Indie compilation discs for casual listeners? I'm torn between thinking that this is great music, and that it would be really gratifying if a greater listenership came in contact with them, and thinking that this heralds the apocalypse.
Isn't this really the last stage before true commodification of "indie" so that it turns into a market ready category like "alternative" or "hip-hop."
Still, wouldn't it be a great day when Panda Bear accepts the grammy for "Best New Male Vocalist," and the New Pornographers win "Best New Pop Canadian Collective?"
--------------- My basic objection to religion is not that it isn't true; I like plenty of things that aren't true. It's that religion grants its adherents malign, intoxicating and morally corrosive sensations. -Philip Pullman
It almost sounds like an April Fool's joke. Personally, I think it might be a good thing. Sort of like good music on trendy comercials. Some people just never get the chance to hear this stuff unless it's packaged for mass consumption. It will be good for the artists at least, maybe not for the die-hard fans.
_____________________________ Weep to Water the Trees.
"This is my main concern with Obama; what if he has been groomed since childhood to blend in with the zionists and infidels? What if he has been led along by a radical islamic terrorist organization and positioned to become an influential politician?
What if Obama gets into White House and turns out to be some crazy muslim terrorist? What do we do then? We'll be pretty screwed. It could happen." -- by some fucking nutjob
i'm definitely against it! if indie goes mainstream, i won't be cool anymore for listening to some obscure band. it's my only source of coolness!!! don't take it away from me! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!! I WANNA BE COOOOOOL!
Mix a little folly with your plans: It is sweet to be silly at the right moment.
It would kind of suck to have ticket prices go up and make the concerts bigger, but honestly there's nothing I'd want more than to have good music on the radio and good musicians enjoying their success.
------ Aren't there any girls out their who like good music? I need to and want to meet them. My favorite bands are Overkill River, The Nife, Songs:Ohio, and Nuetral Milk Hotel. Please let me know if your into indy music and like to go to show's and drink beer's and makeout.
I think I agree with you, Chams. To me the biggest problem would be having to see my favorites in sheds and arenas, rather than in the little clubs. I'm glad Death Cab and the Decemberists are reaching greater audiences, and that Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire are charting on Billboard at all, much less in top spots.
However, I have to confess a slight unease whenever one of the bands I like crosses over. It's not so much that I'm afraid of losing my cool factor (I'm too old to care about that); it's more that I begin to question my judgment. If you can like the Arcade Fire and Fergie, maybe AF isn't as complex and interesting as I once thought.
--------------- My basic objection to religion is not that it isn't true; I like plenty of things that aren't true. It's that religion grants its adherents malign, intoxicating and morally corrosive sensations. -Philip Pullman
I wouldn't mind having bands I like on the radio. In fact, I'd like that a lot. Then I could listen to all the radio stations instead of just one. (Which is KRUI, the local college radio.)
But sometimes success can cause a band to release music which isn't as good. For example, Plans had some success (I saw the video on MTV.) and wasn't nearly as good as Transatlanticism.
But I'm really happy for Arcade Fire, The Shins, and Modest Mouse. And I'm not concerned about them, I think they'll keep making good music. It just depends.
I've kind of had the impression that there's a movement that's slowely moving its way out of the underground for some time. This is the same thing that happened in the 80s and early 90s, until all of the Seattle bands broke. I definitely think that rock music on the radio has become stagnant and regurgitated enough (just like in late 80s and early 90s) for people to finally be ready for something new. It's tough to identify which bands exactly will be the forerunners, but I really get the feeling the we're on the cusp of a change. Look no further then the success of Arcade Fire, The Shins and Modest Mouse for proof that the music we listen to has slowely crept its way into a lot of people's stereos.
I'm not saying it's going to happen this year or next. But I honestly think we're going to see a significant shift in the next couple of years. It can't come soon enough - if I hear another awful post-grunge song I just might check out. It's a very real possiblity.
Originally posted by eggTweedyegg: mainstream or not, the important is that the artists create great music. That's all.
This is basically my feeling. I could care less if something is indie or mainstream; if it's good, it's good. When I listen to the radio, I really only listen to NPR, and when I do listen to music, like you, stereo, it's the local college station KCSU which already plays indie darlings. I think it would be nice to expose the music to a larger audience, but mainly so I would have someone besides you mooks to talk to!
This might sound sad to some, but being at odds with the mainstream is pretty big part of who I am. That said, I think I would feel vindicated if indie music exploded into the limelight. I know I'd still have a leg up on all the new n00bs. Folks like us would be sages in a few years, and on top of that, WE'D BE COOL AGAIN! Remember back in high school when you skipped school and smoked cigarettes when no one else would and they all thought you were the coolest? Well give it up because "delinquent days are here again!" *roars like a lion*
Originally posted by Jglass: Check out Amazon.com's instructions on how to get Indie Cred
Shoot. Me. Please.
OMFG. Because nothing says "indie" like Putomayo records!
--------------- My basic objection to religion is not that it isn't true; I like plenty of things that aren't true. It's that religion grants its adherents malign, intoxicating and morally corrosive sensations. -Philip Pullman
Originally posted by less_success: I've kind of had the impression that there's a movement that's slowely moving its way out of the underground for some time. This is the same thing that happened in the 80s and early 90s, until all of the Seattle bands broke. I definitely think that rock music on the radio has become stagnant and regurgitated enough (just like in late 80s and early 90s) for people to finally be ready for something new. It's tough to identify which bands exactly will be the forerunners, but I really get the feeling the we're on the cusp of a change. Look no further then the success of Arcade Fire, The Shins and Modest Mouse for proof that the music we listen to has slowely crept its way into a lot of people's stereos.
I'm not saying it's going to happen this year or next. But I honestly think we're going to see a significant shift in the next couple of years. It can't come soon enough - if I hear another awful post-grunge song I just might check out. It's a very real possiblity.
it's hard to compare grunge breaking through to "indie" breaking through. grunge was a singular sound, while "indie" is made up of so many different sounds and styles.
Originally posted by brainofp: regardless of whether indie goes mainstream, there'll always be an underground scene somewhere, be it called "indie" or something else
That's exactly right. If NOW INDIE comes out (and it actually gets noticed), there may be one or two bands who get airplay, but there will always be an underground. I think its about time for bands like Modest Mouse to get huge. They've been making great music for years.
And its kind of funny, but even if a vast majority of the music I listen to gets on the radio, I still don't think I would listen much. I really don't see the point, with thousands of cds and an 80 gig Ipod. Not to mention the fact that I buy a couple of cds a week, I don't have time or patience to listen to the radio and hope the next song will be good. I can just plop in another cd or skip to the next song on my Ipod. I would guess a lot of the people on these forums feel the same way.
I've commented on this many times. Indie was not supposed to be a style of music - it has turned into one. It is now a commercial formula designed for a core of music fans who want to be seen as 'cutting edge' or intelligent and I'm not convinced that it is valid at all.
It amused me to read that certain bands have distanced themselves from the NOW compilation in an attempt to retain their street-cred. If they were 100% independent they could have turned down the offer, but they are on lucrative publishing deals and the album will pay out royalties in a big way. I expect many of them are distancing themselves in a continued effort to look cool - secretly they'll be overjoyed at how much money they'll get.
There are other artists that truly deserve to be called 'independent' - The Pixies, Napalm Death, KLF, Kylie Minogue (circa Stock, Aitken and Waterman), Fields of the Nephilim, Fugazi, Pulp, Dead Kennedys, Half man Half biscuit and Ozric Tentacles. They all started out on independent record labels. Some of these bands have been featured on NOW compilations and they didn't distance themselves for a second - they were glad of the success after years of struggling. I should add that I'm not a massive fan of Kylie or Nephilim, but they demonstrate what a broad spectrum of music it used to be.
Independent was just a word that described the record label status. The new bands are labelled 'indie' because they play jangly guitars and have a certain look. Just as we had nu-metal, we now have nu-indie.
This has been going on since the Strokes first album. The scene is over-populated by bands who want to be on the front cover of NME (like that's a mark of quality). Be under no illusion. It's all just clever advertising.
The term 'Indie' has lost all credibility.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Duncan Black,
The only indie label acts that will have any success on the radio are those that fit Clear Channels current stations. That means, lots of loud guitar and screaming, for the most part. If you match this, you'll fit in. Offspring was similar to Green Day in their pop-punk sort of way, so their indie label album, Smash, was a monster. Creed was on an indie label throughout their career and sold gajillions because their grunge aesthetic fit in with the rock stations of the day.
Say what you will about some stellar first week albums sales for some of these bands, but they still aren't going to get any radio play or a chance to extend their fanbase that much. Let's not forget that the major labels have practically a stranglehold on actually getting the music to the airwaves...
So, don't worry, your underground faves will nearly all always be churning out creative work in their basement. And this compilation won't sell jack. Why? Who is going to promote it? If you read the strategies outlined in that Pitchfork link, it's easy to see why it won't work. Besides the aforementioned fact that radio won't play these bands, there's also television. MTV2 is a partner? Big whoop de doo. They still show hardly any music on that station whatsoever. Any indie dedicated show will air at 3 AM on a Wednesday night. Stores like Wal-Mart, that they're planning to target, may agree to sell the discs, but they certainly won't be placed in the money making display cases. Well, unless you move them there.
Most people in forums like these are "music people;" by which I mean we consider music important to us as people - we couldn't live without it. In the past I had trouble "identifying" - pardon the cliche - with "non-music people." It's so easy to access, and so cheap, now, that I couldn't understand why they didn't just find the music they loved and become passionate about it.
Anyway, at some point I came up with the idea that each of us has had that one album that awakened us to new musical horizons or whatever, showed us things we dind't entirely know were possible with just a voice and some instuments (now i'm getting melodramatic, but bear w/ me), and that maybe our entire experience stems from that album. For me it was Highway 61. But thinking of it like this, I don't feel so detached from non music lovers. I just think they havn't found their "that album" yet. But I hope they will.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that anything that gives people a chance to gain a greater appreciation is a good thing, and that hoping something remains out of the mainstream just so you can feel "cool" by comparison to the rest of the sheep is selfish and a little juvenile.
