1.
Ellensburg, Washington
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Ellensburg is a city in, and the county seat of, Kittitas County, Washington, United States. The population was 18,174 at the 2010 census, Ellensburg is located just east of the Cascade Range on Interstate 90 and is known as the most centrally located city in the state. Ellensburg is the home of Central Washington University, the surrounding Kittitas Valley is internationally known for the timothy hay that it produces. There are several local hay brokering and processing operations that ship to Pacific Rim countries, Downtown Ellensburg has many historic buildings, many of which were constructed in the late 19th century. This is a legacy of its bid to be the state capital, CWU being placed there is another product of that legacy. The state legislature selected Ellensburg as the location for the then Normal School as a consolation prize, Ellensburg was officially incorporated on November 26,1883. John Alden Shoudy came to the Kittitas Valley in 1871, robbers Roost was the first business in the valley, other than the early trading that occurred among American Indians, cattle drivers, trappers, and miners. Robbers Roost was located on the present-day 3rd Avenue, just west of Main Street near the alley, there is a placard on the wall commemorating the location, as well as a small stone monument against the wall on the sidewalk. Shoudy named the town after his wife, Mary Ellen Shoudy, the city was originally named Ellensburgh, until the final -h was dropped under standardization pressure from the United States Postal Service and Board of Geography Names in 1894. There were several early newspapers in Ellensburg, the Daily Record, however, began in 1909 and is the name of the local newspaper today. Concerns over the state of Ellensburgs historic downtown led to the formation of the Ellensburg Downtown Association to work on revitalizing the area and this downtown event showcases art of all forms. The local businesses, galleries and museums come alive with art, music, wine, the Kittitas County Farmers Market is held every Saturday from May to October in the heart of downtown Ellensburg. Ellensburg hosts the annual Winterhop Brewfest in January, over 21 micro breweries from around the Pacific Northwest serve their product at various venues in the historic downtown buildings. Every June, Ellensburg hosts Dachshunds on Parade, an event that draws Dachshund dog owners from all over the Northwest, events include a parade, Dachshund races, pet tricks, and a dog costume contest. Ellensburg hosts the annual Jazz in the Valley music festival on the last weekend in July, Ellensburg is a stop on the PRCA professional rodeo circuit, occurring each year on Labor Day weekend. The Ellensburg Rodeo has been a tradition since 1923, and is the largest rodeo in Washington state. The rodeo arena is encompassed by the popular Kittitas County Fair, the Kittitas County Fair officially began in 1885, and has been held at its current location since 1923. Downtown Ellensburg hosts Buskers in the Burg the last Saturday in September, featuring a variety of street performers, giant puppet art parade, tasting halls, childrens activities, and outdoor evening concert
2.
Alternative rock
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Alternative rock is a genre of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s and 2000s. In this instance, the word refers to the genres distinction from mainstream rock music. The terms original meaning was broader, referring to a generation of musicians unified by their debt to either the musical style or simply the independent. Ethos of punk rock, which in the late 1970s laid the groundwork for alternative music, Alternative rock is a broad umbrella term consisting of music that differs greatly in terms of its sound, its social context, and its regional roots. Most of these subgenres had achieved minor mainstream notice and a few bands representing them, such as Hüsker Dü, with the breakthrough of Nirvana and the popularity of the grunge and Britpop movements in the 1990s, alternative rock entered the musical mainstream and many alternative bands became successful. By the end of the decade, alternative rocks mainstream prominence declined due to a number of events that caused grunge and Britpop to fade, emo attracted attention in the larger alternative rock world, and the term was applied to a variety of artists, including multi-platinum acts. Post-punk revival artists such as Modest Mouse and The Killers had commercial success in the early, before the term alternative rock came into common usage around 1990, the sort of music to which it refers was known by a variety of terms. In 1979, Terry Tolkin used the term Alternative Music to describe the groups he was writing about, in 1979 Dallas radio station KZEW had a late night new wave show entitled Rock and Roll Alternative. College rock was used in the United States to describe the music during the 1980s due to its links to the radio circuit. In the United Kingdom, dozens of small do it yourself record labels emerged as a result of the punk subculture, according to the founder of one of these labels, Cherry Red, NME and Sounds magazines published charts based on small record stores called Alternative Charts. The first national chart based on distribution called the Indie Chart was published in January 1980, at the time, the term indie was used literally to describe independently distributed records. By 1985, indie had come to mean a particular genre, or group of subgenres, at first the term referred to intentionally non–mainstream rock acts that were not influenced by heavy metal ballads, rarefied new wave and high-energy dance anthems. The use of alternative gained further exposure due to the success of Lollapalooza, for which festival founder, in the late 1990s, the definition again became more specific. Defining music as alternative is often difficult because of two conflicting applications of the word, the name alternative rock essentially serves as an umbrella term for underground music that has emerged in the wake of punk rock since the mid-1980s. Alternative bands during the 1980s generally played in clubs, recorded for indie labels. Sounds range from the gloomy soundscapes of gothic rock to the guitars of indie pop to the dirty guitars of grunge to the 1960s/1970s revivalism of Britpop. This approach to lyrics developed as a reflection of the social and economic strains in the United States and United Kingdom of the 1980s, by 1984, a majority of groups signed to independent record labels mined from a variety of rock and particularly 1960s rock influences. This represented a break from the futuristic, hyper-rational post-punk years
3.
Grunge
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Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock and a subculture that emerged during the mid-1980s in the Pacific Northwest U. S. state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. The early grunge movement revolved around Seattles independent record label Sub Pop, the success of these bands boosted the popularity of alternative rock and made grunge the most popular form of rock music at the time. Grunge was also an influence on subsequent genres such as post-grunge, Grunge fuses elements of punk rock and heavy metal, such as the distorted electric guitar used in both genres, although some bands performed with more emphasis on one or the other. Like these genres, grunge typically uses electric guitar, bass guitar, a drummer, Grunge also incorporates influences from indie rock bands such as Sonic Youth. Lyrics are typically angst-filled and introspective, often addressing themes such as alienation, apathy, concerns about confinement. A number of factors contributed to decline in prominence. During the mid-late 1990s, many grunge bands broke up or became less visible, the word grunge was used in print in prior to the use of the term in mainstream publications to refer to the Seattle music genre. Rock has always been about it, Theres primal grunge. distortion. and fuzz. especially on the underground, a reference to distorted sounds in rock in a general sense. Mark Arm, the vocalist for the Seattle band Green River—and later Mudhoney—is generally credited as being the first to use the term grunge to describe the Seattle genre of music. Arm first used the term in 1981, when he wrote a letter under his given name Mark McLaughlin to the Seattle zine Desperate Times, criticizing his own band Mr. Epp and the Calculations as Pure grunge. Sub Pop called Green Rivers 1986 EP Dry as a Bone ultra-loose GRUNGE that destroyed the morals of a generation, Everett True states that when Arm stated that the streets of Seattle paved with grunge, he was using the term disparagingly. In this use of the word grunge, Arm was using it as an adjective, Arm said years later, Obviously, I didnt make grunge up. I got it from someone else, the term was already being thrown around in Australia in the mid-80s to describe bands like King Snake Roost, The Scientists, Salamander Jim, and Beasts of Bourbon. Arm used grunge as a descriptive rather than a genre term. When grunge first developed, music journalists called it rock, due to the genres focus on impossibly. Evergreen State was a college which did not use grading. Bands from Portland, Oregon, such as the Wipers, also influenced the genres pioneers. Some bands associated with the genre, such as Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, have not been receptive to the label, preferring instead to be referred to as rock and roll bands
4.
Neo-psychedelia
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Neo-psychedelia is a diverse style of music that originated in the 1970s as an outgrowth of the British post-punk scene. Its practitioners drew from the sounds of 1960s psychedelic music. After post-punk, neo-psychedelia flourished into a widespread and international movement of artists who applied the spirit of psychedelic rock to new sounds. Neo-psychedelia may also include forays into pop, jangly guitar rock, heavily distorted free-form jams. A wave of British alternative rock in the early 1990s spawned the subgenres dream pop, neo-psychedelic acts borrowed a variety of elements from 1960s psychedelic music. Some emulated the psychedelic pop of bands like the Beatles and early Pink Floyd, others adopted Byrds-influenced guitar rock, or distorted free-form jams and sonic experimentalism of the 1960s. Some neo-psychedelia has been focused on drug use and experiences, and like acid house of the same age, projects transitory, ephemeral. Other bands have used neo-psychedelia to accompany surreal or political lyrics, in the view of author Erik Morse, The distinctions between British and American neo-psychedelia were best described as the differences between primitivism and primalism. Psychedelic rock declined towards the end of the 1960s, as bands broke up or moved into new forms of music, including heavy metal music, like the psychedelic developments of the late 1960s, punk rock and new wave in the 1970s challenged the rock music establishment. At the time, new wave was a term used interchangeably with the nascent punk rock explosion, in 1978, journalist Greg Shaw categorized a subset of new wave music as neo-psychedelia, citing Devo, to an extent. The new darling of the new press and opion-makers, yet nothing about it is remotely punk. Shaw wrote that in England, neo-psychedelia was known as punk, noting self-advertised psychedelic punk band. By 1978–79, new wave was considered independent from punk and post-punk, author Clinton Heylin marks the second half of year 1977 and the first half of year 1978 as the true starting-point for English post-punk. Some of the bands, including the Soft Boys, the Teardrop Explodes. The early 1980s Paisley Underground movement followed neo-psychedelia, originating in Los Angeles, the movement saw a number of young bands who were influenced by the psychedelia of the late 1960s and all took different elements of it. The term Paisley Underground was later expanded to others from outside the city. The late 1980s would see the birth of shoegazing, which, among other influences, reynolds referred to this movement as a rash of blurry, neo-psychedelic bands in a 1992 article in The Observer. With loud walls of sound, where individual instruments and even vocals were often indistinguishable, major shoegaze acts included Ride, Lush, Chapterhouse, and The Boo Radleys, who enjoyed considerable attention in the UK but largely failed to break through in the US
5.
SST Records
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SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was formed in 1966 by Ginn at age 12, as Solid State Tuners. Ginn repurposed the company as a label to release material by his band Black Flag. Music writer Michael Azerrad wrote, Ginn took his label from a cash-strapped, cop-hassled store-front operation to easily the most influential and these labels presided over the shift from the hardcore punk that then dominated the American underground scene to the more diverse styles of alternative rock that were emerging. SST initially focused on releasing material by hardcore punk groups from Southern California, after a peak release schedule in the late 1980s, SST began venturing into jazz releases. SST is now based in Taylor, Texas, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, Dinosaur Jr. and the Meat Puppets have reclaimed the rights to the SST material after leaving the label. Greg Ginn created Solid State Tuners at the age of 12, SST was a mail-order business that sold modified World War II surplus radio equipment. The business was small but thrived well into Ginns early adulthood, in 1976 Ginn formed the punk rock band Panic. Panic recorded eight songs in January 1978, but no labels were interested in releasing the music aside from Los Angeles, California record label Bomp. By late 1978 Bomp had still not formally agreed to release the music on record, SST Records released the music recorded by Ginns band as the Nervous Breakdown EP in January 1979. Many early Black Flag shows ended in violence, often involving the Los Angeles Police Department, as a result, the police tapped the labels phones and kept the SST office under surveillance. Ginn claims undercover police posing as homeless people sat close to SSTs front door, the band were unable to hire a lawyer because of a lack of money, Ginn later explained, I mean, we were thinking about skimping on our meals. … There was no place to go, by 1980, L. A. clubs had begun to ban hardcore punk shows, adding to SSTs troubles. SST issued the Minutemens debut EP Paranoid Time as its release in 1980. The songs were recorded and mixed in a night for $300. Minutemen bassist Mike Watt recalled, It was at that point we realized all you had to do was pay for the pressings, maybe it was from Gregs experience with ham radios, but he believed if you try, you can get things beyond your little group. Facing hostility towards hardcore punk, SST groups like Black Flag, Black Flag began traveling up the California coast to play Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco, making seven trips in total. SST house record producer Spot went along as sound-man and tour manager, Ginn decided to release the first Black Flag album Damaged via a mainstream distributor
6.
Sub Pop
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Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt. In 1988, Sub Pop Records LLC was formed by Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle alternative rock scene. In 1995 the owners of Sub Pop sold a 49% stake of the label to the Warner Music Group, the origins of Sub Pop can be traced back to the early 1980s when Bruce Pavitt started a fanzine called Subterranean Pop that focused exclusively on American independent record labels. Pavitt undertook the project in order to earn course credit while attending Evergreen State College in Olympia, by the fourth issue, Pavitt had shortened the name to Sub Pop and began alternating issues with compilation tapes of underground rock bands. The Sub Pop #5 cassette, released in 1982, sold two thousand copies, in 1983, Pavitt moved to Seattle, Washington and released the ninth and final issue of Sub Pop. While in Seattle, he wrote a column for local newspaper The Rocket titled Sub Pop U. S. A, a column he ended in 1988. In 1986, Pavitt released the first Sub Pop LP, the compilation Sub Pop 100, which featured material by artists including Sonic Youth, Naked Raygun, Wipers, and Scratch Acid. Seattle group Green River chose to record their Dry as a Bone EP for Pavitts new label in June 1986, when finally released, Dry as a Bone was promoted by Sub Pop as ultra-loose grunge that destroyed the morals of a generation. Poneman soon became a partner in the label. Pavitt focused on the artists and repertoire aspects, while Poneman dealt with the business. Both men decided they wanted the label to focus on this primal rock stuff that was coming out, in early 1988 Pavitt and Poneman quit their jobs to devote their full attention to Sub Pop. Raising $43,000, they incorporated that April, of course that was spent in, like, thirty days, Pavitt recalled. We almost went bankrupt after a month and that August Sub Pop released the first single by Mudhoney, a band featuring former members of Green River. Sub Pop released the Mudhoney single Touch Me Im Sick in a limited first pressing of 800 copies to create demand. The strategy was adopted by other independent labels. Pavitt and Poneman studied earlier independent labels ranging from Motown to SST Records, the pair sought to create a cohesive brand identity for Sub Pop. The labels ads promoted the label more than any particular band. The label also sought to market a Seattle sound, which was accomplished with the help of producer Jack Endino, who produced 75 singles, albums, and EPs for Sub Pop between 1987 and 1989
7.
Epic Records
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Epic Records is an American record company owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc. Epic was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical music label in 1953 and it later expanded its scope to include a more diverse range of musical genres, including pop, R&B, rock and hip hop. Historically, the label has housed popular acts such as Boston, ABBA, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, Dave Clark Five, Gloria Estefan, Pearl Jam, Shakira, Anastacia, and Sly & the Family Stone. Along with Columbia and RCA Records, Epic is one of Sony Music Entertainments three main record labels, L. A. Reid has served as chairman and CEO of Epic since July 2011. Sylvia Rhone was appointed president in March 2014, Epic Records was launched in 1953 by Columbia Records for the purpose of marketing jazz, pop and classical music that did not fit the theme of its more mainstream Columbia Records label. Initial classical music releases were from Philips Records which distributed Columbia product in Europe, pop talent on co-owned Okeh Records were transferred to Epic which made Okeh a rhythm and blues label. Epics bright-yellow, black, and blue became a familiar trademark for many jazz. By 1960, the musical base had been expanded to include all genres. This was done in part to prevent the roster of Columbia Records from being overstuffed with newer artists, subsequently, Epic became better known for its signing of newer, fledgling acts. By the end of the 1960s, Epic earned its first gold records and had evolved into a formidable hit-making force in rock and roll, R&B and country music. Among its many acts, it included Roy Hamilton, Bobby Vinton, The Dave Clark Five, The Hollies, Tammy Wynette, Donovan, The Yardbirds, Lulu, July, Helen Shapiro and Jeff Beck. Also during the 1960s, Epic oversaw the smaller subsidiary CBS labels including Okeh Records, in 1968, Epic recordings began being distributed in the UK by CBS after the distribution deal with EMI expired that year, Epic itself launched in England around 1971. Epic was involved in a trade of artists. Graham Nash was signed to Epic because of his membership in The Hollies, when the newly formed Crosby, Stills & Nash wanted to sign with Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegün worked out a deal with Clive Davis whereby Richie Furays new band Poco would sign with Epic. Also contributing to the success was its distribution of Philadelphia International Records. Sony bought CBS Records in 1987, and the company was renamed Sony Music in 1991. In 2004, Sony merged with another powerhouse music distributor, BMG, bringing labels such as RCA, Arista, Columbia, Epic, Jive, in February 2009, singer and songwriter Amanda Ghost was appointed president of Epic Records. Later in the year, Sony BMG Music merged Epic and Columbias operations, Sony BMGs Legacy Recordings reissues the companys classic and catalog titles
8.
Queens of the Stone Age
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Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1996. The bands line-up includes founder Josh Homme, alongside longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita, formed after the dissolution of Hommes previous band, Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age developed a style of riff-oriented, heavy rock music. Their sound has evolved to incorporate a variety of different styles and influences, including working with ZZ Top member Billy Gibbons. After the breakup of his previous band, Kyuss, in 1995, Josh Homme briefly joined Screaming Trees as a touring guitarist, before deciding to form a new band, in 1996 they released the eponymous Gamma Ray EP, featuring Born to Hula and If Only Everything. The EP featured Matt Cameron of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, Van Conner from Screaming Trees, Gamma Ray changed their name in 1997 after the German power metal band Gamma Ray threatened to sue. The name Queens of the Stone Age came from a given to Kyuss by their producer Chris Goss. Homme said of the name, Kings would be too macho, the Kings of the Stone Age wear armor and have axes and wrestle. The Queens of the Stone Age hang out with the Kings of the Stone Ages girlfriends when they wrestle, Rock should be heavy enough for the boys and sweet enough for the girls. That way everyones happy and its more of a party, Kings of the Stone Age is too lopsided. The first release under the Queens of the Stone Age name was the song 18 A. D. released on the compilation album Burn One Up, music for Stoners which featured members of the Dutch stoner rock band Beaver. The bands first live appearance was on November 20,1997, at OK Hotel in Seattle, Washington, with Cameron on drums, Mike Johnson of Dinosaur Jr. on bass and John McBain of Monster Magnet on guitar. Queens of the Stone Age released their debut in 1998 on Stone Gossards and Regan Hagars label Loosegroove Records. Homme played guitar and bass on the album, Alfredo Hernández on the drums, Homme reportedly asked Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan to appear on the record, but he was unable due to other commitments. Soon after the sessions were finished for the album, former Kyuss bassist Nick Oliveri joined. Guitarist Dave Catching joined shortly after, from this point forward, the bands line-up would change frequently, by the time their second album was being recorded, Hernández was no longer in the band. The success of the record earned the band notable opening slots with The Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, Hole. It was during this time that Homme stated, Theres a robotic element to our albums and we also wanted to do a record that had a lot of dynamic range. We wanted to set it up in this band so we could play anything and we dont want to get roped in by our own music
