EDIT: an article.
great reading on questioning rock criticism.
i can't say that i agree wholly with chris ott's opinions, but something to think about.
jesu - "conqueror"
my brightest diamond - "gone away"
nellie mckay - "tipperary"
blood brothers - "usa nails"
do make say think - "the universe!"
solar anus - "skull alcoholic"
deerhunter - "strange lights"
aqueduct - "living a lie"
love - "alone again or"
hot snakes - "retrofit"
rocket from the crypt - "evil party"
bert jansch - "katie cruel"
dark meat - "three eyes open"
hella - "world series"
!!! - "myth takes"
lansing-dreiden - "dividing island"
taken - "never an answer"
red sparowes - "buildings began to stretch..."
wilco - "hell is chrome"
menomena - "air aid"
xiu xiu - "crank heart"
guided by voices - "girls of wild strawberries"
the meat packers - "beautiful day"
the whitest boy alive - "inflation"
elliott - "blessed by your own ghost"
tom waits - "road to peace"
the catheters - "reaction"
(this is the point where things get a little hazy, as i almost fell asleep)
a track by the lucksmiths
camera obscura - "if looks could kill"
(then torres took over and some songs were played while i lied down)
matt and kim - "yea yeah"
the weakerthans - "aside"
shinobu - "beijing bears"
polaris - "hey sandy"
deerhoof - "+81"
lifetime - "young, loud and scotty"
jawbreaker - "shirt"
the jam - "i need you (for someone)"
the clash - "death or glory"
kid dynamite - "hateful"
fugazi - "two beats off"
mewithoutyou - "bullet to binary"
erase errata - "high society"
the dismemberment plan - "secret curse"
the rise - "if all you have is a hammer, everything begins to look like nails"
m ward - "to go home"
the constantines - "love in fear"
limbeck - "big drag"
lavender diamond - "open your heart"
i'm from barcelona - "oversleeping"
smoosh - "it's not your day to shine"
elliott smith - "coast to coast"
the polyphonic spree - "lithium"
tusk - "tree of no return"
math the band - "the day absolutely everything exploded"
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
2007: The Year in Music thus far.
note: this post contains thoughts poorly sewn together by the framework of "an essay."
it's a little less than coherent, but try to cut me some slack. this is why i'm practicing.
The end of February is coming quickly, which means we’re already months into the new year. Some of the albums that have already come out make me think that there could hardly be any more good music leftover for the second half of the year. Albums by Lavender Diamond, Andrew Bird, LCD Soundsystem and so many more have already made it onto my year-end list. The size of “indie” releases this year, however, makes me think that this era of independent music will come to a quick end. It started in 2005, with mainstream radio discovering two albums: the Arcade Fire’s Funeral and the Postal Service’s Give Up. Every alternative/rock radio station of any size started playing songs off of those albums alongside other “indie” artists like the Killers and whoever else had the right sound. Give Up went platinum and became Sub Pop’s biggest seller, outselling Nirvana and it was all over. Atlantic Records signed Death Cab for Cutie and the next thing you know, Death Cab is getting airplay on VH1 and Star 98.7, KROQ has picked up Cold War Kids and Sufjan Stevens and the Shins sell 300k in their first week because Natalie Portman said that they changed her life. The Arcade Fire’s album is bound to sell as many albums, if not more, and are scheduled to appear on Saturday Night Live tonight; other artists who have played SNL this season include the Shins (who, of course, played “New Slang” even though it’s anything BUT new) and Lily Allen.
Artists like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Of Montreal try to resist mainstream attention by being artistically dense, be it in sound or performance, but it seems like none of that really matters anymore. It’s becoming harder and harder to be on “the cutting edge” anymore; even freak-folk, which has been described by many as “outsider music,” isn’t so inaccessible anymore. Every semi-hipster A-lister has been seen backstage hanging out with Devendra or CocoRosie and has been in the press, praising Zappa, Beefheart and anything David Byrne touches. Actors and actresses are even getting into it themselves. The best example of late is Jena Malone (of Donnie Darko fame), who has gained the most attention from Pitchfork and Stereogum in the last two weeks for her music, which is unique to anyone who doesn’t live in New York.
I say all this to emphasize how little I know about the direction music is going in. All I have are observations.
Over the last month, I’ve noticed how many amazing post-rock/instru-metal albums have come out. Everyone seems to know who Boris is, but they don’t realize that they have more than that album with the pink cover. Albums from Red Sparowes, Jesu, Explosions in the Sky, Do Make Say Think and Pelican are all to be released within the first few months of the year. Explosions in the Sky were the first instrumental act to be featured on Conan O’Brien’s show this past week, having to edit one of their songs down to an acceptable length. They gained most of their initial exposure from scoring both the Friday Night Lights movie and TV show. Within the next eighteen months, I expect to see one of those post-rock type acts playing stadium size venues or places like Red Rocks in Colorado or even the Hollywood Bowl.
Post-Punk/electronica/dance releases also seem to be one of the big genres for the year. The aforementioned LCD Soundsystem album is probably going to be a big deal just based on car commercials alone. Related act !!! released a surprisingly varied album that will push them into the stratosphere of independent acts that can sell out the Avalon two nights in a row. Most people remember the Avalanches and are anticipating their return to music, but even more are anticipating the new Dntel album because not only are there indie all-star guests, but Jimmy Tamborello has learned how to do pop music using the Ben Gibbard method since we last left him. The reason people like this stuff became apparent to me after I heard about the Girl Talk show at the Echo. I was told that the crowd was a lot older than your typical Echo Park gig and it looked like none of them had ever been there before. The reason people like this stuff is because it’s so accessible in comparison to all other forms of “indie.” You don’t have to like music in the same way to like to dance.
The next few months are going to be interesting, considering that festival season is coming up. Coachella’s lineup has bands like Sonic Youth, as usual, but also has the reunited Rage Against the Machine, making it the first year that it made sense for KROQ to post the lineup on their website. Bands like the Hold Steady are making the rounds, playing alongside the reunited Police. South by Southwest is probably going to be more crowded than ever and it’s because the “indie” tag isn’t so much about patronage as it is about sound. Is it hypocrisy to still call it “indie” rock or “outsider music” or is it just the natural evolution of things?
it's a little less than coherent, but try to cut me some slack. this is why i'm practicing.
The end of February is coming quickly, which means we’re already months into the new year. Some of the albums that have already come out make me think that there could hardly be any more good music leftover for the second half of the year. Albums by Lavender Diamond, Andrew Bird, LCD Soundsystem and so many more have already made it onto my year-end list. The size of “indie” releases this year, however, makes me think that this era of independent music will come to a quick end. It started in 2005, with mainstream radio discovering two albums: the Arcade Fire’s Funeral and the Postal Service’s Give Up. Every alternative/rock radio station of any size started playing songs off of those albums alongside other “indie” artists like the Killers and whoever else had the right sound. Give Up went platinum and became Sub Pop’s biggest seller, outselling Nirvana and it was all over. Atlantic Records signed Death Cab for Cutie and the next thing you know, Death Cab is getting airplay on VH1 and Star 98.7, KROQ has picked up Cold War Kids and Sufjan Stevens and the Shins sell 300k in their first week because Natalie Portman said that they changed her life. The Arcade Fire’s album is bound to sell as many albums, if not more, and are scheduled to appear on Saturday Night Live tonight; other artists who have played SNL this season include the Shins (who, of course, played “New Slang” even though it’s anything BUT new) and Lily Allen.
Artists like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Of Montreal try to resist mainstream attention by being artistically dense, be it in sound or performance, but it seems like none of that really matters anymore. It’s becoming harder and harder to be on “the cutting edge” anymore; even freak-folk, which has been described by many as “outsider music,” isn’t so inaccessible anymore. Every semi-hipster A-lister has been seen backstage hanging out with Devendra or CocoRosie and has been in the press, praising Zappa, Beefheart and anything David Byrne touches. Actors and actresses are even getting into it themselves. The best example of late is Jena Malone (of Donnie Darko fame), who has gained the most attention from Pitchfork and Stereogum in the last two weeks for her music, which is unique to anyone who doesn’t live in New York.
I say all this to emphasize how little I know about the direction music is going in. All I have are observations.
Over the last month, I’ve noticed how many amazing post-rock/instru-metal albums have come out. Everyone seems to know who Boris is, but they don’t realize that they have more than that album with the pink cover. Albums from Red Sparowes, Jesu, Explosions in the Sky, Do Make Say Think and Pelican are all to be released within the first few months of the year. Explosions in the Sky were the first instrumental act to be featured on Conan O’Brien’s show this past week, having to edit one of their songs down to an acceptable length. They gained most of their initial exposure from scoring both the Friday Night Lights movie and TV show. Within the next eighteen months, I expect to see one of those post-rock type acts playing stadium size venues or places like Red Rocks in Colorado or even the Hollywood Bowl.
Post-Punk/electronica/dance releases also seem to be one of the big genres for the year. The aforementioned LCD Soundsystem album is probably going to be a big deal just based on car commercials alone. Related act !!! released a surprisingly varied album that will push them into the stratosphere of independent acts that can sell out the Avalon two nights in a row. Most people remember the Avalanches and are anticipating their return to music, but even more are anticipating the new Dntel album because not only are there indie all-star guests, but Jimmy Tamborello has learned how to do pop music using the Ben Gibbard method since we last left him. The reason people like this stuff became apparent to me after I heard about the Girl Talk show at the Echo. I was told that the crowd was a lot older than your typical Echo Park gig and it looked like none of them had ever been there before. The reason people like this stuff is because it’s so accessible in comparison to all other forms of “indie.” You don’t have to like music in the same way to like to dance.
The next few months are going to be interesting, considering that festival season is coming up. Coachella’s lineup has bands like Sonic Youth, as usual, but also has the reunited Rage Against the Machine, making it the first year that it made sense for KROQ to post the lineup on their website. Bands like the Hold Steady are making the rounds, playing alongside the reunited Police. South by Southwest is probably going to be more crowded than ever and it’s because the “indie” tag isn’t so much about patronage as it is about sound. Is it hypocrisy to still call it “indie” rock or “outsider music” or is it just the natural evolution of things?
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Sufjan Stevens and Swedish Indie Pop: A Sermon on Overstimulation
The last few years have been good to me, when it comes to music. For one, I’ve really carved out “what I like” and “what I don’t like.” It’s not quite carved in stone, as I am proven wrong from time to time, but for the most part, I have particular tastes now. On top of that, the last few years have been ripe with albums of music I’ve grown to love. I love a few things in life: Midwestern second wave emo, prolific artists and indie pop. I’m here to talk to you today about two of those three things.
Prolific artists are often difficult, considering their nature. If they stick around for any length of time, they’re usually temperamental and their discography is very varied, to say the least. I can’t fault an artist for “wanting to grow,” but on the other hand, not being willing to grow is a sign that an artist is lazy. With Sufjan Stevens, things seemed different. Here was a guy that had put out two albums that did so-so and then announces that he’s going to do an album for each of the 50 states. He puts out the first one, and then does something else. People doubted him, but when Illinois came out, he was crowned the king of independent music. The sound of the two state records was much the same: beautiful, full and masterfully orchestrated pop for geeks. Sometimes I wonder why it’s being played on KROQ, but then again, I can’t question any of that, considering how many people list “Devandra Barnhart” on their Facebook profiles. In the span of a few years, Stevens released three full albums (two state albums and a full b-sides/demos collection) of amazing music. And they were damn long albums, too; all three clocked in at well over an hour. A few questions come up: where does it end and why am I so tired of it?
The same questions come up with Swedish indie pop bands. “Twee” pop and the likes somehow became the new rock and roll in Sweden overnight and no one seemed to notice. While the (International) Noise Conspiracy is recording their new album with Rick Rubin and the Hives are busy guesting on every hip-hop producer’s all-star tribute to himself, pop radio in Sweden is playing artists like Loney, Dear, Jens Lekman, Peter Bjorn and John and the list goes on and on. It’s getting hard for me to keep up, considering how much I really love the stuff. I realized how much there really was when I recently rediscovered a great album on my iPod by a band called I’m From Barcelona. The first few times I heard it, I thought it was derivative and cheap, but what isn’t, really? It takes some level of skill to write music and all that much more skill to be a part of a 26-piece band. I really want to believe that this isn’t some sort of trend or backlash from the rock and roll revolution of the late 90s, but I guess that’s just the way things work.
As we reconsider “where it all ends” and how oversaturated the market for indie pop in general is, we really have to look to the future. Overstimulation means it’s time for something new. It just scares me that within five years, I’m going to forget half of the stuff I’m listening to now, just because it isn’t in the indie rock majority anymore. So, what is the next big thing? Well, if I knew, I wouldn't be here, would I? I would probably be making money somewhere else.
Prolific artists are often difficult, considering their nature. If they stick around for any length of time, they’re usually temperamental and their discography is very varied, to say the least. I can’t fault an artist for “wanting to grow,” but on the other hand, not being willing to grow is a sign that an artist is lazy. With Sufjan Stevens, things seemed different. Here was a guy that had put out two albums that did so-so and then announces that he’s going to do an album for each of the 50 states. He puts out the first one, and then does something else. People doubted him, but when Illinois came out, he was crowned the king of independent music. The sound of the two state records was much the same: beautiful, full and masterfully orchestrated pop for geeks. Sometimes I wonder why it’s being played on KROQ, but then again, I can’t question any of that, considering how many people list “Devandra Barnhart” on their Facebook profiles. In the span of a few years, Stevens released three full albums (two state albums and a full b-sides/demos collection) of amazing music. And they were damn long albums, too; all three clocked in at well over an hour. A few questions come up: where does it end and why am I so tired of it?
The same questions come up with Swedish indie pop bands. “Twee” pop and the likes somehow became the new rock and roll in Sweden overnight and no one seemed to notice. While the (International) Noise Conspiracy is recording their new album with Rick Rubin and the Hives are busy guesting on every hip-hop producer’s all-star tribute to himself, pop radio in Sweden is playing artists like Loney, Dear, Jens Lekman, Peter Bjorn and John and the list goes on and on. It’s getting hard for me to keep up, considering how much I really love the stuff. I realized how much there really was when I recently rediscovered a great album on my iPod by a band called I’m From Barcelona. The first few times I heard it, I thought it was derivative and cheap, but what isn’t, really? It takes some level of skill to write music and all that much more skill to be a part of a 26-piece band. I really want to believe that this isn’t some sort of trend or backlash from the rock and roll revolution of the late 90s, but I guess that’s just the way things work.
As we reconsider “where it all ends” and how oversaturated the market for indie pop in general is, we really have to look to the future. Overstimulation means it’s time for something new. It just scares me that within five years, I’m going to forget half of the stuff I’m listening to now, just because it isn’t in the indie rock majority anymore. So, what is the next big thing? Well, if I knew, I wouldn't be here, would I? I would probably be making money somewhere else.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
The Suburban Soundtrack: On Why Gregg Gillis’ Girl Talk is the new (sub) urban art form
here's an older piece i found today.
it was probably written 6 months ago or so.
Whether a conscious decision or not, Girl Talk’s new album, Night Ripper, is a perfect portrait of suburban life. It is art less than beautiful and it is something that will be added to the great “indie rock canon” of sorts. What someone like Nic Harcourt will never understand is the Generation Y lifestyle. Almost everything we worship is urban in one way or another. The city is where life takes place and we know it. Urban art forms like graffiti have invaded our lives. Mixed media is another art form that is very prevalent with young people. Collages have always been one of my favorite methods of expressing myself because it wasn’t limiting. I could paint if I wanted to, but if someone else had already done it better, I could just use what he or she had and add it to something else I like. This isn’t for everyone, obviously, but I think it’s kind of cool. This is exactly what Girl Talk is all about.
Girl Talk is the new face of “bastard pop,” which started out in the UK with “mash-ups,” but Girl Talk is more than just two songs haphazardly tied together; Girl Talk is all about mixed media. It is colorful and meticulously thought out. Each of the 16 songs on Night Ripper contains samples from several songs from very different schools of thought, which is the real genius behind the album. The songs sampled are the very best from popular hip-hop, modern rock, pop and even “indie.” The interesting thing is looking closely at the samples contained therein. The ingénue of the internet has provided us with a magnificent tool called Wikipedia, and the entry for Night Ripper has a fairly comprehensive list of samples. Anyone from Yin Yang Twins to Smashing Pumpkins to M.I.A. to Neutral Milk Hotel is sampled. On one level, these things have nothing in common and truly don’t deserve to be “mashed” together into one song, but when you take a step back and look again, you realize that all of the songs contained create a soundtrack of sorts, a soundtrack to suburban America.
Ever since the inception of dance music in this same vein, each new artist has tried to outdo the other in some way, be it having more bass, being more obscure or even referencing the right musicians. These head nods to favorite musicians, be they of the same genre or not, are very cool. Taking parts of songs and putting them together has always been questionable in the sense that audio plagiarism is just as bad as written plagiarism, but is much easier. If someone’s already written it, why should you have to? Is it plagiarism to mashup or is it the respectful head nod? In the case of Girl Talk, I think it’s a little of both, but in a very good way. Gillis has constructed some of the sweatiest, high voltage dance music constructed from other songs and on some level, it is cheap and somewhat fad-induced, but what isn’t? It does take a great amount of musical talent to put together mashups and they’re just damn cool. To even know about a certain musician enough to namedrop is a lot; you have to know a lot about their music to know where it should be placed in a bastard pop song and by extension that is a form of respect. Real musicians will tell you that it is the highest form of respect.
it was probably written 6 months ago or so.
Whether a conscious decision or not, Girl Talk’s new album, Night Ripper, is a perfect portrait of suburban life. It is art less than beautiful and it is something that will be added to the great “indie rock canon” of sorts. What someone like Nic Harcourt will never understand is the Generation Y lifestyle. Almost everything we worship is urban in one way or another. The city is where life takes place and we know it. Urban art forms like graffiti have invaded our lives. Mixed media is another art form that is very prevalent with young people. Collages have always been one of my favorite methods of expressing myself because it wasn’t limiting. I could paint if I wanted to, but if someone else had already done it better, I could just use what he or she had and add it to something else I like. This isn’t for everyone, obviously, but I think it’s kind of cool. This is exactly what Girl Talk is all about.
Girl Talk is the new face of “bastard pop,” which started out in the UK with “mash-ups,” but Girl Talk is more than just two songs haphazardly tied together; Girl Talk is all about mixed media. It is colorful and meticulously thought out. Each of the 16 songs on Night Ripper contains samples from several songs from very different schools of thought, which is the real genius behind the album. The songs sampled are the very best from popular hip-hop, modern rock, pop and even “indie.” The interesting thing is looking closely at the samples contained therein. The ingénue of the internet has provided us with a magnificent tool called Wikipedia, and the entry for Night Ripper has a fairly comprehensive list of samples. Anyone from Yin Yang Twins to Smashing Pumpkins to M.I.A. to Neutral Milk Hotel is sampled. On one level, these things have nothing in common and truly don’t deserve to be “mashed” together into one song, but when you take a step back and look again, you realize that all of the songs contained create a soundtrack of sorts, a soundtrack to suburban America.
Ever since the inception of dance music in this same vein, each new artist has tried to outdo the other in some way, be it having more bass, being more obscure or even referencing the right musicians. These head nods to favorite musicians, be they of the same genre or not, are very cool. Taking parts of songs and putting them together has always been questionable in the sense that audio plagiarism is just as bad as written plagiarism, but is much easier. If someone’s already written it, why should you have to? Is it plagiarism to mashup or is it the respectful head nod? In the case of Girl Talk, I think it’s a little of both, but in a very good way. Gillis has constructed some of the sweatiest, high voltage dance music constructed from other songs and on some level, it is cheap and somewhat fad-induced, but what isn’t? It does take a great amount of musical talent to put together mashups and they’re just damn cool. To even know about a certain musician enough to namedrop is a lot; you have to know a lot about their music to know where it should be placed in a bastard pop song and by extension that is a form of respect. Real musicians will tell you that it is the highest form of respect.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Mission or Mannifesto?
the reason for this blog is a bit of a mystery to me.
essentially, it is a placeholder for a blog to come on the kxlu website, but it is also so that i can get some of my writing groove back.
occasionally , someone else will post, but it's mostly going to be me (chris 2).
this isn't a music blog, so much as it is a collection of music related editorials.
so the question of "mission or mannifesto?" comes up.
i don't feel that either is appropriate in this case.
we will have something eventually, but for now, this is all we have.
essentially, it is a placeholder for a blog to come on the kxlu website, but it is also so that i can get some of my writing groove back.
occasionally , someone else will post, but it's mostly going to be me (chris 2).
this isn't a music blog, so much as it is a collection of music related editorials.
so the question of "mission or mannifesto?" comes up.
i don't feel that either is appropriate in this case.
we will have something eventually, but for now, this is all we have.
New Rave and the Downfall of Indie Rock
I heard something upsetting recently. I read an article on the interweb about the coming of “new rave culture” ushered in by the band Klaxons. From what I’ve come to understand, the band is nothing more than NME subsidized crap. Bear in mind, I’ve never heard them for this reason, but that isn’t the only reason I refuse to listen.
In the era of Web 2.0, it’s hard to sort through all the crap, be it major label sponsored blogwash or people with bad taste shilling for bad bands. The idea that indie rock is so readily available through the internet, while at the same time remaining unattainable and “independent” is a fallacy; it simply can’t work that way. These things are mutually exclusive. Most real rock critics look down on New Music Express, but sometimes people take the bait. With Klaxons, it seems hit-or-miss in terms of their domestic success. They’re obviously no Arctic Monkeys, but it could surely head in that direction. The idea of “new rave” being pegged as the new indie trend is a bit offensive. I’m not the most indie rock guy; in high school, I wrote gushing reviews for Jimmy Eat World’s Futures and Funeral for a Friend’s Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation. One thing I do know now is that there is good music and bad music in the world. Any kind of music that requires me to get really stoned on E and dress in neon overalls to understand is bad music. I realize that “new rave” is supposed to be a hipster friendly version of this, but a bastardized version is the same to me.
Indie rock isn’t supposed to have a certain sound, but it also shouldn’t open the floodgates to the mainstream. Hearing the new watered down Death Cab for Cutie single on the local adult alternative station is depressing because I know what they used to sound like and I know what they used to be. I can’t really expect for bands like that to stay pocket size, but somehow I expected it to last a little bit longer. I also thought that something else would come along and save me from having to listen to KCRW. Anything that hasn’t already been discovered by the Clear Channel empire is either so outlandish, only KXLU DJs would play it, or it is super insulting, like the idea of “new rave.”
I can’t go on doing this if I’m not ahead of the curve anymore and that is the most terrifying thing about the “indie rock revolution.” In an age where every Facebook profile has “ACDC, the Eagles, punk, some emo, 50 Cent and COLD WAR KIDS… anything but country and anything I can dance to” listed under music, how am I supposed to be able to listen to music anymore? Great things that I used to love were ruined by those that stole indie rock. Frat boys in disguise can go see The Science of Sleep with some girl that they’re into and come out talking about how great the cinematography was and how amazing the new Lily Allen b-sides are, but they’ll never be respected. New Rave won’t mean anything to anyone five years from now, except for the precious few “new rave/bar rock” hybrid bands of college dropouts touring all of the tri-state area. Trends are not means of currency and they definitely won’t get you anywhere.
“Is there a solution?” you might ask. I would suggest that there isn’t a clear-cut one. I suspect that something will happen in the next year or so and indie rock suddenly won’t be cool again. There might or might not be a martyr (I’m looking at you, Conor Oberst), but there will definitely be bloodshed. Things will happen organically and the balance of the universe will be returned, but only after what seems like forever. Those of us who really appreciate music will see some ridiculous things and go through fleeting periods of hating ourselves, but it will be okay. Everything will be okay.
In the era of Web 2.0, it’s hard to sort through all the crap, be it major label sponsored blogwash or people with bad taste shilling for bad bands. The idea that indie rock is so readily available through the internet, while at the same time remaining unattainable and “independent” is a fallacy; it simply can’t work that way. These things are mutually exclusive. Most real rock critics look down on New Music Express, but sometimes people take the bait. With Klaxons, it seems hit-or-miss in terms of their domestic success. They’re obviously no Arctic Monkeys, but it could surely head in that direction. The idea of “new rave” being pegged as the new indie trend is a bit offensive. I’m not the most indie rock guy; in high school, I wrote gushing reviews for Jimmy Eat World’s Futures and Funeral for a Friend’s Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation. One thing I do know now is that there is good music and bad music in the world. Any kind of music that requires me to get really stoned on E and dress in neon overalls to understand is bad music. I realize that “new rave” is supposed to be a hipster friendly version of this, but a bastardized version is the same to me.
Indie rock isn’t supposed to have a certain sound, but it also shouldn’t open the floodgates to the mainstream. Hearing the new watered down Death Cab for Cutie single on the local adult alternative station is depressing because I know what they used to sound like and I know what they used to be. I can’t really expect for bands like that to stay pocket size, but somehow I expected it to last a little bit longer. I also thought that something else would come along and save me from having to listen to KCRW. Anything that hasn’t already been discovered by the Clear Channel empire is either so outlandish, only KXLU DJs would play it, or it is super insulting, like the idea of “new rave.”
I can’t go on doing this if I’m not ahead of the curve anymore and that is the most terrifying thing about the “indie rock revolution.” In an age where every Facebook profile has “ACDC, the Eagles, punk, some emo, 50 Cent and COLD WAR KIDS… anything but country and anything I can dance to” listed under music, how am I supposed to be able to listen to music anymore? Great things that I used to love were ruined by those that stole indie rock. Frat boys in disguise can go see The Science of Sleep with some girl that they’re into and come out talking about how great the cinematography was and how amazing the new Lily Allen b-sides are, but they’ll never be respected. New Rave won’t mean anything to anyone five years from now, except for the precious few “new rave/bar rock” hybrid bands of college dropouts touring all of the tri-state area. Trends are not means of currency and they definitely won’t get you anywhere.
“Is there a solution?” you might ask. I would suggest that there isn’t a clear-cut one. I suspect that something will happen in the next year or so and indie rock suddenly won’t be cool again. There might or might not be a martyr (I’m looking at you, Conor Oberst), but there will definitely be bloodshed. Things will happen organically and the balance of the universe will be returned, but only after what seems like forever. Those of us who really appreciate music will see some ridiculous things and go through fleeting periods of hating ourselves, but it will be okay. Everything will be okay.
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