Indie Renaissance?

[connect_icut]

I'm interested to know if anyone here buys into the idea that indie rock is currently experiencing a minor creative renaissance. In particular, I'm thinking of bands like The Dirty Projectors and Gang Gang Dance. Other relevant acts might be A Sunny Day in Glasgow, High Places, Micachu, Mount Eerie, Nudge, The xx...

Anyone think this stuff is worthwhile or is just a bunch of outdated, guitar-based, middle class bollocks?

 

[jimitheexploder]

There are always pockets of good stuff, but on the whole its pretty dire/boring if you ask me.

I've been enjoying: Atlas Sound, Deerhunter, Trouble Books, Gang Gang Dance, Sun Araw, Esben & the Witch, Worriedaboutsatan, Golau Glau... I'm not even sure if some of that is indie, they're just bands really.

I find Dirty Projectors a bit annoying at times, Micachu's voice does my head in, which is kind of annoying since the music behind her is pretty interesting. The xx can be pretty boring but have their moments, same goes for Grizzley Bear and almost everyone else really.

I think its been pretty boring on the whole for the last few years.

 

[wise]

I saw Dirty Projectors live and they were incredible, but I can't listen to the albums, I always get wound up and have to turn it off

 

[connect_icut]

I really respect the Dirty Projectors in theory but find it impossible to enjoy their music in practice. I think Gang Gang Dance are a much more enjoyable example of that kind of NY hipster eclectic indie.

 

[swears]

I like this a lot:

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I used to slag indie for being retro, then I realised I was listening to a load of retro dance stuff like Legowelt and Kerrier District.
I even like Vampire Weekend now! And that DP tune "Stillness Is The Move" is a jam.

 

[connect_icut]

I think what I like about a lot of this current "non-shit" indie stuff is that it has a sense of space and restraint - a blessed relief in this age of compression. The xx definitely have that spacious feeling but my favourite example of this particular trend is As Good as Gone by Nudge, which was actually my favourite album of 2009. Not many people seem to know that one.

 

[Sick Boy]

I hope not

 

[connect_icut]

You hope not what?

 

[Sick Boy]

Oh, sorry. An indie rock re-birth would constitute going back to making underachieving pop songs about break-ups, old sweaters, boredom, and favourite bands from the 80s, and I'm not sure this is what they want; although it was where they were least offensive. I hope they don't embark on a "renaissance" by going the other way and continuing to pretend they have anything to say beyond that.

 

[connect_icut]

I guess the point of finding these bands interesting is that they supposedly do have something relevant to say - that they're not just peddling the same old indie cliches but integrating more contemporary ideas and technologies to make indie relevant again (if you think it ever was). Another way of approaching this might be to say that genres that were supposed to have "replaced" indie/rock about 15 years ago - electronic dance music, hip-hop etc. - are now just as stale and retro as indie rock, so indie at least seems no less relevant than anything else. I'm not saying that's how I feel but I think that line of thinking may play a part in some people's rebirth of interest in indie.

 

[Woebot]

I'm interested to know if anyone here buys into the idea that indie rock is currently experiencing a minor creative renaissance. In particular, I'm thinking of bands like The Dirty Projectors and Gang Gang Dance. Other relevant acts might be A Sunny Day in Glasgow, High Places, Micachu, Mount Eerie, Nudge, The xx...

Anyone think this stuff is worthwhile or is just a bunch of outdated, guitar-based, middle class bollocks?

i'd be interested to see if the NME were covering any of this stuff. are they? i suspect not. if they were i believe that would be a good thing.

 

[Woebot]

though i think the xx suck incidentally.

 

[baboon2004]

Havne't there always been a smattering of good 'indie' bands (not sure what the parameters are any more)? The xx and Gang Gang Dance are both really good, but I'm sure they had equivalents a few years ago. As with house, indie will always throw up some good stuff- it's just wading through the tons of identikit shit that prevents you getting to it most of the time.

 

[4linehaiku]

Think I saw The XX on the cover of NME yesterday actually. However, I was buying crisps at the time, and was unable to focus all my cognitive abilities on the magazine section, so I could be mistaken.

 

[mms]

i'd be interested to see if the NME were covering any of this stuff. are they? i suspect not. if they were i believe that would be a good thing.

xx on the cover of this weeks nme matt.
they've picked up their game recently.
agree with you about xx though i haven't quite got it yet.
there is plenty of life in 'indie' since it started have in parts a more bottom up spirit of creation, and also write better songs.
it's hard to know if gang gang dance and ariel pink, for example who incidentally both just signed to 4ad are indie, even though 4ad was the quintessential indie label.

anything that can kill landfill indie from within is a good thing too.

 

[connect_icut]

Talking of Ariel Pink... Of all the indie rock stuff that is currently catching the attention 'nuum folks and other people who aren't strictly indie rockers (any more), the post-AP, hypnagogic stuff seems to be going down the best. Must be the philosophical similarities to hauntology?

I like The xx, though they did take a while to grow on me - which seems to be the case for a lot of people. Apparently, their "drummer" plays an MPC live. Does that make you warm to them, Matt?

 

[massrock]

xx, yeah i don't know about that either. that remix of florence and the machine is good though isn't it.

speaking of x's, i quite liked that band xerox teens. then i think they had to change their name and they changed it to xx teens. then they lost a member or two. the album they eventually had out was really disappointing unfortunately.

 

[continuum]

surprisingly enjoyed that xx version of teardrop posted on the previous page despite my irrational hatred for almost anything that would be described as indie.

would be grateful for any more youtube recommendations along the same lines

 

[hucks]

I really like The XX but that Teardrops thing sounds like someone doing a parody of them. Their guitarist has left which I think will make a big difference to their sound, too

 

[zhao]

the mutant strains of indie rock people here have time for is infact not indie rock at all.