Since when did ‘indie’ become so popular so mainstream?!?!?!
Seriously people get it right the correct and one and only definition for indie is music from the underground scene, bands with independent labels, and perhaps the simplest of descriptions “NON mainstream bands”.
So since the end of last year I think or perhaps even earlier indie has evolved into a kind of sound, a sound that blends rock, brit-pop, and some electronic. Bands that define that sound include Bloc Party, Stereophonics, The Killers, Kaisers Chief, Arcade Fire etc. Honestly the Categorization industry a.k.a the general public needs to come up with a new word if they really want to categorize these bands.
Why am I making such a big deal out of this? Well it’s fucking hard to find real “underground music” that is truly termed indie when suddenly there’s an upsurge of bands like those mentioned above being coined with the indie term.
If it were up to me those bands would be chuck into the “alt rock” category or for the sake of more originality “new wave rock”, perhaps not that original. How ’bout nu-rock after all metal bands which incorporate electronic sound into their music has been labeled nu-metal so rock music with electronic influences naturally becomes nu-rock. No?
The there’s the term “indie pop” which is perhaps the most contradictory of terms, oxymoron if you like. Pop to me means popular and indie as said above “non mainstream”.
So I leave you with this, next time you label music indie, think again is it the sound you’re talking about or the nature of the band’s independent label.
Filed under: Music
