Musicians By Name
All of the Rock Music artists reviewed on this site. Alphabetical by name of the artist or last name of a solo artist.
*If a name is smaller and un-clickable it is because it is a work in progress or I am about to review them next.
Completed Artists
(220 artists reviewed)
A to M
N to Z
NYD feels normal to our times now, but I can't imagine being alive and hearing them for the first time.
New Pornographers, the
The New Pornographers are one of the best supergroups of all time, and an authority in pop music craftmanship.
Newman, Colin - see also Wire
Basically, disorienting is the name of the game here applied to what could be called punk but obviously has a progressive rock and industrial undertone.
Nirvana
Nirvana went further in the span of three studio albums than most bands go in their lifetimes.
Scott McCaughey can crank out Power Pop with the best of them, and his newest incarnation of melodic warriors have made yet another classic.
O’Connor, Sinead
the influence of New Age artist like Enya but so full of raw emotion that we are left picking up the pieces of our shattered souls afterwards.
120
If there was any justice in the world, the commercials of today would feature tunes from this insanely talented psych-rock band.
O’Hara, Mary Margaret
A candidate for the most singular, special singer-songwriter album of all time. Blending country, pop, jazz, folk, and lounge music, O'Hara creates a singular experience like nothing before or since.
One of the better musical groups that refuses to fit into a category of a genre or convention. It's chamber music, performed before there was a name for its genre.
Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu is an a band that exists in its own little world. They operate outside of the normal world of music, like all good bands do I guess, but completely devoid of any standard.
Perfume Genius
Mike Hadreas views the world as an introverted wonder, a shy and dark perspective on life that leaves little hope or joy. He is a pessimist at best, hopeless at worst, but he conveys his outlook through music that is among the most heartfelt I have ever heard.
Phosphorescent
the styles Americana, Chamber Pop, and Psychedelic Folk.....and maybe those apply but really to me these are just songs in the singer/songwriter tradition.
Pink Floyd
The band is a psych rock band with a capitol “psych” and their aspirations go deep beyond mere sound effects into some deeper meaning of the word.
Pixies
This band appeared, made an impact, then left. The five or six years Pixies were together 1987-1992 marked a real change in music.
Plains
An aptly named band that succeeds in what they are trying to do, maybe even more perfectly than the two artists had imagined.
Police, The
The Police were one of the best pop bands of all time. Each song of theirs is a mix of pop, rock, and reggae adapted for a large audience.
130
Portishead is a band that came to prominence during the mid 90’s era of British Trip-Hop and came to define that genre, but they were more than that.
She has grown with each record, expanding her palette and it’s been pretty fascinating to watch.
Priests
With the album Seduction of Kansas, this group proves the group can conquer about any style they want to.
Public Enemy
Public Enemy are one of the giants of rock and Hip Hop music and a galvanizing force to be reckoned with.
Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age are one of the best hard rock bands of all time. From their beginnings in the early 90’s metal band Kyuss, they have forged a different kind of sound that many classify as “stoner rock”
Rapeman
Steve Albini’s second band
Glenn Donaldson has carried this moniker make album after album of the same thing over and over (7 albums in the last 4 years), but I am very glad he stays the course so consistently.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. get that blend of likeability and accessibility just right. They are one of the most popular bands on the planet and they did it in the right way, by starting off small and building to something enormous.
Robertson, Robbie
After the Band called it quits in the late 1970’s, Robertson took some time off to devout his time to soundtracks and eventually at 44 in 1987 he started his own solo career.
In all, she is sort of a Alanis Morsette for the 2020’s and there is a lot of potential here.
140
Rolling Stones, the
The Rolling Stones were the first rock band that matters. Their template of wild and raucous music is what most of what came after is based on, and their template is as immortal as music gets.
Rosali has a way of making the mood relaxed but also controlled, with a friendly earthly vibe on every song.
Daniel Rossen
if you are craving more of Grizzly Bear and its a nice familiar sound- Rossen sprawling acoustic style is very unique.
Run the Jewels
El-P and Killer Mike’s Run the Jewels debut is as close to a perfect rap album as the decade has produced. They make it seem effortless and fun on every song, which is harder to do than it might seem.
Salem
What is intriguing to me about Salem and their album King Night is this: homemade albums are going to become more and more common in the coming years.
San Fermin
Lead songwriter Ellis Ludwig-Leone has a thematic album concept in mind, that plays like a call and response between male and female vocals backed with a full orchestra.
Sault's music is more necessary than most. It's a music that is timely, urgent, but also made as a conscious effort to just discuss and shout out their ideas of oppression and unity into the world.
Sleater Kinney
in every way they embody what is great about HARD rock music no matter the speed or style.
Serrat, Joana
Serrat has been recording gentle, slightly atmospheric folk-country rock for years. Some kind of perfect mix of old fashion, Americana at its heart but the production and surroundings often embrace more psychedelic stylings.
Shabazz Palaces
Shabazz Palaces approach rap music like aliens from outer space, not only in the sound effects used on their records but also in their approach to lyrics and emphasis on words.
Shellac
The beginning of Shellac continues the sonic journey lead guitarist and songwriters Steve Albini has made throughout his other bands of the 1980s.
150
Shins, the
They are great at making easy going rock music that is as melodic as it is smart.
Silver Apples
If the judge of a great band is creating something unique in the field, then Silver Apples win that award simply by existing.
Not a group to be enjoyed in a traditional sense, it is something to be analyzed and figured out on your own like a mathematical equation or some long division.
Soft Boys, the
Robyn Hitchcock started off his career in the late 1970’s as the lead singer and songwriter for The Soft Boys, and it displayed his love of Syd Barrett, John Lennon, and pretty much every important artist of the first fifteen years of rock music.
Sonic Youth
There has never been a band so influential to everything that has come after it in music, you can hear echoes of their trademark sound in almost any band from 1983-present.
The mixing of different types of music is what rock n roll has always been about from the start, and it changes even still.
Each album is a consistent reminders of why he is one of the greatest songwriters of all time.
Singer Chrystia Cabral keeps progressing with her musical adventures, harnessing the hippy energy of her hometown of Berkley, Ca and translating it into dance music unlike anything in the musical landscape.
Spoon
Spoon serve as a middle ground, an accessible version of indie rock harboring all of the influences of classic rock, with a sound that constantly strives to sound modern.
Squid are a band that are not tied to anyone kind of music or genre, where the closest you could call them is a sort of progressive rock.
Staples, Vince
Vince Staples is one of the better rappers to emerge in the 2010s. You have to love his earnest nature while also being super depressing.
Steely Dan
They popularized a type of music that mostly existed on the basis of being smooth, sophisticated, studio-time based constructed tracks with (too much) detail.
160
Marnie Stern
Marnie Stern should get more points just for making unique guitar mini symphonies. I’ve heard her described as a “Math-Rock Singer Songwriter” and that sums it up pretty well.
Sternberg, Joanna
Sternberg has such a frolicking method of storytelling that it is impossible to resist her charm.
Stone Temple Pilots
I remember the audience getting as excited about the album tracks they would play as much as the singles I heard on the radio.
Stott, Andy
If Stott is the techno music of the future, it will be a dark future indeed.
Suicide
the debut album by Suicide aka duo of Alan Vega on vocals and Martin Rev on electronic keyboards/ bass/ drums was something completely different.
Sunny War appeared on the scene this year showing the wisdom and age of someone who has been at this forever.
Tackhead
the best songs of Tackhead hold up to the toughest scrutiny and deserve to be heard by anyone who yearns for revolutionary music.
Talking Heads
Talking Heads are one of the bands that set the trends for people to follow, a completely unique band. They didn’t follow any kind of pattern or really build off of anything except the “idea” of rock music.
Tare, Avey
The artistry involved never over does it or outstays its welcome, and Tare’s confidence in longer songs shine through.
Tennis
Denver's Tennis strike a fun balance of melody and intimacy - spaced out female vocals over keyboards- but what this band adds to their credit is a sort of break up album status that ranks with the greats.
These New Puritans
Never before has the old fashioned met the modern world with such electrifying results.
170
Thinking Fellers Union Local #282
This is a band that exists on the fringe of rock music, it’s not necessarily inaccessible but they do not care about fame and fortune in the conventional sense.
Tonto’s Expanding Head Band
Only one album to their name, but as pivotal force for rock and soul music production. Just ask Stevie Wonder.
Tortoise were the kings of both instrumental rock and progressive rock during the 1990s and some of the most interesting music ever was created.
Tragically Hip, the
One of the smartest and most charismatic rock n’ roll bands ever to grace the stage.
Tribe Called Quest, a
One of the most gifted hip hop groups of all time, A Tribe Called Quest reinvigorated music at a time when it was in danger of becoming stale.
Troller
Amber Star-Goers sings the album beautifully with lyrics that always hit home even though they fade in and out of obscurity.
The husband-and-wife duo behind The Drones take a minor detour in a side project with a hilarious name, only harnessing their sound to be more unified and slightly less experimental in genre jumping.
It’s a vital, kinetic debut record from an up and coming rock group reminding me at once of Richard Thompson at his most distinct and literate, The Feelies at their most passionate, and Sonic Youth at their most accessible.
Uniform
It has been a while since someone dug up the ghost of Ministry and Godflesh so single mindedly.
U.S. Girls
Her skill with crafting meaningful pop music- much like similar but more famous acts like Lady Gaga, St. Vincent or Yeah Yeah Yeah's- is in the way she makes each track its own sort of saga and can come up with great rock songs in the process.
180
Vampire Rodents
Daniel Vahnke is composer and main man behind this project. There is no concept to the album besides supreme alienation, thought the phrase lullaby land can be found in several songs.
Van Etten, Sharon
Her songs here are slow paced, but you can hear and feel every single note and nuance, such is the delicacy of Sharon’s brand of rock n roll.
This band led by Finn Andrews is trying to achieve something that is very hard, the balance between delicate touching music and hard hitting emotional confrontation.
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground simply had no equals in terms of originality. Everything else can be said below; but the “alternative” to pop/rock music started here.
Vile, Kurt
Kurt Vile provided an interesting contrast to most of the musical acts of the 2010’s mainly by just being his eccentric self. His style is a mix of classic rock and obscure British folk-rock from the 1970’s, and such an odd combination had never really been tried before.
Void, Joni
Joni Void (a.k.a Jean Cousin) makes music in a very non conventional sense, for the most part there are no lyrics to these songs just vocal noises along with electronic ticks at odd intervals.
Volcano Choir - (see Bon Iver)
Walker’s lyrics set him apart from most of his contemporaries, no matter what the music sounds like he seems to always be talking about random themes from his life
War On Drugs
War on Drugs are a unique band in our era: they are not an alternative/indie rock band at all: they are classicist and traditionalist in the best sense of the words.
Wednesday
An intriguing album full of in jokes and obscure references, with allusions to teenage age years wasted on drugs and alcohol that permeate the lyrics.
190
Wet Leg
Wet Leg are a blast of fun. Critics dig them and audiences can't stop listening, its the rare case of super accessible while also being somewhat meaningful.
Whitelands
Perhaps it’s the smooth singing of Etienne Quartey-Papafio or the majestic guitar playing that just never misses a chance to create epic echoes.
Wire
Wire were one of the first trifecta of British punk bands that also made great albums: Wire, The Clash, John Lydon (both Sex Pistols and PIL). While the Clash used the history of music as a guideline and Sex Pistols rebelled against everything, Wire built a portal to the future.
Wolf Parade
Wolf Parade formed an original sound the 2000’s by bringing a bit of classic rock into the ever growing indie rock scene. Hailing from Montreal, Quebec, their sound was driving like the best hard rock always is, while also maintaining an allegiance to the sound of synthesizer influenced rock of the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Stevie Wonder
Wonder is a stylistic revolutionary, beyond the realm of Soul music.
Woods, Billy
His rap music is very hard hitting, and also very uniquely very geographical. Always an amazing lyricist.
XTC
It is perhaps the ULTIMATE SIN OF ROCK N’ ROLL that XTC are not mentioned right along side The Beatles as the greatest pop band of all time. They are just as good, some would say better.
John Canning Yates
The music depicts a sort of place in time, it might be the Irish countryside of his home, but it also could be a forgotten past time hundreds of years ago.
Yo La Tengo
When it comes to listing the band that had the best albums in the 90's, it may be hard to beat Yo La Tengo.
Young, Neil
While he has proven time again among his contemporaries that he can write songs with the best of them, he often choses a rougher path and to go the other way than most people.
Youth Lagoon
A hard group to truly permeate into, Youth Lagoon move along at their own special solemn pace.
Yves Tumor
Sean Bowie is as always the stylistic chameleon, everything is exaggerated and perfected