise great mag,
rather out of place.
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http://www.io.com/~hfa/BluesProject/BLUES.HTM
What
is it? A long wait... followed by some screechy soul-searching, blusey wailing,
gutsy geetar lurching and the best howlin' fun you ever had † kinda! Dave's
Blues loads a 195k chunk of Shockwave into your browser and a cartoon tableau of
your average beer commercial blues imagery appears. Only it's really cool, a bit
like Raymond Briggs' couple in When The Wind Blows. The old guy starts strumming
and after a while you feel like playing along. Try clicking on the stuff lying
around and make like John Lee Hooker.
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http://www.clysmic.com/faq/index.html
Quite
simply an archive of all Ms Baby Doll's sulky Internet postings collated in the
alt.fan.courtney-love FAQ. No longer heralded as Hole's indie-rock heroine but
as a misunderstood harpy monster. We waver between the two.
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http://www.pi.net/~msching/home.html
Rather
irresistibly this site has been set up by The Cliff Richard Club Movement, which
may say less about Cliff's music and more about his anal-retentive happy clappy
bowels. At the risk of offending almost everyone, this site is awful simply
because it is about Sir Cliff. Although apparently he is a star (forgetting for
a moment he lacks a little of its quality) because Amber M. Beattle and Pam
Gallan have chosen an insignificant stellar twinkle in the constellation of
Cygnus and named it 'The Sir Cliff'. Heathcliff information, including stamps to
be issued and a scanned in ticket is all here in full.
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http://www.maxis.co.uk/chimera
Home
to a minor league London-based independent record label and consequently the
bizarrely surreal musical stable of Vylinda and the band Shag, Chimera's dark
and moody prescence is a fine example of small is good † pity the music
is...er...not to Internet's taste.
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http://www.vmg.co.uk/chemicalbros
Kings
of the breakbeat and bass superheroes, the Chemical Brothers have been making an
almighty racket for the last couple of years with some blinding singles and a
top-notch album. This site features a few amusing stories about the boys and an
excellent Chemical Brothers ride that requires you to download yet another
plug-in. The site also has some loops of tracks to download. If you haven't
heard of them, you're obviously so badly out of touch that you'd consider buying
the latest Boyzone album. Have a look at this site though - there's still stuff
to enjoy even if it's not your idea of great music.
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http://casbah.dmn.com
When Casbah
claims it –will help you locate music on the Internet” they're only telling
mini-porkies. Okay, it's a resource site with links to artists, groups and new
releases, garnished with some muso industry gossip, a Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame
and online search facilities from Mozart to Blur. But where's the actual music,
eh? The mapping's iffy too and lots of material is totally redundant. Still,
you're only a click away from the Sandbox, with some interactive fun stuff, or
you could join the Caravan. This promises to let you –follow your favorite bands
on tour” but turns out to be a music groupie sit-com soap about Electronic
Spanking of War Babies. Oh them!
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http://www.algonet.se/~frank/bucks.htm
There's
probably someone somewhere out there who is desperate to get their hands on the
Bucks Fizz Flexipop live medley of Pinball Wizard/Hot Stuf/Do You Think I'm
Sexy/Knock On Wood/Rockin' All Over The World. This guy's got it. And come off
it, they were great, weren't they? You know you want to visit this page, if only
to remind yourself just how ugly Mike Nolan was (before the accident...sorry!)
or the name of the girl who took Jay's place when she quit the group. Even now
you're probably humming The Land of Make Believe. This is a well put together,
seemingly without irony, tribute to an 80s pop sensation. It's good but it's
very information-led and needs a bit more opinion, like –They were good...No,
honestly they were”.
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http://www.breaks.com/
Oh my gosh, an
original and essential selection of label profiles, reviews of tunes and bedroom
breakbeat opportunities for those into hardcore, jungle, hardstep and darkside.
Beginners may want to take The Journey Inta Da Jungle to fully comprehend when
and how this chopped up drum-and-base style came about because Breaks takes its
genre pedigree very seriously, and with its mix of news, articles and mailing
list comment it convincingly locates the junglist community on music's highly
intelligent and creative cutting edge. For those who know, rinsin' it all the
way.
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http://www.demon.co.uk/bjornagain/
[bjorn.pcx]
Bjorn Volvo-us, Frida Longstokin, Agnetha Falstart and Benny Anderwear welcome
you to their Abba lookey-likey site. The site contains the full list of tour
dates - they're on the road right now you'll be glad to hear - along with a
smattering of photos of the band and a full discography. Makes you long for the
days of side-burns, naff dancing and stack heeled boots - I feel a dancing queen
moment coming over me right now.
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http://www.1212.com/
Searching for a
bagpipes player or someone to pitch in with the 'doo wops'? 1.2.1.2. is a
directory of music industry professionals, from songwriters to roadies, session
singers to entertainment lawyers. PAs, lighting rigs, recording studios and
equipment hire are all listed across the UK and Europe. Obviously a pretty
specialised service. Testing, testing, 1.2...
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http://www.fender.com/
Fancy yourself
as Richie Sambora? Then you should definitely plug into the electrifying fun of
FenderWorld. A huge list of every Fender product ever, company milestones and
corporate history (uh-huh), all axe questions answered, celebrity stratocaster
owners speak out (yeah, that means Sheryl Crow). Rockin' in a kind of American
white trash way. Cool!
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http://pastperfect.com
Past Perfect
is a mail order company specialising in the digitally remastered sounds of the
20s, 30s and 40s. The site is far more than a Web warehouse for old 78 records,
it's a perfectly constructed, beautifully crafted store with full track
listings, sleeve notes and sleeve art from its current tape and CD catalogue.
This includes jazz classics, songs from the musicals, orchestral dance tunes,
operatic pieces and big band sounds † Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Billie
Holiday, George and Ira Gershwin, Fred Astaire, George Formby, Beniamano Gigli
and Glenn Miller's Moonlight Serenade. The competition to win some quality
product asks you to identify little snatches of tunes. A toe-tapping experience
whether you buy or not.
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http://ns.ph.liv.ac.uk:80/~mbs/felt/
Quite
possibly the best moment in an unscreened pilot pop show recorded years back by
Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer is when they get Lawrence, the very skinny
monosyllabic lead singer of a band called Denim, and plonk him on a set of
weighing scales. How we laughed! This is an anecdote audacious in its
irrelevance, although presumably Martin Smith, the bloke who put these pages
together, would appreciate it. He's followed Lawrence's career from the band
Felt through to Denim with a fannish earnestness that means he has dilligently
included a complete discography, along with pictures and current tour date news.
Alas, little evidence of a lively mind at work and the dry genius of Lawrence's
lyrics is not reflected here.
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http://atlantic-records.com/
A
halfway decent collection of Atlantic-signed bands and their home pages † Tori
Amos, Hootie and the Blowfish, Jimmy Page and Julianna Hatfield amongst them.
Every artist on the label is also entered into the Tour Database, making it
possible to check on a gig anywhere in the world. Particularly cool is the
gallery which, though unavoidedly slow to download, comprises still and moving
images by artist Ari Marcopoulos.These include odd phrases and fine black and
white photographs and is rather a bizarre piece for a record company to exhibit.
Of course this is good † it's had heaps of money thrown at it †<but it'll be
even better once they've got their back catalogue sorted out.
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http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/square/fy60/tap1.htm
At
the time of writing, (i) this fanzine had not been updated for two whole months
and (ii) using my browser the background was more legible than the text. These
two crucial things aside, This Almighty Pop deserves a special mention as an
example of do-it-yourselfness and as champion of the twee indie pop scene, last
big in the late 80s. Reports from an ex-Go Between, missives from Sarah Records,
a few bars from The Byrds' Tambourine Man † this is all we need. Nostalgic for
post-punk, pre-riot grrl days, this is sweet little site † all power to the
jangly pop kids.
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Page |
http://www.billboard-online.com/
Known
internationally for publishing the American pop charts, Billboard is in fact
America's weekly music and record industry trade paper and magazine. Rather than
post the Top 40 each week, Billboard Online prefers to showcase its album
charts, presumably because these are the ones that really deliver sales. As a
site it offers informative entertainment news on a daily basis, articles from
the magazine and an 'ask the expert' forum that deals with music marketing and
promotion. For the full run of chart archives and statistics, Billboard Online
has its own library of information but it's unlikely that anyone other than
industry big shots will fork out the cost of installing the $39 special software
and pay the extra $1.59 per minute to access these services. Pah!
Top of Page |
http://www.io.org/~buff/sinatra.html
A
complete essential for swingin' lovers of Frank Sinatra, this hits all the right
'hup hup' notes and joins in with the high kicks. It's a great site for fans of
Ol' Blue Eyes, not because it has a good biog and comprehensive discography
(that's standard by now) but because of all the extras and loving details: the
best records to start your Frank collection with; original press from Frank's
mobster exploits in the 50s; Bono's tribute from the Grammys; a Playboy
interview from 1963; notes on the cool crooner's vocal range; and how Frank
makes his favourite spaghetti sauce. Listen, it's Frank's planet...and there's
no denying that.
Top of
Page |
http://www.obsolete.com/flyers/
Kind
of like the flyer-bedecked front window of some scarily stush record shop, this
site posts clubs' details using their flyers as illustrations. Tops for techno
but a little light on the other stuff, it's currently loaded towards London
listings but includes some excellent reviews of heavy rotation tunes.
Top of Page |
http://www.musicians-net.co.uk.
Predominantly
of interest to geetar players and music producers, this is the umbrella site for
the publications The Mix, Recording, Keyboard Review, Bassist, Rhythm, Guitarist
and Guitar Techniques. It looks really good and if you've read the magazines
offline and know what you're looking for, it's probably quite good fun.
Otherwise, it'll take a while to find items on your favourite guitar solos. Teen
music mag Hip Hop Connection is also available, but looks a little out of place
here.
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http://east.isx.com/~schnitzi/elvis.html
From spiky wordsmith and new wave angry young man to a more mellow,
aging crooner of breathtaking eclecticism, Declan McManus has always inspired as
much respect as he has devotion. This is a seriously superb collection of
Costello discographies, FAQs, lyrics and upcoming events that'll make any Elvis
fan get happy. Mark Schnitzius, who maintains the site, helps move things along
by encouraging people to chat on IRC, add to the site and participate in his
polls . No surprise on the favourite album front † Imperial Bedroom wins by a
mile. An excellent site.
Top of Page |
http://www.marshallphoto.com/
Jim
Marshall is the man who officially photographed Woodstock (the first time
around) and was backstage at the Beatles' last show. View his images of Jimi
Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, The Who and any number of the jazz greats
and you begin to wonder how come he's still around. Apparently Dennis Hopper
based the character he plays in Apocalyse Now on this man. Hey, rock 'n'
roll.
Top of Page
|
http://www.msci.memphis.edu/~ryburnp/discoweb.html
Download
that disco ball and get on down. This site will have you snappin' your fingers
and twitching your hips to its Saturday Night Fever selection of 70s stompers
and anthemic soul grooves. As well as a list of 101 hits, it has links to Doug's
Disco Jukebox, an article on the International Leisure Suit Convention and
alt.culture.us.1970s. Burn baby burn, disco inferno!
Top of Page |
http://www.pollstar.com/
Want to
know who's playing King Tut's Wah Wah Hut on Wednesday? Or when you can next
catch the 'Swear? Pollstar's database of concert schedules is searchable by
artist, city and even venue, and seems to work worldwide.
Top of Page |
http://www.ari.net/se/se/se_start.html
Fed
up with the music press? With reviewers who get it wrong? This site takes a
sample of your favourite listening (your five fave LPs) and a day later sends
you an email of other stuff you might like. Internet tried it and it worked,
with one exception...Robert Palmer no way!
Top of Page |
http://www.wfu.edu/~david/rem/
David
Woodward is devoted to REM and, as you'd expect, he has written up a
discography, a list of tour dates and a bit about some box set! Mostly this is
worth seeing because the information looks good. It's on a blazing orange
background and is lovingly laid out. It is also the place to learn the chords
for Orange Crush.
Top of
Page |
http://www.worldserver.pipex.com/nc/Jazz/
Jazz
Services is a UK organisation which subsidises touring for musicians and bands
and, essentially, this site explains that. There's a limited amount of advice
and information for performers here, but it's not that they don't have a wealth
of knowledge, it's just that not much of it appears here.
Top of Page |
http://www.netpoint.be/abc/music/nyman
An
appropriately serious and well crafted set of pages on the master of the modern
film score.
Top of
Page |
http://nwlink.com/~timelvis/
A
mansion-sized tribute to theme park Elvis, including a host of impersonators
like Zucchini Elvis and Budgie Elvis. Tim (Elvis), the site's creator, also
posts some of the best and most bizarre bits from newsgroups about the King and,
lastly, he includes links to just about every place where there's a whole lotta
shakin' goin' on.
Top of
Page |
http://www-cecs.evansville.edu/~jw2/index3.html
OK,
so calling it Jamie's Crackhouse, it's not big and it's not clever, but the hard
work and skills that turned these hip hop pages into something pretty passable
make up for it to some extent. Trying to broaden out a bit, Jamie's had it with
the East Coast v West Coast thing. Check 'What's Phat?', the samples from
Raekwon, Outcast and Redman, as well as a complete page of props to Biggie
Smalls.
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http://www.acpub.duke.edu/~eja/pfunk.html
Welcome
to the Mothership connection - a discography, set of images and FAQ about the
completely whacked out music combos of one Mr George Clinton. Given it's almost
impossible these days to hear a hip hop tune that hasn't ripped off or been
influenced by Clinton, it's a shame this page doesn't make the most of that and
instead retreats into a collector's completism. Make my funk a P-Funk anyway.
Top of Page |
http://www.mw3.com/
Set aside a couple
of days to sift through all the information in MW3. As well as housing band home
pages, record labels, ezines, a club date database, even where to get hold of
print music, there's a load of industry stuff on agents, production companies,
publishing and studios. Manufacturers and retailers of music software and
equipment even get a section all on their own. However, because taste in music
is pretty much a subjective thing, it's a case of wasting several hours before
finding something you're really into. There is a jungle section!
Top of Page |
http://www.rise.co.uk/orbital/
Orbital's
progressively-rendered, opening graphic changes its message as you gaze. The
site also claims to be the first commercial site using CD link (see feature
p.24). Top techie implementation aside, its clean graphics show characteristic
stadium techno taste. Orbital fans will not be disappointed by some of the
exclusives or the Quicktime video of the band's computerised 3D model stage
design (yawn).
Top of
Page |
http://www.easynet.co.uk/goodvibe/greens.htm
A
chance to mail-order some records from one of the best big-name reggae labels in
Britain. This is basically in catalogue format, and includes all your
favourites, from Mad Cobra, Mega Banton and Snagga Puss to Beenie Man, Marcia
Griffiths and Bounty Killer. Rewind Selector.
Top of Page |
http://www.dotmusic.com
It's all
very well having a 'dotmusic: music to the power of the dot,' but has nobody
told them that if you pronounce the name of this site 'properly' it reads 'dot
dotmusic'. Well really. Anyways, music industry trade mag Music Week and sister
dance specialist Record Mirror are here in abbreviated form. The Official UK
Charts go up each week on Monday at 6pm, but that's 24 hours after you'd heard
Mark Goodier counting down the top forty on Radio 1. Lame.
Top of Page |
http://underground.net/Rocktropolis/
Sweaty
rock'n'roll concept site, with all the dubious charm of Sunset Strip. Take your
pick from the Main Stage, the Tribal Basement or the Hemisphere Lounge, and
sample some pop-star lifestyle or rather a dodgy mix of iffy bands. Catering for
high or low bandwidth surfing babes, the killer graphics still take some time to
load. Still, hang out in the chat room, check the talking comic or CU-SeeMe
doing something totally cool (not!). How about more music, less gimmicks? Just a
suggestion.
Top of
Page |
http://www.cerbernet.com/
Cerberus
is the much-hyped, much-hailed future of music retail. A digital jukebox which,
with the appropriate freely available software and the payment of a small fee,
will download music to your hard disc, it's like having a record store at home.
Still in its early days, so check which tracks are still up on the site for
free. It'll probably be a long while before we all get top-quality speakers
connected to our computers, and are prepared to sacrifice the freedom of playing
our tapes and cds round a friend's house, on the walkman or in the car.
Top of Page |
http://www.gold.net/users/ex14
For
those in search of a bluesy riff or a thrashy chord, this site is dedicated to
the geetar. Ocasionally precious, but more often rather predictable, this
article- and tuition-based site is for slightly more sophisticated Bert Weedon
fanatics, as well as expert, angst-ridden players and their axes.
Top of Page |
http://www.pbs.port.ac.uk/~sis5425
Run
by Bugsy at Portsmouth University, this is a good home page for the hairy trio
from the Midlands, who have won over many new fans on this summer's festival
circuit. Not bad for a band whose slogan is 'Let's all walk down that hill and
shag all the cows,' it says here.
Top of Page |
http://www.vmg.co.uk/fsol/
A
whole host of hidden surreal surprises lurk behind the spacey pictures in FSOL's
site. Ansaphone messages, sequenced sounds, jellyfish in Quicktime etc. Absolute
heaven for ambient types but not as cutting edge as Future fans might expect.
Seek and ye shall find.
Top of Page |
http://www.centrum.is/bjork
Promises
big time sensuality, delivers delicious snippets of ice-girl warbling and pretty
oops-it's-that-pixie-word-again vids and pics.
Top of Page |
http://www.nando.net/BeastieBoys/
Predictably
huge amounts of X-Large attitude abound since Mike D, Adrock and MCA have been
hip to the hyperreal for a long time. Check ya head with their entire back
catalogue and download their appearances with Fab 5 Freddy and from Saturday
Night Live. More than the usual quota of pics and info on Beastie enterprise
and, finally, top marks for reproducing the first issue of their cult mag, Grand
Royal. It's highly collectible, out of print and found in full here.
Top of Page |
http://www.hrc.wmin.ac.uk/J'sJoint
Space
Cowboy, Jason Kaye from Jamiroquai has invited everyone round his gaff and
throwing the best interactive house party in cyberspace is a rather more
ambitious project than the usual popstar page. Hit singles, album tracks and
videos can be accessed by playing records, listening to the radio and watching
tv. There are also a couple of treats for lucky sods with Director 4. The Jungle
MOO convenes in the back garden, a digitally constructed environment to talk,
skin up, just mess around. Being a gob-on-a-stick has often backfired when, in
the past, J has talked about environmental issues on the pages of Smash Hits.
Updates on road protest and crusading for his pet causes has finally found a
home.
Top of Page
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http://www.vmg.co.uk/massive/index.html
This
Bristol-based band's site on Virgin's Raft is one of the most entertaining sites
from a UK band so far. Large graphics may exclude those with slower links but
there is some pretty impressive stuff here. The site also features QuickTime
animations, lots of sound clips and Windows and Mac screen savers to
download.
Top of
Page |
http://www.hyperlink.com/orb/
From
their adventures beyond the Ultraworld to the new LP, ORBVS TERRARVM,
everybody's favourite technoheads remain the ultimate in dubby ambient cool. As
an official record company thing it's not really up to scratch, but start out
here and look for other links.
Top of Page |
http://lipstat.alcd.soton.ac.uk/~prbt/index.html
This
totally tip-top unofficial home page has just about everything for girls and
boys who love pseudo-cockernee mod/casuals, Blur.
Top of Page |
http://www.godiscs.co.uk/godiscs/welcome.html
Biogs,
release news and tour dates from all Go! Discs artists, including The Beautiful
South, The Frank & Walters, Portishead and the god-like Paul Weller. The
Portishead material is excruciating to download but includes video clips and
stills of To Kill A Dead Man and the stuff they projected onto the building
belonging to MI6.
Top
of Page |
http://www.classicalmus.com
Biographies,
histories, synopses and discographies, audio clips and secure CD ordering from
loads of classical music labels. This site caters for everyone from the casual
Classic FM listener to the obsessed opera queen.
Top of Page |
http://www.mtv.com/
For all the legal
pomp and wind with ex-VJ Adam Curry, MTV's eventual debut is a disgrace.
Top of Page |
http://www.unik.no/~robert/hifi/hifi.html
Your
hi-fi faintly distorts doesn't it? If the news, reviews and trade show reports
housed on this site aren't enough to convince you that your hi-fi's crap, link
to another site and find out that no matter how much you've spent, you're still
insulting your ears.
Top
of Page |
http://american.recordings.com/wwwofmusic/ubl.html
Search
for, or add, your favourite pop ensemble's Internet presences. It's
massive.
Top of Page
|
http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/usr/mk42/tyranny/warnspo.html
The
Spo-Its are a sexploitation musical outfit from Columbus, Ohio. They appear to
place a far higher emphasis on the visual aspect of their performances, than on
the fidelity of their recordings.
Top of Page |
http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~tzoq/Residents/
Finding online information about the world's finest and weirdest
neo-classical group is almost as hard as figuring out its members. The Residents
have performed anonymously, masked by their giant eyeball heads, since the early
70s, so efficient at concealing their identities that even their most avid fans
remain in the dark. This site is maintained by one such devotee, and although it
is the most dedicated tribute to the Residents on the Web to date, there are no
actual sound samples, no movie clips and, of course, no pictures of their faces.
If you've never been experienced, you'll just have to go out and buy the records
yourself.
Top of
Page |
http://www.vmg.co.uk
You'd never know
it unless you were told, but this is Virgin Records' home page. As such you will
find multimedia tidbits from several featured artists, such as Verve, Massive,
Boy George and Whale, as well as new talents on the Hut label. It's
groundbreaking in several ways with its product † rather than brand † focused
marketing, borderless images, multi-storyboarded unsignposted trips, coloured
text and musical screen savers. It's a site for sore eyes.
Top of Page |
http://www.siberia.is/badtaste/badhome.htm
Iceland's Bad Taste Records, founded and managed by the Sugarcubes,
whose lead singer Bjork has recently risen to iconic mainstream acceptance, has
been making a valiant effort to bring the country's underground talent to the
world's attention. Despite this, most of the samples to download here are from
groups you're unlikely to ever hear anywhere else. Cast aside your
preconceptions, take the time to browse and you'll be rewarded by fresh blasts
of arctic artistry.
Top
of Page |
http://www.geffen.com/
This
halfway-house of yesteryear's grunge fad gives you a taste of such artists as
the Courtney Love's band, Hole. Unfortunately, neither the page nor the music is
as fascinating as her antics. You'll also find the Stone Roses, Nirvana, Sonic
Youth and Mudhoney washed up amongst the driftwood.
Top of Page |
http://vivarin.pc.cc.cmu.edu/lyrics.html
Read
song lyrics from just about every pop group ever, from A-Ha to 999. The range
will astound you.
Top
of Page |
http://tito.hyperlink.com/mm/
MusicLink
offer a UK-based, site-building service to bands and music companies looking to
publish on the Internet. The Orb and Penguin Cafe Orchestra are early
starters.
Top of
Page |
http://www.nets.com/dcd
If you
haven't been exposed to the hauntingly beautiful music of the UK gothic group
Dead Can Dance, here's your chance. There is a 15-second cut from every song in
the band's eight-album history, as well as the usual biographies and tour
details.
Top of Page
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http://sun1.bham.ac.uk/cca93054/beatles/index.html
This
is another fun page from the house that brought you Megadeth. It's not the usual
clips, discography and tour dates-type service. Instead, you can send Beatles
postcards, Telnet into a Beatle chat session, read about the new Live at the BBC
release, hear various vocal samples, enter sweepstakes and indulge in a host of
other Beatles trivia. As with the Megadeth server, it's well designed, looks
great and you don't have to be a fan to enjoy the site.
Top of Page |
http://newton.Space.NET/yello/
This
is not just another music site: you can feel the presence of the eccentric
Dieter Meier and Boris Blank lurking in the background. There's a full
discography, and while you can't yet download any songs, you can download a few
of the raw samples which Yello used to create their last single, and a segment
of their recent Zebra video.
Top of Page |
http://www.wimsey.com/nettwerk/
Home
to such progressive fringe artists as Single Gun Theory, Severed Heads, MC 900
ft Jesus, Sarah Mclachlan, Consolidated and the Falling Joys. Not all artists
have the own page yet, but watch this site as Nettwork often finds a sound
several years before the mainstream.
Top of Page |
http://bird.taponline.com/~smishra/
If
you want to volunteer to take over or help with this site you'll be greeted with
open arms. That's if you're into the likes of Einst€rzende Neubauten,
Negativland, Skinny Puppy, Cabaret Voltaire and Ministry.
Top of Page |
http://www.maths.monash.edu.au/people/rjh/stereolab
Discography,
samples, news, interviews, reviews, pictures, T-shirts and tour dates from the
UK's finest 'groop to play space-age batchelor music'.
Top of Page |
http://www.music.indiana.edu/misc/music_resources.html
You'll
be overwhelmed by the quantity of music-related sites featured here. They're
split into academic, non-academic, user-maintained, geographically local sites
and artist-specific sites. These are further split into WWW, Gopher, Telnet and
FTP divisions.
Top of
Page |
http://www.eia.brad.ac.uk:80/kylie/
Provocative
lyrics, sexy soundbites, explicit track listings, x-rated videos, lurid scans
and access to every Kylie-porn resource thinkable. This one's in the adult
section due to Ms Minogue's calculated raunchiness.
Top of Page |
http://www.bbcnc.org.uk/bbctv/radio1/j_peel/
See
them here two years before they chart in the UK and 15 years before Rolling
Stone catches on.
Top
of Page |
http://www.maires.co.uk:80/nw2n/
Great
noise orientated independent showings from the likes of Bumgravy, Headbutt, Free
Kitten, Guv'ner and Huggy Bear.
Top of Page |
http://www.elmail.co.uk/music/
This
database features news on the UK music scene and showcases such talents as the
Stone Roses, Human League, PWEI, Terrorvision, Blur, Eternal, Positiva and
Kickin' Records. It's expanding rapidly and should develop into a great
site.
Top of Page
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http://www.southern.com/RA/
Ra
calls itself an authorised E-zine of E-zines. It's trying to attract as many
artists, bands and labels as possible in the ambient/experimental/trance/techno
world and bring them together as individual sites. All sorts of new and eclectic
stuff is likely to emerge in the near future.
Top of Page |
http://hyperreal.com/
Techno/ambient/rave
archives featuring reviews, lists, publications, drug discussions, tools and
shareware, sound samples, DJ sets, FAQs and links to other sites.
Top of Page |
http://www.ozonline.com.au/TotalNode/AIMC/surf.html
This
is a huge collection of less mainstream international music links and a separate
section of Australian Independent pages. The Ausmusic page features previews of
emerging talent and radio schedules of off-beat stations.
Top of Page |
http://www.cityscape.co.uk/users/ac46/indbuzz.htm
This
attractively presented site features all album covers, most lyrics, and far too
few track cuts. Although it's still under construction, it's getting plenty of
attention. You can even send fan email to Pete.Shelley@cityscape.co.uk
Top of Page |
http://cybersight.com/cgi-bin/cs/nnnn/Music
This
page allows you to hyperlink to a music page and then return and rate it with
either a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down. There's about a hundred listed, including
the Buzzcocks, Bjork, Ministry, the Orb, Sisters of Mercy, Morrissey and many
more.
Top of Page
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http://www.halcyon.com/rem/index.html
If
you think REM are dull, this collection of FAQs, lyrics, guitar chords, photos,
articles and links to other archives is unlikely to change your mind. File next
to Renee & Renato and REO Speedwagon.
Top of Page |
http://www.cs.umu.se/tsdf/kraftwerk
Demos,
live out-takes, interviews, lyrics, and the discography of the German techno
pioneers Kraftwerk can all be found here. There's also a selection of clones and
other synthetic groups.
Top of Page |
http://iuma.southern.com
It's a
good idea to choose the dull textual mode wherever possible on this graphically
intensive site. Indexing is not as efficient as it first appears and you will be
lucky to find much that's familiar. What you will discover is a treasury of
audio clips by new talent. This site is the European mirror and should
eventually develop a more local flavour.
Top of Page |
http://www.oulu.fi/music.html
This
rich seam includes a comprehensive catalogue to all kinds of music information
on the Internet, a MIDI home page, an online version of the All Music Guidebook,
and homes pages for artists, from Tori Amos to Frank Zappa.
Top of Page |
http://www.subpop.com
Mail order and
archives from the cheery Seattle home of the sadly defunct Nirvana, Mudhoney and
their ilk.
Top of
Page |
http://www.stones.com
Set up to
promote the Stones' recent Voodoo Lounge album and tour, this features tour
dates, text and video interviews with the Stones. This was the site of the
autumn 1994 live Internet concert broadcast which, although not a critical
success, was a brave and pioneering foray into what may one day be mainstream.
The video clips are a great idea, but in the time it takes to deliver the
Quicktime movies down even a fast modem connection you could form your own
R&B band.
Top of
Page |
http://www.mcs.com/~bliss/starchild/home.html
A
surprisingly business-like board covering the entire constellation of indie
music. Some of the featured artists offer downloadable self-running promo kits
for you to sample.
Top
of Page |
http://www.bazaar.com
A US music and
entertainment service that acrimoniously grew out of MTV (MTV sued to get the
exclusive use of the domain name mtv.com, the previous name for the Metaverse
Service). There's a range of sections of information about concert tours, new
releases, videos, and unsigned bands promoting themselves. This service has
become more commercial recently, with reader offers and shopping being added to
the mix.
Top of Page
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http://www.atom.co.jp
The exploding,
yet unfamiliar Asian pop scene may not be the next big thing, but it may just be
the next big thing after that. Watch this spot.
Top of Page |
http://www.galcit.caltech.edu/~ta/mtv/main.html
A
parody of Music Television (MTV) and Adam Curry's Metaverse. It can, however, be
hard to get on to.
Top
of Page |