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The 10 Step Guide to Interesting Guitar Based Music (for Those Who Only Listen to What They Hear on the Radio)
PART 4 - INDIE POP/ROCK

Indie Pop/Rock is what 80s alternative music (eg. Pixies, Talking Heads, Tom Waits, etc) went on to become. A more fitting title would have been "alternative pop/rock", but that name got taken by everything following on from Nirvana (see Part 2). Once again, this is more a general collection of music characterised by its level of exposure, rather than any of the music's actual content. Bands tagged as indie will often have a healthy fanbase, while still experiencing a level of overall success low enough that day jobs are probably necessary.

While groups considered as "alternative" are required to surrender some level of control over their output to keep the labels happy, the indie labels tend to care more about just trying to make their bands visible in the first place. This leads to an increased level of freedom for the bands to do pretty much anything they want. Since they have very little to lose, a lot of these groups end up going the more experimental route, making for some very interesting recordings (and a good sized handful of totally inaccessable ones).

There are always plenty of groups crossing over from indie to alternative, whether the change be permanent (eg. The White Stripes) or for a one-off "hit" (eg. The Flaming Lips).

This section of the feature is mostly just an introduction to the category of indie itself (and, consequentially, will be quite brief). Most of the groups I plan to focus on will be featured in the genre-specific sections of "Experimental Rock: Parts 1-4," which will cover the genres of indie rock I find to be most interesting, as well as a section covering indie pop.

An interesting thing to do, once you've settled comfortably into listening to Triple J type groups, is to start looking into their indie counterparts. These groups are often more creative, experimental and just interesting-in-general. Do you like Metallica and other metal/hard rock? Listen to Explosions in the Sky. Enjoy the introspective lyrics of The Eels? Give Neutral Milk Hotel a try. In fact, if you want to broaden your horizons and make a little musical discovery all of your own, then just follow these steps:

1) Think of an alternative group that you like.

2) Look them up at Allmusic.com, one of the best music databases out there.

3) Scroll down to the similar artists / roots & influences / followers section.

4) Click on a band you've never heard.

5) If they sound cool from their description/reviews, try downloading a couple of samples (these can usually be found on the label's website or on Amazon.com). If not, either click "back" and repeat steps 3-5, or just click on a band you've never heard of in this new band's similar artists / roots & influences / followers section.

Just keep on doing this until you find something that floats your boat. Chances are, this artist/band will be indie. You can feel good about not only discovering a hidden musical gem, but if you buy their album, you'll be helping a them to eat for another week!

Anyway, no album recommendations this time. Those will have to wait until the upcoming genre-specific parts.

END OF PART 4.
NEXT: PART 5 - EXPERIMENTAL ROCK: SPACE ROCK