Music Advisers

Genres: r&b, soul

Genres: alternative, indie

Radiohead were one of the few alternative bands of the early ’90s to draw heavily from the grandiose arena rock that characterized U2’s early albums. But the band internalized that epic sweep, turning it inside out to tell tortured, twisted tales of angst and alienation. Vocalist Thom Yorke’s pained lyrics were brought to life by the group’s three-guitar attack, which relied on texture — borrowing as much from My Bloody Valentine and Pink Floyd as R.E.M. and Pixies — instead of virtuosity. It took …  » Read more

Genres: alternative, indie, pop

Equally inspired by classic tunesmiths like Buddy Holly and John Lennon and the street-smart attitude and angular riffs of fellow New Yorkers Television and the Velvet Underground, the Strokes were also equally blessed and cursed with an enormous amount of hype — particularly from the U.K. music press, whose adulation for the group rivaled their fervor for Oasis in the early ’90s. Barely in their twenties by the time their debut album, Is This It, arrived in 2001, singer/songwriter …  » Read more

Genres: alternative, indie

Genres: r&b, soul

Surely one of the most talented one-hit wonders of the rock era, Doris Troy hit the Top Ten with “Just One Look” in 1963, but also recorded many other fine pop-soul sides for Atlantic between 1963 and 1965. Unlike many soul performers of the time, Troy wrote most of her own material (under the pseudonym Payne), and had already written for other artists and sung backup with Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick and Cissy Houston on New York soul records before striking out on her own. More melodically ambitious and stylistically eclectic than many of her peers, her Atlantic sides blend elements of gospel, girl group, blues, and pop into a rich New York soul sound.  » Read more

Genres: r&b, soul

A member of Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy’s coke-rap trio U.S.D.A., Panama City, FL, native Blood Raw (b. Bruce Falson) began his rap career while serving a six-year bid in Florida prison during the mid-‘90s. There he first developed his rhyme skills and earned the “Blood Raw” moniker (which is local slang for “the truth”). Upon his release in 1998, he relocated to Atlanta to work for his uncle at a local rap hotspot called the Hip-Hop Café. Inspired by the many up-and-coming acts that graced the venue, Blood Raw moved back to Panama City in 1999 to start a rap crew of his own. He eventually crossed paths with Young Jeezy performing at the same show as he in small town Dothan, AL. Deflecting interest from T.I.’s Grand Hustle imprint, Asylum, and other labels, Blood Raw joined Jeezy’s U.S.D.A. outfit and signed with the Atlanta rapper’s Corporate Thugz Entertainment (CTE) in 2004. Two years prior, the Panama City rapper had found himself in murky water again with the law, facing …  » Read more

Genres: r&b, soul

Genres: rock

A Day to Remember were formed in 2003 and mix emo, hardcore, and metal into a blend affectionately referred to by their fans as “pop mosh.” Hailing from Ocala, FL, vocalist Jeremy McKinnon, guitarists Neil Westfall and Tom Denney, bassist Joshua Woodard, and drummer Bobby Scruggs financed their first EP themselves, then signed with Indianola Records for the release of their full-length And Their Name Was Treason in spring 2005. The record went on to sell over 8,000 copies through word of mouth alone, and a …  » Read more

Genres: rock

Genres: rock, unknown