[FAQ] the alt.music group list
Brian Edmonds
the first pass is done, I'll do a second pass through the list of groups
which still have insufficient information. After that, I'm considering
dropping the groups that still haven't responded...
$Id: alt-music.html,v 1.24 1995/03/27 19:54:15 edmonds Exp $
$Log: alt-music.html,v $
# Revision 1.24 1995/03/27 19:54:15 edmonds
# Added alt.music.janes-addictn, alt.music.makers.electronic and
# alt.music.texas due to recent newgroups.
# alt.music.queen <uni...@rt66.com>
# alt.music.moody-blues <loc...@imsa.edu>
#
# Revision 1.21 1995/03/20 18:45:59 edmonds
# Revision 1.16 1995/03/14 01:51:10 edmonds
# Revision 1.12 1995/03/06 06:03:53 edmonds
# Revision 1.7 1995/02/27 16:27:25 edmonds
#
______________________________________________________________________________
THE ALT.MUSIC GROUP LIST
$Revision: 1.24 $, $Date: 1995/03/27 19:54:15 $
Copyright (c) 1995, Brian Edmonds
______________________________________________________________________________
List compiled and maintained by Brian Edmonds. Please send all additions
(especially relevent URLs for the web page), corrections and updates to
<edm...@cs.ubc.ca>. If possible, please try to format your entries in
such a way that I can just cut and paste them into the list.
This is intended to be a list of all known groups in the alt.music hierarchy,
along with a short description of what the group is for. Anyone with
information to add to the descriptions should mail it to the list maintainer.
Currently the list is being posted to alt.config, alt.music.misc, and a number
of other alt.music groups each week. It is also available as follows:
o http://www.cs.ubc.ca/spider/edmonds/usenet/alt-music.html
o send email to majo...@edmonds.home.cs.ubc.ca with the single line "get
faq alt-music.txt" in the body of the message
Thanks to:
o Alan Brown for making me think this might actually work.
o Joshua Kreitzer for many suggestions he'll deny if asked. :)
o Myra Wong for the LoMML and formatting ideas.
______________________________________________________________________________
How To Use This List
Known groups are listed with their newsgroups description line and a
few lines describing the intended subject of the group. If there is a known
mailing list echo for the group, it is also included. At the end of the list,
there are suggestions on how to create a newsgroup for your favourite musical
artist, a pointer on how to create alt groups, and a pointer to how to find
musical mailing lists. Please consult the list of musical mailing lists and
carefully consider the suggestions for creating a musical newsgroup before
coming to alt.config to ask for a new alt.music group.
______________________________________________________________________________
o alt.music.4-track ()
o alt.music.4ad ()
The music label 4AD, I presume. A list of artists here would be handy.
o alt.music.a-cappella (Like rec.music.a-cappella, only different)
A-cappella (human voice only) music. "It has been effectively
superceded by rec.music.a-cappella which has 10 times the number of
posts. alt groups can't be deleted, so it's still here. Some people
don't have access to the r.m.a-cappella group and post here instead."
Greg Weiss <grw...@cs.princeton.edu>.
o alt.music.aliceinchains (One of Seattle's Finest)
"Discussion of Alice in Chains including Internet resources and the
occassional update from the mailing list. Mostly discussion amongst
fans of the band, including info., trading, questions, answers, etc."
KhadejahJ <Khad...@aol.com>.
o alt.music.alternative (For groups having 2 or less Platinum-selling
albums)
o alt.music.alternative.female (Discussing alternative music by female
artists)
o alt.music.amy-grant (Discussion about Amy Grant and her music)
The ex-CCM gone pop singer/songwriter Amy Grant.
o alt.music.beastie-boys (Discussion of crossover group, The)
"This group has been used for discussion of the b-boyz and other Grand
Royals and is now getting quite a bit of mail on a group called 311
without much interference from subscribers. A Tribe Called Quest, a
Grand Royal group called Luscious Jackson and just about any new phunk
gets notice there." Tim Peter Nicholls
<dysl...@uclink.berkeley.edu>.
o alt.music.bela-fleck (Bela and the Flecktones)
o alt.music.big-band (Sounds from the Big Band era)
o alt.music.billy-joel (Discussion of Billy Brinkley, err Joel)
o alt.music.bjork (Discussion of Icelandic singer Bjork)
Bjork is an Icelandic singer, formerly of the Sugarcubes. Her hits
include "Big Time Sensuality".
o alt.music.blues-traveler (For "All fellow travelers")
This group is gatewayed from the blues-traveler mailing list,
blues-trave...@cs.umd.edu, which is run by Dabe Murphy
<da...@cs.UMD.EDU>. HORDE (non-BT) related topics are intended to
be kept to a minimum, and there is a separate mailing list for HORDE
discussion, horde-...@world.std.com. Tim Peter Nicholls
<dysl...@uclink.berkeley.edu> was the first to fill me in that
"HORDE stands for Horizons Of Rock Developing Everywhere," and is a tour
featuring a number of bands which seem to be gaining in popularity.
According to Dabe, they have been going on for three or four years, and
were orginally headlined by Phish, the Spin Doctors, BT and Widespread
Panic.
o alt.music.bootlegs (Discussion of unofficial recordings)
Recordings released without the authorization of the artist's record
company (typically these are live recordings). In much of the world it
is at least a copyright violation to produce and sell such recordings.
o alt.music.boyz-2-men (The harmonizations of Boyz II Men)
o alt.music.brian-eno (Apparently too popular to warrant further
description)
o alt.music.butholesurfers (The psychadelic hard-core group Butthole
Surfers)
o alt.music.byrds (The music and fans of The Byrds)
"Alt.music.byrds is a newsgroup for discussion of the folk-rock group,
'The Byrds'. The Byrds were the first and the best of the folk-rock
groups of the 60's, formed in Los Angeles in 1964. The group consisted
of James "Roger" McGuinn (12-string guitar), David Crosby (guitar), Gene
Clark (tambourine), Chris Hillman (bass), and Michael Clarke (drums)."
Joel Furr <jf...@netcom.com>.
o alt.music.canada (Oh, Canada, eh?)
Canadian bands, artists, and music in general.
o alt.music.celine-dion (Discussion of the music and the art of)
o alt.music.chapel-hill (You might think hymnals and chants, but you'd be
wrong)
I'm told that this group is for discussion of artists from the college
town Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
o alt.music.clannad ()
"Irish folk and pop band, members from the Brennan family. Lead singer
Maire Brennan has more recently released albums of her own. See also
alt.music.enya (Enya has been a part-time member of Clannad)." Kevin
F. Quinn <ke...@banana.demon.co.uk>.
o alt.music.complex-arrang (To complex for _your_ simple mind)
o alt.music.counting-crows ()
An American rock band which recently became successful with such songs
as "Mr. Jones."
o alt.music.danzig (Discussion of the works of Glenn Danzig. MOTHER!)
o alt.music.dave-matthews (The Dave Matthews Band)
o alt.music.deep-purple (Discussions about Deep Purple and related
artists)
"Related artists include solo projects of anyone who's ever been in Deep
Purple, and bands consisting of people who have been in DP. This
includes Gillan, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, Glenn Hughes, Roger
Glover, Captain Beyond, Fandango, Warhorse and a host of others.
Spinoffs of those are also allowed, and if Ritchie Blackmore's hairpiece
does session work with the dead weasel on Ian Paice's head,
a.m.deep-purple is where you'll hear it first. Oh, and the career of
Ritchie Blackmore's son (truly a related artist) has been mentioned a
couple of times as well." R. Dijkhuis <s049...@let.rug.nl>.
o alt.music.def-leppard (Talk about the rock group Def Leppard)
o alt.music.dio ()
Ronnie James Dio, a heavy metal artist formerly with Black Sabbath, who
has primarily worked with his own band, Dio, since the early 1980s.
o alt.music.dream-theater (Is "progressive metal" an accepted label?)
o alt.music.ebm (Electronic (or not?) Body Music)
o alt.music.ecto (Happy Rhodes and other music by plasms)
o alt.music.elo (The Electric Light Orchestra)
o alt.music.enigma-dcd-etc (Groups blending ambient and cultural
influences)
"This group exists for the discussion of both Enigma and Dead Can Dance,
as well as any other musical group that falls into genre (eg. Delerium,
Deep Forest, Enya, Loreena McKennitt, and even Pink Floyd). All these
groups blend ambient and cultural elements, producing a new type of
music that does not fit into any standard classification. Whereas
before information on the aforementioned groups were scattered
throughout the various other newsgroups in the alt.music heirarchy, now
alt.music.enigma-dcd-etc gives this information a home. Since both
Enigma and Dead Can Dance have a large following but no specific
newsgroups, alt.music.enigma-dcd-etc provides a convienent place to
distribute information and promote awareness of these and other groups."
Alex Pomeranz <aapom...@ucdavis.edu>.
o alt.music.enya (Gaelic set to spacey music)
"Enya is an Irish musician, from the same family as Clannad (see
alt.music.clannad). Her unique music is atmospheric and evocative."
Kevin F. Quinn <ke...@banana.demon.co.uk>.
o alt.music.fates-warning (Fates Warning)
o alt.music.filk (SF/fantasy related folk music)
o alt.music.fleetwood-mac (Rock group Fleetwood Mac and its members)
"This group was created in early June of 1994 for the discussion of all
topics relevant to Fleetwood Mac and its members, including their solo
projects. Stevie Nicks is the most popular subject of threads in the
group, but posts having to do with all present and former band members
are welcomed and encouraged. Traffic is steady, if low-volume (there
are currrently about 80 unread a.m.f-m articles in my newsfeed as of
2/28/95) and the group becomes more active whenever the group or one of
its members has an album, tour or other project going." Joseph A. Admire
<jad...@netcom.com>.
o alt.music.genesis (The rock group Genesis)
o alt.music.green-day (The rock group Green Day)
A recent alt.config flamefest receiving occasional traffic.
o alt.music.hardcore (Could be porno set to music)
I'm told it's kind of like punk.
o alt.music.harry-chapin (Discussion about the music and life of Harry
Chapin)
"Harry Chapin was a famous singer-songwriter best known for his `story
songs'. His most well known pieces include `Taxi', `W-O-L-D', and
`Cat's in the Cradle'. In addition to his music, he was also known for
being one of the most politically active musicians of his generation,
responsible for creating the World Hunger Year organization, and the
President's Commission on World Hunger. He was killed in a 1981 car
accident on the Long Island Expressway. Recently, he posthumously
received a congressional gold medal of honor for his efforts towards
ending world hunger." Brian <BriBi...@aol.com>.
o alt.music.hawaiian (Discussion on Hawaiian music and artists)
o alt.music.independent (Bands without contracts with the major labels)
"alt.music.independent features discussions on independent and
underground bands who choose to remain apart from major labels for
various reasons." cholera <roc...@neurosis.wariat.org>.
o alt.music.james-taylor (JT!)
"With a career than spans more than twenty-five years, it's no great
surprise that James Taylor's musical influence has reached just about
every corner of the globe. Since leading the singer-songwriter movement
in the early 70s, JT has gone on to refine his style, changing over the
years while still maintaining the musical craftsmanship that garnered so
much attention early in his career." From the alt.music.james-taylor
FAQ.
o alt.music.janes-addictn (The music of Jane's Addiction and its members)
o alt.music.jethro-tull (Ironman sitting on a park bench)
o alt.music.jewish (Music from the Jewish heritage)
o alt.music.jimi.hendrix ('Scuse me, while I kiss the sky)
o alt.music.jon-spencer (Adulation of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion)
"The alt.music.jon-spencer newsgroup will be open to any and all
discussion of the music of and information about The Jon Spencer Blues
Explosion. Discussion will include (but not be limited to):
* Albums - People's thoughts on the various records
* Related - Related bands (i.e. The Jesus Lizard, et al)
* General - Sightings, tour info, release dates, etc.
This group is not affiliated with The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion or
Matador Records, though input from either of those would be most
appreciated." Pujeeb Rastanfani <s0...@ripco.com>.
o alt.music.journalism (Talk about talking about music)
o alt.music.karaoke (Please make it stop!)
o alt.music.kylie-minogue (Music of Kylie Minogue)
o alt.music.led-zeppelin (Discussion about Led Zeppelin and their music)
o alt.music.leonard-cohen ()
Canadian poet, singer and songwriter.
o alt.music.lor-mckennitt ()
Canadian singer and songwriter.
o alt.music.lyrics (Bring out yer lyrics!)
o alt.music.makers.dj ()
o alt.music.makers.electronic (The art of creating techno, ambient, etc)
o alt.music.makers.woodwind ()
o alt.music.marillion (A progressive band; the Silmarillion is a book)
o alt.music.marilyn-manson (You've been a good little boy!)
o alt.music.midi ()
o alt.music.misc (Like rec.music.misc, only different)
o alt.music.monkees (Hey, hey, they were the Monkees)
o alt.music.moody-blues (Still In Search of the Lost Chord)
"The Moody Blues are usually considered a 'classic rock' group, although
their music is so diverse that it cannot really be placed into one
category. The Moodies have been highly successful in producing R&B,
classical/progressive rock, and '80s' pop music. The Moodies have sold
over 55 million albums worldwide and are one of a small handful of
groups to have a top-ten hit in each of three consecutive decades.
There is a great deal of information available about The Moody Blues on
the Internet, much of which can be found via the Moodies Home Page:
http://www.imsa.edu/~locutus/moody-blues.html" Michael Holl
<loc...@imsa.edu>
o alt.music.new-order (The music of New Order and its memebers)
o alt.music.nin (Nine Inch Nails, aka Trent Reznor)
And other appearances by the nightmare that is Trent.
o alt.music.nirvana (Generation X's Seattle leaders, leaderless)
o alt.music.offspring ()
"The band Offspring is basically the same punk-style as Green Day, but a
bit more chaotic.... oh, they've sold about as many records."
Christopher Bird <cb...@chat.carleton.ca>.
o alt.music.orb (Little fluffy clouds...)
"Discussion of the Orb, one of the best known ambient techno/dub groups,
and their numerous spinoff projects (including System 7 and Fortran 5).
The group is very poorly propagated and the Cumulonimbus list
(orb-r...@xmission.com, I think) is a much better place for
discussion." Gnosis <gno...@brahman.nullnet.fi>
o alt.music.ozzy ()
o alt.music.pantera (I'm broken)
o alt.music.pat-mccurdy (Milwaukee's finest export)
"Discussion, praise, worship and griping about Milwaukee's finest export
(beer included). Pat plays regularly in Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison,
Green Bay, Minneapolis, and does the occasional college tour to parts
beyond. Four CDs out. Wacky stuff. Come find out about it." Colette
D. Marine <c...@nwu.edu>.
o alt.music.pat-metheny (The music of Pat Metheny and Group)
o alt.music.paul-simon (Discussion of Paul Simon's music)
o alt.music.pearl-jam (The music of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam)
o alt.music.peter-gabriel (So, it's the music of Peter Gabriel, sans
frontier)
o alt.music.pink-floyd (Sold out shows everywhere)
o alt.music.primus (Primus sucks)
"The description line is a reference to one CD where the lead singer
shouts 'We're Primus, we suck!' which has become an inside joke of sorts
for Primus fans." Gnosis <gno...@brahman.nullnet.fi>.
o alt.music.prince (also applies to that Symbol Guy)
"Prince Rogers Nelson in both his 'Prince' and 'O(+>' incarnations does
more to generate controversy before breakfast than most artists do all
day. An excellent WWW resource is the New Power Network:"
* http://morra.et.tudelft.nl/npn/
* http://kluso.nosc.mil/npn/
Bret Gorsline <br...@iscp.bellcore.com>.
o alt.music.producer (Discussion about record production and A&R)
o alt.music.progressive (Yes, Marillion, Asia, King Crimson, etc)
o alt.music.psychedelic (Music appropriate to the psychedelic state)
"Includes discussions of 'classic' psychedelia (early Floyd, 13th Floor
Elevators, VU, the Dead, etc.) as well as more modern music (Butthole
Surfers, Legendary Pink Dots, Ozrics, etc.) Hopefully not too much
Floyd/Dead chat as they have their own groups!" Tom Ritchford
<t...@mvision.com>.
o alt.music.queen (The music of Queen and its members)
"This group is for discussion of the band Queen and the related solo
projects by members Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John
Deacon." Sheri <uni...@rt66.com>
o alt.music.ramones ()
An American punk group, founded in the 1970s, yet still active today.
They were featured in the movie "Rock 'n' Roll High School" and their
best known songs include "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker," "Blitzkrieg Bop,"
and "Pet Sematary."
o alt.music.replacements (I'm in love - what's that song?)
"The Replacements created some of the rawest and most uncompromising
rock music of the 1980s. The 'mats earned a reputation for being one of
the finest and most unpredictable live acts of 1980s indie scene by
juxtaposing cathartic, punk-influenced shows with drunken tomfoolery.
Their ace in the hole was frontman Paul Westerberg, who perfectly
articulated the ambivalence and alienation of growing up in the 1980s."
Lynne Barkett <coon...@netcom.com>.
o alt.music.rockabilly ()
o alt.music.roger-waters (To Pink or Not to Pink)
o alt.music.rush (For Rushheads)
o alt.music.s-mclachlan (The music of Sarah Mclachlan)
Canadian singer, songwriter, and general goddess Sarah McLachlan. Does
this include much general Nettwerk (her label) discussion?
o alt.music.seal (Discussions & news about the British musician/singer/
songwriter, Seal)
The following information was provided by Gareth Edwards
<con...@ultim.demon.co.uk>:
* http://www.cis.yale.edu/~ariedels/seal.html
* ftp://xmission.com/pub/users/eheintz/text/seal
The ftp site contains plain text versions of the FAQ, lyrics and
discography which are available on the Future Love Paradise WWW site.
o alt.music.ska (Discussions of ska (skank) music, bands, and suchlike)
"Ska is dance music, first and foremost. Ska was a Jamaican dance music
that swept out of Jamaica in the early 1960s to shake the butts of
working- and middle-class Jamaicans before going on, via the West Indian
immigrant connection, to the UK, and then on to the world. In the UK,
ska was also known as `blue beat' music. Rocksteady, and later, reggae
sprang from the loins of ska in the late 1960s. Mid-1970s and
1980s/1990s revivals of this popular dance form have kept this music
alive and fun through the present. The ska beat on drums and bass,
rhythm guitar, lots of horns and maybe a Hammond organ --- that's the
ska sound."
* ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/music/ska-faq/
* http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/music/ska-faq/top.html
Tomas Willis <to...@cae.wisc.edu>.
o alt.music.smash-pumpkins (The Smashing Pumpkins)
o alt.music.smiths ()
Discussion of the now-defunct British band and the solo career of its
singer Morrissey.
o alt.music.sondheim (Life and music of Stephen Sondheim)
"This group is for the discussion of the life and music of Stephen
Sondheim, called by some 'the greatest composer in musical theatre.' He
is known for his unorthodox use of both music and lyrics, and has had a
prolific and active career." Andrew Stephen Damick
<asda...@unity.ncsu.edu>.
o alt.music.sonic-youth (Loud enough to make you deaf)
o alt.music.sophie-hawkins (News & Discussions on Sophie B. Hawkins)
o alt.music.soul (Soul, rhythm, and blues)
The discussion pertains to the genre of music equivalent to rhythm and
blues.
o alt.music.soundgarden (The rock group Soundgarden)
o alt.music.stone-temple (The group Stone Temple Pilots)
o alt.music.swedish-pop (ABBA and beyond)
o alt.music.sylvian ()
o alt.music.synthpop (Depeche Mode, Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, and much
more!)
o alt.music.tape-culture (For fans of the underground, cassette-culture)
o alt.music.techno (Bring on the bass!)
o alt.music.texas (Janis Joplin to ZZ Top, Willie Nelson to Pantera)
o alt.music.the-doors (A rider on the storm no more)
o alt.music.tmbg (The group They Might Be Giants)
o alt.music.todd-rundgren (Todd Rundgren music fandom)
o alt.music.tragically-hip (The rock group The Tragically Hip)
Another Canadian band.
o alt.music.u2 (The rock group U2)
o alt.music.van-halen (For discussion of topics related to Van Halen)
o alt.music.video-games ()
o alt.music.ween (Marble Tulip Juicy Tree)
o alt.music.weird-al (The parodist Weird Al Yankovic)
o alt.music.who (Rock group The Who and its members)
o alt.music.world (Music from around the world)
o alt.music.yes (The progressive band Yes)
o alt.music.yngwie (Talk about Yngwie J. Malmsteen)
______________________________________________________________________________
How To Create a Newsgroup For a Musical Artist
The purpose of this mini-faq is to help people who want to create
newsgroups for their favourite artists/bands avoid the flamefest of
alt.config, and the poor propagation of alt.music. Taking this route will
require an investment of three months to a year before you have a newsgroup,
but if the fandom really exists, then it will be worth it.
1. Create a mailing list. For a list of mailing list providers, see
http://www.cs.ubc.ca/spider/edmonds/usenet/ml-providers.txt.
2. Advertise it every few weeks in the appropriate related alt.music
groups, and in rec.music.info. An informative and well written
advert of a paragraph or two (with CLEAR subscription instructions)
will be more likely to attract positive attention than a "Hey, join
my k00l list" type posting.
3. While it is growing, familiarize yourself with the Big-7 newsgroup
creation guidelines, found in news.announce.newgroups. Reading
news.groups for a month or two will also be helpful. Make sure that
you stay active on the mailing list to maintain a steady traffic and
keep people interested -- interesting lists grow fast.
4. Wait until your mailing list has a few hundred members. I would
suggest 200 as a minimum, and 500 being almost a sure thing.
5. If the list never gets this many readers, then there probably aren't
as many fans on the net as you thought. At this point, you can go
propose an alt.music group, or (more sensibly, I think) stick with
the mailing list.
6. Submit an RFD for the group under rec.music[.artists]. Come up with
a good name, and make sure the RFD/CFV are posted to your mailing
list, and encourage members to vote. If you can get a few hundred
yes votes from the list, then you're almost guaranteed to get a group
with worldwide propagation.
7. Suggestion: arranging to turn the mailing list into a gateway for
newsgroup once created will help in avoiding negative votes from
members of the list who cannot receive news directly.
If you're new to finding/creating musical resources on the net, check out the
following FAQ:
o http://www.cs.ubc.ca/spider/edmonds/usenet/musical-info.txt
o send email to majo...@edmonds.home.cs.ubc.ca with the following line
in the body of the message: get faq musical-info.txt
______________________________________________________________________________
How To Create an Alt Group
For complete information on creating an alt group, please refer to
the alt group creation FAQ, which is available as follows:
o WWW: http://www.pop.psu.edu/~barr/alt-creation-guide.html
o FTP: anon...@rtfm.mit.edu
/pub/usenet/alt.config/So_You_Want_to_Create_an_Alt_Newsgroup
o email: majo...@pop.psu.edu with "get file alt-creation-guide" in the
message body
______________________________________________________________________________
How To Find Music Mailing Lists
If you would like a copy of the latest version of Myra Wong's List
of Music Mailing Lists, send email to <majo...@edmonds.home.cs.ubc.ca>
with the line "get faq lomml.txt" in the body of the message.
This document is also available from:
o finger ayu...@server.berkeley.edu
o ftp://server.berkeley.edu/pub/misc/lomml
o http://server.berkeley.edu/~ayukawa/lomml.html
Thanks to Scott Southwick <sco...@ancho.ucs.indiana.edu> for pointing
out that Indiana University also maintains a searchable archive of over 9000
mailing lists. It is accessible on the web at:
o http://scwww.ucs.indiana.edu/mlarchive/
______________________________________________________________________________
---BGC--Compiler--DP-Flash--Greenwood--Nuku-Nuku--UF---/================
Brian Edmonds (MSc CompSci) aka Jubal@TMI / *Gweep Systems*
http://www.cs.ubc.ca/spider/edmonds ...SDI / System Consulting
----Steve-Reich----Blues-Traveler---Steve-Taylor----/___inux spoken here
It is better to copulate than never. - Lazarus Long