Liquid Liquid

The groundbreaking band Liquid Liquid's experiments in minimalism paved the way for such experimentalists as Tortoise and Trans Am and influenced a slew of artists, including Grandmaster Flash, who heavily sampled the band's 1983 song "Cavern" in the song "White Lines (Don't Do It)." Based in New York, the band are best known for their experiments with minimal funk, concentrating almost exclusively on percussion, bass, vocals and other percussion. The quartet -- Scott Hartley, Richard McGuire, Salvatore Principato and Dennis Young -- released only three EPs from 1981 to 1983 and were nearly forgotten until the Beastie Boys' label Grand Royal re-released all three EPs and a recording of a 1982 live performance in 1997.