Indie rock has transformed itself from a physical characteristic of a band's management team to a music genre. Where years ago, in order to be "indie rock" you couldn't be signed by a major label, bands today, such as Death Cab For Cutie and The Killers still hold onto their "indie" title.

The indie genre seems to encompass bands that might sign with the major labels on one condition:  creative independence. These bands can't be described by any other genre, so they are lumped into this completely and utterly diverse genre that values the creative process and experimentation above all else. Today we will look at artists who fit into this genre, but play completely different types of music.

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Andrew Bird
Skin Is, My
Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs
   
Something will always bother me about Andrew Bird, until of course it
happens. Why isn't the man more popular? He has all of the key
ingredients, including being a diverse and talented musician and a
dreamboat. His talents stretch from being a "professional whistler" to
an excellent vocalist, not to mention an accomplished violinist.
His music can be characterized by mixing early John Mayer with
Thelonious Monk.

"Skin Is, My," off his newest release, The Mysterious
Production of Eggs, is a rollercoaster of lyrical puzzles and a
dizzying array of tempos and loops. Deep drums accompanied by the
plucking of a violin transitions to jazz drums laced with two electric
guitars while still escorting the violin. Overall, Andrew Bird creates
an eclectic brand of jazz-pop that is accessible to all music lovers.

Originality:  8.4
Catchiness:  7.1
Personal:  8.7

 

Airport Cathedral
Righteous
Jetlag
   
    There are certain cities in the United States that seem to breed
musicians so fast the rest of the nation can't keep up. Seattle is one
of these cities. It's probably the rain that keeps these musicians
inside working on their music throughout the year.
Airport Cathedral is one of these Seattle bands. They are quite new,
releasing their first album this year, and are still working out some
of the kinks. There are some things I like about them musically and
things that I really don't like about them. While their
instrumentation is on the right track, they still need to develop
their experimentation. This aspect of their music is there, they just
need to spend some time indoors to cultivate it.
    You can call the vocalist calming if you wish, but sometimes he seems
to be droning. Their sound is definitely derived from their
influences, which include Pedro The Lion and Jets To Brazil, so if you
like those check out Airport Cathedral.

Originality:  4.8
Catchiness:  7.2
Personal:  6.2

 

Graham Coxon
Standing On My Own Again
Love Travels At Illegal Speeds

    Graham Coxon is another British artist invading the review. Of the
disbanded Blur, Coxon creates a pop-rock album blended with his
previous musical experiences from Blur, who had hits such as
"Beetlebum" and "Crazy Beat." Graham Coxon is hailed as one of
England's up and coming musicians mostly because he plays everything
you hear in one of his songs. Drums, bass, lead, whatever, he plays
it. Coxon is a tamer, older and wiser version of the Arctic Monkeys
that were reviewed previously.

Originality:  6.9
Catchiness:  5.5
Personal:  8.3

HOLLENCOMIUM REVIEW PODCAST 

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Comments:

oh so indie Written by pebbleinabrook on 2006-04-20 18:19:57 i like graham coxon's album cover a lot-

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