The Student Room Group

Best Indie Songs Of All Time?

Scroll to see replies

Sex on fire :facepalm2:
Reply 181
Original post by neutralmilkhotel
If anyone wants some good indie music, take a look at the label SUB POP


Seconded. The Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans sister labels are all class, too!
Reply 182
Original post by neutralmilkhotel
Yeah, people seem to forget that indie means "independent". Aw, I love Iron and Wine. I've seen them/him live. :smile: Smiths and Libertines aren't indie..

If anyone wants some good indie music, take a look at the label SUB POP


The Smiths started off as indie under Rough Trade Records. Their later career led them to Sire and Warner which was perhaps a catalyst of a badder later period. Sub Pop is fab. but could you perhaps try and justify why The Smiths were not indie when they performed under an indie label?
Original post by JK471993
The Smiths started off as indie under Rough Trade Records. Their later career led them to Sire and Warner which was perhaps a catalyst of a badder later period. Sub Pop is fab. but could you perhaps try and justify why The Smiths were not indie when they performed under an indie label?


They did start out as indie, but then they moved onto a major label. But people are quoting some of their later stuff, that's all. :smile::smile:
Reply 184
Original post by neutralmilkhotel
They did start out as indie, but then they moved onto a major label. But people are quoting some of their later stuff, that's all. :smile::smile:


I accept your point. However, what about Libertines? They have always been Rough Trade. It is rare for successful indie bands to remain on indie labels, which is exactly what Libertines are doing.
Reply 185
Original post by JK471993
...but could you perhaps try and justify why The Smiths were not indie when they performed under an indie label?


Sonic Youth were signed to an independent label.. As were Death Cab for Cutie and Arcade Fire and a bunch of other bands who've now moved on to bigger and better things. To me, anyway, these aren't indie bands any more. Stick 'em under any genre you want but their acclaim and, in the case of the Smiths, their legacy is beyond the independent tag.

But that's just how I see it :redface:
Original post by neutralmilkhotel
They did start out as indie, but then they moved onto a major label. But people are quoting some of their later stuff, that's all. :smile::smile:


I really don't get why people care about this distinction. Are you actually saying that if a given band were to release an identical song, then, if done on a major label, this wouldn't be Indie, but, if on an independent label, it would? I mean, I can see that's how the classification originated and all, but to continue to define music not based on how it sounds just seems a bit silly, especially since that's not done wholly in this case anyway (since Indie is only really used for a specific subset of that music released on independent labels and all).
Original post by neutralmilkhotel
They did start out as indie, but then they moved onto a major label. But people are quoting some of their later stuff, that's all. :smile::smile:


I love your username, Neutral Milk Hotel. That is all :smile:.






I'm not a massive indie connoisseur but I love these songs...
(edited 13 years ago)
Original post by JoshCurran
I love your username, Neutral Milk Hotel. That is all :smile:.


Aw thank you. :smile: Great band.
Reply 190
Ugh, I hate that I was negged on a post which ended with "but that's just how I see it." Come on, surely someone complaining about being given a negative rating is more of a reason to press that button than someone giving their opinion on such an open and clearly undefined topic!

So hey there, anonymous person, can we agree to disagree and go back to debating the finer points of life? Like which is better - Scouting for Girls' first album or their second album? :h:
It has to be Mr Brightside.
Reply 192
Original post by Scouting for Girls
Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire


How did song that sounds like it could have been by Springsteen the 80s come to be known as 'indie'?

'Indie' originally meant independent labels but then it seemed to come to mean moody floppy haired people like The Smiths, The Stone Roses and The Charlatans making contrastingly upbeat jingly jangly guitar music. They were a contradiction within themselves - often bookish looking, part of an introspective north west scene and looking to quietly rule the world but, more importantly, doing so with a sense of mystery like some bands in the 60s did.

Then Oasis turned 'indie' in to a populist football terrace anthems. But it wasn't really indie then (although some of their lesser known songs may have been). It was populist football terrace anthems. It was McCartney doing Hey Jude basically.

And now 'indie' seems to be bands with ridic names attracting middle class cliques dressing like bohemian ruffians - dressing worse than tramps actually. They're not mysterious, they're just scruffy and pretentious and they usually can't write really classic songs.

True indie ended with Blur or The White Stripes. Radiohead are indie in spirit too. They are not just middle class poseurs pretending to be tortured and sensitive and arty. There's more art in one of John Squire's Pollock knock-offs than in the cack handed art that many of these bands put on their sleeves.

There's only ever been a very few really great songwriters in the world. They're often quite conservative people really which always annoys people because they like their rock stars to be degenerates.
(edited 13 years ago)
Reply 193
The Killers - Mr Brightside
The Killers - All These Things That I've Done
Caesars - Jerk It Out
Maximo Park - The Coast Is Always Changing
Maximo Park - Acrobat
Manchester Orchestra - I've Got Friends
The Killers - Glamorous Indie Rock And Roll
Glasvegas - Geraldine
The Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime Around Midnight
Interpol - Untitled
Editors - Munich
Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out

Just some i can think of
Reply 194
The Twilight Sad - I Became a Prostitute

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2zgVcP5WYU


The View - Streetlights

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXTBqEKvQ5Y


Franz Ferdinand - 40"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnjZXrOgvzg


The Strokes - Hard to Explain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfDTkxV-X2w


The Strokes - 12:51

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJh0zCyX-yU


The Smiths - The Headmaster Ritual

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgNfTx9pGzA


The Killers - Jenny Was a Friend of Mine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W6o0cF9Qng


Bloc Party - Banquet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdkmhquF60o
Reply 195
This thread makes me die a little bit inside.

Look no further than the likes of J&MC, Pavement, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Yo La Tengo, (early) Modest Mouse, Sebadoh, Guided by Voices etc. for great alt. rock songs. The Kooks... don't make me laugh!
Reply 196
just heard about the band I Only Date Models, really like this song

Reply 197
Please define what you mean by 'indie songs'.
Not sure if they class as "Indie", but The Smiths "This Charming Man" and "There's a Light that never goes out" are two of my faves.
Reply 199
Original post by Picnic1
Please define what you mean by 'indie songs'.


How can that be a poor comment? I'm asking a question and I sincerely want to know if you are regarding indie music as all music released by independent labels (however you define that - presumably those that are not limited companies) or whether you regard it as a particular musical genre.

When was asking a question a bad thing? It's not like I'm asking something that is universally known like 'What is the opposite of hot?'

Quick Reply

Latest