Are there any indie bands (no math rock allowed) that are praised for being "technical" or having some kind of amazing "artistic integrity." I can't think of anybody in an indie band who can or would want to shred (as wack as that is) there surely there should be one. What about bands that make their mission statement to be artístes? Let me know.
Originally posted by DFelon204409: Are there any indie bands (no math rock allowed) that are praised for being "technical" or having some kind of amazing "artistic integrity." I can't think of anybody in an indie band who can or would want to shred (as wack as that is) there surely there should be one. What about bands that make their mission statement to be artístes? Let me know.
Your question seems so antagonistic, I'm not sure anyone would want to answer. What's your agenda? And why is "math" rock off limits? Because you know we'd say Battles or Lightning Bolt? What about The Decemberists? The Crane Wife was "technical", if you ask me. Menomena is very complex, especially if you see how their live show is put together. I'd throw Subtle in the conversation, too.
Posts: 850 | Location: Ain'T it stiLl obvious? | Registered: 22 August 2006
Originally posted by DFelon204409: Are there any indie bands (no math rock allowed) that are praised for being "technical" or having some kind of amazing "artistic integrity." I can't think of anybody in an indie band who can or would want to shred (as wack as that is) there surely there should be one. What about bands that make their mission statement to be artístes? Let me know.
your question is too vague. is a noise rock band on an indie label an "indie band"? if so i would say that zac hill might be the best "indie" drummer, if not the best drummer in rock music alive.
i think you are missing the point as well - for a lot of musicians the point of making music isn't to play extended masturbatory 10 minute guitar solos. originality, creativity, and diy ethic matter much more to "indie" bands i would wager. thus, many with "technical" talent find no need to show it off, as it would take away from there "artistic integrity".
lets remember "technical" ability and "artistic integrity" are by no means joined at the hip. hair metal is one of the most critically despise musical genres/eras of all time, yet many of them possessed a high degree of "technical" proficiency.
Posts: 373 | Location: San Diego | Registered: 26 November 2007
Ween is not known as being technically proficient, in fact the opposite; much of their stuff (older especially) sounds like the ragged work of non-musicians.
BUT, Dean Ween has evolved into an incredible guitar player. In recent years he's been recruited as a session man for many bands. He is well capable of ten-minute long, dazzling Jimi Hendrix-style solos.
At this point, I have to think Ween must consciously "not try" too hard, to sound like they do.
Animal Collective seems to have a particularly deft touch and attention to detail in terms of production.
I definitely think people throw around Battles and Lightning Bolt when talking about technical or hyper artistic bands but I wanted to stray away from anything that could just be reduced to math rock.
The Decemberists aren't what I had in mind...
Sonic Youth I might buy on a random day.
krugilitis, I saw Zac Hill play just this past Sunday in San Francisco. He was freaky good. He too is associated with math rock more than anything. In response to your second and third paragraph, I think you're missing that point if you think I'm missing the point. I agree with everything you lay out in the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs. I posed my initial question because I'm curious if there are any bands within the very general world of indie that either satisfy some type of technical mastery of their instruments and show that off in a tasteful way (because nobody likes to just shred for the sake of shredding. I get that, come on dude), or (and I say "or" because I get that artistic integrity and technicality are certainly not joined at the hip), they have crafted some non-instrumental component of their music to the point of being artistically refined such that people would consider them to have artistic integrity. My question is not some "gee where are all the guitar solos?!?!??" kind of thing. Sorry for the runon sentences.
Sufjan may catch some "technical" rep but he doesn't really do anything really particularly complex. After a listen of any one of his songs I've always been able to pick apart what he's doing. He likes to use a lot of instruments playing in homophony in an asymmetric time signature and then repeat that many times, so that provides a pretty clear layout of whatever he is doing rhythmically or melodically in any given song.
Never heard of Anathallo. I'll check it out.
I've always sort of laughed about Ween because I remembered reading a Guitar World when I was in 8th grade and the Limp Bizkit guitarist said that Ween was his favorite band. Who has Dean Ween played with and laid down sweet 10-minute solo for?
This thread brought to mind the P4K review of Marnie Stern's latest album. It's one of the few times in recent memory I recall the reviewer talking about "shredding". BTW, Zach Hill plays drums on her album.
Posts: 850 | Location: Ain'T it stiLl obvious? | Registered: 22 August 2006
Originally posted by ezkcdude: This thread brought to mind the P4K review of Marnie Stern's latest album. It's one of the few times in recent memory I recall the reviewer talking about "shredding". BTW, Zach Hill plays drums on her album.
yeah that is a great album.
i understand what you are trying to say more clearly dfelon. i still would not classify hill as "math rock", but i'm sure we could quibble over what "math rock" is all day.
if you want technical prowess that is not math rock listen to more noise rock/experimental groups. boredoms is the most obvious one i can think of from that genre.
and as far as the sonic youth recommendation is concerned i wholeheartedly agree - thurston moore and lee renaldo are pretty creative guitarists. also, jim o'rourke used to play with them - check out his solo stuff, its pretty great as well.
Posts: 373 | Location: San Diego | Registered: 26 November 2007
That Marnie Stern stuff is firmly entrenched in the math/noise situation but is interesting nonetheless.
The Boredoms have a splash of that too but just listening to their myspace tracks indicates they are doing a lot of different, weird things in a Mike Patton like way. The tracks "Arrow Up" reminds me a lot of another Japanese band called Toe. Check out "New Sentimentality" http://www.myspace.com/toemusic though upon first listen this new track "86" is pretty cool too. Reminds me a lot of Glassjaw actually.
Originally posted by DFelon204409: Who has Dean Ween played with and laid down sweet 10-minute solo for?
He's played on albums for Yoko Ono and Queens of the Stone Age, among others. When Ween play live, on certain songs he tends to cut loose. They have a live DVD where he jams out on "Voodoo Lady" for several minutes, and it's brilliant guitar playing. He's a virtuoso.
I'm sorry to hear Ween have any connection with Limp Bizkit whatsoever. Don't let that fool you, they're a very good worthwhile band.
Originally posted by Commontone, Joy of Man's Desiring:
quote:
Originally posted by DFelon204409: Who has Dean Ween played with and laid down sweet 10-minute solo for?
He's played on albums for Yoko Ono and Queens of the Stone Age, among others. When Ween play live, on certain songs he tends to cut loose. They have a live DVD where he jams out on "Voodoo Lady" for several minutes, and it's brilliant guitar playing. He's a virtuoso.
I'm sorry to hear Ween have any connection with Limp Bizkit whatsoever. Don't let that fool you, they're a very good worthwhile band.
Sounds cool. Apparently the Limp Bizkit guitarist had a Ween-inspired side project that didn't suck by critical standard though who really knows. I'll see if I can find some mp3s or a streaming myspace for it.
Originally posted by DFelon204409: That Marnie Stern stuff is firmly entrenched in the math/noise situation but is interesting nonetheless.
The Boredoms have a splash of that too but just listening to their myspace tracks indicates they are doing a lot of different, weird things in a Mike Patton like way. The tracks "Arrow Up" reminds me a lot of another Japanese band called Toe. Check out "New Sentimentality" http://www.myspace.com/toemusic though upon first listen this new track "86" is pretty cool too. Reminds me a lot of Glassjaw actually.
i don't think boredoms is best judged by their myspace. and i would say that their most recent stuff is far from noise rock (although they did start in the japanese crust punk genre). download their discography, they have one of the most interesting career arcs out of any band out there. i recognize mike patton is talented, but i will take boredoms over him any day.
Posts: 373 | Location: San Diego | Registered: 26 November 2007
Originally posted by outof_nowhere: cocorosie, panda bear, animal collective, ariel pink...
panda bear? i'm a huge fan - but i don't think he uses any analog instruments. i guess if picking the right samples/loops on your laptop is the "technical" prowess mentioned in the question, then panda bear has a ton, but i don't think it does.
Posts: 373 | Location: San Diego | Registered: 26 November 2007
Metacritic Forums 
