Best Indie Bands??

mfc2006 wrote:

Heisenberg wrote:

mfc2006 wrote:

Heartless Bastards

Ohio band...good call

yup. except now they're based in Austin, so we get to see them a lot.

You're lucky. I saw them open for Drive-By Truckers last month and they did a superb job.

dcfaithful wrote:

You're lucky. I saw them open for Drive-By Truckers last month and they did a superb job.

glad you enjoyed the show, Dave! they kick all kinds of ass live & they're really nice people as well. we've seen them 6-7 times & they always put on a good show. when we saw them in Austin in 2009, we hung out with them for a bit & had some beers. they even signed our poster! classy group, they are.

samjam wrote:

Local Natives is one of my favorite indie bands. Really love them. Been loving Best Coast lately as well! Some others that I have been listening to:

Fleet Foxes
Great Northern
Bon Iver
The Avett Brothers
Sleigh Bells
The Hold Steady
Iron & Wine
The Decemberists
Minus the Bear
of Montreal
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Blitzen Trapper
Portugal. The Man
School of Seven Bells

Some good bands in there for sure. But I've just gotta say that I'm quoting it for The Hold Steady alone. That band is the shit, and they are AWESOME live.

Johnny Abruzzo wrote:

Can't go wrong with Spoon.

^^THIS.
How could I forget to put them on my list? They're amazing and equally amazing live.

wow. I cant believe i forgot MGMT.
and apparently... according to this wiki page(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_indie_rock_musicians)...Beck and My Morning Jacket are indie too. did not know that they were still considered indie.

i'd suggest you RSS or visit these websites often-pitchfork, stereogum and brooklyn vegan. as well as gorilla vs bear.

from there, id also suggest visiting pitchforks best new music list. the most popular new indie bands will always be the latest one that is listed there. Ive seen it first hand as well. The day after pitchfork deems an album as best new music, visit a torrent site like what.cd and its almost always the case that the most traffic'd torrent will always be that one.

I'd also familiarize yourself with KCRW.com specifically the Morning Becomes Eclectic shows. as well as KEXP.org, a radiostation streaming for free online out of seattle.

familiarize yourself with the coachella and sasquatch music festivals. Basically any band on the bill for either fest is indie.

As far as indie bands im fond of, the national, tallest man on earth, death cab, modest mouse, imogen heap, all come to mind.

ive said it before, but indie is the most important genre and movement of music since grunge. Its also one of the most unique in music history. if you mark the beginning of indie, as when the "the" bands started getting big, like the vines, the strokes, the white stripes and others, and you follow it to 2003/2004 with the postal service releasing the classic Give up, and Death Cabs Transatlanticism, and Modest Mouse's Good News, as well as The Shins Chutes too narrow. Then you see The OC one of the most popular shows in 2003-2006, which featured indie music prominently in the shows, exposing these small bands to millions of tv viewers. Then you see Alex patsavas a music supervisor for tv, using indie bands to soundtrack Greys anatomy, and Chuck, again, exposing the music to millions of people. You then see watermark moments like Arcade Fire winning Best album.

The fact that indie and hipster are the biggest things in music and in pop culture and have been for a decade, with increasing commercial success and awareness is unique and without precedent. No musical movement save hip hop has gained popularity to this extent, and still remained vibrant and critically and commercially successful.

Additionally the fact that very few indie musicians have died in those years. Elliott Smith, and Jay Retard are two losses, but surprisingly, and luckily the scene has lost few major stars.

For all I know, James Mercer could be a killer, and Issac Brock a womanizer, and Bright Eyes a cocaine user, but again, the scene seems to have major figures, and "leaders" who are remarkably clean living to an extent of course, and have few problems that have come to the surface.

Indie rock changed my life.

eeriepadave wrote:

Arctic Monkeys
Sleigh Bells
Yuck
The Big Pink
Passion Pit
Free Energy
Kasabian
Glasvegas
Soft Pack
Peter Bjorn & John
Kaiser Chiefs
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Klaxons
Vampire Weekend
Surfer Blood
The Drums
MGMT

Great list!! Passion Pit, Surfer Blood & Yuck especially, all three are spectacular

Another band worth mentioning- Yeasayer.