Indie Scene is dead 2016

donfers

Let me explain, it has fallen between two stools

1) The more arthouse, experimental, leftfield stuff that is critically acclaimed by hipsters so they can feel superior to the rest of us but isn't really much fun to listen to

2) The radio-friendly, overly poppy stuff with cringe-worthy lyrics - the very definition of MOR and basically a poor man's derivative of what has gone before

The indie scene deis being crushed between these two extremes and I am finding it harder and harder to find quality guitar bands that just provide good songs

edbrez

Start your own band then.

Gonzovision

OK, I'll bite. I really can't stand this argument that the quality of music has regressed in recent years.

There isn't a month that goes by that I don't discover a couple of new bands/bands that I have been oblivious to, that are doing something fresh and exciting, or at least releasing great music.

Considering the options for discovering music we have today at our fingertips, there really isn't an excuse for not being able to find new and exciting music to listen to.

I also wonder why people limit themselves to one "type/genre" of music. Why close yourself off from an abundance of other types of music?

Can you give some examples from your first point about some "arty/experimental" albums that you seem to find so boring?

If you use Spotify, Discover Weekly is a brilliant way to discover new music. There's not a week that passes where I won't be really impressed by a couple of tracks.

Do you go to gigs often? Plenty of decent local gigs on around the country where ye can discover new and upcoming bands.

S.M.B.

It doesn't even seem like a "music is ****" rant. More a "where are all the good bands that fit by narrow taste boundaries" claim.

Music trends and scenes have always appeared in waves. If what's happening at the moment isn't appealing to you then that's a shame. I'm sure in a few years time there will be some revival.

Pigeon holing all music into those two categories is incredibly juvenile though.

Maybe you've become the MOR fan that you are happy to deride.

lordgoat

Johnny Borell is that you?

Music has never been better. You have everything that has been done available at your fingertips and everything new is but a search away. If you can't find something to listen to that falls into your little niche. That is 100% your problem.

Anesthetize

donfers wrote: »

Let me explain, it has fallen between two stools

1) The more arthouse, experimental, leftfield stuff that is critically acclaimed by hipsters so they can feel superior to the rest of us but isn't really much fun to listen to

2) The radio-friendly, overly poppy stuff with cringe-worthy lyrics - the very definition of MOR and basically a poor man's derivative of what has gone before

Really? Because I can think of a ton of indie bands/artists who don't fall into either of these camps.

donfers wrote: »

The indie scene deis being crushed between these two extremes and I am finding it harder and harder to find quality guitar bands that just provide good songs

Why limit yourself to guitar bands?

donfers

Guys,

You have touched upon some interested and related themes; what I might describe is the oppression of choice.

With all these streaming services and downloads available then is the fact that we have such a proliferation of choice of music leading us to dabble here, dabble there and then quickly move on to the next thing.

If I may be profound for moment, will a man who knows he can sleep with any woman ever love one of them.

Do you yearn for the days of seeing your band on the cover of NME or racing down to HMV/Tower Records to pick up their latest b-side offering in hard copy form?

Those days are dead now - we have everything and nothing now.

Texas Jack

donfers wrote: »

Guys,

You have touched upon some interested and related themes; what I might describe is the oppression of choice.

With all these streaming services and downloads available then is the fact that we have such a proliferation of choice of music leading us to dabble here, dabble there and then quickly move on to the next thing.

If I may be profound for moment, will a man who knows he can sleep with any woman ever love one of them.

Do you yearn for the days of seeing your band on the cover of NME or racing down to HMV/Tower Records to pick up their latest b-side offering in hard copy form?

Those days are dead now - we have everything and nothing now.

I do

*sigh*

Halcyon days of youth

flasher0030

donfers wrote: »

Guys,

You have touched upon some interested and related themes; what I might describe is the oppression of choice.

With all these streaming services and downloads available then is the fact that we have such a proliferation of choice of music leading us to dabble here, dabble there and then quickly move on to the next thing.

If I may be profound for moment, will a man who knows he can sleep with any woman ever love one of them.

Do you yearn for the days of seeing your band on the cover of NME or racing down to HMV/Tower Records to pick up their latest b-side offering in hard copy form?

Those days are dead now - we have everything and nothing now.

Yes I do. Buying a CD (or even more so, buying a cassette in those prehistoric times) was such a special moment. Counting down the months until your favourite band to release their next album, and then the excitement of getting a new CD on the release date. I remember cycling 3 miles in the p@ssing rain to make sure that I got a copy of Pearl Jam's second album Vs. And even if you are disappointed in the album, you will listen to it enough times to make sure that you like it, convincing yourself that if you learn all the lyrics off by heart, that it will be better.

Seriously, you do make a good point about the ease of access to any music. If you listen to an album, or even a couple of songs, and make a decision that it's not for you, most people will just move on. Why waste time making an effort to "like" an album. In reality, most good albums are slow burners. I listened to Girl Bands album, and thought it was a pile of sh'ite. Just loud noises. Saw they were playing live, heard all the hype, got ticket and decided that I better get to know the songs. Turns out that it's quite good - and great live gig.

Anyway, great to have all the access to music, and for free/cheap too. But it has negated the excitement that has been in music.

Anesthetize

I miss the good old days of buying overpriced albums based on hearing one song and then discovering that the rest of the album isn't very good. You don't get that kind of excitement with streaming.

flasher0030

Anesthetize wrote: »

I miss the good old days of buying overpriced albums based on hearing one song and then discovering that the rest of the album isn't very good. You don't get that kind of excitement with streaming.

You should have paid more attention to album reviews in music mags. The big dilemma was if your favourite band got a poor review for their latest album, do still go out and pay £15 for the album, just because you have the previous 5 albums of the same band - and just hope that it grows on you.

S.M.B.

Surely this is all still possible? It's not like release dates, physical media and media publications no longer exist.

Anesthetize

flasher0030 wrote: »

You should have paid more attention to album reviews in music mags. The big dilemma was if your favourite band got a poor review for their latest album, do still go out and pay £15 for the album, just because you have the previous 5 albums of the same band - and just hope that it grows on you.

Even if an album gets a positive review, one person's opinion on the album doesn't mean that I'm going to enjoy it. And I used to religiously read music magazines. There are also other factors to consider such as evolving music tastes.

Now, thankfully, I can listen to an album on Spotify and decide for myself before buying it. It's like buying a painting. It makes more sense to view the painting before buying it, rather than taking a chance on it based on either someone's description of the painting or from viewing only a small part of it.

vicwatson

Suede record rocks, and tindersticks new one too

kirk buttercup

Try Wolf Alice

kirk buttercup

Speedy Ortiz
Arctic Monkeys
The Vaccines
Catfish and the bottlemen
The last shadow puppets
Alt j
Fleet foxes
The shins
The cribs
..... And did I mention Wolf Alice
That lot should keep you going for a while

UrbanSprawl

kirk buttercup wrote: »

Speedy Ortiz
Arctic Monkeys
The Vaccines
Catfish and the bottlemen
The last shadow puppets
Alt j
Fleet foxes
The shins
The cribs
..... And did I mention Wolf Alice
That lot should keep you going for a while

in 2006 maybe..dont mean to be blunt but they are all fairly well known bands ..if alt/indie means anything its not treading over the bones of dinosaurs hoping they might have one more tune in them ..LCD soundsystem reforming? Fcuk they were they never great in the first place?

StupidLikeAFox

donfers wrote: »

With all these streaming services and downloads available then is the fact that we have such a proliferation of choice of music leading us to dabble here, dabble there and then quickly move on to the next thing.

That's bollox. The "proliferation of choice" allows you to dabble here, dabble there, find Band X that you like, then listen to that until you are bored of it, then dabble a bit more (maybe discover Band Y thats a bit like the Band X), then go back to Band X, then listen to some off the wall **** like 1950s swing or 1970s rock and roll, then go back and play something nostalgic from when you were in school, then go back and listen to Band X and Band Y together in a custom playlist

kirk buttercup

UrbanSprawl wrote:

in 2006 maybe..dont mean to be blunt but they are all fairly well known bands ..if alt/indie means anything its not treading over the bones of dinosaurs hoping they might have one more tune in them ..LCD soundsystem reforming? Fcuk they were they never great in the first place?

Most have albums out in the last six to nine months but OK.... If you want brand new bands we can do that too, I thought the argument was indie was dead? Which is bollox

UrbanSprawl

kirk buttercup wrote: »

Most have albums out in the last six to nine months but OK.... If you want brand new bands we can do that too, I thought the argument was indie was dead? Which is bollox

I agree ..i think look all that matters is that best bands are sorted from the dross ..I mean is anyone going to the kula shaker gig

Britpop legends Kula Shaker have just announced a headline show at The Academy, Dublin on Thursday, May 5th 2016. Tickets priced €25

jiltloop

Why does the label "Indie" matter? Genres and names for types of music are useful for writing about music and even then they are fundamentally flawed. Just pursue music that sounds good to you and forget about what it's called, if you're still struggling then the problem isn't the music that's available to you it's that you're not looking in the right place.

I'm currently in period of not finding much music that strikes a chord with me but it's probably because where I usually look isn't viable or relevant anymore, it's nothing to done with genre names (although I do get frustrated sometimes and struggle not to come to the conclusion that music has just gone downhill in general).

OhHiMark

UrbanSprawl wrote: »

in 2006 maybe..dont mean to be blunt but they are all fairly well known bands ..if alt/indie means anything its not treading over the bones of dinosaurs hoping they might have one more tune in them ..LCD soundsystem reforming? Fcuk they were they never great in the first place?

Yes, LCD Soundsystem were and are great. Also they're not alternative/indie.

edbrez

jiltloop wrote: »

although I do get frustrated sometimes and struggle not to come to the conclusion that music has just gone downhill in general).

They've all been to rock or stage schools. Plus, new technology makes everything too easy. There's no anger anymore with these bands.

S.M.B.

Nonsense

UrbanSprawl

OhHiMark wrote: »

Yes, LCD Soundsystem were and are great. Also they're not alternative/indie.

Very good but not great ..dont get me wrong I like some of their music and as already discussed lets not get mixed up in knots deciding what is alt/indie .I just wish people would share more links and videos and info here then perhaps people would not be thinking there is no good music around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNX2sv3KJpI

Anesthetize

UrbanSprawl wrote: »

I just wish people would share more links and videos and info here then perhaps people would not be thinking there is no good music around.

I've often found that one of the reasons why people think this is because they're not actively looking for music themselves. Some people are just lazy and only allow themselves to be exposed to the radio or the charts and base their impressions on those. Paying attention to websites like AllMusic or RateYourMusic is far more rewarding, or following various music websites, blogs, or end of year lists.

Even the much maligned Pitchfork is a better source than the radio or the charts, but I'm personally not a fan of it.

S.M.B.

To be honest, spotifys Discover Weekly playlist is the best thing to happen to music discovery in a long long time.

Goes against the "spotify is ruining our appreciation of music" angle that people like to put forth every once in a while though.

seachto7

UrbanSprawl wrote: »

Very good but not great ..dont get me wrong I like some of their music and as already discussed lets not get mixed up in knots deciding what is alt/indie .I just wish people would share more links and videos and info here then perhaps people would not be thinking there is no good music around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNX2sv3KJpI

Break up. Release a dvd of the break up. Get back together. Hilarious.

Texas Jack

Will there ever be a decent guitar band to actually break into the mainstream again?

And not, not Vaccines, who I quite enjoy but are land fill indie personified

S.M.B.

Yes.

kirk buttercup

Some From the last while..
Arctic Monkeys
Coldplay
Arcade fire
The Black keys
The Killers
Kings of Leon
The White Stripes
Elbow
Are all good examples of Indie bands that filtered into Mainstream, And before anyone starts jumping up and down about coldplay I know they dont fit everyones idea of Indie but they did start out that way. My point is you dont get a new indie band every week but over time bands do filter through it usually takes a song Like " Lonely Boy" or " seven nation army" to bring them to peoples attention but there are always new bands filtering through.

IanOBo

Most of those bands, if not all of them, are old. I think the point of this thread is that there is nothing new coming through. They have been around the block for 10 years nearly

kirk buttercup

ok you missed my point. My point is that Indie bands rarely come into the Mainstream but over ten years all these bands have filtered through so at the moment lets say the 1975 are coming through into the mainstream that doesnt mean there will be a flood of Indie throughout the mainstream but their are always bands from indie scene coming through.

kirk buttercup

just had a look at the uk album charts (for the first time in about 15 years) out of curiousity and the following bands are all in it
Last shadow Puppets
1975*
Mogwai
Weezer
Walking on Cars*
Catfish and the bottlemen*
Hozier
Royal Blood*
George Ezra*
* would be considered new enough bands/ artists
it could be argued George Ezra and Hozier arent Indie but feck it they are on loads of spotify indie play lists

Texas Jack

kirk buttercup wrote: »

Some From the last while..
Arctic Monkeys 2003
Coldplay1999
Arcade fire2003
The Black keysgoing for YEARS
The Killers2004
Kings of Leon2003
The White Stripes2000
Elbow1999
Are all good examples of Indie bands that filtered into Mainstream, And before anyone starts jumping up and down about coldplay I know they dont fit everyones idea of Indie but they did start out that way. My point is you dont get a new indie band every week but over time bands do filter through it usually takes a song Like " Lonely Boy" or " seven nation army" to bring them to peoples attention but there are always new bands filtering through.

See above years

Anesthetize

kirk buttercup wrote: »

Some From the last while..
Arctic Monkeys
Coldplay
Arcade fire
The Black keys
The Killers
Kings of Leon
The White Stripes
Elbow

Coldplay and The Killers have always been major label bands as far as I can recall. They've never been indie.

kirk buttercup

Anesthetize wrote:

Coldplay and The Killers have always been major label bands as far as I can recall. They've never been indie.

Both are played on indie radio stations. And are on indie playlists reviewed and interviewed in indie magazines and played at Indie festivals. Just because you sell a lot of albums doesn't mean you're not indie. Yeah they have a more commercial polished sound. But that's getting away from the point I was trying ( unsuccessfully) to make. Bands from the indie scene do filter through but by the time you take notice most people don't consider them indie anymore e.g the killers. In my opinion bands come out we all love them, they float around for a few years then release a megahit we get a pain in our arse listening too and then they become mainstream. Indie fans then look down their nose at them, and the debate starts whether they were ever really Indie in the first place.

Anesthetize

kirk buttercup wrote: »

Both are played on indie radio stations. And are on indie playlists reviewed and interviewed in indie magazines and played at Indie festivals. Just because you sell a lot of albums doesn't mean you're not indie. Yeah they have a more commercial polished sound. But that's getting away from the point I was trying ( unsuccessfully) to make. Bands from the indie scene do filter through but by the time you take notice most people don't consider them indie anymore e.g the killers. In my opinion bands come out we all love them, they float around for a few years then release a megahit we get a pain in our arse listening too and then they become mainstream. Indie fans then look down their nose at them, and the debate starts whether they were ever really Indie in the first place.

What I meant was that they've never been on an independent record label, hence never been an indie band. If Coldplay and The Killers are indie bands then U2 are as well. It's nothing about being mainstream or not.

kirk buttercup

Anesthetize wrote:

What I meant was that they've never been on an independent record label, hence never been an indie band. If Coldplay and The Killers are indie bands then U2 are as well. It's nothing about being mainstream or not.

Fair enough. I'm more talking about being the alternative meaning of Indie. My mistake. And your right neither were on a Independent record label as far as I know.

S.M.B.

So is Adele indie or are Coldplay indie?

It's so needlessly confusingl

donfers

Finally I found a decent album from a guitar band that has been released in the last couple of months that is neither too poppy/sugary/insubstantial nor the other extreme of being weird/trippy and overly experimental

the coral - distance inbetween

I like it, I like it a lot - if any these kind of gems would appear more frequently

kirk buttercup

hate to piss on your chips but the Coral have been out since the early 2000s.
good album though.

donfers

kirk buttercup wrote: »

hate to piss on your chips but the Coral have been out since the early 2000s.
good album though.

My chips remain urine-free. I was looking for good newish albums not necessarily from new bands and of course I have known about the coral for a long time. Unlike a lot of bands their albums their albums are consistently good, almost worth the 6 year wait

WinnyThePoo

You just have to look. So much good stuff out there.

allmusic.com

is a great site IMO

loyatemu

donfers wrote: »

almost worth the 6 year wait

they had an album out in 2014 "Curse of Love" (though it was recorded some years earlier) - it's very good too.

If you like your indie with a retro angle, you might like the new Last Shadow Puppets album.

ryaner777

Try the debut album by the DMA's or The Vryll Society. Both well worth a listen and seems to fit with what you're looking for.

Blossoms also a new band out there with a slightly similar sound you might enjoy

donfers

ryaner777 wrote: »

Try the debut album by the DMA's or The Vryll Society. Both well worth a listen and seems to fit with what you're looking for.

Blossoms also a new band out there with a slightly similar sound you might enjoy

The DMA's have some cracking songs on that debut album - thanks for that comrade!

maccored

Whitey is great

A Happy Death

R.I.P

kirk buttercup

It is now RIP txfm

maccored

RIP fight like apes - too many music 'fans' think they are support music by paying spotify - meanwhile the actual people who make music can no longer afford to do so.