american | Musicosity

american

Minmae

Minmae are a philosopher’s band. At the beginning, the band’s primary songwriter Sean Brooks had a purpose: “to deconstruct music through sound…to project the idea of a band that in reality was not a band at all.” Very Dadaist? Not anymore. Instead of nihilism, the band seems to have gone back a few centuries and adopted Aristotle’s Law of Identity, ie -Everything that exists has a specific nature. But what’s the point? The point is that Minmae’s specific nature is unpredictability. Case in point: name one other band who has the brass ones to begin an album with a nine-and-a-half-minute song.

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Prince Paul

Prince Paul (born Paul Huston) is a legendary DJ and hip hop producer. Prince Paul is known for having a very unorthodox, but mostly well-received sense of humor. Musically, he was one of the driving forces of what was to become known as alternative rap, by using surprising samples and quirky humour. Originally a member of Stetsasonic, he produced De La Soul's 1989 debut album 3 Feet High and Rising (It was on this album that Prince Paul invented the hip hop skit which has a long-standing and pervasive tradition on Hip hop albums to this day).

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R.A. the Rugged Man

R.A. the Rugged Man, real name R.A. Thorburn, is a rapper from Stony Brook, Long Island. He began his music career at age 12. At 18, he signed to Jive Records. R.A.'s legend, perpetuated by the P.R. biographies at his various labels, say he was dropped due to violent and disgusting behavior, but in interviews he disputes many of the more extreme stories told about him, adding that Jive just didn't know how to break new artists at the time.

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Kill the Client

The idea to create a southern grind band that would up the ante in American grindcore came about in July 2002, exactly one day after the demise of founding members Chris Andrews and James Delgado's sludge band EOTS. Violent, blistering grind seemed like the only interesting option after wandering the destructive quagmire of slow-as-mud riffs and pummeling sound levels for a few years, learning their instruments and gaining stage experience.

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Inter Arma

Inter Arma formed in 2007 in Richmond, VA. Playing many basements around the area and writing many songs, they released their debut, Sundown, in May 2010 via Forcefield Records. "Richmond's INTER ARMA totally floored me at The Charleston with their furious mix of black metal, southern stoner style and NEUROSIS-style imperial riffage." – BBG // BrooklynVegan "Further blurring the lines between what constitutes pure Norwegian black metal, Scandinavian blackened death metal and their influences Stateside, Richmond, VA's INTER ARMA unveil one intense demon of an album with Sundown.

Read more about Inter Arma on Last.fm.

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Matthew Perryman Jones

www.mpjmusic.com "An articulate songwriter with a versatile and gritty tenor voice -- a combination that has drawn comparisons to everyone from Jeff Buckley to Leonard Cohen -- Matthew Perryman Jones has the touch of a poet and the narrative reach of a short story writer, making the best of his songs deeply resonant." -Steve Leggett (Rovi) Having just finished his first full length album since 2008, Land of the Living was produced by Cason Cooley (Katie Herzig) and is set to be released on May 29th.

Read more about Matthew Perryman Jones on Last.fm.

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Auxes

AUXES is the brainchild of Dave Laney, also known as guitarist and founding member of the bands MILEMARKER and CHALLENGER. Initially conceived as a solo project, the first AUXES LP, “Sunshine” (Lovitt Records, 2007) was an impressive display of multi-instrumental virtuosity, with Dave handling all instruments and even engineering the recording himself (few people, aside from Prince, have accomplished such a feat).

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