Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp are The Rosebuds. Their albums include The Rosebuds Make Out (2003) and Birds Make Good Neighbors (2005), Life Like, and Loud Planes Fly Low (all on Merge Records).

Born and raised in Lawrence, KS, musician Patrick Cleandenim currently lives in New York City, where attended the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Baby Comes Home, his debut album, was released by Broken Horse Records in 2007.

Based at the London design agency Intro, Julian House has created album covers for Stereolab, Broadcast, and Primal Scream. He is also the force behind The Focus Group, whose debut LP, Sketches and Spells, was released in 2006 on Ghostbox, the record label House cofounded with Jim Jupp in 2005. House has also acted as art director on video projects for Doves and Radiohead.

Born and raised in New Mexico, Danielle Stech-Homsy currently lives and works in Brooklyn. She self-released her first album, Songs for Santa Ynez, in 2003, following it up two years later with A Bride’s Guide to Waiting Music (Gnomonsong).

New York–based filmmaker, cinematographer, and musician Tom Krueger has shot music videos for Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Bob Dylan, and U2, on whose IMAX concert film Krueger also served as cinematographer. His 1998 short film, Fuzzy Logic, played at numerous film festivals, including Sundance and Cannes. 

John Fell Ryan and Dan Hougland started Excepter in 2002. The group’s debut album, KA, appeared on Fusetron in 2003; their second LP, Alternation, was released by 5RC in 2005. Ryan and Hougland were later joined by Nathan Corbin and Jon Nicholson; their first project as a four-piece was the EP Sunbomber.

Asobi Seksu is Yuki Chikudate, James Hanna, Mitch Spivak, and Haji. The New York–based band’s debut album, S/T, appeared in 2004; its second full-length, Citrus, was produced by Chris Zane (Les Savy Fav, Calla) and released on Friendly Fire in May 2006.

Formed in 1999 by Fred Thomas, the Michigan collective Saturday Looks Good to Me albums include the Polyvinyl releases All Your Summer Songs and Every Night, as well as Sound on Sound (Redder Records), a compilation of out-of-print singles and B-sides. 

The Swimming Pools are Christophe Doloire and Daniel Smith. Using computers to make music from their apartment in New York City’s East Village, the pair have released several albums, including IFallInLove100TimesADay.

Carolyn “Honeychild” Coleman began her career playing in New York City subways and has since performed and recorded with Raz Mesinai’s Badawi, Phylr, Spectre, Death Comet Crew, and Apollo Heights. Coleman, a founding member of Sistagrrl Riot Collective, also spins regularly under the moniker DJ Sugarfree.

Greg Weeks is a cofounder of the acid-folk group Espers, whose albums include Espers (Locust) and Espers II (Drag City). The Philadelphia-based musician also released four solo recordings before retiring from music to become a high school English teacher.

The Earlies are a half-American, half-English band formed by John-Mark Lapham, Brandon Carr, Giles Hatton, and Christian Madden in 2004. The group, which collaborates with a revolving roster of musicians both here and in the U.K., released These Were the Earlies on Secretly Canadian Records in 2005.

El Perro del Mar is the solo project of Swedish singer-songwriter Sarah Assbring. The singles compilation Look! It’s El Perro del Mar! came out in 2005 on Hybris Records; her subsequent albums include Love Is Not Pop and Pale Fire.