Portlandia

imalive wrote:

dcfaithful wrote:

This should also help you out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eKnSGn9 ... 05E86FABAD

"my life is beyond your comprehension"

I'm not going to bash musicismylife. he/she seems like a good cat/chick.

I am glad I now know what to call these folks I've been seeing around....in their flannel shirts, their wayfarers and skinny jeans

this forum can be quite educational.

musicismylife78 wrote:

dcfaithful wrote:

musicismylife78 wrote:

if your goal was to be popular and hip and trendy, than be a fan of Washed Out, or Oneohtrix point never, or Flying Lotus.

or Arcade Fire and The Black Keys. I say that only because those two bands have really blown up recently and seem to be a real hit with the whole "hipster" crowd.

true, but as i argued, those bands arent exactly new. their popularity may be new, but Arcade Fire have been around since 2004, David Bowie, and David Byrne used to hand out copies of their first album to friends and preach the power of the band, and were a band even before that, and the Black Keys are on what, album number 6 now? You are definitely correct in identifying them as being hipster bands, but i dont think liking them, hipsters liking them at least, is anything new. if anything the new aspect of it, is these 2 bands have gotten increasingly more accepted by mainstream society. its the mainstreaming of indie. these bands have been around awhile, the odd thing is the culture thats now rising up and meeting these bands in their element.

musicismylife78 wrote:

i think the generally accepted definition of a hipster, is a person in their 20's, who is into fashion, art and music. they shop at american apparel and urban outfitters. and they enjoy bands that are new and hip, but usually said bands havent made it into the cultural consciousness. Washed Out is a perfect example. Washed Out is on Sub Pop, they soundtrack Portlandia, but few if anyone outside the scene would be able to point out their music. Hipsters can be found in Portland, Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Austin Tx. They read sites like Pitchfork, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan. They are fans of Palaniuk, Dave Eggers. They love Wes Anderson and Spike Jonze.

and its a movement and musical scene, but its one of the few i can think of, that has no agenda or political idealogy attached. hipsters arent out to elect a new president, or to change the system. its almost apolitical. \

the most common insult or sterotype is that they like bands before the mass population knows who they are. And when that band becomes popular, they quit liking that band, because now its considered cool. Ive found this pretty inaccurate. As indie has become increasingly popular, the term means less and less. The figureheads of the scene, bands like The Shins, Modest Mouse, Death Cab, Bright Eyes, Interpol, The Decemberists, Spoon etc.. are all wildly popular. Parents and kids alike are fans of these bands. So the idea that hipsters are jumping ship is pretty inaccurate, all you have to do is attend a show and see this isnt the case.

On of the most interesting and bizaare aspects musically of the last decade was the mainstreaming of indie and hipster music. These bands were started as independent and non mainstream musical moments, and somewhere along the lines, the music spread to teens, to parents, to mainstream and pop music fans, to mainstream rock fans and on and on. Someone like Bon Iver, who now is friends with Kanye. Or Arcade Fire, there isnt an unlikelier band to win a Grammy. Or Death Cab being mentioned on what was at the time the most popular show on television. Or indie bands being used on shows like Greys Anatomy or Scrubs or House.