Indie Rock
Ever on the search for new music to listen to, I came across these “Indie Rock Playlists” created by someone named criznittle. I don’t have a clue who s/he is, or where s/he comes from. Nevertheless, it’s cool to listen to different music that you never hear on regular radio: it’s almost like being in an alternate reality.
What is Indie Rock? It’s basically musicians and groups that either produce music by themselves, or sign with the smaller labels, rather than the major labels. More or less, it is underground music – real alternative music. Garage bands and local bands. Obviously, by not signing with a major label your music is not going to get to the mass audiences who listen to the Clear Channel, Citadel, and Entercom dominated airwaves. However, through concerts, college stations, and word of mouth, it’s possible for indies to become mainstream.
Remember the alternative wave in the 1990′s? That mass migration of bands to the mainstream erupted from the Indie Rock movement. Bands like Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Garbage, 10,000 Maniacs, Weezer, Green Day, and so on. Now, you have bands like Los Campesinos!, Goldfrapp, Laura Marling, Radiohead, Scissor Sisters, and The Cuties. A good proportion of the indie rock bands are acoustic oriented, and many female artists and bands are using indie labels, at least from what I have been listening to. But there is a wide variety of styles to listen to, and a little something for everyone.
Some of the music is really good and really listenable. Unfortunately, I can’t say that I know any of the bands by heart – there are literally hundreds of them out there, and the lists I am listening to are comprised of hundreds of bands. I’ve just been giving them a listen as I go to and from work, and while I am going about doing tasks. I don’t really look to see who it is that’s singing, or what the name of the song is. It’s more fun to have that spontaneity right now. I’m sure, at some point in the future, I will have a better handle on who these bands are.
Some of the music is, however, really really good, and I can imagine some of them making it into the mainstream in one form or another. Some of it, however, is really horrible, and deserves to be skipped permanently. There’s a reason these people will never get a major label contract – they simply suck. They shouldn’t be wasting their time or my hearing
It is cool, though, listening to real alternative music, listening to people trying to make an honest living making decent music. It’s much better than listening to groups like Metallica, who have made millions, and are greedy bastards trying to squeeze every penny out of their listening public that they can. It reminds me of the nineties, when I was listening to Portishead, Snake River Conspiracy, Better than Ezra, The Goo Goo Dolls, Sarah McLaughlin, Belly, Bjork, Deep Forest, and others. It’s good.
