Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that primarily exists in the independent underground music scene. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with underground music as a whole, though more specifically implicates that the music meets the criterion of being rock, as opposed to indie pop or other possible match-ups. These criteria vary from an emphasis on rock instrumentation (electric guitars, bass guitar, live drums, and vocals) to more abstract (and debatable) rockist constructions of authenticity. It is however not uncommon to see a variety of instruments that are rarely used in other rock genres, such as the violin and the piano.
"Indie rock" is shorthand for "independent rock", for many of its artists are or were unsigned or signed to independent record labels, rather than major record labels. It is not strictly a genre of music (although the term is often used to reference the sound of specific bands and the bands they have influenced), but is often used as an umbrella term covering a wide range of artists and styles, connected by some degree of allegiance to the values of underground culture, and (usually) describable as rock music. Genres or subgenres often associated with indie rock include lo-fi, post-rock, sadcore, C86, and math rock, to list but a few; other related (and sometimes overlapping) categories include shoegazing and indie pop.
Indie rock artists place a premium on maintaining complete control of their music and careers, releasing albums on independent record labels (sometimes their own) and relying on touring, word-of-mouth, and airplay on independent or college radio stations for promotion. Some end up moving to major labels, often on favorable terms won by their prior independent success.
Good explanation as to why I don't hear of these groups. They aren't publicized well.
Well, you've been reading about enough of these bands by now on eZabel that you should have at least listened to some of them! (punk excluded because that's not your thing, of course)
Indie isn't limited to rock. There are many varieties of independent artists. It's a broad term. These artists ARE publicized, but not in the areas you are looking.
Where are they publicized? The local Quick Chek? LOL!
haha, not quite.
On TV: MTV( http://www.mtv.com/music/indie/ ), Fuse
A well known website: www.pitchforkmedia.com
There's tons of places.
Ever read magazines, blogs, or listen to college radio.
Ah, ok. College radio, yes. In fact I listened to Centennary College's station and hated everything they played during the show Katie does.
lol
Katie does a mostly punk show. So, we've pretty much determined that you don't like Punk as a genre, but don't rule out Indie in general. Although Punk is usually Indie, Indie Rock is not Punk.
No wonder the show sucked. LOL!!
There may be something in the genre I like, but that remains to be seen. I'll ask JP for his mix tonight. It'll make for a heavy ezabel debate one day. LOL!
keep in mind, some of JP's mixes have a bunch of punk. but it's not all punk. so skip a song if you can't stand it, but give others at least a modest effort. you may be surprised.
The punk would be skipped immediately. LOL!
the "punk" i put on mixes usually is pop punk, so its a little more listener-friendly to people who may not usually like punk music. so you may find it ok.
Ok, you hook me up my brother from another mother.
I happened not to read music review websites... I found out about music artists that are new to me, mostly from my emusic.com subscription, going from one artist's download page to another and another, jumping all around, sampling stuff... if I like the song clips, I usually download that artist's entire album (legally too, 'cause its all licensed) Plus, there's Pandora.com where you make your own music channel and occassionally you'll get artists that you never listened to, related to what you already like. Then, of course, College Radio with its broad freestyle format. I've been listening to WPRB Princeton University at least since the mid-nineties. I also listen to radio broadcasts that are sydicated over the Web... my favorites are Virgin Radio UK, KCRW - Santa Monica, California, and University of Bergen and U of Trondheim, Norway. Look at www.vtuner.com - there's a database of Radio stations all over the World that broadcast over the Web.
Wow. Gotta love the Wiki