My favorite band period: Superchunk

KARMA TO BURN AND SCISSORFIGHT! and Alkaline Trio too.

Someone directed me to this website once: http://www.cdbaby.com, which is a site that specializes in indy CDs that don't get sold in stores. Plus there are a bunch of music samples if you have realplayer.

I stopped reading all the other bands so you could hear these sooner, so sorry if I repeated any.

The Replicants
Lusk
Orbit
Failure
Dredg

Girl Bands (not sure if their indy but I hear these names all the time from my gf and her friend)

Tura Santana
Bikini Kill (edited: already posted above)
Anything Aimee Echo does

Not considered indy but might as well suggest these to check out

Will Haven
Tomhawk

Also Go to www.revhq.com and browse their catalog

Breakfast,

Has there been a new Self cd since your username? For some reason I think I heard this. And another quick story: I actually saw Self stickers on 2 cars at my school in the past year. I thought that was pretty cool 'cause I thought they were not well known. Have you seen Self live?

I would very much second the Hives , whose album "Veni Vedi Vicious" is great.

Also, they're no longer an indie band as they signed to Interscope (I think??), but the new album by And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead is quite possibly the best rock album of the past few years. I believe its called "Source Tags and Codes", and I don't think it comes out until February, but it is readily available all over the internet.

Also, you really should check out Pitchfork; its a great source for reviews of indie music. And you should find some nice ftp sites on their bulletin board that you can use to download all sorts of tasty music.

Penny Lane said: For the record, they were an independent band for about 6 months, between Reprise and Nonesuch.

sorry Miss Lane, not to keep the subject going, but they were an 'unsigned band' at that point not an indie band.

Wilco has recorded 3 records for Reprise Records (distributed by Warner Brothers). They currently signed to Nonesuch for the release of 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot'. Nonesuch is distributed by Warner Brothers a major label. Wilco always has and continues to be a major label act. Better than most of the crap on major labels....yes

since today is Thursday I will recommend the band of the same name.

check out 'Full Collapse' on Victory Records


Thursday page at Victory Records
Thursday homepage
http://www.redmusic.com/
Full Collapse

If you get a chance listen to Kasey Chambers. She has one album out "The Captain" and another coming out soon, "Barricades and Brickwalls."

Just saw yesterday that "And They Will Know Us..." is on tour and coming in March. Also the return of "Starsailor", "Elbow", "South", Andrew WK are all coming through DC, cant wait!

Also, a friend of mine told me that last Fall's tour of "International Noise Conspiracy", "The Hives" had opened for them, argh! I wish I had known.

Sorry I didn't consult the definition of 'indie band' with you before I made my post, newbie. For clarification, so that you know you have 'taught' me, I will display my newfound knowledge (thanks to you, almighty teacher!) so you can pat yourself on the back and leave me the %$*@ alone!

A.M.- Reprise, distributed by Warner Brothers
Being There- Reprise, distributed by Warner Brothers
Summerteeth- Reprise, distributed by Warner Brothers
YankeeHotelFoxtrot-not yet released (April 23) but will be released under Nonesuch, which is distributed by Warner Brothers, a major label.

Now YOU note, that BwG put in parentheses "or relatively unknown," which Wilco DOES fit under. Now let it die!

whoa penny, calm down - step back and take a deep breath. Don't hurt the poor guy.

Yeah, he's lucky he isn't nearby.

It's just that the point has been proven twice by Yancey and stevevt. Why was it necessary to mention it yet again?

Also gotta mention...

Billy Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue - Elektra (Warner)
Billy Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue Vol. II - Elektra (Warner)

I'm not trying to start anything, I just love these albums (particularly the Tweedy-sung numbers on Vol. I) and thought they should be recognized. "California Stars" is one of the best songs ever recorded in my opinion...

Finally (again offering my opinion), I think that Wilco could (and should) be considered an "indie" band. Yes, they are on a major label, but they do their own thing. They're not making records for the charts or for their record company but for themselves. They take stylistic and artistic leaps for their own satisfaction, and sometimes these leaps even alienate a significant portion of their fan base. That makes them "independent" by my definition. I think it's narrow-minded to only think of indie bands as bands not distributed by a major record company. After all, some of music's most avant-garde rock/pop bands either are or were distributed by a major - Flaming Lips, Boredoms, Velvet Underground, even the Beatles if you really want to get into it. Who cares if Wilco is distributed by Warner Brothers, they're frigging brilliant and underappreciated, and that's all that matters (well, that and the fact that they're finally coming to Vegas...).

I love how everyone in here seems to think that they can define what an indie band is. It's as thought they can contain the spirit and years of evolving into one tight definition. Get over it. Penny, you are right, Wilco is considered an indie band by MANY people who just don't bother yammering on and on a board as if they are the authority. It's like i'm in a philosophy class and people are arguing over if "holes" exist or not.

Actually, I think defining an indie band is extremely easy. Are they on an independent label? If so, then they are. There is the indie scene that has a similar aesthetic, as in indie rock or indie hip-hop or indietronica or what have you. But an indie band isn't on a major label, simple as that. That's where the term comes from.

Though I respect the definition that an Indie band is a band on an independent label, I tend to consider and indie band, as a non-mainstream or rather unexposed band.

I mean, Bad Religion is now on an independent label, so is Rancid, both of whom have had lots of radio and mtv airplay, so its hard for me to consider them an indie band.

Bad Religion was on Capitol for a while, but I would say that the formation of Epitaph is the most indie thing of all -- to create your own label where you can release the type of music you like.

I understand what you mean by a non-mainstream or underexposed band, but a great indie label can get good exposure for their artists without a major-label budget. Something that I think any band would like to have.

I disagree for a variety of reasons. One is a LOT of times bands do many different things. Some that are on big labels will make a few cds on "independent" labels. Also, there are labels that spring up from major record company money -- this isn't uncommon. They aren't necessarily connected until you start looking at the finances. Not to mention when is a label considered major? How many bands does it need to have? How much bank does it need before it's major? Or are we going to just limit major labels to the big conglomerates? If so, that seems like petty justification.

I think that a band can be indie and be on a big label no problem. Just because you are looking to reach an audience and someone at the label thinks you are good doesn't mean you aren't still an indie band, simple as that. The term is related more to a philosophy than pigeonholes.

There are five major labels. And they have hundreds upon hundreds of imprints. Like Interscope is owned by Universal who is owned by Vivendi. But they're all part of the same conglomerate. Bands who are on Interscope, like, for instance, Trail of Dead, are not indie bands. They are now a major label band.

An indie band doesn't contain a particular sound or ethos or anything. They are bands on labels that are typically run by music fans with only a handful of employees that typically represent a regional sound -- independent labels.

Some bands decided to make being on an indie label an ethos. This happened in the early '80s with the D.I.Y. creed. But that speaks for very very few indie bands. Most groups would like to have their music reach a wide audience, so, when they get the chance, they go to a major label. Others, like Fugazi for instance, want to stay within their regional scene for ethical reasons, but also because they wouldn't make that much more money on a major. They have great royalty deals at Dischord.

You will see very very few bands signed to a major label and release an album on an indie. This is because when a band signs with a major they have a 7 album contract to fulfill, which is tough. So you don't want to put other music out elsewhere because it's not making you any money, you are actually losing money by doing that. The bands that do release albums on multiple labels, like Beck, had serious leverage when they signed the original contract enabling them to make their own decisions.

But yes, of course a band can still maintain their DIY ideals on a major label, but you believe that to be indie you must have that DIY ethos. I don't. It gets into a whole mess of who is indie and who isn't, which, for a lot of people in the scene, gets into a judgment decision, which is just retarded. So I view it much more simply. And understand that I am not saying that there are no good bands on major labels... that is far from the truth.

That makes sense and I agree, however, when someone asks me for a good indie band I will usually suggest one that follows more of the definition offered by DodgingCars. Unless they explicitly say "I'm looking for a good independent band." Which, I think clarifies what they are wanting a little bit more.

I concur. I still think that if someone asked me for a good indie band I would want them to be more explicit about what they are looking for, but I understand what you mean.

I totally forgot about this thread! Thanks for all the ideas, I'm definitely liking some of them.

Nope, no new CDs. New website, though: http://www.selfmusic.net/ Don't like it. Never seen 'em live. No one I like comes to Kansas City, the closest tour city. Or I find out about it like a month later.

Edit: Oh, since my username. Yeah, Gizmodgery. Not their best, but some good stuff nonetheless. I have the songs I like burned onto a CD with the unreleased album, Feels Like Breakin' Sh*t (which should have been released, dammit).

if yer into "stoner" rock or think you might want to check some out then get ready to download!

Stoner MP3s

Or you can visit officially:

Stoner Rock

(but the first link makes it easier - beware, i'ts over 4Gb total!)

-Gunshy

This needs a bump since there's such a great amount of indie bands out now like Clap Your Hands Sya Yeah, Rilo Kiley, Broken Social Scene, Silversun Pickups.

I think that Indie music isn't really defined by what kind of label the band is on. I think there is definately a sound to "Indie" music.

Anyway, to me, the band Felt is what the Indie sound is all about. When I want to describe Indie, I describe Felt.

Check out Gold Mine Trash. It's a collection of the early singles from about '80-'85.