Indie? A GENRE? Controversy!

Once upon a time there was a delightful little genre called "alternative." Bands stripped off the excess noise of 80s metal and turned what was left into, you know, not shit. Leather pants were replaced with faded denim, Gibsons with Fenders¹, glam-locks with five o'clock shadow, etc. etc. When R.E.M's single "The One I Love" made it on the Billboard 100 in 1987, America went fucknuts. By the mid 90s, "alternative" could pretty much describe anything that wasn't rap or metal. In 2010, alternative is the new rock, indie is the new alternative, and rock is the new...hard-rock? You get my point though. Alt. went places, good (Weezer's first two albums, The Bends, Beck) and bad (Weezer's post-Green Album works², Nickelback, Coldplay, etc.)


In the late 80s, a couple of masterminds were creating what would go on to be known as the "indie sound." These rambunctious lil' scamps were known as the Pixies. In 1987, Steve Albini helped produced their 1988 debut Surfer Rosa, the follow up to their 1987 EP Come On Pilgrim. It was fucking awesome. Drums, vocals³, bass, guitar - everything was epic. While their 1989 album Doolittle⁴ usually gets more credit, Surfer Rosa is still a classic and cited by a fuckton of musicians as an inspiration⁵. Oh, and the album cover has titties. Fucking awesome.

(How wonderful. At the time of writing this, MediaFires decides to break down. I'll put the link up ASAP, folks.)

1. This is speculative
2. Okay, the Red Album was pretty fucking good.
3. Have you ever masturbated to Kim Deal's voice? Feels good, man.
4. Listen to this as well
5. Kurt Cobain said that Smells Like Teen Spirit was basically his attempt at a Pixies song. CUZ IT'S NOT A RIP-OFF IF YOU ADMIT IT, AMIRIGHT????//?///?

You see right through meee; I see right through youuuu

Hot off the heels of The Moon and Antarctica, Modest Mouse had to release something that would seem at least decent compared to it. Interestingly enough, they decided to release the album that was originally going to be their debut - Sad Sappy Sucker. Originally set for a 1994 release, SSS was delayed for reasons my sources (i.e., Wikipedia) don't know. But, in my humble opinion, it would have been one of the best fucking debuts ever. It is, for the most part, consistently ace; and there's 24 tacks. Only The Lonesome Crowded West could top this behemoth.

[Best Tracks: Four-Fingered Fisherman, Classy Plastic Plumber, From Point A to Point B, Dukes Up]

Are you ready for the album of the year?

It happens only too often that when a band release their debut album whislt covered in gratuitous amounts of hype, that it turns out to be, well, shit. See Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong, Hadouken and Frankmusik for proof. Well Foals were a band who managed to live up to the Hype releasing a debut album that gave us a well needed break from the "landfill indie" that was unrelentlessly rotting away on every advert, radio station and tv program.
The difficult second album was always going to be a tough one for Foals, what with the first being so fantastic and all, but by god have they risen to the challange. Total Life Forever, out in just over two weeks from now is little short of godly. Total life forever is everything antidotes was but more grown up, and this is in no way a bad thing. The songs still bounce along with all the enthusiasm of before only now, with a much richer sounding texture, warm synths aplenty. Opening track Blue Blood seems a little slow and tentative builds up and swells like a beast, and then we hear the bouncing bass and intricate guitar riffery that shaped antidotes. There seems to be a slightly more post-rock feel to the 7 minute Spanish Sahara which is followed by the anthemic and shorter track, This Orient and Miami, the albums strongest track bursts into life with an insanely catchy chorus that is bound to set the festival audiences this summer alight. The album is a delicate mix of songs that are calm and collective and songs that are enough to get you dancing. End track, What remains pounds on, with crashing cymbals and a striding bass that brings a fantastic album to a fantastic end. Foals are moving British "indie" music forward and with an album as perfect as this, the new bands on the scene have a lot to contend with.

9/10, here you go boys and girls.

Holy shit

This is more of an announcement than an official post, sorry 'bout that. To compensate, you can click on the cover below to download the Phoenix Wright OST. Trust me, it's faux-16bit gold.

Oh fuck, OH FUCK. I should have known about this earlier, but it somehow slipped between the cracks. Holy Jesus fuck. This is the first Get Up Kids album/EP (not counting live albums) to come out in six years. Besides MGMT's Congratulations is the only 2010 album I'm really anticipating, unless Interpol gets off of their post-punk asses and really releases their new album this year. Granted, Simple Science is only four tracks long and has the lingering possibility of being a total abortion, but it's great to see something new from them, since Guilt Show was a really shit way to fade out. Simple Science comes out on April 17th on colored vinyl (shit yes) and CD.

-Jonathan

RESPOND TO MY LETTERS COMCAST

>Implying I'm not playing Phoenix Wright

If you're wondering why I just typed that, it's because I have to keep up my gamer-cred.

Want to hear a joke?

WATER TEMPLE SUCKS!

XD!!!11!1

Midnite Vultures was pretty good, Mutations was slightly below average, Sea Change was OK, Guero was slightly above average (having said that, the Hell Yes EP was fucking awesome), and The Information was extremely unremarkable. The standards Odelay set were very harsh, and to be honest, I wasn't expecting much from Modern Guilt. Naturally, I was pleasently surprised when it turned out to be fucking amazing. Beck had some help from Danger Mouse in production, which might explain why even the 2deep4u tracks are toe-tappers. It's very chill. It's not serious like Sea Change, but it's not goofy like Guero. Best Beck album of the naughts? No contest.

i think ur a toxic event

You know that feeling your hand gets when you dip it in ice-water for a long time? Like, it sort of makes your skin feel like it's too tight for your fingers? That's what my thumb feels like right now, but with blisters. Thanks Nintendo 64. Thanks.

Now, here's something I haven't thought about in a while. The Airborne Toxic Event is a Los Angeles band that could have been the "next big thing" (that's what my brother thinks, anyway.) Maybe so, but the 1.6 rating Pitchfork gave their debut self-titled album says otherwise. Well, they can suck it. Sure, not all of the tracks are as deep as, say, Hospice, but sometimes you don't want to ponder the emotions of the boyfriend of a cancer-stricken girl, or Rivers Cuomo's Asian fetish. Does This Mean You're Moving On? is a two-minute, upbeat song about some bitch who ignores her boyfriend, and all the while he finds proof that she's cheating. Like I said before, it's not Neutral Milk Hotel or whatever, but it's worth a listen.

Best Tracks:

Wishing Well, Does This Mean You're Moving On?, Papillon, Missy