Indie Music?

[fill]

Who here listens to this crap?


I sure love it.

Here's a list of some great artists:
M.Ward
Animal Collective
WHY?
Of Montreal
Menomena
Modest Mouse
Grizzly Bear
The Strokes (Old stuff is amazing!)

 

[murkrow]

I like the dismemberment plan

 

[scantilyclad]

i don't listen to the bands that you named very often but i do listen to:

sunny day real estate
jets to brazil
brand new
the smiths
minus the bear
rilo kiley
saves the day
huge fan of conor oberst as well.

 

[EJCC]

I dunno if all of this is actually indie... but "indie" is so subjective.

Fleet Foxes
Guster
Husker Du (later stuff)
The Decemberists
Death Cab for Cutie
Arcade Fire
Sufjan Stevens
Iron and Wine
Imogen Heap
Elliott Smith
Radiohead
Talking Heads
Cake
Neko Case

... and does Ben Folds count?

 

[scantilyclad]

i consider pretty much anyone on an independent record label to technically be "indie". i dunno how other people feel about it though.

also arcade fire is good.

 

[SuperServal]

Technically "Indie" is totally independently produced music...like somebody self-releasing their album. There are Indie labels that don't have the major distribution of the majors and this is considered "Indie" as well. Most bands on these labels (Rough Trade, Kill Rock Stars, etc...) share certain aesthetic qualities that have been labeled "Indie." So when one of these types of bands...say The Decemberists jumps to a major label (Capitol) they are still considered Indie even though they really aren't at that point. On a major label, many indie bands retain their original sound so they are still labeled as Indie.

Therefore some people argue that Indie really isn't a genre of music. I think it is because there is a certain niche/sub-culture/style associated with the overall "Indie scene." It's a big thing and it exists so we might as well acknowledge it!


And yes, I am a huuuuuuge fan of so-called Indie music (as if that wasn't obvious )

Animal Collective is pretty much my favorite modern band. Actually, I saw them at an amazing concert in Oxford, Mississippi a month ago. It was cooooool.

I am a fan of pretty much all the bands previously listed except:

1. M. Ward (I have not heard them)
2. Saves the Day (have not heard them)
3. Jets to Brazil (have not heard them)
4. Iron and Wine (do not like to listen to them/him at extended intervals...too mellow in a too sweet way)
5. Imogen Heap (I really don't like the soft electronica thing)
6. Death Cab For Cutie (Ben Gibbard's voice can become a little grating in its un-ending cute overload).

I need to listen to more Minus the Bear.

Here's a question:

How and when and why did you get into this sort of music? I mean...when did you discover there was a world of music outside the mainstream and what did it mean to you?

 

[Kingfisher]

i like:

Davendra Banhart
Sufjan Stevens
Animal Collective
Beirut
probably some others too

 

[EJCC]

i like:

Davendra Banhart

I'm trying really hard to like him (I got a CD of his a while back), but he... trills. SO much. I think I'll get used to it, though.

Sufjan Stevens

 

[SuperServal]

Devandra Banhart and Sufjan Stevens are really, really amazing. They are the best in modern folk I think.

 

[DennisThePenetrator]

Technically "Indie" is totally independently produced music...like somebody self-releasing their album. There are Indie labels that don't have the major distribution of the majors and this is considered "Indie" as well. Most bands on these labels (Rough Trade, Kill Rock Stars, etc...) share certain aesthetic qualities that have been labeled "Indie." So when one of these types of bands...say The Decemberists jumps to a major label (Capitol) they are still considered Indie even though they really aren't at that point. On a major label, many indie bands retain their original sound so they are still labeled as Indie.

Therefore some people argue that Indie really isn't a genre of music. I think it is because there is a certain niche/sub-culture/style associated with the overall "Indie scene." It's a big thing and it exists so we might as well acknowledge it!


And yes, I am a huuuuuuge fan of so-called Indie music (as if that wasn't obvious )

Animal Collective is pretty much my favorite modern band. Actually, I saw them at an amazing concert in Oxford, Mississippi a month ago. It was cooooool.

I am a fan of pretty much all the bands previously listed except:

1. M. Ward (I have not heard them)
2. Saves the Day (have not heard them)
3. Jets to Brazil (have not heard them)
4. Iron and Wine (do not like to listen to them/him at extended intervals...too mellow in a too sweet way)
5. Imogen Heap (I really don't like the soft electronica thing)
6. Death Cab For Cutie (Ben Gibbard's voice can become a little grating in its un-ending cute overload).

I need to listen to more Minus the Bear.

Here's a question:

How and when and why did you get into this sort of music? I mean...when did you discover there was a world of music outside the mainstream and what did it mean to you?

Typical "indie" qualities are just re-hashed aeolian melodies created by some dude wearing 70s glasses and a plaid outfit covered by an over-dramatic scarf twenty-feet long. They're all reinventing the same wheel. I can't stand most of them. Minus the Bear is respectable because they're a little more creative and innovative but bands like Death Cab and The Decemberists bore me. What pisses me off more are the emerging "indie" clubs where hipsters get to hang out and judge who has the most indie cred.

 

[Phantonym]

My taste in music is very eclectic but here are some (indie)artists that I've been into lately:

Eugene McGuinness
Menomena
Fleet Foxes
Beck
Wild Beasts
Lodger
Cold War Kids
The Black Keys
Dan Auerbach
Absent Elk
Evermore
I Am Kloot
Friendly Fires
Noisettes

 

[SuperServal]

Typical "indie" qualities are just re-hashed aeolian melodies created by some dude wearing 70s glasses and a plaid outfit covered by an over-dramatic scarf twenty-feet long. They're all reinventing the same wheel. I can't stand most of them. Minus the Bear is respectable because they're a little more creative and innovative but bands like Death Cab and The Decemberists bore me. What pisses me off more are the emerging "indie" clubs where hipsters get to hang out and judge who has the most indie cred.

When I first started getting into this kind of music I had no idea the baggage that came with it. I mean, I didn't know what hipsters were or that there was any specific sub-culture associated with many of the bands I started listening to...and I didn't know how much some people resented that sub-culture. I have actually never been around people trying to one up each other on "indie cred." I've seen elitism through the internet but never really in "real life." But I do live in Arkansas and Mississippi and I'm not so sure those two states have the best representation of hipster culture.

 

[fill]

Blech, I hate hipsters. I consider indie music to be the artists that create music for the sake of it, and would rather be innovative than signing with a record label that tells them how to play their music. Some of these bands are pretty popular, too, such as Radiohead or Modest Mouse.

And how are these bands reinventing the wheel? I've never heard anything CLOSE to Animal Collective in my life.

 

[scantilyclad]

Blech, I hate hipsters. I consider indie music to be the artists that create music for the sake of it, and would rather be innovative than signing with a record label that tells them how to play their music. Some of these bands are pretty popular, too, such as Radiohead or Modest Mouse.

And how are these bands reinventing the wheel? I've never heard anything CLOSE to Animal Collective in my life.

yeah i agree with all this.

 

[Moiety]

i consider pretty much anyone on an independent record label to technically be "indie". i dunno how other people feel about it though.

That's a bit too broad to have any commonality in terms of sound. You can have stuff ranging from symphonic death metal to world music.

Blech, I hate hipsters. I consider indie music to be the artists that create music for the sake of it, and would rather be innovative than signing with a record label that tells them how to play their music. Some of these bands are pretty popular, too, such as Radiohead or Modest Mouse..

I'm an anti-Radiohead guy myself . The fans behave like their the only band doing quality music in the world. (not that I'm a fan...but I'll concede it's got production value and work put into it) and like their eyes are open to some sort occult reality There are lots of great musical artists out there. People just can't expect to find them in the mainstream.

 

[hommefatal]

I hate indie. I love alternative though. I don't like these hipsteresque bands. I prefer expressive bands like Nirvana or Rage Against the Machine. Bands should be unique and that's what many 'indie' bands aren't.

 

[Tallulah]

Yeah, the indie cred/hipster thing exhausts me. Not to mention, some of that stuff is just outright unlistenable to me. I can't stand all the little babydoll-voiced chicks with their pianos.

I do love Fleet Foxes a lot, though, and I like the Black Keys and this chick I discovered the other day, Diane Birch. She sounds a lot like a blend of Carole King and Carly Simon with a bit of Dusty Springfield thrown in.

 

[EJCC]

Yeah, the indie cred/hipster thing exhausts me. Not to mention, some of that stuff is just outright unlistenable to me. I can't stand all the little babydoll-voiced chicks with their pianos.

cough Joanna Newsom cough.

Better to just listen to music because you like it, imho. People should get credit for being independent about what they listen to, not for listening to what they feel pressured to like.

 

[Rikka]

So as to not be redundant, i'm only including the bands i listen to that haven't been mentioned yet (i think).

The Album Leaf
Arcade Fire
Au Revoir Simone
Belle & Sebastian
Bright Eyes
Elf Power
The Flaming Lips
Matt Costa
Múm
Neutral Milk Hotel
Ratatat
Say Hi To Your Mom
Sigur Rós

 

[pure_mercury]

Dirty Projectors are probably the foremost example of actual American independent rock.


[YOUTUBE=YMPF6lpM0XM]Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is the Move[/YOUTUBE]