Indie Rock

Revision as of 10:08, 21 October 2008

Indie rock takes its name from "independent," which describes both the do-it-yourself attitudes of its bands and the small, lower-budget nature of the labels that release the music. The biggest indie labels might strike distribution deals with major corporate labels, but their decision-making processes remain autonomous. As such, indie rock is free to explore sounds, emotions, and lyrical subjects that don't appeal to large, mainstream audiences -- profit isn't as much of a concern as personal taste (though the labels do, after all, want to stay in business). It's very much rooted in the sound and sensibility of American underground and alternative rock of the '80s, albeit with a few differences that account for the changes in underground rock since then. In the sense that the term is most widely used, indie rock truly separated itself from alternative rock around the time that Nirvana hit the mainstream. Mainstream tastes gradually reshaped alternative into a new form of serious-minded hard rock, in the process making it more predictable and testosterone-driven. Indie rock was a reaction against that phenomenon; not all strains of alternative rock crossed over in Nirvana's wake, and not all of them wanted to, either. Yet while indie rock definitely shares the punk community's concerns about commercialism, it isn't as particular about whether bands remain independent or "sell out"; the general assumption is that it's virtually impossible to make indie rock's varying musical approaches compatible with mainstream tastes in the first place. There are almost as many reasons for that incompatibility as there are indie-rock bands, but following are some of the most common: the music may be too whimsical and innocent; too weird; too sensitive and melancholy; too soft and delicate; too dreamy and hypnotic; too personal and intimately revealing in its lyrics; too low-fidelity and low-budget in its production; too angular in its melodies and riffs; too raw, intense and abrasive; wrapped in too many sheets of Sonic Youth/Pixies/My Bloody Valentine-style guitar noise; too oblique and fractured in its song structures; too influenced by experimental or otherwise unpopular musical styles. Regardless of the specifics, it's rock made by and for outsiders -- much like alternative once was, except that thanks to its crossover, indie rock has a far greater wariness of excess testosterone. It's certainly not that indie rock is never visceral or powerful; it's just rarely -- if ever -- macho about it. As the '90s wore on, indie rock developed quite a few new sub-genres (indie pop, dream pop, noise-pop, lo-fi, math rock, post-rock and space rock among them), all of which seemed poised to remain strictly underground phenomena.

Indie rock is like pornography in a way: most people can't tell you exactly what it is, but they know it when they see it. Er, hear it. It's loud and obnoxious (or quiet and polite), careless and sloppy (or meticulously composed), complex and pretentious (or simple and unassuming), and, to its fans, cooler and more relevant than any other style of music. It's basically impossible to list all of the bands who have been influential to indie rock, doing so would require more time than I have here and would undoubtedly start some petulant silent feuds. But, One thing's for sure: we can try the best we can, edit the (sad parts) beautiful pages within this Wikia-munity & always agree to disagree & vice versa.

Examples of some of the Most Successful Indie Rock Artists: Modest Mouse, Elliott Smith, Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, Bright Eyes, Death Cab For Cutie, The Postal Service, Pinback, Cursive,...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead,

A Few Of The Godfathers: Pixies, Talking Heads, Edgar Graham + Ugly Cassanova, Pavement, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Jesus & Mary Chain, Dinosaur Jr. & The Amazing Elliott Smith

A Few Of The Indie Buzz Bands: Rig1, Minus The Bear, Grizzly Bear, Liars, DJ GOBAMA

A Few Of The Important Indie Labels: Saddle Creek, Team Love, Merge, Touch & Go, Glacial Pace, Sub Pop, Fueled By Ramen, Decaydance, Fat Cat, versionK.

AND HERE IS MY LIST OF ALL INDIE ROCK LISTS:

14 Iced Bears 20 Minute Loop 27 50 Foot Wave 764-Hero The 90 Day Men A-Set A-Z Consolidated Abilene Luke Abrahms Actionslacks Aereogramme The Aislers Set The Album Leaf Alan Fink Aleutian Alfie Alice Despard Group All Natural Lemon and Lime Flavors All Scars Aloha Alphastone AM/FM American Analog Set American Football Anastasia Screamed Ancient Greeks ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead The And/Ors The Angels of Light Antarctica Appendix Out The Apples in Stereo The Appleseed Cast Arab on Radar Arab Strap Arco Arcwelder Arlo Ashley Park Ashley Stove Aspera Aspera Ad Astra At The Drive-In Ativin Atombombpocketknife Automaton Adventure Series Aviso'hara Azure Ray Badly Drawn Boy Jessica Bailiff Bald Rapunzel Barcelona Barzin Bats and Mice Beachwood Sparks Beat Happening The Beatings Beck Howie Beck Bedroom Heroes Belle and Sebastian The Bells Benett Bent Leg Fatima The Better Automatic Beulah Bevel Bikini Kill Billy Mahonie Bingo Trappers Bobby Birdman The Birdwatcher Bitter Springs Black Box Recorder The Black Heart Procession The Black Sea Black Tambourine Blonde Redhead Bluebird Bluetip Boilermaker Books Lie Boredoms Boy's Life Boyracer Braid Brainiac Brassy The Breeders Brendon Canty and Jerry Busher Ian Brennan Brian and Chris Brick Layer Cake Bright Eyes Chris Brokaw Franklin Bruno Buck (Sweden) Buffalo Daughter Buffalo Tom Built To Spill Bunkbed Burakumin Burd Early Burning Airlines Burnside Project The Busy Signals Butterfly Child Button Happy C-Clamp C.O.C.O. Cadallaca Calabash Case Calexico Calibos Califone Call and Response Camden Camera Obscura Camper Van Beethoven CAndiES David Candy Canyon Cap'n Jazz The Capitol Years The Capsules Jim Carroll Cars Get Crushed Cash Audio The Cassettes Cat Power Caterpillar The Causey Way Centro-Matic Cessna Charms Damon Che Cherubino Chicks on Speed Chik Chik Chik China, the Beautiful Chisel Chomsky Chune Citizen Bird Allen Clapp The Clean The Clientele Clinic Cloud Car Coastal CocoRosie The Coctails Colossamite Comet Gain Compound Red Consonant The Constantines The Contrail (the) Control Group Cornelius The Cost Couch Cathal Coughlan The Court and Spark The Crabs The Cranium Ian Crause Creedle Creeper Lagoon Crispy Ambulance The Cubby Creatures The Curious Digit Current Cursive D+ The Dambuilders Dame Fate Danielson Famile Ben Davis Dead Meadow Dealership Dear Nora The Dears Death By Chocolate Death Cab For Cutie Death of Marat The Deathray Davies The Decemberists Deerhoof Gene Defcon DJ GoBAMA Del Rey The Delgados The Delta 72 Desaparecidos The Detachment Kit Dianogah Dirtnap Dirty Three Disco Inferno The Dismemberment Plan The Dissociatives The Distance Formula DMS Julie Doiron Domestic4 Don Caballero Tanya Donelly Graeme Downes Drive Like Jehu The Dropscience Drums and Tuba Drunk Dub Narcotic Sound System Dub Narcotic Sound System Meets The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion The Dudley Corporation Duochrome Durian The Dying Californian Dykehouse Earlimart Early Day Miners East River Pipe Eastern Youth Eiffel Tower El Guapo Elders Of Zion Electric Six Elefant Elf Power Adam Elk Eltro Elysian Fields The Embarrassment Embellish Empress Enduro Enemymine Engine Down Enon Envy Epic45 Erase Errata Errortype: Eleven Eskimo Kisses The Eternals Ethel Meserve Euphone Evelyn Everlasting the Way Ex Models Extra Glenns The Faint Jad Fair and Jason Willett The Fairways The Falcon Project Fancie Far Apart The Farewell Bend Fatal Flying Guilloteens The Fearless Freep February The Feelings The Feud Film School Fin Fang Foom Crooked Fingers Fireside Firewater Fiver Fluke Starbucker for Stars Win Foster Four Hundred Years Franklin Free Kitten Nik Freitas The French Kicks From Monument To Masses From Safety To Where Frontier Fugu Further Furtips Gaffer The Galactic Heroes Garden Variety Get Hustle The Get Up Kids Gift Horse VA The Gilroys Girls Against Boys The Glands Glasstown Glitter Mini 9 The Gloria Record Glossary The Go-Betweens God's Reflex Godspeed You Black Emperor! Gogogo Airheart Golden Holly Golightly The Good Life Gorky's Zygotic Mynci Grandaddy Granfaloon Bus Grendel Abigail Grush Guided by Voices Gwenmars Half Japanese Hall of Fame The Halo Benders Neil Halstead The Handsome Family Happy Pills Har Mar Superstar Harriet the Spy The Hated Havergal Annie Hayden Haymarket Riot Jack Hayter Haywood Heartworms Heavenly HE DREAMS AWAKE Hefner Matthew Hattie Hein Helium Helms Henry's Dress her space holiday Kristin Hersh Hex Error The Hex Hey Mercedes The High Fidelity The High Llamas Hilkka His Name Is Alive Holiday Flyer Hood The Hot Monkey The Hot Snakes Hot Water Music Danielle Howle and the Tantrums huffy Huon Hurl I Am Spoonbender The Icarus Line Ida Ides Of Space Imperial Teen The Impossible Five Internal/External Interpol The Interstate Ten Iran The Ivory Coast J-Majesty Jack Drag Jackpot Jad Fair and Daniel Johnston Jai Alai Jane Pow The Japonize Elephants Jawbox The Jealous Sound The Jesus Lizard Jets to Brazil Jettie Jettison Flammable The Jim Yoshii Pile-Up Jimmy Eat World Joan of Arc Joaquina Josef K Joy Zipper Simon Joyner Juan Maclean Jucifer June of 44 June Panic Junior Communist Club Juno Jupither k. (Karla Schickele) Kante Matt Keating Keleton DMD Kepler Kerosene 454 Kill Sadie Kind of Like Spitting King Black Acid And The Womb Star Orchestra Kissing Book Kleenexgirlwonder Koester Ladytron Lambchop Land Speed Record Landing Mark Lanegan The Lapse Lefty's Deceiver Lemon Jelly Lenola Ted Leo/Pharmacists Les Savy Fav Leslies Lifter Puller Lilys Little Champions Llama Farmers Lo Magnifica Lois The Long Drive Loquat Lotus Mantra Love as Laughter Love Life Low Low and Dirty Three Low Flying Owls Low Skies Lowercase Lumen Luna Lupine Lupine Howl Lync Macgillicuddys Made For TV Movie Maestro Echoplex Magnapop Magnetophone Make Up Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks Man or Astro-man? Manishevitz April March Hannah Marcus Marine Research The Marinernine Graig Markel Marmoset Matt Marque Doug Martsch Mary's 9th Cut J Mascis and The Fog Mates of State Matt Pond PA Mayday Mazarin Mclusky Mecca Normal Jeff Mellin The Memphis Goons The Mendoza Line The Mercury Program Mercury Rev Metric Metropolitan Microphones Migala Mike G Milemarker John Stuart Mill Chris Mills Mineral Minmae A Minor Forest Mirah Mirza Miss Mary MK Ultra Modest Mouse Mogwai Molasses Money Mark Monroe Mustang The Mooney Suzuki Moped Morsel The Most Secret Method The Mother Hips Mount Florida The Mountain Goats Moving Units The Mr T Experience Mr. Mixel Pixel Jeff Mueller Muler Mull Historical Society Mus My Morning Jacket Mycomplex Namelessnumberheadman Nanang Tatang National Skyline Native Nod The Naysayer The Nectarine No. 9 Need New Body Neutrino New Pornographers New Terror Class New Wet Kojak The New Year Scout Niblett Nine Days Wonder No Knife The No-No's Nord Express Kim Norlen Not From There Nourallah Brothers Now It's Overhead Nuzzle Tara Jane O'Neil The Ocean Blue Of Montreal Okkervil River Old Time Relijun The Olive Group The Olivia Tremor Control Oma Yang Oneida Onelinedrawing Yuji Oniki Ooberman Optiganally Yours Orange Cake Mix Osceola The Oscillators Out Hud Owen Oxes P.E.E. Paloma The Panoply Academy Panthers Papa M Papas Fritas The Paper Chase Paris, Texas The Party of Helicopters The Pattern Paul Newman Pavement Pedro the Lion The Pee Wee Fist Pele Pepito Per Mission Patrick Phelan Physics Piano Magic Pillowcase Pilot To Gunner Pinback Pinehurst Kids Pines of Nowhere Pinetop Seven pinq The Places Pleasure Forever The Poconos Poem Rocket Poison Arrows Polvo Pomegranate Portastatic Preston School Of Industry Pretty Girls Make Graves Archer Prewitt The Promise Ring Propeller Quagmire Quasi Quintron Quix*o*tic Quixote The Race The Radar Bros. Radio 4 Rah Bras Rainer Maria Ramparts The Rapture The Raveonettes Rectangle Red Shirt Brigade Red Stars Theory Redd Kross Refree Regulatorwatts The Reindeer Section Reizoko Replicator The Reports Retsin Reuben's Accomplice Rilo Kiley Rizzo Roads to Space Travel Anthony Rochester The Rock*A*Teens Rocket from the Crypt Rocketship Roman Evening The Rondelles The Roots of Orchis Rosa Chance Well Rose of Sharon Royal City Royal Pendletons Rydell Rye Coalition Sackville Sahara Hotnights Erik Sanko Sappington Saso Satisfact The Saturday People Sea Tiger Sean Na Na Seaworthy Secadora Kevin Seconds Secret Machines Seki Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet Shakespace Shakuhachi Surprise Shark Quest Sharks Keep Moving Shellac Shellito Shiner Shipping News The Shortwave Channel Sianspheric Sidekick Kato Sigur Ros The Silent League Silkworm Silver Scooter Russell Simins The Simple Ones Singapore Sling The Sinking Ships Six Going On Seven The Six Parts Seven Sixkiller Sixteen Horsepower Skeleton Key Skull Kontrol Slackjaw Sleater-Kinney Sleepyhead Sleepytime Trio Small Brown Bike Smile Elliott Smith The Softies Soledad Brothers Song Of Zarathustra Songs: Ohia Sonic Youth The Sorts South (U.K.) South (U.S.) Spacemen 3 Spanakorzo Sparta Spatula The Spells The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Splendorbin Spokane Spoon Squab Teen The Standard Starlight Mints The Starlite Desperation Stereobate Stereolab Sterling Sterling Silver Stigma Rock Unit The Stratford 4 The Strokes Stuntman The Styrenes Sub Debs Subset Sufjan Stevens Sugar Shack Matt Suggs Sunday's Best Sunset Valley The Sunshine Fix Super XX Man Superdrag Suplex Suretoss Surface Of Eceon Surrogat Swans Swearing At Motorists Sweeder Sweep The Leg Johnny Sweetbelly Freakdown Swell Swirlies The Swords Project Tagging Satellites Tangiers Tarentel Tarot Bolero Tarwater Teenage Fanclub Telegraph Melts Thee More Shallows Thingy This Busy Monster Those Bastard Souls Three 4 Tens Three Berry Icecream Three Mile Pilot Thumbnail Tiara Timonium Mary Timony Mia Doi Todd Toe Toshack Highway Tra La La Tracer Jason Traeger Traitors Tram The Transfused Transitional Treepeople Trembling Blue Stars Triangle Tristeza Tullycraft Turing Machine TV on the Radio Tyro The Union of a Man and a Woman Universal Life and Accident Unwed Sailor Unwound Utah! Uzeda The Van Pelt John Vanderslice Deanna Varagona Various Artists - Nothing Left to Lose: A Tribute to Kris Kristofferson Vehicle Flips The Velvet Teen The Vermicious Knid The Verna Cannon Versus Victory At Sea Vinyl Star Virginia Dare Vitesse Viva Las Vegas Vivid Low Sky Volta Do Mar The Von Zippers Andy Votel The VSS Vue Tom Waits TW Walsh M. Ward We Ragazzi The Wee Turtles Wheat The White Stripes Sarah White The Wild Stares Willard Grant Conspiracy and Telefunk Wesley Willis Windsor for the Derby The Wisdom Of Harry The Witches Woe Wolf Colonel Wolfie Wonderlick Jen Wood Wow and Flutter Shannon Wright Xiu Xiu Shannon Yarbrough Yeah Yeah Yeahs yellow6 Yo La Tengo Young People Yume Bitsu The Zephyrs ZanX Zero Zero Zmrzlina Zykos

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...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

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Bright Eyes

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Lisa Mitchell

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Indie rock takes its name from "independent," which describes both the do-it-yourself attitudes of its bands and the small, lower-budget nature of the labels that release the music. The biggest indie labels might strike distribution deals with major corporate labels, but their decision-making processes remain autonomous. As such, indie rock is free to explore sounds, emotions, and lyrical subjects that don't appeal to large, mainstream audiences -- profit isn't as much of a concern as personal taste (though the labels do, after all, want to stay in business). It's very much rooted in the sound and sensibility of American underground and alternative rock of the '80s, albeit with a few differences that account for the changes in underground rock since then. In the sense that the term is most widely used, indie rock truly separated itself from alternative rock around the time that Nirvana hit the mainstream. Mainstream tastes gradually reshaped alternative into a new form of serious-minded hard rock, in the process making it more predictable and testosterone-driven. Indie rock was a reaction against that phenomenon; not all strains of alternative rock crossed over in Nirvana's wake, and not all of them wanted to, either. Yet while indie rock definitely shares the punk community's concerns about commercialism, it isn't as particular about whether bands remain independent or "sell out"; the general assumption is that it's virtually impossible to make indie rock's varying musical approaches compatible with mainstream tastes in the first place. There are almost as many reasons for that incompatibility as there are indie-rock bands, but following are some of the most common: the music may be too whimsical and innocent; too weird; too sensitive and melancholy; too soft and delicate; too dreamy and hypnotic; too personal and intimately revealing in its lyrics; too low-fidelity and low-budget in its production; too angular in its melodies and riffs; too raw, intense and abrasive; wrapped in too many sheets of Sonic Youth/Pixies/-style guitar noise; too oblique and fractured in its song structures; too influenced by experimental or otherwise unpopular musical styles. Regardless of the specifics, it's rock made by and for outsiders -- much like alternative once was, except that thanks to its crossover, indie rock has a far greater wariness of excess testosterone. It's certainly not that indie rock is never visceral or powerful; it's just rarely -- if ever -- macho about it. As the '90s wore on, indie rock developed quite a few new sub-genres (indie pop, dream pop, noise-pop, lo-fi, math rock, post-rock and space rock among them), all of which seemed poised to remain strictly underground phenomena.
+Indie rock takes its name from "independent," which describes both the do-it-yourself attitudes of its bands and the small, lower-budget nature of the labels that release the music. The biggest indie labels might strike distribution deals with major corporate labels, but their decision-making processes remain autonomous. As such, indie rock is free to explore sounds, emotions, and lyrical subjects that don't appeal to large, mainstream audiences -- profit isn't as much of a concern as personal taste (though the labels do, after all, want to stay in business). It's very much rooted in the sound and sensibility of American underground and alternative rock of the '80s, albeit with a few differences that account for the changes in underground rock since then. In the sense that the term is most widely used, indie rock truly separated itself from alternative rock around the time that Nirvana hit the mainstream. Mainstream tastes gradually reshaped alternative into a new form of serious-minded hard rock, in the process making it more predictable and testosterone-driven. Indie rock was a reaction against that phenomenon; not all strains of alternative rock crossed over in Nirvana's wake, and not all of them wanted to, either. Yet while indie rock definitely shares the punk community's concerns about commercialism, it isn't as particular about whether bands remain independent or "sell out"; the general assumption is that it's virtually impossible to make indie rock's varying musical approaches compatible with mainstream tastes in the first place. There are almost as many reasons for that incompatibility as there are indie-rock bands, but following are some of the most common: the music may be too whimsical and innocent; too weird; too sensitive and melancholy; too soft and delicate; too dreamy and hypnotic; too personal and intimately revealing in its lyrics; too low-fidelity and low-budget in its production; too angular in its melodies and riffs; too raw, intense and abrasive; wrapped in too many sheets of Sonic Youth/Pixies/My Bloody Valentine-style guitar noise; too oblique and fractured in its song structures; too influenced by experimental or otherwise unpopular musical styles. Regardless of the specifics, it's rock made by and for outsiders -- much like alternative once was, except that thanks to its crossover, indie rock has a far greater wariness of excess testosterone. It's certainly not that indie rock is never visceral or powerful; it's just rarely -- if ever -- macho about it. As the '90s wore on, indie rock developed quite a few new sub-genres (indie pop, dream pop, noise-pop, lo-fi, math rock, post-rock and space rock among them), all of which seemed poised to remain strictly underground phenomena.
 Indie rock is like pornography in a way: most people can't tell you exactly what it is, but they know it when they see it. Er, hear it. It's loud and obnoxious (or quiet and polite), careless and sloppy (or meticulously composed), complex and pretentious (or simple and unassuming), and, to its fans, cooler and more relevant than any other style of music. It's basically impossible to list all of the bands who have been influential to indie rock, doing so would require more time
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 A Few Of The Godfathers: Pixies, Talking Heads, Edgar Graham + Ugly Cassanova, Pavement, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Jesus & Mary Chain, Dinosaur Jr. & The Amazing Elliott Smith
-A Few Of The Indie Buzz Bands: Rig1, Minus The Bear, Grizzly Bear, Liars, DJGoBAMA
+A Few Of The Indie Buzz Bands: Rig1, Minus The Bear, Grizzly Bear, Liars, DJ GOBAMA
 A Few Of The Important Indie Labels: Saddle Creek, Team Love, Merge, Touch & Go, Glacial Pace, Sub Pop, Fueled By Ramen, Decaydance, Fat Cat, versionK.