Indie Rock
Posted by Jim at January 6th, 2006
I’ve been curious about the current indie rock scene for a couple reasons. First, I’m trying to get back into writing my novel. Many of the characters are college students who are trying to get a band going. I’d like to throw in references to recent bands that they might like as opposed to having the characters’ tastes in music be out of date.
Second, I’ve been reading Questionable Content (a webcomic) lately and get about half of the music references.
It’s kind of funny. Though I wouldn’t call myself particularly knowlegeable about independent rock, I did deejay at Hope College’s radio station and hung around with at least some people who knew a lot about it. Thus, there were about 10 minutes (more than 10 years ago) when I had a good idea of the lay of the indie rock land.
Amusingly, certain attitudes in the indie rock scene haven’t changed.
1. The more obscure a band is, the better it is.
Once a band becomes well known to the general population (and signs on with a major label), it instantly begins to stink and it’s time to find a new favorite band. Questionable Content has a good illustration of that one…
Oddly enough, that’s what happened to at least a few of the bands I liked back when I followed indie/alternative rock. Personally, I’ve never believed this one, and don’t find that my enjoyment of someone’s music is sullied by the fact that more than five people now know of their existence.
2. If the music came out before a certain date, it’s by definition less interesting than new music.
As someone with a strong interest in jazz, I’ve never been able to buy into this assumption. There is great new stuff coming out in jazz, but it’s got a history that you can’t ignore. Mind you, people in the jazz community used to have this attitude as well.
Anyway, the sidebar of this comic has a good example of this assumption in action.
Music changes, but human beings don’t change much at all.
That first observation still _generally_ rings true, but it seems most scenesters are still convinced that The Arcade Fire are quite something and they’ve opened for U2.
Right now is a pretty good time for getting up to speed with current indie, thanks to the many very active MP3 blogs around.
You Ain’t No Picasso is a good place to start, and Said The Gramaphone seems good though I’ve only just started reading it. For the slightly more mainstream stuff, Paste Magazine is doing a good job of keeping up.
James Stewart
Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll have to look into the mp3 blogs. It’s always better to be able to listen to a band after reading about them.
As for the truth or falsity about my observations… I’m sure they don’t apply to everyone (or every band). They’re just a couple attitudes I’ve observed and it’s probably unfair of me to project them on the indie rock fans as a group.
Jim Zoetewey
Funny — did you notice I was in the jazz section at Schuler’s when you ran into me today? My jazz interest has been rekindled, and I had $15 burning a hole in my pocket. I ended up getting Miles’ “E.S.P.” album, which is quite excellent.
jonathan
I did vaguely notice you were in the jazz section, but I didn’t think about it much. I’ve got a few Miles Davis albums (as someone who’s played trumpet, I can hardly avoid it…), but I don’t have E.S.P.
I’ve listened to the album though and I agree, it is good.
My personal favorite of Miles’ albums is “Sketches of Spain.” It’s kind of atypical for him in that there’s an orchestra and he’s playing pieces that don’t seem to involve a lot of improvisation. Still, it’s wonderful stuff.
“Kind of Blue” is a very close second to “Sketches of Spain.” It’s also wonderful stuff and strongly recommended if you don’t have it.
Fun fact about “Sketches of Spain”: Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane says that she listened to it again and again while writing “White Rabbit.” She also smoked a lot of marijauna.
Jim Zoetewey
Heh, “Kind of Blue” was the second jazz CD I bought, right after Coltrane’s “Blue Train.” “Sketches…” has been on my radar for awhile, and I almost bought it yesterday, but I liked the description on the back of ESP. Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock? Dang.
jonathan
A lot of great people played with Miles Davis. I personally like Ron Carter and Dave Holland (both great bassists) quite a lot. I like Herbie Hancock quite a bit too. I actually got to see him play (with Dave Holland) about five years ago when he performed at Calvin.
You might (if you haven’t already) take a look at Thelonious Monk’s stuff. Both Coltrane and Miles Davis played with Monk, one of those innovators who didn’t get nearly the credit he deserved while alive.
Jim Zoetewey
I’ve got the Monk and Coltrane CD. It’s great. I’ll look into Monk’s stuff with Davis as well.
jonathan