I call mainstream “indie” music college rock, because that’s basically what it is. You can challenge me on that fact if you’d like, but you will be wrong. Dead wrong.
Part-time rocker and full-time misanthrope Conrad Keely dropped some awesome one-liners in a recent interview. I particularly enjoyed his saying, “I’ve gotten to this age where I feel like, if I’m still playing clubs and stuff, why bother?,” and, of course, the brilliant, “We are constantly struggling to just pay for equipment that breaks or has to be replaced. There’s nothing glamorous anymore to what we do; there’s barely any profit in it.” Oh my, it’s as if he’s finally realized that the obvious attempt to sell-out by signing with a major label wasn’t a good idea! I mean, he’s bitching about his band’s small audience while using industry words like recoup and licensing. Cry me a river, cowpoke. Why should anyone respect you? You made the choice to try and get rich, and you couldn’t even do that right.
Hey Lou. I just read that you’re spending all your money on martial arts lessons. That’s pretty noble, I guess. Say–have you ever come to terms with the fact that John Cale made your band palatable, and that you’re pretty much the only one to blame for this swell of bands (I’m looking in your direction, Vietnam) who release album-after-album of “Sister Ray” or “Heroin” covers?
If I wrote music that sounded like a cross between a Depeche Mode 12-inch from 1981 and late-’90s Madonna, I’d hide behind a mask, too. This is The Knife (verrrry original), a Swedish duo with fantastic hair! For some reason, they’ve been dubbed the “it” band of the moment just like formerly-hyped bands such as Razorlight, Fiery Furnaces, The Rapture, Starsailor, The Unicorns, and Interpol, all of whom have exceeded our highest expectations and attained Rock-n-Roll immortality, right? No, but seriously…I think electronic avant-pop music has real staying power.
Just to prove how goddamn easy it is to “make it” in the world of music, a 19-year-old kid moves to Brooklyn and records an album that’s so bad, people actually fear calling it crap, lest they seem terribly unhip. His *Pitchfork approved* debut record warrants many a wondrous adjective: “infectious,” “celebratory” and “acrobatic” to name a few. To me, it sounds like a kid who found grandpa’s old instruments in the attic, became charmed (read: “infected”) by their character (read: uniqueness in “indie” music), wrote some shitty songs utilizing them, and (acrobatically) wheezed/whined his way through them in such a nasal voice only dogs could appreciate it. I can’t wait for the next record!
Holy crap. DESTROYER Dan Bejar makes The Arcade Fire look like a DIY punk band with his remarkable ability to turn a simple pop album into the soundtrack from the Broadway hit musical “Into the Woods”. And he sings like a thespian who has no control over his vocal nuances. Album after album, he sounds like a lisping gay narrator retelling “Peter and the Wolf” over such sugary melodies it would make Rodgers and Hammerstein want to fuck women. Whatever happened to music with balls, like The Stooges, or Killdozer?
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