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GAF, let's talk about Indie Rock music!

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V

Volotaire

Member
Indie rock, indie pop, Indie folk, yeh they jell together so well.

Recommend using Indie shuffle.com. just brilliant for Indie music. http://www.indieshuffle.com/

Anyways you might like
Vampire Weekend
Ra Ra Riot
Sun City
Colour COding http://www.indieshuffle.com/colour-coding-proof/
Pheniox
DEJA http://www.indieshuffle.com/deja-holiday/ (might be too indie pop for you) but ****ing brilliant
Two Door Cinema club
Little Dragon

I'm more into indie pop and indie folk so most f those bands are more known, so if you're into any of these genres give me a shout.
 
D

Deified Data

Banned
I like Joy Formidable, obviously. Used to like Arcade Fire back in the day. Smashing Pumpkins is rocking an indie sensibility right now.

I miss the days when it was just called "alternative". Can't we just call it alternative?
 
V

Volotaire

Member
EchosMyron1 said:
Favorite indie rock tracks right now:

History Of Apple Pie - Mallory

Youth Lagoon - Raspberry Cane

The Thermals - Sunset
Click to expand...

Youth Lagoon is Brilliant

Deified Data said:
I like Joy Formidable, obviously. Used to like Arcade Fire back in the day. Smashing Pumpkins is rocking an indie sensibility right now.

I miss the days when it was just called "alternative". Can't we just call it alternative?
Click to expand...

Yo its too mainstream now :)

Founds- Avalanches http://www.indieshuffle.com/founds-avalanches-2/
New Pornographers
Postal Service
 
M

McNei1y

Member
I like a lot of the Indie Rock music that's being played on the radio. For example:

Vampire Weekend
Foster the People
Of Monsters and Men
Two Door Cinema Club
Passion Pit
Metric
etc...

Of Monsters and Men have become one of my favorite bands all together. I'm going to Firefly Festival this summer and I wish they were playing there but at least some other great bands are going to be there. I also saw Minus the Bear live a month or two ago. It was a pretty awesome show.
 
V

Volotaire

Member
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbPdOcRvuhs

Deep Sea Diver - You Go Running

McNei1y said:
Of Monsters and Men have become one of my favorite bands all together. I'm going to Firefly Festival this summer and I wish they were playing there but at least some other great bands are going to be there. I also saw Minus the Bear live a month or two ago. It was a pretty awesome show.
Click to expand...

They're more indie-pop and indie-folk, but yeh they are amazing.
 
V

Volotaire

Member
SystemShock2 said:
Should indie rock be considered a genre of music or a way to classify music that actually follows independent distribution?
Click to expand...

Hmm interesting. I would say they're very alternative rock that operate in a a variety of cross genres (indie pop/indie folk/electronic/physch-pop) and happen to be independent, as most independent bands are the ones looking for a distinctive sound, hence they try blending styles and genres a lot. As a lot get popular, I think its still valid to call them indie rock, even though some do not remain not independent. Like someone said earlier in this thread, its the the new alt rock.
 
G

gdt

Member
I am just not that into rock music these days, like at all. I have the new Phoenix album but haven't listened to it. I'm in a electronic music phase for like the last 18 months. I dig stuff here and there though, but 90% of my listening is house, garage, techno, etc.

Its not that I'm enjoying it less though....I'm just discovering and checking out way more EDM now. Beach House and The XX where my #3/#2 in my AOTY last year. (If I had to redo it they might each drop a slot for Bicep - Vision Of Love though).
 
S

storafötter

Member
To be honest as much as I would like to use the word indie is it a pretty term or buzzword for music. It isn't really a defining genre that is known for being maybe less mainstream, but the irony is that the music people call indie is neither independent or little popular. Alternative or sub rock genres is more appropriate to use.
Sorry not the intention kill your thread or anything. However I am into the some of the bands described in this thread either ways. I lean however most towards folk or pop sub genres than rock, but used to be big on rock bands. Past favourites are The Airfields, The Dears (old stuff as the new is quite terrible), Tennis (has a few surf-rock inspired tracks), Dappled Cities (mostly second album), Girls (unfortunately not a band anymore).
 
Casanova

Casanova

Member
Deified Data said:
I like Joy Formidable, obviously. Used to like Arcade Fire back in the day. Smashing Pumpkins is rocking an indie sensibility right now.

I miss the days when it was just called "alternative". Can't we just call it alternative?
Click to expand...

I guess because none of these listed bands are technically "independent" rock bands, they are all signed by somewhat large record labels.

I used to be all into the indie scene until it got overran by fedora-plagued hipsters. Asheville, NC (where I was born and still reside) is a huge artsy-indie city so I started WAY EARLY..

It's always about the music though. Do not get entangled in the whole fashion scene and persona given off by these indie people.. which seems to be elitist arrogance to be honest. Do not think that you "know good music" just because you listen to indie music.

That is NOT what it's about. It's about the music.

OP: Most attraction to "indie" music is usually driven by the unique lyricists and instrumentals that you simply cannot find on the "radio."
I believe that the "indie" genre has some of THE BEST musicians of our time.. and some of the worst..

Modest Mouse and Built To Spill somewhat started the "indie-grungie-rock" scene up in Seattle so if you haven't become trenched in knowledge of all thing's Modest Mouse and Built To Spill, you are not experiencing indie music to the fullest.

Minus the bear is good - favorite track is Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse. Fun to learn on guitar as well, if you play...

Lately, I've been on a binge of Dinosaur Jr. and The Unicorns, these are two of my all-time favorite bands. Totally different but both are amazing and I think they are still considered "indie" music..

Here are some of my favorite bands, random bands off the top of my head, that YOU NEED to add to your playlist(s):

Hockey Night
Iron & Wine
Love as Laughter
Mimicking Birds
The Mountain Goats
Explosions In The Sky
Broken Social Scene ( Go listen to them NOW) - tracks 7/4 or Cause=Time
Band of Horses
The Pixies (one of the greatest bands in history)
The Microphones
Pavement
The Velvet Underground
Weezer (do not second guess me! they are incredible..listen to the Blue Album)
The National
Iron Horse (folk covers mostly, but are THE BEST covers you'll hear..)

Dave Meltzer said:
Indie died when Pavement split tbh.
Click to expand...

Dinosaur Jr. trumps pavement, though they are still an amazing band, and have a very similar sound.
 
V

Volotaire

Member
storafötter;54871779 said:
To be honest as much as I would like to use the word indie is it a pretty term or buzzword for music. It isn't really a defining genre that is known for being maybe less mainstream, but the irony is that the music people call indie is neither independent or little popular. Alternative or sub rock genres is more appropriate to use.
Sorry not the intention kill your thread or anything. However I am into the some of the bands described in this thread either ways.
Click to expand...

Gotta say I really disagree, most if the bands i listen to that are indie have only a few thousand views on their you tube pages as well as having no you tube videos as well. A lot of popular indie artists do get a lot of limelight yes, but there are tons of bands that only get a few hundred w views. Indie shuufle is a good example of this. And there a ton of artists I've listened to (probably majority now) that are just on bandcamp/soundlcoud looking to get soem views .

I was with your viewpoint about 1 and a half years a go, but when you realize how many bands there are you are really overwhelmed.

Casanova said:
It's about the music.

OP: Most attraction to "indie" music is usually driven by the unique lyricists and instrumentals that you simply cannot find on the "radio."
I believe that the "indie" genre has some of THE BEST musicians of our time.. and some of the worst..
Click to expand...

Gotta agree with you 100% here.
 
B

BrightEyedPanic

Member
I've been listening to Bastille. I really like their song Pompeii. I listen to a lot of IAMX, Maybeshewill, This Will Destroy You, Polica, Purity Ring, Tom Vek , Andrew Bird, Liars, and then super chill stuff like Arms and Sleepers and AUN.
 
Davey Cakes

Davey Cakes

Member
I recently listened to some Dismemberment Plan. Actually prefer "Change" to "Emergency and I" but maybe I need to give the latter a more thorough listen.

Branching off of that, I began listening to Maritime with "We The Vehicles" which had a few good songs on it. Davey von Bohlen's voice certainly makes for a nice change, honestly.

It's hard to discern what's actually "indie" anymore. A lot of the acts I enjoy started as indie but got bigger over time. Some of my friends make fun of me for only liking "underground music" and yeah, some of my enjoyed bands are hardly well known, but a lot of them have hundreds of thousands of Facebook "likes."

One of my favorite acts which I only recently discovered is Sleater-Kinney. They disbanded in 2005. Are they still considered as "indie music," even though at one time I think they were considered one of the best bands in the world by Time Magazine?

What about Fleet Foxes? Flaming Lips? Arcade Fire? St. Vincent?
 
D

Dave Meltzer

Banned
The new Wavves album is good. I enjoy it. It's a good album.

Sadly it was published by Warner Bros so I can't talk about it in this thread.
 
G

gdt

Member
I'll make a contribution with a band apparently no one has ever heard of aside from me and Toma.

Magic Man.

Their album, Real Life Color, is literally a perfect rock/synth/pop album. Every song is stuffed with brilliant melodies and vocals and music.

Seriously check them out. Stunning that this kind of musical genius hasn't been recognized at least by the indie music scene.

Edit: Whats up with their bandcamp? Only the new singles are on their, but not their album, RLC. Really weird -_-
 
S

storafötter

Member
Volotaire said:
Gotta say I really disagree, most if the bands i listen to that are indie have only a few thousand views on their you tube pages as well as having no you tube videos as well. A lot of popular indie artists do get a lot of limelight yes, but there are tons of bands that only get a few hundred w views. Indie shuufle is a good example of this. And there a ton of artists I've listened to (probably majority now) that are just on bandcamp/soundlcoud looking to get soem views .

I was with your viewpoint about 1 and a half years a go, but when you realize how many bands there are you are really overwhelmed.
Click to expand...

I was talking in general terms about of how people perceive the label indie, but of course independent bands still exist to today.
Many bands I have listened to are still small and independent. However most of the bands everyone call indie aren't independent. That was my point as it is odd to still say so when they rely so heavily on record labels and contract constraints. It is also harder to define music styles with it. I noticed this especially when trying to write a music blog and explaining what defines a genre.
It is better to describe music by using sub genres as an example than just throwing the label indie which doesnt really describe anything well.
 
J

jred2k

Member
Indie is a weird label for a genre of music because its supposed to both describe the financing of the band as well as the sound. I think the term is used widely enough now most people have an idea of what kind of bands are being talked about.

A lot people want indie to mean that a band is obscure, which in the case of many bands listed in this thread, is not the case. However, in terms of the general population, they are still somewhat unknown and usually relegated to alternative radio stations.

Music really seems to have the largest discrepancy between Internet popularity and mainstream popularity.
 
V

Volotaire

Member
storafötter;54872868 said:
I was talking in general terms about of how people perceive the label indie, but of course independent bands still exist to today.
Many bands I have listened to are still small and independent. However most of the bands everyone call indie aren't independent. That was my point as it is odd to still say so when they rely so heavily on record labels and contract constraints. It is also harder to define music style with it. I notice this especially when trying to write a music blog and explaining what defines a genre.
It is better to describe music by using sub genres as an example than just throwing the label indie which doesnt really describe anything well.
Click to expand...

Ah I see what you mean. Yeh the definition 'Indie' for the non independent bands seems strange.

Link us to your blog, might be a cool read :)
 
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