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Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Mr. Shankly — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 01:06:10 GMT

Author: Mr. Shankly

Posted: 08/29/2012 05:06

purple wrote:

extrapolating cultures across time based solely on some similar behaviors (e.g. thinking it was cool before it was cool) is unsound. Cultures are formed as a reaction against historical or current cultures. The culture that the Stooges were born in and played for is more violent, more honest, more singular in purpose, and less concerned with fashion than hipster culture. Hipsters may have appropriated punk music and punk fashion but they have not appropriated punk, especially the violence. And, music is appropriated by many cultures. Yes, hipsters like the Stooges, but so do many metalheads. Couldn't they be a metalhead-band? I think it's strange to call a band by the culture that is currently appropriating it (especially when several cultures are currently appropriating it), rather than the culture it was formed in. The Stooges are punk, not hipster. I'm also well aware of the Stooges influences across all decades, thanx 😁

At least, hipsters are a distinctly post-Nevermind-the-Bollocks phenomenon, and at most a post-Nirvana phenomenon. So there are few bands formed after those that I'll give to you, but your list includes few. I think a key aspect of "being a hipster band" means consciously drawing from fringe influences to be "cool". AnCo does this sometimes; but most of the other bands on your list are "trailblazers" or genuinely authentic. The only fringe they could pull from at the time they were making music was in literature, John Cage etc, or each other... and none of those things were "cool" then. Ultimately, I think it's strange to call a band by the culture that is currently appropriating it (especially when several cultures are currently appropriating it), rather than the culture it was formed in.

I'm a hipster because I'm a perfect specimen of '00s inauthenticity. Lastly, you pulled the age card by mentioning it douche, and you don't know what you're talking about. Sounded angry, is not :mrgreen:

Actually, I don't really care all that much, but it's kind of amusing to me that you do. 😜 I'll just explain my reasoning one more time: hipster comes from the word "hip," so that's how I define the concept, and the list I made was bands who are or were considered "hip" at one time, but have gone on to be widely accepted and promoted in some way or another. (Come to think about it, some of the inclusions on my list never went mainstream, but they are considered "hip.") 🤔 You can use the Wikipedia definition or whatever the accepted nomenclature is now if you want. I was merely trying to make a larger point, of which people missed, misunderstood, or flat out ignored because of the negative connotations of the word, "hipster," and their unwillingness to accept that some band they worship might also be associated with a movement they don't like. Remember: I was responding to the LA Weekly list which was intended to ruffle people's feathers. . I don't think LA Weekly writers should have used that term, but they were self-consciously trying to be controversial or provocative as was I (to make a point). I think their list would have made more sense if it was exploring what indie rock has become and what it is in its current state, but it is much more controversial and remarkable to attack an identity and way of life than just a form of music.

Ultimately, Lethal Nezzle is right though. "Hipster," in the end, is just a label. It can means everything and nothing, but ultimately, it only has meaning if you give it meaning. I really couldn't care less. I'm past that stage of my life. 😎

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

HigherThanTheSun — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 18:29:10 GMT

Author: HigherThanTheSun

Posted: 08/28/2012 22:29

lethalnezzle wrote:

The term "hipster" is fucking stupid. I get accused of being a hipster regularly (although not on here, thankfully). I have friends who are even more regularly and damningly labelled with the term. It means fuck all. People like what they like. If the shit they like is cooler (or, as is more likely, more obscure) than the shit you like, I'm sorry, but don't deride them for being a "hipster". Enjoy what you listen to, wear what you want, converse with like-minded people. Stop worrying about what's so cool and start attempting to bring about the long-overdue downfall of Kasabian.

I dunno man, yes and no. I think alot of people get unfairly called hipster when they're just doing what they want to do. Then again there's shit loads of people who do the things they do because they think it's cool and it's part of their image. But yeah generally I find a so called hipster less annoying than the people who go round calling other people hipsters.

lethalnezzle wrote:

Stop worrying about what's so cool

Isn't that what being a true hipster is all about though? You know, disowning a band once they become mainstream or whatever, paying more attention to giving people an impression than being honest with yourself?

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 12:11:03 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/28/2012 16:11

lethalnezzle wrote:

converse with like-minded people. start attempting to bring about the long-overdue downfall of Kasabian.

No

and

Yes

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 11:52:12 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/28/2012 15:52

lethalnezzle wrote:

Agree.

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 11:49:31 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/28/2012 15:49

The term "hipster" is fucking stupid. I get accused of being a hipster regularly (although not on here, thankfully). I have friends who are even more regularly and damningly labelled with the term. It means fuck all. People like what they like. If the shit they like is cooler (or, as is more likely, more obscure) than the shit you like, I'm sorry, but don't deride them for being a "hipster". Enjoy what you listen to, wear what you want, converse with like-minded people. Stop worrying about what's so cool and start attempting to bring about the long-overdue downfall of Kasabian.

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 10:13:05 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/28/2012 14:13

Every band is (or was) a hipster band in some way. Except Coldplay.

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 09:26:08 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/28/2012 13:26

Wikipedia wrote:

Hipster refers to a subculture of young, recently settled urban middle class adults and older teenagers that appeared in the 1990s. The subculture is associated with independent music, a varied non-mainstream fashion sensibility, Apple products, liberal or independent political views, alternative spirituality or atheism/agnosticism and alternative lifestyles. Interests in media would include independent film, magazines such as Vice and Clash, and websites like Pitchfork Media, UrbFash, and Tumblr. Hipster culture has been described as a "mutating, trans-Atlantic melting pot of styles, tastes and behavior[s]." Christian Lorentzen of Time Out New York argues that "hipsterism fetishizes the authentic" elements of all of the "fringe movements of the postwar era—beat, hippie, punk, even grunge," and draws on the "cultural stores of every unmelted ethnicity," and "regurgitates it with a winking inauthenticity."

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 09:12:07 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/28/2012 13:12

I don't understand what you mean by hipster Mr Shankly, the list didn't make a lot of sense. I mean sure douche bags who only listen to (insert band) because it was "underground" and trendy, listened to a lot of those bands. That doesn't make them hipster though... If you are talking about the artists themselves, then I just disagree completely with almost all of the choices, how can you pass judgement on their hipsterisims from their music and public life.

And why were you apologizing to people, even if some of the bands were "hipster" it isn't a negative thing for the listener.

Most of that sounds angry. not intentionally 😄

Although that list is total bullshit 😁

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Mr. Shankly — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 08:52:24 GMT

Author: Mr. Shankly

Posted: 08/28/2012 12:52

purple wrote:

wut. their albums are on every list, including Rolling Stone Mojo Pitchfork & NME. just because a fringe culture is the only thing that would listen to them when they played doesn't make it hipster; you'd be confusing hipster with punk, or sado-masochistic. I want reasons. I'm not pissed or anything; I'm a hipster and the Stooges is one of my favorites, but calling the Stooges a hipster band is retarded. Also;; semicolonsss;;;

No, it isn't! In fact, It's so obvious. It was their cool garage band aesthetic, the early look of The Stooges (Maybe the look and fashion have evolved, but in the late 90's, early 2000's when I first became aware of hipster culture, all the young hipster men looked like they could have been members of the fuckin' Stooges). It's cool to like punk, but it's even cooler to like the band that influenced and came before punk. Their music was simple, yet primal, raw, and sexy....and as you know, their lead singer was Iggy Pop. 😉 Lester Bangs thought they were cool when the mainstream was ignoring them,and he was a hipster before they gave it a name. The Ramones and The Sex Pistols claimed them as an influence. Who do you think was the biggest influence on the neo garage revival of the early 2000's? I mean practically every one of those bands owed a debt to the Stooges. You know how many garage bands I saw in the early 2000's that sounded like The Stooges with guys with shag hair cuts? Too many to count. You think The White Stripes (who obviously came from hipster ilk) are merely old blues fans? Ask any hipster what they think of Iggy and the Stooges, and I bet they say nothing nothing but positive things. Maybe we just have a misunderstanding about what hipster culture is. My posting was more about what is 'hip' and what then goes on to become mainstream, iconic, or influential (The Stooges are exhibit B after the VU) I'm not going to pull the age card, but I know what I'm talking about here. Why would you proclaim yourself a hipster? 😕

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 08:25:29 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/28/2012 12:25

Also, Modest Mouse (solely for Float On), Beck (solely for "Loser"), Pixies (for various soundtrack picks in "Fight Club" and "I Love You Man" etc), White Stripes (they had that lego video! right?), Rolling Stones (oh, they're on all the t-shirts) are the only "mainstream" artists here, and then here and there there are pockets of people that know the others. Ask you're casual music lover who GBV and you get this:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 08:12:35 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/28/2012 12:12

Mr. Shankly wrote:

2. The Stooges (Second All-time hipster band)

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Mr. Shankly — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 06:00:44 GMT

Author: Mr. Shankly

Posted: 08/28/2012 10:00

What's ironic about this list is that it's a fundamentally hipster gesture to sneer at what is hip and popular right now (I'm really surprised they didn't go after Radiohead, by the way). So that makes the article itself a hipster statement. Way to drive home the point, LA Weekly writers. �'� Also, it's a confusing list in that they included artists that have successfully crossed over to have mainstream success like Death Cab for Cutie and Arcade Fire. Those bands don't belong to the hipsters anymore (if they ever did), which leads me to an insight: What is hip today may very well be mainstream, iconic, or influential tomorrow. Granted this phenomenon used to take between 10-30 years. Nowadays, this transformation takes place much faster. Case in point, all of the bands I'm about to mention were once the supposed property of hipsters, and some (some of which are BEA favorites and mine) are all-time hipster bands. In no particular order (except for the first two):

1. The Velvet Underground (The all-time hipster band)
2. The Stooges (Second All-time hipster band)
3. Pavement
4. My Bloody Valentine
5. Love
6. Modest Mouse (Trust me. I remember the early days in Seattle)
7. Beck (early on, he was a hipster artist, and kind of still projects that spirit)
8. Belle and Sebastian
9. The Magnetic Fields
10. Patti Smith
11. The Pixies
12. The MC5 (or any band Lester Bangs thought was cool)
13. Suicide
14. Joy Division (Admit it, BEA! Those guys were hipsters and they definitely appeal to that crowd)
15. The Fall
16. Guided by Voices
17. Sebadoh
18. Anything from the Elephant 6 collective
11. Sonic Youth (another obvious one)
12. The Ramones
13. Lou Reed
14. The Chemical Brothers
15. The Strokes
16. The White Stripes (In the early 2000's, 'hip' artists and bands like The Strokes and The White Stripes were crossing over big time)
17. Animal Collective (probably should have been on the LA Weekly List)
18. The Cramps (Sorry, Manc Soul Sister)
19. Gram Parsons
20. The Doors--Sure they became a classic rock staple and were quite mainstream, but listen to their first few albums, especially the first and tell me there isn't a serious hipster vibe being projected. I think they were one of the hippest bands one could be into in 67-68
21. Fugazi
22. Tom Waits
23. Captain Beefheart (Sorry Eggman and others but he's another epitome of a hipster artist) as is ...
24. Frank Zappa
(This last one might surprise you) ..

25. The (early) Rolling Stones--Think about what they were like, how they dressed and the alternative they presented to The Beatles. I'll bet you to this day, it's still considered cooler to like The Stones more than the Beatles.

I believe all of these artists were considered hip and were claimed as the property of 'hipsters' at one time. But note that most of these went on to have a certain amount of mainstream appeal. Such is the way of the world. Feel free to question or add to the list. I'm really just trying to make a point though. 😉

So the LA Weekly list is meaningless largely for the reason I described above. But underlying their list may be a larger point, which I've been wondering about lately, and that's that indie rock has gotten really boring and vanilla in recent years. I think it's dying actually, but that idea is probably for another thread.

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 00:09:07 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/28/2012 04:09

The Poe wrote:

I googled this and got 0 results.

Google is too mainstream for that word.

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 00:08:00 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/28/2012 04:08

thejoj96 wrote:

entertrepred

I googled this and got 0 results.

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 00:04:58 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/28/2012 04:04

HigherThanTheSun wrote:

My cousin's got some raybans from about 20 years ago, yeah he had them before they were cool. My cousin is so cool I want to be him.

Edited for apostrophe.

Apostrophes are too mainstream; semicolons are entertrepred which means no one uses them, so they must be cool.

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

HigherThanTheSun — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 23:54:23 GMT

Author: HigherThanTheSun

Posted: 08/28/2012 03:54

My cousin's got some raybans from about 20 years ago, yeah he had them before they were cool. My cousin is so cool I want to be him.

Edited for apostrophe.

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:42:25 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/28/2012 01:42

Aren't they just a bunch of dirty hipsters and holier-than-thou know-nothings for saying that those "hip" bands "aren't that great", like they could do any better? Get off your sprawling, polluted high horse.

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:09:35 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/28/2012 01:09

thejoj96 wrote:

Love how Coldplay is the least obscure band on the list, 0% lol

Apparently John Lennon (25.6%) is more obscure than 50 Cent (19.9%).

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 19:46:07 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/27/2012 23:46

Manner has received a 10.1 from Pitchfork. Every album in your chart has also received that rating.

Re: LA Weekly's 20 Worst Hipster Bands.

Hayden — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 19:16:59 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 08/27/2012 23:16

Norman Bates wrote:

Such a hip thing to do.

😐 🤡

Quote:

Also... Both Beyonce and JT have "coincidentally" garnered praise from Pitchfork

🧱

I DONT LIKE MUSIC. I JUST WATCH TV AND PAINT STUFF.