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Re: Vampire Weekend - Redefining The Rock Star

maxperenchio — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:58:30 GMT

Author: maxperenchio

Posted: 02/17/2010 21:58

Great post Shankly. The modern indie scene isn't too different from the internet in general...its saturated within an inch of its life. The name has become all inclusive, but its certainly not all "mellow" (but i guess if you gathered the most famous ones, they would be less mellow than the group that came before them). I feel like you could call anything indie so long as its not Beyonce. Thus the reason for the Vampire Weekend NME spotlight, is the fact that it is in the top 40, but it has managed to drag some degree of "artistic merit" along with it.

Re: Vampire Weekend - Redefining The Rock Star

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:52:21 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 02/17/2010 15:52

In the recent "Indie" bands all I seem to see/hear is apathy. I also get the feeling that apathy is "hip" which I thinks come partly due to what you said about it becoming "rebellious to not rebel". That's something I would like to see kept in the 00's thank you very much. 🙄

That was very informative though, I'll have to keep it mind. Thanks Shankly 😄

What about the people who say "indie" means independent/ belongs to indie label? Which decade was that idea from?

Re: Vampire Weekend - Redefining The Rock Star

Mr. Shankly — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:59:32 GMT

Author: Mr. Shankly

Posted: 02/17/2010 01:59

mikeyskywalker wrote:

I suppose the only characteristic about indie music (that I can pinpoint) is that it all tends to be mellow, but that's not saying much.

Maybe nowadays, but that didn't used to be the case. OK, quick history lesson for you all. Indie rock as a genre began in the 80's. American indie bands at that time included the likes of Husker Du, The Replacements, R.E.M. (the most mainstream of the indie bands) Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, The Pixies, Minor Threat, and Black Flag (hardly mellow). In Britain, there were all the 4AD bands like The Cocteau Twins,The Caroline Records bands, The Fall, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Stone Roses, the shoegaze bands, and of course, The Smiths. Most of these bands were inspired by punk and the raw sounds and jangley guitar and/or psychedlia of the sixties. It bears mentioning that the Velvet Underground was a big influence on a lot of indie bands--one of the reasons they're so revered.

Then came the nineties, the decade where indie rock became more brainy,insular, and smirky irony became all the rage. Nirvana changed the game and for those who were past their angry adolescent years like myself, there was indie rock. This is when it started gradually inching toward the mainstream. I hate to make a generalization, but it was in this period where indie rock became largely the property of middle class White kids, who were looking for something more cerebral The 90's gave us Pavement, Guided by Voices, Yo La Tengo (both noisy and mellow), Neutral Milk Hotel, The Magnetic Fields, The Flaming Lips, Uncle Tupelo, Liz Phair, Elliott Smith, Palace Brothers, Belle and Sebastian, Built to Spill, Sleater-Kinney, The Elephant 6 bands, Modest Mouse, and great labels like Matador, Merge, Up, Dutch East India Trading Company, Jeepster, Kill Rock Stars, K records, and of course, Sub Pop to name a few.

It's important to keep in mind that most of the bigger indie bands of the 80's, most notably, R.E.M., Husker Du, The Pixies, The Replacements, Sonic Youth, and Dinosaur Jr, ended up on major labels. The same thing happened in the late 90's. For example, Built to Spill and Elliott Smith both went major. Recently, Modest Mouse went major, Death Cab for Cutie took the plunge and so did The Decemberists. Of course, a few years ago, The White Stripes and The Strokes helped open up the mainstream floodgates. Has it gotten mellower? Yeah, I guess so, I think it became rebellious to not rebel. It wasn't that many years ago that the mainstream was littered with nu metal and watered down grunge. So what did the hip college kids listen to? indie rock that was so nice and inoffensive you could bring it home to mom. Band like the Shins and Iron and Wine got popular thanks to movie references, and we have come full circle. Indie rock is just another choice in the mainstream,and yes some of it is painfully close to adult alternative. Or does it make the mainstream just a little better?

Re: Vampire Weekend - Redefining The Rock Star

mikeyskywalker — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:11:27 GMT

Author: mikeyskywalker

Posted: 02/16/2010 23:11

Indie is definitely an awkward genre that has developed. When I used to think of it I thought of bands that weren't so commercially successful, but were just doing their own thing. Obviously, this isn't so true anymore. I feel like the genre is too wide, or maybe I just don't have a complete understanding of it. I don't know anymore. I tend to listen to music without the thought of genres nowadays, just the basic categories.

I suppose the only characteristic about indie music (that I can pinpoint) is that it all tends to be mellow, but that's not saying much.

Re: Vampire Weekend - Redefining The Rock Star

telefunker — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:35:56 GMT

Author: telefunker

Posted: 02/16/2010 20:35

oh yeah, the non-radio indie.. i've found that to be invariably pretty shit to be honest, not my cup of tea

Re: Vampire Weekend - Redefining The Rock Star

Applerill — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:03:03 GMT

Author: Applerill

Posted: 02/16/2010 20:03

I normally think of indie as "anything current that isn't played on Top 40 radio". Certainly this poses a few problems, but I think it makes sense: Even artists like Beach House don't seem to be focused on radio much anymore, for instance.

And, when there's a band that a friend has that I've never heard of, I normally use the word "indie" on that anyway.

So yeah, that's my two cents.

Re: Vampire Weekend - Redefining The Rock Star

telefunker — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:28:53 GMT

Author: telefunker

Posted: 02/16/2010 15:28

it seems to me that ever since the 60s, there have been two types of music; that which is currently in fashion and that which is challenging it. indie started out as the latter (a return-to-basics approach to music during the technological and aesthetically saturated early 80's) but has since swallowed the machine whole and become a beast in its own right.

nowadays, indie is simply the fashion.

ultimately though, only truth prevails. music that was purely along for the ride and inherently devoid of any objective qualities such as strong melodies, lyrics or production is invariably forgotten over the course time by society at large and remembered only by the suckers who were into it at the time.

records like pet sounds and dark side of the moon for example will continue to find fans in successive generations because their content transcended the ephemeral zeitgeist.

as for the nme, they are merely part of the fashion at any given time. impressionable drones looking for an identity read about the 'best band in the world' and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

remember, this is the same publication that has spent the best part of the last decade up pete doherty's arse. i can all but guaruntee you that if, the libertines had not come about in the 00's and instead arrived, fully formed, on the musical landscape in 2020, they would likely be playing for pennies in a backstreet pub.

in summary, any magazine that extolls the 'virtues' of the libertines and the arctic monkeys, is as far as i'm concerned, glorified toilet paper.

Re: Vampire Weekend - Redefining The Rock Star

Alt-Rocker77 — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:12:03 GMT

Author: Alt-Rocker77

Posted: 02/16/2010 15:12

Is this anything new? NME overhypes like the world may end tomorrow, and gotten away with it since the Stone Roses and Oasis. However, I do think that the new Vampire Weekend record is very good, I was really surprised how the record felt like a natural progression of the band's sound instead of a sequel to their debut. Maybe their talking more about the quality of the record and its surprisingly good sales. I still say say you should practice more, we need bands! Record Companies seem to want them to go away, probably because it requires someone to practice, which conflicts with their instant gratification business model.

Vampire Weekend - Redefining The Rock Star

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:37:58 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 02/16/2010 14:37

Vampire Weekend - Redefining The Rock Star

Printed on the front of the nme this week. The nme have been a confusing bunch lately but this and a recent 'The xx' cover have put them at an all time low. I'm going to have to practice even more tonight if things have gotten this bad.

When there isn't this nonsense, there is almost always a band saying something along the line of "Hey, we're a band for the people guys! Buy are records!".

And wait for it... The Best band in the world 😁 😁 😁 Yeah, that's what they say every time someone comes along doing something just a little bit different. And then they disappear. Although I shouldn't complain, that part of the nme has always been funny 😄

And it isn't much better elsewhere, is it? 🙄

So what do you think of when you hear the word "Indie"?

(I hadn't of been thinking of "Indie" when writing the above nor have I got a definite description of it. I just found I had dug myself into a hole with this thread and needed a question. It's inevitably going to end up in the discussion if this thread was to get any replies though. I wrote this while eating my sandwitch)