Is Indie/Alternative music now the mainstream? [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

PDA

View Full Version : Is Indie/Alternative music now the mainstream?



Snowbunny
06-30-2005, 12:26 PM
Is it still cool? And alternative compared to what?

Is Indie/Alt music to the 90's and 00's - what Disco music was to the 70's?

If so what could possibly be next?

Edit: What prompts me to think this is that last night I saw the M&M characters waving from Such Great Heights a la The Postal Service.

Davey
06-30-2005, 01:13 PM
...last night I saw the M&M characters waving from Such Great Heights a la The Postal Service.
You do have some cool dreams, huh? Or were you just checking out your stash? :D

Yeah, when the Arcade Fire sells a quarter million records you know that indie is getting pretty mainstream! I predict the next phases to be labelled mainstream indie, alternative indie and indie indie. "I squared rock" is what I'm gonna call the latter. That's where the lo-fi action is gonna be. And no, it never was very cool :)

Slosh
06-30-2005, 02:18 PM
It would seem that way when you hear Pinback in a commercial for Nintendo and Nissan shilling minivans with Modest Mouse playing in the background and hearing Wilco's "Hell Is Chrome" on a Six Feet Under episode but based on radio play, hell no! (at least around here even including college radio :( )

NP: Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

Dusty Chalk
06-30-2005, 02:30 PM
Indie is the new mainstream? May the backlash begin...

Stone
06-30-2005, 03:33 PM
Is it still cool? And alternative compared to what?

Is Indie/Alt music to the 90's and 00's - what Disco music was to the 70's?

If so what could possibly be next?

Edit: What prompts me to think this is that last night I saw the M&M characters waving from Such Great Heights a la The Postal Service.

I already switched to only listening to stuff on major labels. You guys haven't yet??

Oh, and I believe it's the Iron & Wine version of "Such Great Heights" used in that commercial, but I won't swear to it.

-Jar-
07-02-2005, 07:51 AM
I was asking the same question back in 1988 when R.E.M. suddenly became "mainstream"

*shrug*

Swish
07-02-2005, 12:32 PM
Most of the goobers in my age group still listen to classic rock and nothing more. I was at a neighbor's house for a party and the music they played was dreadful. We got into a discussion about music and it was like talking to the wall. These people, while being nice and all, are clueless when it comes to music. When I asked their favorites of all time, one guy was ranting about Creed and a woman mentioned Shania Twain, and none of them had ever heard of Radiohead.

Ok, so that was one small circle of people, but it's the same nearly everywhere I go. The younger crowd seem to like DMB and their ilk, but have never heard of many of my favorites, even stuff that's fairly well known like Wilco. I'm getting ready to do some open mic stuff with a friend of mine (at least I hope he's ready), and we're going to hit them with stuff they've never heard, although that's not saying much. My buddy does like some mainstream stuff, but I've convinced him to learn some of my favorite indie stuff. Let's see what they think of Wilco, the Silver Jews, and Radiohead after a steady diet of Jackson Browne, Neil Young and the like. I think they'll appreciate hearing unfamiliar material, but you never know.

Swish