I had the Blues but I Shook Them Loose

Indie is a phrase that is so easily thrown around these days. What is indie? In my opinion, it refers to an independent band, showing an obvious independence from big, commericial record labels. Indie is surely the D.I.Y ethic within music; putting on gigs, recording demo's and selling them at shows. This exists in so many forms that it must be far too vague to cover a genre of music. I think the main thing I disagree with is people hearing the word indie, and this providing a positive or negative connotation.




This becomes a problem when a genre develops. The term indie suits alot of bands, who have been influenced by punk, grunge, and important artists such as The Smiths and Joy Division, who fall from the British once "alternative" scene. It becomes a problem when the genre is so big that bands are no longer that indie, and in reality are much more than this, due to progression through listening to the previous wave of bands. For example, Bombay Bicycle Club have created an original sound, which is easiest described as indie, for a variety of reasons; Vocals, Drums, Guitar, Basslines - it's the post-rock tinge used alongside looped vocals, drum mapping and distorted melodies that push the boundaries of indie - it's definately not rock, but it's taking elements from all over to produce something original. I think the strangest thing about musical progression, is the point where everything will be influenced by everything else. Alongside the progression of technology, which has already provided so many new genres, for example dance and DnB has been founded in this way. Genre's such as hardcore and punk will always exist and stand for the same things; it's more about roots than progression, a perscriptivist nature. This provides two totally different ideologies moving in opposite directions, which makes it interesting to see what will happen to them both in ten years time.

This blog is just a compilation of my own thoughts and research. I'm currently trying to understand where, what I listen today has come from; listening to The Police, The Beatles, Sonic Youth and the Doors, to name a few, just to see if theres any synthesis between this and for example bands like The Libertines, then to emerging bands such as Wild Beasts, who are far more abstract to identify influences and such.
There is far, far too much good music out there to understand and appreciate it all. I have enough time on my hands to become a musical genius.