söndag 6 Jan 2013, 3:01
By: vanilla_boy1, Sun. 6 Jan 2013 AD
Hello indiepop women & men and alt pop lovers!
OK, so this is my next journal entry below this paragraph, consisting of something I wrote nearly two years ago, with the date on which I wrote it indicated and the time I did it at just to remember it. So, if the references are dated, please consider, it is because I wrote it at that time. Indie-mp3.co.uk is no more as of the date of publication of the following material. The following is a piece concerning my interpretation of the state of indiepop I wrote back then which I feel still applies to today. As always, it is just my opinion being expressed here, so I hope no one takes that out of context. For those who have missed it, these journals are done with the intent of talking about the music I enjoy, indiepop and the likes. It's the music that many other people on this site enjoy as well. So, make yourselves comfortable ladies and gentlemen:-) because in the mode of a certain old show I will explain it all. In other words, I'll play Clarissa, while all the people gather round and listen. :-) (That's a reference for all the 90's children out there). :-) .
19 March 2011 AD
2:17 A.M.
I Wish It Was Autumn All The Time
I have noticed that most of the indiepop bands that are featured on indiemp3.co.uk, (or so it appears) are relentlessly sunny and upbeat. Now that’s not a bad thing, not at all. But for a while I grew tired of that music because I felt at the time since I had it figured out to a T, familiar with the sound and subject matter, I would give it a break. The reason for that, however, is because the popscene at present is divided between two ‘schools’ and one school is mainstream, highly successful and at the top while it’s bands are bland and rather dreary, and it affects the real indiepoppers in some way or form; or so I believe. The thing is since that is the effect that it has on the scene to my mind, in my opinion the times do not surmise such an overload of bright pop. The first group is the authentic indiepop artists; i.e. directly drawing from/descended from c86 (can be many things, typically jangle pop/twee, powerpop á lá Teenage Fanclub and others, or the more post-punk/aggressive c86 crowd, like Ron Johnson Records, Half Man Half Biscuit & the noisy groups on the c86 tape, hard jangle in the vein of Wedding Present/The Fall/Wolfhounds, etc) youthful, vibrant music with a sharp mind. (In a similar fashion you had the original nineties Britpop bands who also drew upon C86 indie as their musical influences, but mix them with the sound and production of today’s out-and-out pop rock, so it’s similar to what’s termed “adult alternative” e.g. 90’s groups like Matchbox 20, Goo Goo Dolls, Natalie Imbruglia, Hootie & The Blowfish, etc., an American sound; with a like intent. An everyman, workmanlike kind of vibe; well not all of them did I suppose. (Stuff that gets played in offices where people work, as a relief to pass the time with and not give it much thought). The other group are today’s Britpop bands, such as Coldplay & their soundalikes; Travis, Feeder, The Doves, Embrace, The Verve, Stereophonics, etc.. bands that got their start in the mid to late 90s as Britpop entered a decline. Unfortunately, there were bands like those even when Britpop was at its peak, like Ocean Colour Scene, Cast, Oasis, the aforementioned Verve (“A Northern Soul” era, 1995) and so on. Groups which were classicist, influenced by British Invasion bands and classic rock; also by a load of The Beatles, particularly Oasis. It was these stodgy combos which the Coldplay imitators modelled themselves after, except that now it was worse because not only were they doing that but they were copies of copies of each band. Those people either wanted to be Oasis, or The Verve. As a result their music is very watered down, though pleasant. However it came without the intellect of the earlier Britpop; instead with an emphasis on average peoples experiences/emotions and a singer-songwriter vibe overall. These groups don’t deserve to be called indie as there is hardly any indie in them. They only have a tinge and the rest is the stuff of a mainstream pop rock band, not indiepop at all. Some of their material is not bad, but the bad is very dull; inflicting pain on young people’s ears. That is, the ears of young people thirsty for pure pop. As it turned out, the primary-coloured, youthful sounds of the proper 90’s Britpop fell out of favour and fell away with time in the UK & abroad, and what took over after the fall was all of those boring “indie” bands. They soared to top heights and were very successful, effectively becoming the face of mainstream UK indie within a few years. A divide has been created between real and fake alt-pop, and so far it remains, with pop! people unable to break walls plus forfeits and see justice operate within. And it so happens because as with the proper Britpop before Coldplay, Coldplay & company sounds are a commercial creation and not an artistic outgrowth of the underground tied to punk. While true Britpop per the early-mid 90s type was often wonderful, commercial as it be, the current most popular incarnation of it is simply atrocious. At its worst, it is insipid, cringeworthy, dull, talent-emaciated radio fodder. At it’s best, it is light, melodic, emotive, agreeable pop rock.
Why is this piece then titled autumn all the time? Because, since as aforesaid the times do not merit such sunny vibes in pop; sometimes, as with plaintive pop-rock, its better to feel bad to grow and prosper than be looking up but learn nothing at the moment; however, there’s nothing wrong with bright and happy tunes and a radiant outlook.
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