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Art is in a slump: I hate Indie rock (and Sundance)

name droppings n – “Droppings” is as in shit. The product of person trying to impress you with their knowledge of a played out bourgeois art scene (i.e. indie rock).

It happened last year. The inevitable backlash was finally upon us. Adam Shore, General Manager of Vice Records, had this to say about indie rock:

“I feel like there has been created, in the past two to three years, an indie-yuppie establishment. Bands like Death Cab for Cutie, Iron and Wine, the Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, they are great bands, really great bands, with great albums, great songs, high quality. And to me, it’s just so fucking boring,” he says. “It’s like fancy-coffee-drinking, Volvo-riding music for kids. And kids should be listening to music that shakes them up more, makes them uncomfortable. … I don’t think we’re ever going to sign an indie rock band. … I want to sign stuff that is more immediate and shakes you up a bit.”

Last May the NY Post wrote (scroll down a bit for the article) about how Stereogum (you know that totally hip indie blog that you and your grandmother read everyday so you know what to listen to) responded to the above quote with a “You know you’re an Indie Yuppie if…” contest. The irony that most of the commentators participating in the contest didn’t even get what an indie yuppie is, wasn’t lost on the Stereogum judges.

I find it not only exhausting but also totally unrewarding to keep up with indie bands. There is a new one every thirty seconds and this month’s name droppings don’t carry nearly the same amount of cred as they used. Back when listening to indie rock meant something—back when you weren’t ashamed of your Bright Eyes albums—you could be proud to be familiar with lesser-known second tier indie bands. Now, there is some sort of expectation that you know the fifth and sixth tier bands and whatever derivative off shoot nonsense side project they have going on.

Does it really mean anything to you that Hot Club De Paris is sort of like the Future Heads meets the House Martins? Because seriously that sounds like it would sound like shit to me.

Here is the part where I talk about movies. I like “Sundance” movies. Just like everyone else I’m a sucker for coming of age stories, family dramas, and quirky comedies. But honestly if I see one more Wes Anderson knockoff I’m going to snap and that includes movies actually directed by Wes Anderson. Replace movies with music and band names with 2005 Sundance titles when Adam says, “[Movies] like [The Squid and the Whale], [Thumbsucker], [Me You and Everyone We Know], [Junebug], they are great [Movies], really great [Movies], with great [Directors], great [writers], high quality. And to me, it’s just so fucking boring.”

Breakout of the indie-yuppie establishment! Please move on with your snobbery. I have a suspicion there are a bunch of 14-year-old-more-hip-to-what-is-next kids laughing at you and your haircut right now.

Bonus Link: Zach “the Shins will change your life” Braff released the sound track to his next movie. Coldplay? No wonder Mandy broke up with him.

UPDATE: Links fixed.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 14th, 2006 at 10:50 pm and is filed under society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Art is in a slump: I hate Indie rock (and Sundance)”

glitterfish.com » Lilly Allen hates indie rock too! Says:
July 17th, 2006 at 8:22 pm
[…] First I want to apologize. My first post about indie music was almost off topic and this one is downright unreleated to filmmaking. Nevertheless, I can’t resist regurgitating some more Stereogum content. Lilly Allen had this to say in NME about indie rock after fans got upset she was talking shit on her blog about The Libertines. I like lots of indie bands. I’m a fan of good guitar music. I think it’s just that at the moment everyone’s like, ‘Music’s so great, we’ve got these great indie rock bands’ but in reality they all sound the same. They’re just doing what S Club 7 and Steps did - regurgitating the same songs because that’s what people are buying at the moment.” […]
glitterfish.com » VIDEO WATCH: Heil Hipster Says:
October 18th, 2006 at 4:58 am
[…] If you watch MTV2 a lot of those wacky promo’s are the work of Crobin. It sure feels like this 30 second clip was rejected and then repackaged as a viral video. In any case I’m definitly a fan of anything that calls out hipsters as Nazi’s. […]
glitterfish.com » Short Concept Digital Video Manifesto on Freeworkingspace.com Says:
October 28th, 2006 at 12:13 am
[…] I’ve said before that art is in a slump. These days art is dominated by the page-view-click-thru critics. With their penchant for hype and snarkiness, the blogant-garde has gone from a corincopous “chorus of voices” into a homogenious indiecrat PR machine. If you think that’s a grim situation, I don’t even want to get into god and politics. Because the world needs revolution, and because I find myself very likeable, Mr. Tzara’s words strike me. […]
glitterfish.com » American Music Fans Preoccupied with Cool Says:
December 6th, 2006 at 4:33 am
[…] I totally agree; however, it’s a shame that the article is written about the The Scissor Sisters. No matter what 2.5 million Brits have to say, they suck. […]

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Art is in a slump: I hate Indie rock (and Sundance)

4 Responses to “Art is in a slump: I hate Indie rock (and Sundance)”

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