does anyone else not get indie music?

2

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  • FreshTendrils
    FreshTendrils Posts: 267
    Indie is a label that really doesn't make any sense and people use it to describe a shitload of different styles and sound of music, a lot like how classic rock is used to define Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and The Beatles. Crazy. Good music is good music, I don't care what genre/label its under.
    I share a cigarette with negativity.
  • Brainofdz
    Brainofdz Posts: 1,617
    People get too hung up on labels. Good music is good music and vice versa.
    That being said, I'm not a big fan of many of the popular bands that are branded "indie" these days: The Shins, Death Cab, Ben Kweller

    Most of my favorites probably fall under the indie umbrella though
    "Stunned by my own reflection, It's looking back, sees me too clearly and I swore I'd never go there again, Not unlike a friend that politely drags you down,down,down"

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    I've been to alot of Pearl Jam shows;So fucking what.
  • drew0
    drew0 Posts: 943
    I think a lot of the stuff out today is vastly overrated, and they're hyping over nothing. From my perspective, they're just excited over it because it's the only half-way decent music that's come out in this pathetic decade.

    Anyway, a lot of indie bands I like - Wilco is absolutely amazing, Modest Mouse is pretty good, and Bright Eyes can be alright depending on my mood and the song. I've recently gotten into the Shins, and while I think they're extremely good and talented, I think some people make them out to be a lot more then they are. One band that I cannot get into is Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, which besides having a name that makes me want to cry, they sound like boring and just plain...bad. I can't get into Arcade Fire, or the Decemberists or a handful of other bands that I think are boring.

    In other words, most people overrated it, you're right. Some of the bands can be great, others are just plain boring.
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  • direwolf74
    direwolf74 Posts: 1,622
    Indie bands that kick my ass on a daily basis:

    Wilco
    The Hold Steady
    Neko Case
    Arcade Fire
    The Weakerthans
    Sarah Harmer
    Drive-By Truckers
    The New Pornographers
    Matt Mays & El Torpedo
    The Constantines
    Kathleen Edwards
    Joel Plaskett Emergency

    ...just to name a few.
    "I try my best to chug, stomp, weep, whisper, moan, wheeze, scat, blurt, rage, whine, and seduce. With my voice I can sound like a girl, the boogieman, a Theremin, a cherry bomb, a clown, a doctor, a murderer. I can be tribal. Ironic. Or disturbed. My voice is really my instrument."

    -Tom Waits
  • direwolf74
    direwolf74 Posts: 1,622
    letsongsprotest wrote:
    Indie
    Major Label
    Grunge
    Punk
    Pop
    Blah, blah, blah....


    Good music is good music
    Shitty music is shitty music


    Agreed!
    "I try my best to chug, stomp, weep, whisper, moan, wheeze, scat, blurt, rage, whine, and seduce. With my voice I can sound like a girl, the boogieman, a Theremin, a cherry bomb, a clown, a doctor, a murderer. I can be tribal. Ironic. Or disturbed. My voice is really my instrument."

    -Tom Waits
  • BetterManningNYG
    BetterManningNYG Posts: 777
    FreshTendrils wrote:
    Indie is a label that really doesn't make any sense and people use it to describe a shitload of different styles and sound of music, a lot like how classic rock is used to define Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and The Beatles. Crazy. Good music is good music, I don't care what genre/label its under.

    very true. good music is good music.

    the problem occurs when bands try to define themselves, not when others try to define them. there are so many bands that try to squeeze themselves into convenient, pre-packaged genres, and this is what detracts from the overall quality of the music more than anything else. i guess this has been going on for as long as music has been commercialized.

    the best bands/artists are the ones who burst onto the scene with music that cannot be adequately described by any one specific genre... pearl jam, alice in chains, nirvana, mudhoney, jane's addiction, guns n' roses, the ramones, the who, black sabbath, led zeppelin, the doors, pink floyd, bob dylan, the beatles, etc, etc, etc...

    also, i just decided that "mark lanegan" is a genre of music. i'm not sure what this has to do with anything but i'm kinda wasted so there you go...
  • pearljam_addiction
    pearljam_addiction Posts: 668
    JOEJOEJOE wrote:
    No matter what people think of the newer indie bands, I am glad the kids are into this stuff, as opposed to Limp Bisciut, Korn and the other Rap-rock bands that dominated a few years back!


    :)


    Agreed, id rather kids today pick up a guitar and play rock music than pop or rap. i would rather see a kid dressed up as an emo poster child than one who is thugged-out listening to young jeezy or Dem franchise boys
    "I Will Scream my Lungs out 'til it fills this Room "

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  • brhf9
    brhf9 Posts: 1,475
    letsongsprotest wrote:
    Indie
    Major Label
    Grunge
    Punk
    Pop
    Blah, blah, blah....


    Good music is good music
    Shitty music is shitty music

    (2)
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  • Jeremy1012
    Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    I cant imagine how anyone could not like the Shins. they arent my normal type of music but I just cant argue with their songs. so catchy.


    best indie band ever - pavement
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
  • Brainofdz
    Brainofdz Posts: 1,617
    Jeremy1012 wrote:
    I cant imagine how anyone could not like the Shins. they arent my normal type of music but I just cant argue with their songs. so catchy.


    best indie band ever - pavement

    What do you know about Pavement?:
    "Stunned by my own reflection, It's looking back, sees me too clearly and I swore I'd never go there again, Not unlike a friend that politely drags you down,down,down"

    When you see me on the street, yell out "FAVO!!!"

    I've been to alot of Pearl Jam shows;So fucking what.
  • A Surprise Left
    A Surprise Left Posts: 743
    some indie music is great such as damien rice, sufjan stevens and interpol for example. some of it is just terrible as well. a lot of the vocals are whiny and bands like death cab for cutie and modest mouse suck in my view.
    The wind is blowing cold
    Have we lost our way tonight?
    Have we lost our hope to sorrow?

    Feels like were all alone
    Running further from what’s right
    And there are no more heroes to follow

    So what are we becoming?
    Where did we go wrong?
  • BinGnarly
    BinGnarly Posts: 508
    I dont get how people can't like these "indie" bands (Moset Mouse is on a major label along with a few other but still for some reason under the Indie genre) Issac Brock is an amazing when it comes to lyrics. The Shins are great you should also check out bands like Iron and Wine, Neutral Milk Hotel,The Decemberists and Sufjan Stevens is amazing im proud he's from Michigan.
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  • thelowlightargentina
    thelowlightargentina Posts: 592
    pjfan020 wrote:
    Bands like the shins, modest mouse, bright eyes etc.. are vastly overrated to me. I was just curious as to what the big deal is with a lot of these artists. A lot of them have the same whiney out of key vocal approach that irritates the hell out of me. I mean i'm a huge dylan and neil young fan but some of these guys can't sing at all. Musically speaking a lot of them don't seem to have much talent either and it seems odd that some of these bands are so popular but aren't really that great at the instruments they play. My gf listens to a lot of the stuff so i hear it all the time and to be quite honest a lot of it sounds the same to me. If you listen to the stuff I'm not bashing you or anything, i'm just curious.

    I must confess I did not listen to that bands you name here yet. Anyway, I can´t understand what exactly is "Indie" music

    Please, if someone can define it I´ll apreciate it

    Thanks
    ...can´t wear my mask, your first my last...
  • JSBE
    JSBE Posts: 1,078
    letsongsprotest wrote:
    Indie
    Major Label
    Grunge
    Punk
    Pop
    Blah, blah, blah....


    Good music is good music
    Shitty music is shitty music

    you beat me to it.

    really, like what you like and don't like what you don't. why does everything have to have a label attached to it or have to be so categorized?
  • pearljam_addiction
    pearljam_addiction Posts: 668
    thelowlightargentina wrote:
    I must confess I did not listen to that bands you name here yet. Anyway, I can´t understand what exactly is "Indie" music

    Please, if someone can define it I´ll apreciate it

    Thanks


    hope this helps in understanding

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_(music)
    "I Will Scream my Lungs out 'til it fills this Room "

    " I Will Feel Alive as Long as I am Free"

    "Are We Getting SomeThing Out Of this All Encompassing Trip? Makes Much More Sense To Live In The Present Tense"

    www.myspace.com/ehoff12982
  • yield2me
    yield2me Posts: 1,291
    pjfan020 wrote:
    Bands like the shins, modest mouse, bright eyes etc.. are vastly overrated to me. I was just curious as to what the big deal is with a lot of these artists. A lot of them have the same whiney out of key vocal approach that irritates the hell out of me. I mean i'm a huge dylan and neil young fan but some of these guys can't sing at all. Musically speaking a lot of them don't seem to have much talent either and it seems odd that some of these bands are so popular but aren't really that great at the instruments they play. My gf listens to a lot of the stuff so i hear it all the time and to be quite honest a lot of it sounds the same to me. If you listen to the stuff I'm not bashing you or anything, i'm just curious.

    I'm with you, 99% of this stuff is just trash and you're right, it all sounds the same for the most part...is rock and roll finally dead???
    “May you live to be 100 and may the last voice you hear be mine.” - Frank Sinatra
  • yield2me
    yield2me Posts: 1,291
    BinGnarly wrote:
    I dont get how people can't like these "indie" bands (Moset Mouse is on a major label along with a few other but still for some reason under the Indie genre) Issac Brock is an amazing when it comes to lyrics. The Shins are great you should also check out bands like Iron and Wine, Neutral Milk Hotel,The Decemberists and Sufjan Stevens is amazing im proud he's from Michigan.


    *bah! All those bands are sooooo slow and whiny! I don't understand why people are so crazy about bands like the Decemberists??? I'd rather watch grass grow than listen to that boring shit.
    “May you live to be 100 and may the last voice you hear be mine.” - Frank Sinatra
  • Jeremy1012
    Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    Brainofdz wrote:
    What do you know about Pavement?:
    how do you mean? information-wise? :D

    I know the following... they were one of the few "indie" band who genuinely were indie. they never sold out, they were led by Stephen Malkmus who started them with guitarist scott kannberg (spiral stairs) in the late 80s and their first album was the brilliant Slanted and enchanted which included such classics as summer babe and here. they followed it up (not including an EP) with Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, wowee zowee, brighten the corners and terror twilight before disbanding. malkmus has had a solo/side project career with the silver jews, the jicks and by himself. spiral stairs has Preston school of industry.
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
  • CM1847
    CM1847 Posts: 577
    Indie is just another genre of music. It is like saying you don't get rap or country or mainstream rock. There are maybe 5 bands that I would consider to be truly mainstream that make music that interests me. If I didn't discover indie I would have gotten extremely bored of music about 5 years ago.
  • soclose
    soclose Posts: 629
    It's all been said in this thread and previous ones, but for some reason I still feel the need to add something.

    "Indie" is not a sound. There are indie musicians from every genre of music. You cannot possible dislike or not "get" every indie musician in existance. I might also add that if you took the time to listen to the Shins and Modest Mouse you'd probably find they have about as much in common musically as Pearl Jam and Nirvana do. I for one love the Shins and don't like Modest Mouse. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

    As someone said in a similar thread recently, music is not a competition. Like what you like, pass by what you don't. I'd say you should take some time and give the music a chance, but when it comes down to it I don't really care. What I WOULD like to see around here is either more positive conversation or at least thoughful disagreement rather than thread after thread stating "______ sucks." For those of us who would rather discuss the music we ENJOY it can be difficult to participate in this message board. Sometimes I feel like most of the people around here are more interested in starting fights than taking part in intelligent discussion.

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