Or Devendra or Franz. I don’t need to. I can leave that task to People magazine and Teen Vogue.
What happened? I feel like the new definition of indie means we have a slightly higher ratio of stupid haircuts and eat less meat then those top 40 loving types. The press… like every fucking magazine and website I read is interviewing and reviewing the same “underground” artists over and over again and these bands that once felt like the most awesome secret in the world now have equal billing to Demi and Ashtons' wedding on the page.
I actually asked my friend today what Justin Timberlake was up to tonight because if I read one more wee tale of Devendra's recording experience in a big studio or My Morning Jackets take on politics, I was going to poke my eyes out.
« SIKH Commute-Tunes: Music Shuffle for Generation "i" | Main | New Music: Manuok Takes Me To Strange Places in Traffic Jam »
Wednesday, 12 October 2005
Another blogger's intelligent rant on "indie music" today (and clever, question-toned title)
This is borrowed from Tuning Fork, who has a site to review and critique the behemoth of all internet music magazines, Pitchfork Media, and their at-times, inconsistent, elitist quality:
(As a sidenote, for those who question Pitchfork's ability as the New York Times of the internet music world witness item "A", Clap Your Hands Say Yeah meteoric rise after their self-produced demo was review on the site, or, "B", the fact that (as referenced by Tuning Fork) Neutral Milk Hotel's excellent, and 8-year old, "In the Aeroplane over the Sea" album saw a 52% increase in sales after their re-release achieved a perfect 10.0 on Pitchfork's scale.)
Why I will not personally review, in full, the new Broken Social Scene or Animal Collective
I knew this party was over when Kirsten Dunst proudly told a national TV host that she is listening to this little underground band called Postal Service. ( In the same breath she also dropped Maroon 5 and Rufus Wainwright who “is so under appreciated” as her other favorites) It can’t be long before E! tells the behind the scenes story of the Shins in the recording studio or has Arcade Fire offer Americans fashion tips for the Winter season.
Elijah Wood has more obscure taste in music than half of the Pitchfork staff and while I am stoked to hear massive stars have great taste in music I think it isn’t the knowing part that upsets me. I always assumed there were all sorts of superstars out there with incredible taste in music but now there appears to be 1 million ways to exploit this information and turn it into a sales tool. Yes, I want the bands I love to make money and live off their art by selling more records but do I want to see Bobby Hill wearing a Clap Your Hands shirt? I haven’t even seen CYHSY live yet, nor did I keep my copy of the record, but I already don’t ever want to hear their name again. When I hear people use that band as an adjective I have to fight back the urge to point and laugh at them. There is such a thing as overkill, and I am not talking about the awesome metal band either.
Isn’t anybody else mildly disturbed that there are records Pitchfork, The NY Times, US magazine, and Modern Bride all talk about? Are hipsters writing and picking music for ¾ of what’s on TV (commercials and actual programs) and film? Are we well-positioned in the press, or are we elite rockers the new prime target market? Now, thanks to the internet can anybody tap into what’s new and cool and fake their way into insta-indie rocker?
All these overlapping strings of media hype is killing the mystery and allure of the bands I once enjoyed. I don’t want to know what kind of tooth paste the White Stripes use. I don’t want to know if Wolf Parade drinks Red Bull and vacations in Palm Springs.
I am learning everyday that there are press agents who shouldn’t allow their bands to speak to journalists at all because some artists really are only good at making music, not talking about making music. As fantastic as it might be for a band to be fueled by a political climate, the number of people who can actually articulate this without sounding like a complete twit is rather small.
The very definition of underground is being challenged or, perhaps more correctly, redefined with each passing day. New bands (as well as a few old ones) are caked with new layers of attitude, opinions, fashion, and all sorts of other nonsense that detracts (for me at least) from their music. Underground no longer means a band won’t be discovered by the mainstream, it just means their gift bags for playing the Carson Daily Show must include products that weren’t tested on animals.
Supermodels at a Melvins’ shows? The apocalypse is upon us.
Posted by Daimian Holiday Scott in Daimian S, Music News, Weblogs | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/230980/3357972
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Another blogger's intelligent rant on "indie music" today (and clever, question-toned title):
Comments
Great rant, thoroughly enjoyable article. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I read two complaints:
- celebrity musical taste will be exploited for its marketing pull.
- they ruined my band before I got to see it in obscurity.
The first criticism I almost agree with, except it's coming from a blog that also provides free publicity for bands the author likes.
The second I have never ever understood. If I like a band, I want to see them succeed. I hand over my earbuds to any willing listener in the hopes that she gets it, too, and I can now talk about my new love with her. If by some miracle they catch on, no one can convince me I should drop them. I'll just be happy America has wised to my taste.
Ok, there are possible downsides: popularity makes for audiences of greater numbers which decreases the intimacy at shows. And sometimes a band's music changes in the process of becoming popular. But last time I checked, CYHSY! was still playing the Black Cat after turning down a plug on the O.C., and Radiohead just got weirder after they developed a following. It doesn't have to be a downside, I guess.
Building industries is what our market does best. We do it subconsciously; we're feeding into the indie phenomenon now. I just can't believe that all of the consequences of that shift are bad. In fact, I think most of them (attitudes, fashion choices, lifestyle) are completely ignorable if you want to enjoy the music for the music. And there will always be a new band tuning up in somebody's basement, waiting to be discovered.
Posted by: Katie | Oct 13, 2005 2:20:29 AM
My only real complaint is certain bands are EVERYWHERE. I don't care where it comes from famous person or dude who lives above me. Tiny zine verse Flaunt. Blog verse Pitchfork. In my world there is too much of a good thing. I love brie cheese but I can't eat a whole wheel of it.
"they ruined my band before I got to see it in obscurity"
I am not sure what you are implying here. If you read my blog you would know that a band being popular doesn't make me hate them. I am simply sick of the endless press of the same 20 bands. I would be thrilled to see an Entertainment Weekly piece about Hood or Rahim.
CYHSY have sold out the Black Cat show a week before they are set to play and the Chapel Hill date is sold out already too. That is pretty Fing huge for a band with a self released album. I would say thank you press hype to that. There are a million bands who are just as good but the flashlight focus of fame hit them.
I also tend to be the person who saw that band before they got big and big doesn't mean I stop seeing them when they got big. Nirvana for instance was the first band that ever stayed at my house and I continued to see them and support them when they were on the cover of Rolling Stone. I still belive a good band is a good band but can you blame anyone for wanting to take a time out from a band when you are hearing their single grocery shopping, in cars passing by, and at the local shop day in and day out? Haven't you ever had a friend who loved a band so much that would be all they would play and after a month of it you never wanted to hear that band again or for at least a year??? Bjork is one of my favorite artists to date and I had a person who lived above me play Venus as a boy 50 times a day. I still shudder now when I hear that song. Please tell me you understand my point now.
Being elitist about underground bands is fun and all but all I really want is the press to use their power for good and to expand their horizons rather than beat to death the same handful of bands every other tom dick and harry is beating to death.
Posted by: pitchperfect | Oct 13, 2005 11:10:37 AM
Are you perhaps, gasp... getting old? It's starting to sound like maybe you're not cool anymore. Now I too can enjoy this music, thanks to my mom's Better Homes and Gardens issue No.1338 June 2005, which suggested that I play "BSS's Feel Good Lost" [sic]at my next pool party "background music as a relaxing way to enjoy a light summer snack". Old indeed... Owww fuck... I think I just threw out my back. Oh yeah one last thing, its impossible to buy CYHSY at any big box, or book store. So dont worry so much, until the "Vogue Teen" reader, or OC watcher gets his/her own VISA card.
Posted by: Rudy | Oct 18, 2005 12:45:20 PM
