Merrill Nisker (born 1968 in Toronto), better known as Peaches, is an electroclash artist whose songs are mainly focused on sexuality. She lives and works in Berlin, Germany. She plays almost all the instruments for her songs, programs her own electronic beats, and produces her records.

Peaches’ music is preoccupied with gender identity. Her lyrics and live shows self-consciously blur the distinction between male and female: she appears on the cover of her second album Fatherfucker with a full beard; when asked if she had chosen the title for shock value, she commented:

“Why do we call our mothers motherfuckers? Why do we stub our toe and say “Aww motherfucker!”? What is motherfucker? …We use it in our everyday language and it’s such an insanely intense word. I’m not one to shy away from these obscene terms that we actually have in our mainstream. Motherfucker is a very mainstream word. But if we’re going to use motherfucker, why don’t we use fatherfucker? I’m just trying to be even.”

She refutes accusations of ‘penis envy’, preferring the term ‘hermaphrodite envy’, since “there is so much male and female in us all”. Nevertheless, she does not shy away from identifying herself as a sexual being, although she rejects the sanitised portrayal of women in popular music.

Although she does not hold a teaching degree, she taught at private schools before her career in music.

Fancypants Hoodlum released in 1995 was released under her birth name Merrill Nisker

Members of her band are known as The Herms - JD Samson, Radio Sloan, Samantha Maloney.

Her songs have been featured in movies such as Mean Girls, My Little Eye, Lost in Translation, Waiting, and Jackass: Number Two. Her music has also been featured on Showtime’s The L Word television series. Peaches performed guest vocals on P!nk’s album Try This, on the song “Oh My God”. Her lyrics are discussed as part of the Queer Studies course curriculum at the University Of Toronto, and she has been invited to lecture at the Contemporary Music Academy in Berlin. Her most notorious song, “Fuck the Pain Away”, is also the name of an electro night in Brighton.

    Gordon Bahary & Joseph Saulter
 
Twilight 22 - Electric Kingdom
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop
Style: Electro
Year: 1983

Profile:
Twilight 22 was the brainchild of Gordon Bahary with some help from lead singer and co-songwriter Joseph Saulter. Gordon created the group initially through a love of computers and synthesizers. At the age of 16 he sat in with Stevie Wonder during the recording of Songs In The Key Of Life. Impressed by his suggestions, Stevie invited Gordon to produce and program synthesizers on his next album, Journey Through The Secret Of Plants.

Gordon met Joseph Salter through Herbie Hancock (Gordon also worked on Herbie's Feets Don't Fail Me Now). Joseph had been the drummer with LA-based band "Rhythm Ignition". After the group just missed out on a recording deal with Motown, Joseph and Gordon hooked up to work as Twilight 22. On Vanguard Records the duo recorded "Twilight 22" (1984) from which "Electric Kingdom" and "Siberian Nights" appealed to electro fans, 'Mysterious' to soul fans, and 'In The Night' to fusion jazz fans.

The Clash - Combat Rock

Should I Stay or Should I Go  *(Question of the Decade)
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Leftfield, Dub, Electro, Punk *(Yeah, prob... I'd call it Brit. Funk)
Year: 1982

Review:

On the surface of things, Combat Rock appears to be a retreat from the sprawling stylistic explorations of London Calling and Sandinista! The pounding arena rock of &"Should I Stay or Should I Go" makes the Clash sound like an arena rock band, and much of the album boasts a muscular, heavy sound courtesy of producer Glyn Johns. But things aren't quite that simple. Combat Rock contains heavy flirtations with rap, funk, and reggae, and it even has a cameo by poet Allen Ginsberg -- if this album is, as it has often been claimed, the Clash's sellout effort, it's a very strange way to sell out. Even with the infectious, dance-inflected new wave pop of &"Rock the Casbah" leading the way, there aren't many overt attempts at crossover success, mainly because the group is tearing in two separate directions. Mick Jones wants the Clash to inherit the Who's righteous arena rock stance, and Joe Strummer wants to forge ahead into black music. The result is an album that is nearly as inconsistent as Sandinista!, even though its finest moments -- &"Should I Stay or Should I Go," &"Rock the Casbah," &"Straight to Hell" -- illustrate why the Clash were able to reach a larger audience than ever before with the record. [In 2000 Columbia/Legacy reissued and remastered Combat Rock.] Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide