What Underground/Indie Band Are You Currently Listening To?

Mr Unoriginal

Mr Unoriginal

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I like to post a thread like this every once in a while to make sure I'm not missing any great bands. Feel free to post anything not on the top 40 and enlighten some CAGs.

I'll start with a few I've been listening to lately:

All Girl Summer Fun Band - Nice all girl pop rock group.
Magnetic Fields - Sounds like Nico (These Days from Royal Tenn soundtrack)
Stereo Total - French synth-pop band.
Eletric Six - Dance meets metal.
 
I'm currently addicted to Jeff Buckley and have been listening to him nonstop. It's sad how few people actually know of him, he has one of the greatest voices I've ever heard. If you want to listen to anything he ever sang, just go here:

Jeff Buckley Theater

That's all the music he's ever done and will ever do since he died 8 years ago. But if you've never heard of him, give the album Grace a shot on that link; I think there's at least one song on that album that will appeal to everyone
 
Mindless Self Indulgence, Cubanate and VNV nation rock.
Most trance music is underground and I listen to that.
Jungle is perpetually underground. Omni trio is a good place to start.

[quote name='Ikohn4ever']The Decemeberists[/QUOTE]
Ugh. Russian/Soviet names and logos for for non-russian/soviet rock bands is very stupid.
 
Oy vey, you kids and your music. The times have truly passed me by.

I have the Cro-Mags in my car cd changer. That may count for something.
 
Ozma - Awesome group, but now broken up. Has toured with Weezer. Songs to check out: "Eponine," "Domino Effect," and "Ups and Downs." You can find Video Game references in songs such as "Game Over" and "In Search of 1988." They also cover the traditional Russian Folk song "Korobeiniki" which most of us know as the song from Tetris!

Piebald - Very cool sounds. Check out these songs: "American Hearts," "Rock Revolution," "Long Nights," "Grace Kelly with Wings," and if you have ever read Catcher in the Rye, listen to their song "Holden Caufield."

I'm not a huge Rap/Hip Hop person, but I really like the beats and lyrics of Atmosphere. Check out "The Woman with the Tattooed Hands," "God's Bathroom Floor," and "Party for the Fight to Write."
 
I get too excited in these kinds of threads so i'll try to stay brief...

mum
Deerhoof
Melt Banana
OOIOO
An Albatross
Boards of Canada
Black Dice
Dengue Fever
Guitar Wolf
Hella
Lightning Bolt
...then my my friend just uploaded a couple gigs of experimental "micro sound" music...jan jelinek, mileece, pan sonic, steinbruchel etc. that i'm digging on. very relaxing and you barely notice it's on.
 
[quote name='capitalist_mao']
Ugh. Russian/Soviet names and logos for for non-russian/soviet rock bands is very stupid.[/QUOTE]

thats the spirit, criticize an indie band just because of their name, thats a great way of thinking about indie music
 
I'll make an alphabetical list of music I enjoy from my collection that not many people listen to:

- A Camp
- Action Figure Party - Not a ska band, I assure you. Some of the smoothest electric jazz on the planet.
- Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
- Blonde Redhead
- Dan the Automator
- Deltron 3030
- Desert Sessions
- DJ Shadow
- Dr. Octagon
- Eagles of Death Metal
- Elysian Fields
- Faith No More (far greater than their mainstram success)
- Fantomas
- Femme Fatale
- Fu Manchu
- General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners (Mike Patton / X-Ecutioners project)
- Handsome Boy Modeling School
- Jason Forrest
- Kaada
- Kyuss
- Lovage
- Man... or Astro-Man?
- Mark Lanegan
- Massive Attack
- Masters of Reality
- Mike Patton
- Millionaire
- Miracle Legion
- Moloko
- Mondo Generator
- Mr. Bungle
- Pete Yorn
- P.J. Harvey
- Polaris
- She
- Sparks
- Sufjan Stevens
- Super Furry Animals
- The Aquabats!
- The Atomic Bitchwax
- The Cardigans
- The Dickies
- The Wesley Willis Fiasco
- Tomahawk
- Tortoise
- Ween
- Weeping Willows
- Weird Little Boy
- Wesley Willis
 
[quote name='nickmad']brak, do you really consider Kyuss and Eagles of Death Metal indie?[/QUOTE]

Yes. They're on independent labels. Hence "indie". They're also "underground" in that the only way they're heard of is by word of mouth. And they're also not top 40.

However, above my list, I stated I was making a list of music that most people are unware of. ;)
 
[quote name='Brak']I'll make an alphabetical list of music I enjoy from my collection that not many people listen to:

- Dan the Automator
- Deltron 3030
- DJ Shadow
- Dr. Octagon
- Fantomas
- General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners (Mike Patton / X-Ecutioners project)
- Handsome Boy Modeling School
- Lovage
- Mike Patton
- The Cardigans
[/QUOTE]

Excellent choices. Dan the Automator and anyone he works with is gold. Based on your tastes (which seem to be alot like mine) I recommend you immediately listen to Deep Puddle Dynamics. Also, I saw Fantomas open for Tool .. I was just about the only one in the audience that really dug it. It was some off the wall shit but good. Everyone else seemed to be throwing pennies and debris at the stage trying to hit Patton as they chanted "We want Tool!"
 
There's a lot of room for contention on Brak's list. It closely resembles a mid-to-late 20-something person's musical interest when they learned to abandon MTV and Spin magazine at an early age. I consider very little of that to be indy, although I can't pinpoint a reason why. FNM, while a laudable choice, simply is not indy, even their later stuff.

Granted, your list does lack one thing that's crucial: that dumbfuck, bullshit pretension that somehow Trent Reznor and/or Maynard, or some combination of those uncreative and boring junkie whores who fool millions of peoplt into believing their inherent profundity because they make angry music. Those kinds of fucks are not profound, they aren't creative, and they could re-release a kraftwerk album as theirs, and their fanbase would eat it up like Thai girls eat up white-collar American men. *sigh*

Pardon the rant, but I prefer superficiality (Pussycat Dolls) to feigned depth (NIN, Tool).

Anyway, my sloppy measure of "indy" is this: some combination of record label and availability on the iTunes music store crosses you off of the "indy" list. It isn't perfect, as on both counts, Le Tigre wouldn't be indy, and Hellnation wouldn't be underground. As long as it's 80% effective, I don't mind.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']There's a lot of room for contention on Brak's list. It closely resembles a mid-to-late 20-something person's musical interest when they learned to abandon MTV and Spin magazine at an early age. I consider very little of that to be indy, although I can't pinpoint a reason why. FNM, while a laudable choice, simply is not indy, even their later stuff.[/QUOTE]

Well, there's nothing to contend since I wasn't really listing anything indie. Just stuff that I enjoy that others might not know of. Specifically, non-top 40 stuff, as Mr. Original requested. (Ignore the fact that The Cardigans had a top 40 hit in the U.S.).

To address listing Faith No More: simply put, most people don't know them beyond "Epic" or Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey.

[quote name='mykevermin']It closely resembles a mid-to-late 20-something person's musical interest when they learned to abandon MTV and Spin magazine at an early age.[/quote]

I'd take offense to that if I weren't nihilist. I say that because, pertaining to the theme of the topic, that's not my entire scope of musical interest. It's not my fault that my demographic listens to certain music solely to "alienate" themselves from the norm (creating a new norm).

[quote name='Maklershed']Excellent choices. Dan the Automator and anyone he works with is gold. Based on your tastes (which seem to be alot like mine) I recommend you immediately listen to Deep Puddle Dynamics. Also, I saw Fantomas open for Tool .. I was just about the only one in the audience that really dug it. It was some off the wall shit but good. Everyone else seemed to be throwing pennies and debris at the stage trying to hit Patton as they chanted "We want Tool!"[/quote]

Regarding the mindless chimps throwing garbage at Patton: :roll: What assholes.

Also, how would you describe Deep Puddle Dynamics?
 
[quote name='Brak']I'd take offense to that if I weren't nihilist. I say that because, pertaining to the theme of the topic, that's not my entire scope of musical interest. It's not my fault that my demographic listens to certain music solely to "alienate" themselves from the norm (creating a new norm).[/QUOTE]
Eh. I understand that the list wasn't representative of everything you listen to. I usually answer these lists with what's in my car changer and/or cassette player, anyway, so the scope becomes limited in that way.
 
I'm not going to quibble with "indie" definitions. Here's what I'm listening to that I can't get on radio around here (please note I live in radio hell):

Self
Electric Six
Dandy Warhols
Brassy
eels
Har Mar Superstar
Mike Doughty
New Pornographers
Eagles of Death Metal
Kid Creole (older but I just upgraded some of his stuff to CD from vinyl)
 
Deltron 3030
Handsome Boy Modelling School
Brother Ali
Felt(Murs & Slug)
Eyedea & Abilities
Cunninlynguists
Sage Francis

Basically all underground hip-hop stuff.
 
[quote name='Ikohn4ever']thats the spirit, criticize an indie band just because of their name, thats a great way of thinking about indie music[/QUOTE]
It's just a stupid naming convention. It's not original since it was already used (quite possibly twice, since I'm not sure if they used it in 1922). This whole soviet/red/hammernsicle/communist fetish that a bunch of INdie bands have is just plain stupid. Not very frequently, but if a band has such a stupid name, like "the decemberists", I won't give them a chance.
 
Metal
bloodrose
dead blue sky
graveworm
dragonforce
dimmu borgir
sonata arctica
naglfar
old mans child
norther
imperanon
finntroll
the blach dahlia murder
rhapsody
dragonland

rock-ish stuffs
kid kilowatt
grade
sunny day real estate (their last album was on a major label on flopped i believe)
the advantage
reggie and the full effect
planes mistaken for stars

hippy hop

del
heiroglyphics
mr. lif
freestyle fellowship
jedi mind tricks!
arsonists
R-Son
Shuman
7L & Esoteric
The Chemist
Styles of Beyond
 
[quote name='MrBadExample']I'm not going to quibble with "indie" definitions. Here's what I'm listening to that I can't get on radio around here (please note I live in radio hell):

Self
Electric Six
Dandy Warhols
Brassy
eels
Har Mar Superstar
Mike Doughty
New Pornographers
Eagles of Death Metal
Kid Creole (older but I just upgraded some of his stuff to CD from vinyl)[/QUOTE]


Mike Doughty kicks ass
 
Between the buried and me

Fear the flames of March

Caliban

Glasscasket

Strike anywhere

silverstein

the crown (rip)

symphony in peril (rip)

nodes of ranvier

bleeding through

it dies today

unearth

luna cult

god forbid
 
Complete Control (hardcore/punk)
Explosions in the Sky (best music you will ever hear. period.)

Two local bands I'm absolutely in love with. I'm always a little hestiant to make lists like these. There are always people that will flame you for not being "underground" enough in your musical taste.
 
[quote name='Greetard']Flipsyde.

I saw them on Leno about a week ago. Their song "Someday" is pretty sick.[/QUOTE]When their album first came out a friend of mine couldn't find it anywhere local, which posed a problem as he was about to ship out (air force). I ended up ordering it for him and shipping it to him there. :lol:
 
There is obviously a certain danger of labeling a 'style' by directly tying in commercial success or independence for that fact. To clearify what I mean...

INDIE MUSIC would mean that 'commonly' they are on a smaller , independent record label. thus on the 'up & coming' and so forth. (not successful yet in the big scheme of things - independent from big corporate america).

However - with INDIE becoming so popular, it is also quite acceptable to have a reputable indie band appear on a MAJOR LABEL. Would this then make them 'less indie' ??? - NO.

A good example of this would be "Death Cab for Cutie". Some may argue that they are too commercially successful and on too big of a label to qualify as INDIE.. however they are an indie band, with their roots in indie type music. The big oxymoron just comes about that something can be mainstream and commercially accepted but style be within the indie genre.

Indie has become too mainstream and commercial to be independent in it's own right ;)
I never liked those self-righteous fucks who are judging a band solely by commercial success - almost making it NON COOL to listen to those who made it onto MTV and the likes.

There are obviously still alot of up&coming indie groups and I saw quite a few posted here that I listen to myself... You guys should also give "THE HANKS" a try.
 
meh, indie is just a catch all term...there are plenty of bands who truly deserve the label because they do it all themselves, but then there are others who lost their indie when they signed to a major label, like Modest Mouse, but keep the genre. and ever since Pavement, there has been a certain stylistic connotation along with it, making it somewhat effective as a descriptor, though admittedly a little tacky, as the sound really evolves (though the line to past bands remains easy to draw.) basically, what i'm trying to say is, it depends on the context.

"hey, have you heard of the indy band Bleach?" -- refers to an independant band, not the genre, since bleach is an Okinawan metal band that isn't on a major label and still does most of the footwork for their job.

"yeah, the Decemberists are good indie rock..." -- still on KRS records, so they're indie, but they also kinda have that indie rock sound.

"modest mouse is the best indie band ever. Isaac can love me long time. " -- refers purely to the sound, but MM is on sony.

i guess there's a lot more to say about the term, that's my best stab for now.

[quote name='rich']This could be the most pretentious thread of all time.[/quote]

am i the only who thinks the whole "calling people who talk about lesser known bands 'pretentious' " shtick is played out? once you hear a word so much, it just loses it's meaning.


btw, if any of you are into spazzy weird prog metal-- check out An Albatross on Itunes. their album costs more than a dollar a minute but hey, quality over quantity, right? :lol:
 
[quote name='Rich']This could be the most pretentious thread of all time.[/QUOTE]

I used to be that asshole in high school that thought you, and everybody else on the planet, was a poseur. Now I'm just an old bastard with a lot of punk/crust records. I think what I'm trying to say is "shaddup." Let people discuss what they enjoy without worrying which inevitable brat will decide to inform them that because they don't like mainstream pap, they're necessarily stuck in a rut of becoming more and more underground than everyone around them.

Besides, you're the jackass with the big beaked creature from Golden Axe tattooed on your shoulder blade; you have bad taste in life.

JOKE TIME!

Cool Guy #1: "Hey, how many indie rockers does it take to screw in a light bulb?"

Cool Guy #2: "I dunno, how many?"

Cool Guy #1: (sighs annoyedly) "You mean you don't know?"
 
Yeah, I know that some of these are no longer on indie labels, but they are still my faves:

Grandaddy
Built Like Alaska
Yo La Tengo
Pinback
Built to Spill
The Flaming Lips
Ugly Casanova
The Album Leaf
Mercury Rev
Dios (Malos)
Camper Van Beethoven
Beulah
Belle & Sebastian
 
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