Topic: Best indie bands

Yay. Stephin Merritt combines one of the greatest voices I've ever heard with darn clever songwriting.

Also quite extraordinary.

I'll add Camera Obscura, which is really only the first to pop into my head at this moment.

If we're talking about bands signed to an independent label, which would technically be anyone not under the thumb of one of the "Big Four," then I could list a lot of bands. But the fact that people are actually debating if some of these bands are "still indie," makes me wonder what the definition is. Some people even think of "indie" as a genre now, which makes no sense to me.

My three favorite bands at the moment are Beirut, A Silver Mt. Zion, and Explosions in the Sky, all of which are on independent labels though they have very different sounds. Grizzly Bear is another good one. "The Knife" by them is a particularly good song.

I've been meaning to give them a listen. I like "The Book of Love," and I hear he plays ukulele on some songs, so that right there is enough for me.

@TheBazookaExperience & Birdman13- OMG I love Broken Bells and Spoon! So awesome!

Also,
Watson Twins (Modern Man)
Rodrigo y Gabriela (the piece Santo Domingo is AMAZING)
The Tragically Hip (Coffee Girl)
Great Lake Swimmers (Still)
Other Lives (Black Tables)
Electrasy (Cosmic Castaway)

I basically just get these for free from Starbucks lol

But whatever you do, DO NOT listen to the Decemberists. They are absolutely TERRIBLE and are a disgrace to music.

Qwikman - I think the Decemberists are ok, and if they're really a disgrace to music I don't want to know your opinions on hip-hop music.
Adam - Chris Bear, the drummer of Girzzly Bear, actually grew up in the same town as I do. I had his old band teacher when I went to middle school. Weird.

Anyway, here are some more artists I've discovered since my last post that I like.

Animal Collective (I'm surprised nobody has listed them yet)
The New Pornographers
White Rabbits
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (I don't even like country but I love these guys)

Another band I've just discovered (who aren't indie anymore, since they just found a record label) is School Food Punishment. One of the best Japanese rock bands I've heard.

Wow, that's awesome, Birdman!

Grenworthshero, not sure if you're into instrumental music, but Mono and World's End Girlfriend are two of the best bands I've heard out of Japan. Saw them live together a few years ago, and it was amazing. Mono is really approachable, but WEG is some far out stuff I don't think most people would like. Weird electronic music unlike anything I've ever heard.

However, by far the coolest song I've heard to come out of Japan is this:

I would totally get a shamisen if they didn't tend to be made with cat or dog skin. Eww.

Fun Fact: These guys, the Yoshida Brothers also did the music for the old "Wii Would Like to Play" commercials if you remember that. They're like rock stars in Japan, though as far as I know, that video is the only song they've done with a rock band backing them, unfortunately. Their normal music is cool, too, but not as novel. (Or maybe it is, what do I know about traditional Japanese music?)

The best indie band is someone you've never heard of

I don't really listen to a lot of "Indie" music, but I found this band called The Pierces. Their first two albums were decent but their third was phenominal IMO.

Start List:

Pavement

End List.

@Adam

This tiny song should fit your interests.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EbzihHWFjI

There's a lot of really good indie bands these days, but I only I few I think actually matter. Here's a few:(not sure exactly what indie even means really. But that's another discussion):
Vampire Weekend
The National
Animal Collective
The Walkmen
LCD Soundsystem
Phoenix
Arcade Fire
Spoon

By the way, all you indie rockers, I've got tickets for the National this august. I can already taste your envy.

Thanks, Wario. Some nice playing there. For some reason it doesn't sound very ukulele-ish, like someone used to mandolin was given a ukulele to play, but that makes it more interesting.

Not really sure that his voice works with the song, though. Sings well, just sounds odd with this song.

What envy, Kid A? I've never heard of them, haha.

Ours . Download "Fallen Souls" or "Sometimes"

Gah, but that's what I love about his music, the aural contrast between his unbelievably resonant voice and the music. I'd put his voice in the top five I've ever heard, incidentally. In any case, that's not a favorite track by any means nor an amazing example of ukulele playing, but amusing nonetheless.

It should be noted that Stephin Merritt will never impress on any instrument; he mostly just strums along. He's a bizarrely proficient songwriter / lyricist / singer, and leaves the instrumentation to the various bands he heads up, the most notable being The Magnetic Fields (but he's also the guy behind Future Bible Heroes, The 6ths, The Gothic Archies, and many more).

@Kid_A

Oh, I know who they are, and am indeed jealous. Another wonderful voice there.

Kid_A - I've got 3 day Lollapalooza tickets for this year. So before I see The National I'll see MGMT and afterwards I'll see Arcade Fire.

@Kid_A- You've got some nice taste there man! I listened to some of those bands you listed and most are quite good!

Okay. Now I'm jealous. MGMT recently became one of my favorite bands--wasn't a fan of their last album, but their new one is quite brilliant. Flash Delirium is the best song of the year. And obviously, Arcade Fire are masterful bunch. The new songs they've released have been very good, and I'm sure they'll sound better in context.

I'm terrible with keeping up with new bands. The hit parade seems to have accelerated to double time with the rise of indie bands, but it was a blessing in disguise when my CD player broke and had to start listening to radio since it meant hearing MGMT. Of course, their only song to ever play is "Kids," but that's really the only one I want to hear anyway. Their others are okay, but nothing remotely like this. Unfortunately, every live video I've seen of them was horrible, horrible, horrible. I hope Youtube is simply doing them an injustice for your sake, Birdman, though with the Arcade Fire next it shouldn't matter.

Kids. Meh. Their first album is just a bit too tame for me. Their latest, Congratulations, just has a lot more depth to it. It's a shame your stuck with radio Adam, that's no way to discover new music.