favorite Indie bands

rockthecasbah · May 12, 2005, 06:38 PM

What are some of your favorite indie pop bands? Some of my favorites include (in no particular order):

- The Decemberists
- Death Cab For Cutie
- Basement Apartments
- Halloween, Alaska
- BC Camplight
- American Analog Set
- Of Montreal
- Built Like Alaska

Maybe this thread could start an indie revolution, people will keep finding new bands. That would be so awesome...

buryyourbrideau · May 12, 2005, 06:41 PM

not too into indie but....

DCFC
broken social scene
belle and sebastian
sigur ros
the arcade fire

skipperchong · May 13, 2005, 10:00 AM

I can't stop listening to the hold steady. the new spoon album is great too.

mike3k · May 13, 2005, 01:47 PM

some of these aren't really indies:

antibalas
babaloo
children of the revolution
mike doughty (does he count as indie even though he signed with ato records?)
johnny clegg
mogwai
sigur ros
string cheese incident
they might be giants

swindmill · May 13, 2005, 04:43 PM

Death Cab for Cutie is the only bad in this genre that I've really listened to. I've been hooked ever since I heard them open for Pearl Jam. They were one of the best live bands I've seen.

apple2991 · May 13, 2005, 04:55 PM

The Decemberists
Grandaddy
Belle & Sebastian
Eels

5 days ago, I saw The Decemberists play at the Orange Peel--a medium sized club in Asheville, North Carolina. The show was INCREDIBLE. About halfway through the show, however, midway through The Chimbley Sweep, a short, shaggy-looking figure emerged from backstage with a guitar around his neck, shredding away an amazing solo. The jam session continued for about 30 seconds before people figured out who the denim-jacket clad rocker was--Ryan Adams, who was to be performing at the Civic Center the next night (I was there, too). Ryan proceeded to lie on his back, playing the guitar, and the lead singer for Decemberists motioned for all 700 people in the club to sit down cross-legged as the entire band played out the rest of the song lying on their backs.

If anyone wants to hear how I got hit on by Rachael Yamagata the very next night, let me know. Just don't want to bore anyone.

polyesterlester · May 13, 2005, 05:03 PM

A lot of these really aren't indie bands...

The Robot Ate Me
John Butler Trio
Ginger Ninjas
Running With Knives
The Microphones
Clyde Federal
Mclusky (R.I.P.)
M. Ward
Andrew Bird
CocoRosie
Devendra Banhart
Quasar Wut-Wut

rockthecasbah · May 13, 2005, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by apple2991

The Decemberists
Grandaddy
Belle & Sebastian
Eels

5 days ago, I saw The Decemberists play at the Orange Peel--a medium sized club in Asheville, North Carolina. The show was INCREDIBLE. About halfway through the show, however, midway through The Chimbley Sweep, a short, shaggy-looking figure emerged from backstage with a guitar around his neck, shredding away an amazing solo. The jam session continued for about 30 seconds before people figured out who the denim-jacket clad rocker was--Ryan Adams, who was to be performing at the Civic Center the next night (I was there, too). Ryan proceeded to lie on his back, playing the guitar, and the lead singer for Decemberists motioned for all 700 people in the club to sit down cross-legged as the entire band played out the rest of the song lying on their backs.

If anyone wants to hear how I got hit on by Rachael Yamagata the very next night, let me know. Just don't want to bore anyone.

I envy you, I wish i was there!!!!!!!!!! The Decemberists are so awesome, i've loved them since Castaways and Cutouts, and their cds just get better and better. Picaresque totally is awesome, especially since there is a shofar in "The Infanta." The Decemberists are just so unique with their historic stories and folk instruments, its like a breath of fresh air.

Duff-Man · May 14, 2005, 10:44 PM

Duff-Man says.....

Azure Ray
Rilo Kiley
Shannon Wright
Emiliana Torrini (some of the Bjork fans here may like her...)
Elane
....and many many more....oh yeah!

ldenman · Jul 21, 2005, 03:03 PM

bright eyes
grandaddy
sigur ros
mogwai
rilo kiley
desaperacidos
elbow
daniel johnston
devendra banhart
cocorosie
postal service..

thats all for now.

vollspacken · Jul 21, 2005, 03:17 PM

I like the Postal Service

I normally don't listen to this kind of music...

vSpacken

taeclee99 · 03:50 PM

Too many to list but here goes:

The Arcade Fire
The Arrogants
The Boy Least Likely To
Brendan Benson
Bright Eyes
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
The Clientele
Death Cab For Cutie
The Decemberists
The Departure
Dntel
Fiery Furnaces
Figurine
Galaxie 500
Iron and Wine
Kevin Tihista's Red Terror
Lali Puna
Marlboro Chorus
Mirah
Morcheeba
The Mountain Goats
Neutral Milk Hotel
Postal Service
The Radio Dept
Red House Painters
Rilo Kiley
The Shins
Stars
Yo La Tengo

ldenman · Jul 21, 2005, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taeclee99

Too many to list but here goes:

The Arcade Fire
The Arrogants
The Boy Least Likely To
Brendan Benson
Bright Eyes
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
The Clientele
Death Cab For Cutie
The Decemberists
The Departure
Dntel
Fiery Furnaces
Figurine
Galaxie 500
Iron and Wine
Kevin Tihista's Red Terror
Lali Puna
Marlboro Chorus
Mirah
Morcheeba
The Mountain Goats
Neutral Milk Hotel
Postal Service
The Radio Dept
Red House Painters
Rilo Kiley
The Shins
Stars
Yo La Tengo

oh man! i forgot all about neutral, red house, shins, and mirah! i suck.

very great selection.

taeclee99 · Jul 21, 2005, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ldenman

oh man! i forgot all about neutral, red house, shins, and mirah! i suck.

very great selection.

Thanks, I am a huge indie music junkie. The best place for indie music of course is www.emusic.com. 40 downloads a months for $9.99 and no DRM.

Some great indie music review sites include:

www.pitchforkmedia.com
www.popmatters.com

Nickygoat · Jul 21, 2005, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duff-Man

Duff-Man says.....

Emiliana Torrini (some of the Bjork fans here may like her...)

Yeah she's great.
Top at the moment are The Kaiser Chiefs (but I may be biased

)

ldenman · Jul 21, 2005, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taeclee99

Thanks, I am a huge indie music junkie. The best place for indie music of course is www.emusic.com. 40 downloads a months for $9.99 and no DRM.

Some great indie music review sites include:

www.pitchforkmedia.com
www.popmatters.com

yea man...pitchfork is great. i have never been to he other one.
and music downloads...i just use soulseek. there is a version of it for macs too.

scem0 · 04:42 PM

Mates of State
Rilo Kiley

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duff-Man

Duff-Man says.....
Emiliana Torrini (some of the Bjork fans here may like her...)

I'm definitely going to check her out.

scem0

sarae · Jul 22, 2005, 11:13 AM

I like a couple of the bands that others have mentioned (arcade fire, decemberists, death cab for cutie..) but it's at the point these days where I don't really know what bands are "indie" and which aren't. What really qualifies them? Once they get MTV airplay, is a band no longer indie?

killmoms · Jul 22, 2005, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarae

I like a couple of the bands that others have mentioned (arcade fire, decemberists, death cab for cutie..) but it's at the point these days where I don't really know what bands are "indie" and which aren't. What really qualifies them? Once they get MTV airplay, is a band no longer indie?

Technically, all an indie band has to have to be indie is a deal with an independent record label, read not one of the "Big Five." However, indie is usually interpreted as "indie rock" which sort of has a specific sound, so lots of people refer to bands like DCFC as indie, even though they've signed with major labels. I can't remember, did Interpol sign with a major record label, or are they still on Matador (not that it really matters, Matador has gotten so large now)?

One of my favorite indie pop artists is Imogen Heap. Her newest album "Speak For Yourself" (out in the UK, not here yet) is absolutely fantastic. Some of you might recognize her as the singer from the indie pop duo Frou Frou (a collab with producer Guy Sigsworth).

Whyren · Jul 22, 2005, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duff-Man

Duff-Man says.....

Emiliana Torrini (some of the Bjork fans here may like her...)
....oh yeah!

Definitely a good singer. You may also have heard her in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers...she sang "Gollum's Song" at the end credits.

.:*Robot Boy*:. · Aug 18, 2005, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taeclee99

Too many to list but here goes:

The Arcade Fire
The Arrogants
The Boy Least Likely To
Brendan Benson
Bright Eyes
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
The Clientele
Death Cab For Cutie
The Decemberists
The Departure
Dntel
Fiery Furnaces
Figurine
Galaxie 500
Iron and Wine
Kevin Tihista's Red Terror
Lali Puna
Marlboro Chorus
Mirah
Morcheeba
The Mountain Goats
Neutral Milk Hotel
Postal Service
The Radio Dept
Red House Painters
Rilo Kiley
The Shins
Stars
Yo La Tengo

My list pretty much matches yours, with the addition of some NZ indie bands (Tall Dwarfs, The Clean, The 3Ds, etc), and some older indie bands (Pavement, Sebadoh, etc).

Speaking of Neutral Milk Hotel, I got my Holland 1945/Engine 7" signed by Jeff Mangum the other day! Which, for those who don't know, is about as likely an event as a Beatles reunion. He's been totally reclusive for the past four years or so. Also the single is pretty rare too, but I managed to get it off of eBay for about US$60.

Man, I'm such a fanboy!

Lara F · 05:53 PM

Great stuff on these lists! I've just started to get into the indie scene - major thanks to KCRW. I only have three new to add:

Goldspot - here's their MySpace page. Album to be officially released August 23 and I can vouch for it being awesome.
The Breakmakers - for great indie Britpop.

Sufjan Stevens - I especially loved "Chicago".

rockthecasbah · Aug 18, 2005, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by .:*Robot Boy*:.

My list pretty much matches yours, with the addition of some NZ indie bands (Tall Dwarfs, The Clean, The 3Ds, etc), and some older indie bands (Pavement, Sebadoh, etc).

Speaking of Neutral Milk Hotel, I got my Holland 1945/Engine 7" signed by Jeff Mangum the other day! Which, for those who don't know, is about as likely an event as a Beatles reunion. He's been totally reclusive for the past four years or so. Also the single is pretty rare too, but I managed to get it off of eBay for about US$60.

Man, I'm such a fanboy!

wow man, $60..i sure hope you love it haha. I mean for me to a point i will only pay so much. In terms of music, i don't like buying stuff so i 'have' it, i buy it because i like it and listen to it. I hope thats the case with you! But congrats if thats your thing

inlimbo · Aug 20, 2005, 01:50 AM

The Pixies!!!!!!!!

My friend raves about Bloc Party - i dont know anything about them

rockthecasbah · Aug 20, 2005, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inlimbo

The Pixies!!!!!!!!

My friend raves about Bloc Party - i dont know anything about them

i think Bloc Party is very overrated. I mean its not that i don't like them, i just don't think they are half as good as people make them to be. To me, Bloc Party is a decent band with decent songs and will be forgotten in 4 years.

Jimbo:"oh remember bloc party? Yeah what happened to them..." Kinda like what Eve 6.

May 12, 2005, 06:38 PM	#1
rockthecasbah macrumors 68020 Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Moorestown, NJ	favorite Indie bands What are some of your favorite indie pop bands? Some of my favorites include (in no particular order): - The Decemberists - Death Cab For Cutie - Basement Apartments - Halloween, Alaska - BC Camplight - American Analog Set - Of Montreal - Built Like Alaska Maybe this thread could start an indie revolution, people will keep finding new bands. That would be so awesome... __________________ 15'' 2.4ghz MacBook Pro (Matte), 2GB RAM, 200GB HD Wii code: 7876 8987 6478 7445 My Last.fm "Ignore her, she's a feminist"

May 12, 2005, 06:41 PM	#2
buryyourbrideau macrumors 65816 Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: 48152	not too into indie but.... DCFC broken social scene belle and sebastian sigur ros the arcade fire __________________ And when it all goes to hell....

May 13, 2005, 10:00 AM	#3
skipperchong macrumors newbie Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Austin, TX	How a Resurrection Really Feels I can't stop listening to the hold steady. the new spoon album is great too.

May 13, 2005, 04:43 PM	#5
swindmill macrumors 6502a Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: KY	Death Cab for Cutie is the only bad in this genre that I've really listened to. I've been hooked ever since I heard them open for Pearl Jam. They were one of the best live bands I've seen. __________________ MB 2.4GHz/2gb/250gb \| 20" ACD \| TV \| iPhone 16GB \| Time Capsule

May 13, 2005, 05:03 PM	#7
polyesterlester macrumors 6502 Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Soldotna, Alaska	A lot of these really aren't indie bands... The Robot Ate Me John Butler Trio Ginger Ninjas Running With Knives The Microphones Clyde Federal Mclusky (R.I.P.) M. Ward Andrew Bird CocoRosie Devendra Banhart Quasar Wut-Wut __________________ A Spoonful of Lester The sad, ongoing memoir of a young man learning to laugh at the fact that he's slowly dying. A blog.

May 13, 2005, 01:47 PM	#4
mike3k macrumors regular Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL	some of these aren't really indies: antibalas babaloo children of the revolution mike doughty (does he count as indie even though he signed with ato records?) johnny clegg mogwai sigur ros string cheese incident they might be giants

May 13, 2005, 04:55 PM	#6
apple2991 macrumors 6502 Join Date: May 2004	The Decemberists Grandaddy Belle & Sebastian Eels 5 days ago, I saw The Decemberists play at the Orange Peel--a medium sized club in Asheville, North Carolina. The show was INCREDIBLE. About halfway through the show, however, midway through The Chimbley Sweep, a short, shaggy-looking figure emerged from backstage with a guitar around his neck, shredding away an amazing solo. The jam session continued for about 30 seconds before people figured out who the denim-jacket clad rocker was--Ryan Adams, who was to be performing at the Civic Center the next night (I was there, too). Ryan proceeded to lie on his back, playing the guitar, and the lead singer for Decemberists motioned for all 700 people in the club to sit down cross-legged as the entire band played out the rest of the song lying on their backs. If anyone wants to hear how I got hit on by Rachael Yamagata the very next night, let me know. Just don't want to bore anyone.

May 14, 2005, 10:44 PM	#9
Duff-Man macrumors 68030 Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Albuquerque, NM	Duff-Man says..... Azure Ray Rilo Kiley Shannon Wright Emiliana Torrini (some of the Bjork fans here may like her...) Elane ....and many many more....oh yeah! __________________ Duff-Man computes with...Mac Pro 3.2GHz 8 core 18GB RAM + MacBook Pro 2.5GHz C2D + 16GB iPod Nano + iPhone 3Gs 16GB...Oh Yeah!

Jul 21, 2005, 03:03 PM	#10
ldenman macrumors regular Join Date: Jul 2005	bright eyes grandaddy sigur ros mogwai rilo kiley desaperacidos elbow daniel johnston devendra banhart cocorosie postal service.. thats all for now.

Jul 21, 2005, 03:17 PM	#11
vollspacken macrumors 65816 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Boogie-Down Münstertown	I like the Postal Service I normally don't listen to this kind of music... vSpacken __________________  *...A Huge Ever Growing Apple That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld.*

Jul 21, 2005, 03:45 PM	#12
taeclee99 macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Anywhere but here	Too many to list but here goes: The Arcade Fire The Arrogants The Boy Least Likely To Brendan Benson Bright Eyes Clap Your Hands Say Yeah The Clientele Death Cab For Cutie The Decemberists The Departure Dntel Fiery Furnaces Figurine Galaxie 500 Iron and Wine Kevin Tihista's Red Terror Lali Puna Marlboro Chorus Mirah Morcheeba The Mountain Goats Neutral Milk Hotel Postal Service The Radio Dept Red House Painters Rilo Kiley The Shins Stars Yo La Tengo __________________ In the miry moment, at the beginning of the grave, an unmourned daisy... Mac Pro (Two 3.0 GHZ) 4GB Ram + 6TB Storage ATI X3870 XT, iPhone 3GS 32G Last edited by taeclee99 : Jul 21, 2005 at 03:50 PM.

Jul 22, 2005, 11:13 AM	#18
sarae macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: madison, WI	I like a couple of the bands that others have mentioned (arcade fire, decemberists, death cab for cutie..) but it's at the point these days where I don't really know what bands are "indie" and which aren't. What really qualifies them? Once they get MTV airplay, is a band no longer indie?

Aug 18, 2005, 05:45 PM	#22
Lara F macrumors 6502 Join Date: May 2005	Great stuff on these lists! I've just started to get into the indie scene - major thanks to KCRW. I only have three new to add: Goldspot - here's their MySpace page. Album to be officially released August 23 and I can vouch for it being awesome. The Breakmakers - for great indie Britpop. Sufjan Stevens - I especially loved "Chicago". Last edited by Lara F : Aug 18, 2005 at 05:53 PM.

Aug 20, 2005, 01:50 AM	#24
inlimbo macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Sydney, Australia	The Pixies!!!!!!!! My friend raves about Bloc Party - i dont know anything about them __________________ Switcher Since: 24 Feb 2005. STM Medium Loft Review

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