[nocrapman]

Need some new music ideas.
I want to get some recommendations for inroads into some good indie stuff.

Thanks!

THE LIST TILL NOW(6/27/11):


Jeans Wilder
Doves
Elbow
Smiths
Hall and Oats
She and Him
The Decemberists
Death Cab for Cutie
My Morning Jacket
Arcade Fire
Regine Spektor
Feist
St. Vincent
Ingrid Michaelson
Fine Frenzy
Sia
Taken By Trees
Morrissey of course
Editors
Beirut
Black Lips
Misfits
Keane
Muse
The Temper Trap
Carla Bruni
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Keren Ann
Vanessa Paradis
Jose Gonzalez
Whitley
Iron and Wine
Band of Horses
Vetiver
The Antlers
The National
Phoenix
Animal Collective
Pavement - Crooked Rain Crooked Rain, Yo La Tengo, Build to Spill
Sufjan Stevens
Fleet Foxes
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Wilco
Bon Iver
Alexi Murdoch
Frank Turner
Bernard Fanning
Pete Murray
Bright Eyes
Colin Meloy (Decemberists)
Damien Rice
Jakob Dylan
Joe Purdy
Sean Hayes
Newton Faulkner
The Head and the Heart
William Fitzsimmons
The Swell Season

Resources:
- Chicago XRT http://wxrt.radio.com/
- PASTE http://www.pastemagazine.com/

[Diamond Dog]

Hi : At this stage, I'm not even sure what if anything the term " indie " means...Are there some particular styles or sounds that appeal to you? What have you been listening to lately?

D.D.

[JDUBS]

Hi : At this stage, I'm not even sure what if anything the term " indie " means...Are there some particular styles or sounds that appeal to you? What have you been listening to lately?

D.D.

Ha!  I agree with this.  I thought I was into some fairly funky "indie" stuff, but I'm not so sure it really qualifies anymore.

There are many sub-genres of "indie"...need to know more about your musical tastes.

-Jim

[nocrapman]

OK, lemme narrow this down...
I really liked the music on the soundtrack of "500 Days of Summer". Most of the music and artists in there, i was totally unfamiliar with, and got me wondering... as to what all I should be listening to. Now I dont know if those artists/music in there would qualify as INDIE or not but at least it gives a flavour of the sounds I would like to explore.

Thanks for the help!

[lonewolfny42]

....the soundtrack of "500 Days of Summer"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1022603/soundtrack

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B002BAODSC/internetmoviedat/

[persisting1]

I've been enjoying Jeans Wilder a lot.
http://jeanswilder.bandcamp.com/releases

Peaking Lights
http://vimeo.com/20580559

Smith Westerns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpukSgrqYxU

Sun Araw
http://alteredzones.com/posts/1179/sun-araw-bump/

Ty Segall
http://www.amazon.com/Goodbye-Bread-Ty-Segall/dp/B004YFIYU0/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1309058732&sr=1-1

Wild Nothing
http://www.myspace.com/wildnothing

[Diamond Dog]

OK, lemme narrow this down...
I really liked the music on the soundtrack of "500 Days of Summer". Most of the music and artists in there, i was totally unfamiliar with, and got me wondering... as to what all I should be listening to. Now I dont know if those artists/music in there would qualify as INDIE or not but at least it gives a flavour of the sounds I would like to explore.

One of the bands on that soundtrack is a Manchester product called Doves - they were a terrific band and well worth hearing. If you like that, try another band from that part of England called Elbow. They've been around for quite a while and have a solid catalogue of work including an album which won the Mercury Prize a few years back. They're like Coldplay with all the suck scrubbed off. 

D.D.

[vinyl_guy]

The Smiths are an 80s band and Hall and Oats had a lot of hits in the 70s and early 80s. Both She & Him albums (Vol 1 & Vol 2 are very good). She & Him are Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. M.Ward is a guitarist/singer/songwriter from Portland OR. He has several albums. You might also like The Decemberists. the leader, Colin Melloy was influenced by the Smiths and R.E.M. and a big fan of The Smiths' lead singer, Morrissey. Other indie bands you might like are Death Cab for Cutie and My Morning Jacket. One of my favorite indie bands is Arcade Fire. they received the Grammy for Album of the Year last year with The Suburbs.

[low.pfile]

I saw the movie but the forgot the soundtrack. I think that Indie and Alternative Rock are often used interchangeably. Indie usually is more obscure, not found on the radio, while alternative can be.

Just springing off of the musicians on the 500 days soundtrack...

Regina Spektor
She's quiet unique. Though her voice reminds me of Feist. oh wait, she's on the soundtrack too. Similar sound:  St. Vincent, Ingrid Michaelson, Fine Frenzy, Sia, Taken By Trees

The Smiths
Morrissey of course, Editors, and Beirut, with a Morrisey-like lead singer

Black Lips
BL sound is stripped down rock with at bit of southern rockabilly punk, remind me of the Misfits and the Ramones. Not really current: The Gories.

Doves
There lots of Doves music to check out and it varies. After that listen to some Keane, maybe Muse and yep, Radiohead.

The Temper Trap
The Sweet Disposition song has been in a bunch of TV shows/commericals. I like it, but I was disappointed in the album containing that song. The Sweet Disposition song really has an 80's feel to me-- reminiscent of Echo and the Bunnyman and Icicle Works' Whisper to a Scream, as well as the falsetto voice of Bronski Beat, So modern versions of that sound……hmmm? Falsetto-wise: Passion Pit, Bon Iver.

Carla Bruni
Check out Charlotte Gainsbourg, Keren Ann, and Vanessa Paradis

Feist
See the Regina Spektor recommendations above

Simon and Garfunkel
Hearing them made me think of the contemporary singer/songwriters Jose Gonzalez and Whitley, and Iron and Wine.

Wolfmother
This is a slower song than a lot of theirs. I'll leave this one to others.

Mumm-Ra usually has a harder sound than the song on the soundtrack.
Stornoway another band from the UK. And the band James comes to mind too. maybe The Killers. Hi Fi, The Kooks
 
I'll pass on both Meaghan Smith and She and Him since they both perform covers…

Some of my favorite Indie rock bands: Band of Horses, Vetiver, The Antlers, The National, Phoenix, Decemberists, Beirut, Animal Collective, bon iver

[nocrapman]

Guys,

This is exactly the kind pointers I was hoping to get. Being off the Radio and TV grid I am somewhat out of touch with this stuff, if these artists even get some air time at all. NPR is the only thing I listen to with any regularity on the commute. Sometime ago, I purchased Middle Brother based on their recommendations. It was fantastic... if u havent already... do check it out.

Please keep them coming guys....

[timind]

Check The Garden State soundtrack for some excellent bands. http://www.amazon.com/Garden-State-Various-Artists/dp/B0002J58LK/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1309093634&sr=1-1 The best $5.99 you'll spend today.
Soundtracks and samplers are an excellent way to find new music. One of my earliest finds was the soundtrack to "Until The End Of The World." This was years ago but a few of the obscure (at the time) artists featured on this soundtrack have been with me since.http://www.amazon.com/Until-End-World-Picture-Soundtrack/dp/B000002LQZ/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1309093923&sr=1-1

[sts9fan]

I think Pavement is a must have for any indie collection.  You could start with "Crooked Rain Crooked Rain".  I would also add Yo La Tengo and Build to Spill. 

[vinyl_guy]

I'll pass on both Meaghan Smith and She and Him since they both perform covers…

While She & Him do perform some covers (their cover of Al Anderson's (NRBQ) Ridin' in My Car is terrific), 9 of 12 on the first album and 11 of 13 on the second album are original songs written by Zooey Deschenal and produced by M. Ward. Their first album was awarded Album of the year by Paste Magazine http://www.pastemagazine.com/ Paste is a great source for new Indie bands and artists, many before they have a record contract.

M. Ward joined with My Morning Jacket's Yim Yames, Bright Eyes' Conner Oberest and Mike Mogis to record an album under the name Monstors of Folk. It's folk rock and a good album.

[roscoeiii]

Big fan of the most recent albums by these artists:
St Vincent
Sufjan Stevens
Iron& Wine
Fleet Foxes
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The National


For many of the above artists theses newest albums are a bit more experimental. But in each case it really works well.

Sure I will think of more

[nocrapman]

I think Pavement is a must have for any indie collection.  You could start with "Crooked Rain Crooked Rain".  I would also add Yo La Tengo and Build to Spill.

Thank you!
Crooked rain... on the way...

[nocrapman]

Check The Garden State soundtrack for some excellent bands. http://www.amazon.com/Garden-State-Various-Artists/dp/B0002J58LK/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1309093634&sr=1-1 The best $5.99 you'll spend today.
Soundtracks and samplers are an excellent way to find new music. One of my earliest finds was the soundtrack to "Until The End Of The World." This was years ago but a few of the obscure (at the time) artists featured on this soundtrack have been with me since.http://www.amazon.com/Until-End-World-Picture-Soundtrack/dp/B000002LQZ/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1309093923&sr=1-1

Already have the Garden state... loved it.
Just ordered Until the End.. ST
Thanks for the excellent recommendation...

[Syrah]

Metric's album Fantasies, or frankly anything by them.  Broken Social Scene's album You Forgot it in People.  I see Leslie Feist is in that 500 Days of Summer album.  She was formerly a singer in Broken Social Scene.  As was Emily Haines (from Metric), just to close the circle.

I really like Spoon's most recent album Tranference.

I agree with the other post, Arcade Fire are great.  Their latest album is getting the most noticed, being the only indie album to EVER win the Grammy for best record, but all of their albums are amazing.

A bit older, but Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's first album is great.  Then there's Wilco.

[sanjaygolf]

Bon Iver - Bon Iver

There are a lot of websites that review indie music and Pitchfork.com is a big go to for that. Also go to Metacritic.com which takes reviews from different websites and magazines and assigns a cumulative score.

[jlafrenz]

Some good recommendations listed here and some that I need to check out. Here are a few of my favorites that might fit the category (or close anyway).

Alexi Murdoch
Frank Turner
Bernard Fanning
Pete Murray
Bright Eyes
Colin Meloy (Decemberists)
Damien Rice
Jakob Dylan
Joe Purdy
Sean Hayes
Newton Faulkner
The Head and the Heart
William Fitzsimmons
The Swell Season

I realize that some of these have become fairly mainstream lately, but are certainly worth checking out if you haven't had a chance to give them a listen.
 

[FullRangeMan]

Yesterday I listened countless Indie Rock bands on Amazon samples and did not understand this style, except that many bands do not use reverb on the recording.

So I wonder what characterizes the Indie Rock ??