2. Genre choice: Indie
Brief explanation of Indie:
Indie is a particular sound that has little to do with past associations of independent music. Indie also encapsulates a musical
philosophy. Many artists utilize alternative instrumentation, jangling guitars, and may borrow from disparate genres such as folk, dance
rock, and hip hop.
The term 'indie' is best known as being an abbreviation for the word 'independent'. This term was once used to differentiate between
bands that were on a major record label and those that weren't. It also differentiates between an 'independent' sound and type of music
and the more typical top-40 sound that was so prevalent during the 1980s. For example, many of the hair bands and hard rock scene
had become very typical in musical composition (melody, chorus, melody, bridge, chorus, etc.). 'Indie' music may or may not follow this
pattern.
For these reasons, in recent years the term 'indie' has been applied to bands that have rock sound but aren't on a major record label.
Bands like Coldplay, The Killers and Razorlight are not classified as being 'indie' because of this. On the other hand, bands such as
Radiohead (who are no longer on a major record label), Pavement, Belle And Sebastian, and Joy Division can be classed as indie using
the "independent sound" meaning.
This term is wildly disputed on last.fm as well as on plenty of forums. People tag everything from Katy Perry to Meat Puppets as being
'indie'. You may even find some of your trve kvlt black metal bands appearing with an indie tag. As long as they aren't on a major record
label. This spectrum of tagging shows the depth and arguably the inconsistency of the label.
Source: http://www.last.fm/tag/indie/wiki
3. Historical Development
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_rock
The BBC documentary Music for Misfits: The Story of Indie pinpoints the birth of indie as the 1977 self-publication of the Spiral
Scratch EP by Manchester band Buzzcocks. Although Buzzcocks are often classified as a punk band, it has been argued by the
BBC and others that the publication of Spiral Scratch independently of a major label led to the coining of the name "indie"
("indie" being the shortened form of "independent").
In the mid-1980s, the term "indie" began to be used to describe the music produced on post-punk labels rather than the
labels themselves. The indie rock scene in the US was prefigured by the college rock[17] that dominated college radio playlists,
which included key bands like R.E.M. from the US and The Smiths from the UK. These bands rejected the
dominant synthpop of the early 1980s, and helped inspire guitar-based jangle pop; other important bands in the genre
included 10,000 Maniacs and the dB's from the US, and The Housemartins and The La's from the UK. In the United States, the
term was particularly associated with the abrasive, distortion-heavy sounds of the Pixies, Hüsker Dü, Minutemen, Meat
Puppets, Dinosaur Jr., and The Replacements.
The most abrasive and discordant outgrowth of punk was noise rock, which emphasised loud distorted electric guitars and
powerful drums, and was pioneered by bands including Sonic Youth, Swans, Big Black and Butthole Surfers. 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 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.
4. Historical Development
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_rock
The 1990s brought major changes to the alternative rock scene. Grunge bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Hole,
and Alice in Chains 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.
Similarly, in the United Kingdom Britpop saw bands like Blur and Oasis emerge into the mainstream, abandoning the regional,
small-scale and political elements of the 1980s indie scene. Bands like Hüsker Dü and Violent Femmes were just as prominent
during this time period, yet they have remained iconoclastic, and are not the bands that are frequently cited as inspirations to
the current generation of indie rockers.
As a result of alternative rock bands moving into the mainstream, the term "alternative" lost its original counter-cultural
meaning and began to refer to the new, commercially lighter form of music that was now achieving mainstream success. It has
been argued that even the term "sellout" lost its meaning as grunge made it possible for a niche movement, no matter how
radical, to be co-opted by the mainstream, cementing the formation of an individualist, fragmented culture. This theory
hypothesizes staying independent became a career choice for bands privy to industry functions rather than an ideal, as the
principle of resistance to the market evaporated in favor of a more synergistic culture.
The term "indie rock" became associated with the bands and genres that remained dedicated to their independent
status. Even grunge bands, following their break with success, began to create more independent sounding music, further
blurring the lines. Ryan Moore has argued that in the wake of the appropriation of alternative rock by the corporate music
industry that what became known as indie rock increasingly turned to the past to produce forms of "retro" rock that drew
on garage rock, rockabilly, blues, country and swing.
5. Historical Development
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_rock
In the 2000s, the changing music industry, the decline in record sales, the growth of new digital
technology and increased use of the Internet as a tool for music promotion, allowed a new wave of indie
rock bands to achieve mainstream success. Existing indie bands that were now able to enter the
mainstream included more musically and emotionally complex bands including Modest Mouse (whose
2004 album Good News for People Who Love Bad News reached the US top 40 and was nominated for
a Grammy Award), Bright Eyes (who in 2004 had two singles at the top of the Billboard magazine Hot 100
Single Sales) and Death Cab for Cutie (whose 2005 album Plans debuted at number four in the US,
remaining on the Billboard charts for nearly one year and achieving platinum status and a Grammy
nomination). This new commercial breakthrough and the widespread use of the term indie to other forms
of popular culture, led a number of commentators to suggest that indie rock had ceased to be a
meaningful term.
6. Examples of Indie Artists
Radiohead
Arcade Fire
Arctic Monkeys
Mumford & Sons
The Smiths
The Killers
The Kooks
Vampire Weekend
White Stripes
Passion Pit
Klaxons
7. Iconography
Usually dull colours or black/white in music videos
Acoustic guitars, electric guitars
Clothing the artists wear vary from bright, dull, smart or casual clothing
Live band, play at lots of festivals
Music videos focus on narrative/lyrics more than music itself
Album covers are usually dull/lack colour but there are a lot with colour
