Nucleus Torn

2 Foot Yard was a San Francisco/Oakland-based chamber-rock trio led by violinist-vocalist Carla Kihlstedt, alongside cellist-vocalist Marika Hughes and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily (drums, guitar). Functioning as a songwriting collective, the group blended chamber-music intimacy with rock and avant-pop, occupying "the fertile cracks between art song and pop song." It grew out of a solo album Kihlstedt released on Tzadik and released two records: the self-titled "2 Foot Yard" (Tzadik, 2003) and "Borrowed Arms" (self-released, 2008).

Frore 5 Four is an instrumental avant-garde/progressive metal project from Canada, releasing a run of Bandcamp albums built around unusually prominent accordion. Reviewers describe the sound as 'stomping accordion polka weirdness juxtaposed to neoclassical harmonies' — vocal-free, structurally unpredictable, tonally caught between creepy and jovial.

Faun Fables is an American avant-folk / dark-folk band based in Oakland, California, formed in the late 1990s by Spokane-raised singer, dancer and songwriter Dawn McCarthy. Known for a theatrical "songtelling" style, the band blends British, Scandinavian, Appalachian and Eastern European folk traditions with art rock and performance art. McCarthy's principal collaborator is Nils Frykdahl of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, whom she married; the two build the project around McCarthy's voice and Frykdahl's multi-instrumental work.

Rabbit Rabbit Radio is the song-a-month art-pop duo of Carla Kihlstedt and Matthias Bossi, both formerly of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Founded in February 2012, the project releases a new song to Bandcamp subscribers on the first day of every month, collecting them into yearly volume albums. Drawing on art song, folk song, industrial and improvised music and heart-wrenching balladry, their songs are described as raw, beautiful, sparse and rich. The core duo is expanded in performance and recording by Jeremy Flower and Jon Evans.

Aaen Anima is a Prague, Czechia avant-garde/doom-metal project founded April 25, 2002 as, in the band's own words, "originally playing acoustic avant-garde." Its 2003 album "Aniline Harp" pairs guitars and bass with cedar drum, bell, didgeridoo, darbuka and harmonium (all played by founder Aaen), plus flute (Ismia) and keyboards/djembe (Jari Velaochaga) — an eclectic, ritual-tinged folk-instrumentation palette rare even for avant-garde metal. No activity is documented past 2008.

SNAILFORCE! is the genre-hopping instrumental project of Greg Eldridge and Adam Stacey, based in Portland, Oregon, blending metal, Balkan, prog and other styles into what the band calls a "musical slime project." Adam Stacey is also known for recording with Estradasphere, Atomic Ape, Secret Chiefs 3, High Castle Teleorkestra and Igorrr. The band's debut, the two-track EP "Greg and Adam's Wilderness Adventure," was released on May 24, 2024, mixed and mastered by Justin Phelps at The Hallowed Halls, with a rotating cast of guest players on strings, horns, shamisen and more.

Sal y Mileto are Ecuador's most influential rock band, fusing progressive/alternative rock with hardcore, heavy metal, jazz and electronics into what they call 'Rock Libre Ecuatoriano.' Formed in 1994 in Latacunga, they've staged theatrical works blending poetry and contemporary dance and woven in Andean instrumentation like the traversa flute.

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God of Shamisen is a Santa Cruz, California band formed in late 2004 and led by Tsugaru-shamisen player Kevin Kmetz, billed as the world's first rock band to combine metal, funk, and progressive rock with the Tsugaru-shamisen, a fretless lute from Northern Japan. Its lineup features Kevin Kmetz (shamisen), Lee Smith (drums), Karl Schnaitter (guitar), and Mark Thornton (bass). The band shares members with experimental band Estradasphere: drummer Lee Smith moved to Santa Cruz in 2004 to join Estradasphere as their permanent drummer, and Kmetz also worked with the group. Their second album, Smoke Monster Attack (2010), was produced by Billy Anderson and Mark Thornton.

Casualties of Cool is a duo project by Devin Townsend and vocalist Ché Aimee Dorval, releasing a self-titled debut in 2014 after a crowdfunded campaign. Townsend described it as sounding like "haunted Johnny Cash songs — late night music, completely isolated," pairing alternative country, ambient and blues-rock textures with Dorval singing most of the leads; guests include saxophonist Jørgen Munkeby (Shining) and drummer Morgan Ågren (Zappa/Kaipa circle).

Akphaezya are a self-described 'eklektik metal' band from Orléans, France, active since 2002 and built around guitarist/concept-writer Stephan H. Zag-Zero's multi-album story arcs. Reviewers (French-Metal.com, Metal Archives) describe them freely mixing death metal, jazz, gothic, stoner, and cabaret/bal-musette elements, with critics drawing style comparisons to Unexpect, Diablo Swing Orchestra, and Pin-Up Went Down (no documented member/label overlap with those acts was found). Vocal duties have passed from the operatic, ethnically-inflected Nehl Aëlin to current singer Hakata Ooh.

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