Comments on: The indie-rock hierarchy

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 23:00:39 +0000

What the hell is wrong with just liking music? I really don’t care if something is indie, maintream, whatever. In my book, Hootie and the Blowfish are just as good as Neutral Milk Hotel. I’m not afraid to say that (if I had an ipod) the New Pornographers are right next to Flock of Seagulls on my playlist. You can like indie rock and think mainstream stuff is cool too. You should judge by the quality of the music, not what type of label a band is on, or whether anyone’s ever heard of them or not.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Jun 2005 20:41:00 +0000

I don’t get it. What is wrong with just liking, even loving, the music? Why does the fact that there is an indie-rock-snob scene affect you, or anybody else?

“Look who bought the myth,” a wise man once said, before he and his comrades became so 1992…

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 24 Jun 2005 19:53:00 +0000

Ben Folds fan here. My half-baked theory is that “indie rock” is the new “alternative rock.”

You want indie rock snobs, look no further than the guy who writes music reviews for the paper I’m at.

I also remember my college paper, where the guy who wrote the record reviews wouldn’t even look you in the eye, like he was the editor of RollingStone (it took him 6 years to graduate).

I’m disdainful of critics (even myself, when I do that)– music is music and all that really matters is whether you, the listener, enjoys it, regardless of trend. I like Arcade Fire. I have mixed feelings about the Decemberists, but enjoy their non-Yiddish melody inspired music (sans-shofar).

My sister loves stuff I think is pure crap–i.e. Train– yeah, I’ll joke that they’re doing what the Counting Crows did better 10 years ago, but what does it matter to put it in context of pop-history? As much as I think Train sucks, she likes them– the choruses, the hooks, the lyrics.

Of course, with the new Ben Folds record, he’s cemented his status as “adult contemporary.” How does that go over? Girls seem to like it (well, the right ones, anyways). Most people say “oh, he’s the guy who wrote brick, right?”

The music snobs usually don’t have too much to say– Ben’s first song that catapulted him to Arcade Fire-buzz almost 10 years ago is still just as relevant today. It’s called Underground– a satire of indie-snob culture.

By: Sara

Sara — Fri, 24 Jun 2005 16:41:00 +0000

Beatles fan here.

Um…one thing that must be mentioned in this debate but seems so obvious I guess it’s not worth it, right?

Money. For the band, I mean. I doubt some of them give a fuck about what kind of fans they have as long as they get on some sort of radio and get paid.

By the way…can we really call any of this “indie” any more? I’m skeptical. But, then again, you know I don’t follow all this.