Yes it only seemed appropriate, at this time of year, being summer, that I should resort to indie rock tactics for perusal and study...to my surprise, what I thought "indie" was, was not all I thought it to be...
Indie, from what I gathered, had a certain aesthetic, guitars, bass, drums, vocals...your stripped down rock outfit, but oh indeed, it has come to incorporate keyboards, synths, programming, etc...that these indeed are now incorporated, was a surprise, being that what I knew of as "indie" now had a synthpop/electronic edge now as well, which just further fuels the argument as to the real meanings behind the concept of "indie" and all that it stands for, which is: a DIY aesthetic to production, recording, and publishing, abstaining from the umbrella contortions of major label parentage, and (especially in current trends) the use of the internet for marketing, distribution, and selling, which has now become a foreseeably permanent fixture in this aesthetic landscape, not only in indie fields but in all music globally.
The contexts of the bands I randomly chose happen to run the gamut of styles and influences evident in the songs/albums that I've heard: from pop to synthpop, from rock to lo-fi, from heavy programming to simple songwriting....there is so much diversity in the 9 albums I listened to, a couple (or several?) of albums were not given as much study for their sounds were not sonically pleasing(!) but to my strange surprise, I found some gems on many of these albums, not to mention some all-time favs and classics I will adore forever! So just in that, in finding something in this musical genre that spoke to me so intimately says much, and serves to extend my constant dippings into this genre, peeking in on whats going on at any given time from here on out...but for now, these albums will do, (and gauntlet hair's two song duo-non-album piece is also included here, although not technically an album per se...)
Albums consulted:
1) Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)
2) Caribou - Swim (2010)
3) Cold Cave - Love Comes Close (2009)
4) Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (2010)
5) Gauntlet Hair - songs: I Was Thinking and Our Scenery (both 2010)
6) No Age - Losing Feeling EP (2009)
7) The National - High Violet (2010)
8) Toro y Moi - Causers of This (2010)
9) Also an album was heard from each: Fanfarlo, The Black Lips and The Futureheads, but were disregarded from further listen and study, falling short of critical worthytime (Fanfarlo being an Arcade Fire mediocrity (although the first song was negligibly cool), The Black Lips were a Velvet Underground rip-off hack band, and the Futureheads were decent but fell short of achievement)
Just noticed that most if not all were either released this year or the last, which contextualizes my study as being pretty up-to-date and current, contemporary, ie: the latest in the "scene" the genre...
Notes/observations (from Notebooks):
Aesthetic? low production standards BUT not always the case, differing levels of production values, so different yet what holds them all together genre-piece? because they run the gamut in terms of sound, from electropop to garage band, rustic to finesse(-ical) but what makes it INDIE?: independent labels, DIY aesthetic but what else? middle class, suburban/urban, parents supportive?, tinges of cold detachment (????) educated?
some level of production knowledge (or so) aka: white kids with instruments (ahhh not so with Toro y Moi!) an invasion of the suburbanite refuge
songs are usually based on classic songwriting tropes - hooks, verses, chorus, bridges...upbeat, low to moderate skillmanship/musicianship is established and displayed (no wankers here, no jack off solos etc....in other words, technical proficiency is not always lauded and not necessarily viewed as coveted in this genre, seems to be more of one's ability to establish a mood, atmosphere, good all round writing skills, your creativity when it comes to writing a great song, musically and lyrically, owing some nods to pop and alternative there, in fact, i wonder if technical proficiency as displayed would be a turn-off, frowned upon, walked away from...doesn't seem to get at the core of this music, perhaps a trait inherited from punk/post-punk etc.---technic virtuosity is NOT a mainstay, in fact, soloing seems to be irrelevant and avoided (almost at all costs) evoking an emotion/feel seems to be paramount, the art of crafting a good SONG seems to be the most important activity...
Use of synth technology very ubiquitous, 80s music and attitude from New Wave (which is a direct descendant, along with post-punk and alternative) is evident, so any physical and intellectual traits from these movements have thereby been inherited and are incorporated into, indie music today
Does and does not share mainstream trends, they are evident like the Animal Collective song My Girls , there is a Whoooooo! that is reminiscent of hip-hop or RnB, in fact the mainstream does pop up quite a bit, many artists incorporating these aesthetic values into their own music, but is not in any way ubiquitous, the logical end result of this is the signing to a major label, where many have done, either converting therefore to a more major sound, or elsewhere, keeping their indie roots while having a grander exposure...
apathy? non-courageousness? melancholy? quality/culture of cool? indie definitely embodies a culture capital of cool! down to the very dress, the new rock stars...it has sparked a re-interest in "lo-tech" or lo-fi industry-regarded antiquated processes and recording technology (ie: a throwback 50s sound) also tapes/tape trading/tape recording, analog measures of recording, in sum, an analog paradigm, an analog perspective
also has, as just mentioned, evolved and nurtured a look and culture, lo-fi melded with NEW, retronew RETRONEW! DIY taking advantage of cutting edge technology to meet ones ends...
