Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of rock music, and a means of producing that music, that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. It is rooted in earlier genres such as alternative rock, post-punk, and new wave.

The meaning of the term "indie rock" is contested today by many musicians, fans and commentators. Some use the term "indie" to describe any music produced by artists working within the network of independent record labels and underground music venues that emerged in the United States and elsewhere in 1980's and 1990's. Others understand indie rock as a distinct genre of rock music with a specific artistic aesthetic, and care less about the context in which it is made. Many embrace both meanings of the word, believing that the aesthetics of the genre and its means of production are deeply intertwined. ^[1]

Indie rock artists are known for placing a premium on maintaining complete control of their music and careers, releasing albums on independent record labels and relying on touring, word-of-mouth, airplay on independent or college radio stations and, in recent years, the Internet for promotion. However, in the 2000's many acts with a musical style identified as "indie" signed to major record labels or their subsidiaries, and began promoting themselves through more traditional media outlets. This has led to a further blurring in the meaning of the term.

A variety of musical genres and subgenres with varying degrees of overlap are associated with indie rock. Some of these include lo-fi, sadcore, C86, math rock, shoegaze/dream pop, jangle pop, indie pop, noise rock, noise pop, riot grrrl, post-hardcore, twee pop, post-punk revival, garage rock revival, dance-punk, indie folk, baroque pop, indie punk, chillwave, neo-psychedelia, new prog, and indietronica.

History

Early roots

The roots of modern indie rock are often traced back to The Velvet Underground's self-titled debut album, released in 1967, which was ranked #7 on Blender's list of the 100 greatest indie rock albums.^[2] Allmusic notes that every "left-of-center rock movement owes an audible debt" to this album.^[3] The Beach Boys' 1966 album Pet Sounds is also commonly listed as a highly influential starting point,^[4] as are the 1960s concept albums of the Kinks.^[5] Later, the punk movement of the 1970s had a direct impact on the DIY aesthetic that later became a cornerstone of indie rock.

1980s

In the 1980s, alternative rock, used as a term, was more or less synonymous with indie rock.^[6]

In the United Kingdom, indie music charts have been compiled since the early 1980s. Initially, the charts featured bands that emerged with a form of guitar-based alternative rock that dominated the indie charts, particularly indie pop artists such as Aztec Camera, Josef K, Orange Juice, the C86 indie-pop movement and the twee pop of Sarah Records artists. Some definitive British indie rock bands of the 1980s were The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure whose music directly influenced 1990s alternative rock movements such as shoegazing and Britpop.

In the United States, the term "indie rock" was particularly associated with the abrasive, distortion-heavy sounds of Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Dinosaur Jr., Pixies and The Replacements.^[7] R.E.M. is often associated with the college rock movement of the 1980s.^[8]

A number of prominent indie rock record labels were founded during the 1980s. These include Washington, DC's Dischord Records in 1980, Seattle's Sub Pop Records in 1986^[9] and New York City's Matador Records and Durham, North Carolina's Merge Records in 1989. Chicago's Touch and Go Records was founded as a fanzine in 1979 and began to release records during the 1980s.

1990s

Pavement singer/guitarist Steve Malkmus

The 1990s brought major changes to the alternative rock scene. Grunge bands such as Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam broke into the mainstream, achieving commercial chart success and widespread exposure. Punk revival bands like Green Day and The Offspring also became popular and were grouped under the "alternative" umbrella. The meaning of the term "alternative" changed as mainstream success attracted major-label investment and commercially-oriented or manufactured acts with a formulaic, conservative approach. With this, "alternative" lost its original counter-cultural meaning and began to refer to the new form of music that was now achieving mainstream success. The term "indie rock" became associated with the bands and genres that remained underground.

The 1990s saw the emergence of several defining movements within indie rock. The lo-fi movement was spearheaded by Beck, Elliott Smith, Pavement, Guided by Voices, Neutral Milk Hotel and several bands associated with the Elephant 6 Recording Company such as Of Montreal. It placed a premium on simplistic recording techniques (including home recording), ironic detachment, and disinterest in "selling out" to the mainstream alternative rock scene.

The emo movement, which had grown out of the hardcore punk scene in the 1980s with bands like Rites of Spring, gained popularity as the 1990s progressed. Sunny Day Real Estate, The Promise Ring, The Get Up Kids and others brought a more melodic sound to the genre.^[10][11] Weezer's Pinkerton introduced the genre to a wider and more mainstream audience.^[12] Years later, the term "emo" would be applied to a wider variety of more mainstream bands by the music press.

Talk Talk's Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock and Slint's Spiderland, provided the catalyst for the development of post-rock and math rock.^[13][14][15] Post-rock, an experimental style influenced by jazz and electronic music, became recognized as a genre as Tortoise and their Chicago peers gained a national following in the middle part of the decade. Math rock shares similar experimental aesthetics, but is generally denser and more abrasive.^[16] Don Caballero, Chavez and others contributed to its rise in popularity during the 1990s.

2000s and Current Popularity

In the 2000s, the changing music industry and increased use of the internet as a tool for music promotion allowed a number of indie rock bands to achieve mainstream commercial success.^[17] Modest Mouse was one of the first popular indie acts of the 1990s to make the jump to a major label, signing with Epic Records in 2000. Their 2004 album Good News for People Who Love Bad News was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Rock Album. After many years with the Barsuk label, Death Cab for Cutie signed to Atlantic records in 2004.^[18] Their 2005 album Plans was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album of that year and charted on the Billboard charts for 47 consecutive weeks.^[19] In November 2004, two Bright Eyes singles, "Lua" and "Take It Easy (Love Nothing)", reached the two top spots on the Billboard Hot 100 Single Sales.^[20] In 2010, Arcade Fire's album The Suburbs reached number 1 on the Billboard charts in the United States and the United Kingdom. Other indie-oriented artists including LCD Soundsystem, Vampire Weekend, Interpol, Spoon, MGMT, and The National have also cracked the United States top 10 and enjoyed mainstream popularity. Reasons suggested for this success include the decline of record sales, indie acts adding more mainstream elements to their sound, and increased media exposure of indie artists due to internet marketing.^[21]

See also

• Independent music
• indie cred
• List of indie rock artists
• List of Indie Punk musicians
• The R3-30
• Underground music

References

1. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:2687
2. ↑ http://www.blender.com/guide/68960/100-greatest-indie-rock-albums-ever-151-100-to-91.html
3. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dpfqxql5ldhe~T0
4. ↑ http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/9371-pet-sounds-40th-anniversary/
5. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/26/arts/music-ironic-and-detached-long-before-fashion-caught-up.html
6. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:4464
7. ↑ http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:11971
8. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:09fexqtgld0e
9. ↑ http://www.tripzine.com/listing.php?id=pavitt
10. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:4525
11. ↑ Greenwald, Andy (2003). Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-0312308636.
12. ↑ http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3xfexqlhld6e
13. ↑ http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:j9fwxq85ldse
14. ↑ http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:a9fwxq85ldse
15. ↑ http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:g9frxqu5ldje
16. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:4560
17. ↑ http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/7704-the-decade-in-indie/
18. ↑ Horwitz, Carolyn (November 13, 2004). "Death Cab For Cutie Signs To Atlantic". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000719211. Retrieved 2008-04-28. 
19. ↑ Daly, Sean (2006-02-08). "And the winners will be ...". St. Petersburg Times. http://www.sptimes.com/2006/02/08/Artsandentertainment/And_the_winners_will_.shtml. Retrieved 2008-04-26. 
20. ↑ http://www.soulshine.ca/news/newsarticle.php?nid=1293
21. ↑ What This Year's Bizarre Chart Results (Arcade Fire! #1!) Say About the State of Music in 2010 Village Voice

External links

• Indie Hoy - Indie Rock
• The Decade in Indie by Nitsuh Abebe for Pitchfork Media September 16, 2009
• Allmusic - Indie Rock
• Indie Rock Cafe

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