Hello people! Before I get into the meat of my post, I just want to mention that I finally got around to getting Spotify, and I'm planning to start compiling playlists for posts as I go along, so that people can listen to all the songs without having to chase down all the links I so dearly love to pepper throughout these posts. I have no idea how people who read this like to listen to music (or even if you guys actually listen to the songs I talk about at all, or just read the posts), so I'd appreciate it if y'all could let me know your preferred listening method, so I can tailor delivery to meet demand. Here's the link for today's playlist.
Anyway, today I wanted to talk about something near and dear to my heart: indie music. Once again, like apparently everything else I talk about, it's an ill-defined genre. Technically (to switch out my pretentious snob hat for my pretentious pedantic snob hat), it's not even a genre at all; 'indie' just means that it's independently produced music. But come on, we all know what I'm talking about. If the band you're listening to has four guys all playing instruments, the lead singer is doing anything that could come close to being described as crooning, and more than half the guys have beards/stubble and enormous horn rims. We all know where I'm going with this.
And naturally, to start things off I'm going to talk about the Shins. I mentioned them once before, but they're one of my favorite bands, and I won't be shutting up about them anytime soon. They've got several really good albums out, all of which are worth listening to, and other than that there's not much to say. They make good music with solid harmonies and nice, shimmery guitar noises, and you should listen to it. Personally, I'm particularly fond of the songs Saint Simon, For a Fool, Phantom Limb, and Simple Song. They released a new album last year, Port of Morrow, and while it's not as good as some of their earlier stuff, it's worth a listen. Both Simple Song and For a Fool came off of it, and they're two of my favorites Shins tracks.
After The Shins comes Bishop Allen. Bishop Allen is one of those bands that make me feel both smoothly urbane and mildly dickish when I talk about them. This is the type of band you mention when you want to prove you 1) have musical taste; 2) have more of it than the person you're talking to; 3) found these guys back when they were underground, and 4) are a fundamentally better person than every other person you talk too (incidentally, talking about them like this guarantees the amount of people you talk to will get much smaller very quickly). That being said, they do make good music, and I like them a lot. They make (or possibly made, I think they may have broken up) light, fluffy songs that are about love and missed connections and how things are gonna pretty alright, probably (and also sometimes civil war ironclads). It's good stuff to hear when you need optimism and guilelessness. I think my favorite song by them is Shanghaied, which literally has a chorus that goes "La, la la, la la la la la la shanghaied", and is just as delightful as it sounds. Also worth checking out: Dimmer, Like Castanets, and Click, Click Click Click. And yes, the chorus of Click, Click, Click, Click does involve the word 'click' being repeated four times. They really like their repeated chorus lines.
BUT, moving away from groups of twenty-something guys singing about love and stuff and playing their guitars together, my next pick is Matt Costa, a twenty-something guy who sings about love and stuff and plays his guitar BY HIMSELF (not counting his backup band). Frankly, he's pretty much a slightly less mellow Jack Johnson with a higher voice and a small infusion of surf rock. Fortunately, I like Jack Johnson and I love surf rock, so I'm a pretty big fan of his stuff. My favorite song of his definitely Sunshine, because it's simply wonderful. It's probably a metaphor for how he has a furious drug addiction or something, but I couldn't care less. It's great, and I won't let you spoil it for me. Most of his stuff does tend to blend together somewhat, especially if you listen to it all at once, but I still like it. My favorites are Mr. Pitiful, Acting Like a Fool, and Witchcraft. Witchcraft is particularly interesting; it's not my favorite song by him, but it's an almost perfect reproduction of the kind of song you'd hear on a mid 60's surf compilation, and I have to give him kudos for making such a flawless tribute.
And lastly, I would feel ashamed if I failed to mention Death Cab for Cutie. I'm not a huge fan of them, but they're one of the icons of indie music, and they do have some great songs. The only two that I've really gotten into are Soul Meets Body and Crooked Teeth, but man. Those two are rock solid. Well worth taking a listen.
And of course, last but not least, here's a bonus song! Apparently, before Jack White married Meg and they became the White Stripes, he apprenticed as an upholsterer and had a band with his boss. They made an album, which includes the track Pain (Gimme Sympathy), and I love it. It's loud, and kind of terrible, and not technically good at all, but it pulses with pure, unadulterated Jack White, and as a consequence is somehow very enjoyable in spite of that.
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