Alternative

Formed 1989 by David Bridie and Helen Mountfort (members of Not Drowning Waving) Like their former band, My Friend The Chocolate Cake's music can be seen to straddle the worlds of ambient and world music, with an emphasis on piano and violin-led acoustic music. Influences range from the obvious (such as Penguin Cafe Orchestra and Celtic folk music), to the less obvious (such as John Cale and Talk Talk).

The Get Up Kids are a Kansas City-based American rock band. Formed in 1995, the band was a major player in the mid-90's emo scene, otherwise known as the "second wave" of emo music. As they gained prominence, they began touring with bands such as Green Day and Weezer before becoming headliners themselves, eventually embarking on international tours of Japan and Europe. They founded Heroes & Villains Records, an imprint of the successful indie rock label Vagrant Records.