Robin M. King

Like many of England's finest musicians, Andrew Lawrence-King began his career in choir school, serving as head chorister for the Cathedral and Parish Church of St. Peter Port, Guernsey. He took an organ scholarship to Cambridge University, where he read mathematics, but finished his studies in organ and voice at the London Early Music Centre. A party at a harpmaker's house gave the opportunity for Lawrence-King to own his first early harp, modeled after a Medieval Irish instrument.

Monster is indeed R.E.M.'s long-promised "rock" album; it just doesn't rock in the way one might expect. Instead of R.E.M.'s trademark anthemic bashers, Monster offers a set of murky sludge powered by the heavily distorted and delayed guitar of Peter Buck. Michael Stipe's vocals have been pushed to the back of the mix, along with Bill Berry's drums, which accentuates the muscular pulse of Buck's chords…

Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music
What do you do when you score with the greatest album of your generation? Do another one!
Indeed, this is certainly In the Court part 2…and as good as the original!

It was hardly a surprise that the follow-up to M's debut album didn't contain a song as groundbreaking as "Pop Muzik" – or a tune that was anywhere near as big a hit as his one and only global chart-topper. Instead of trying to duplicate that near-perfect slice of electro, M (aka Robin Scott) veered off in several directions, exploring a slightly rockier sound as well as a fair amount of experimental noodling.