Indie rock is a term used to refer to rock music that falls within the indie music movement. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with indie music as a whole, though more specifically implies that the music meets the criteria of being rock, as opposed to indie pop, indie dance or other possible matchups. These criteria vary from an emphasis on rock instrumentation (electric guitars, bass guitar and live drums) to more abstract (and debatable) rockist constructions of authenticity. Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that arent on labels at all. ... Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that arent on labels at all. ... Indie dance is a term used for the genre of music combining elements of dance-pop (or other forms of electronic dance music such as house or techno) and indie pop. ... Rockism is an ideology of popular music criticism, originating in the British music press in the late 1970s or early 1980s. ...

What is commonly known as indie rock is descended from what was known as alternative rock during the 1980s; this name refers to the fact that it was an alternative to mainstream rock. Alternative bands of the time, in turn, were influenced by the punk rock and New Wave movements of the 1970s and early 1980s. During the first half of the 1990s, alternative music, led by grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, broke into the mainstream, achieving commercial chart success; the alternative genre became commercialised, as mainstream success attracted major-label investment and commercially-oriented or manufactured acts with a formulaic, conservative approach. With this, the meaning of the label "alternative" changed away from its original, more countercultural, meaning, and the term "indie rock" fell into greater use. The terms alternative rock and alternative music1 were coined in the early 1980s to describe punk rock-inspired music genres which didnt fit into the mainstream genres of the time. ... Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... Mainstream is, generally, the common current of thought. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... The New Wave was a movement in American, Australian and British popular music, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, growing out of the New York City musical scene centered around the club CBGB. The term itself is a source of much confusion. ... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ... Grunge music (sometimes also referred to as the Seattle Sound) is an independent-rooted music genre that became a commercially successful offshoot of hardcore punk, thrash metal, and alternative rock in the late 1980s and early 1990s. ... ... The current Pearl Jam lineup. ...

"Indie rock" is not strictly a genre of music (given that musical style and independence are not always correlated), 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 and roll. Genres or subgenres often associated with indie rock include emo, lo-fi, post-rock, garage punk and folk-punk, to list but a few; other related (and sometimes overlapping) categories include alternative rock and indie pop. During the 1960s the term underground acquired a new meaning in that it referred to members of the so-called counterculture, i. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Emo (an abbreviation of emotionally-driven Hardcore punk) is a term now broadly used to describe almost any form of guitar-driven alternative rock that expresses emotions beyond traditional punks limited emotional palette of alienation and rage. ... Lo-fi — from Low Fidelity — describes a sound recording which contains accidental artifacts, like distortion, or environmental noise, or a recording which has a limited frequency response. ... The term post-rock was coined by Simon Reynolds in issue 123 of The Wire (May 1994) to describe a sort of music using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs and powerchords. ... Garage punk is a subgenre of rock music. ... A genre of music that combines - yup - elements of folk and punk rock music. ... The terms alternative rock and alternative music1 were coined in the early 1980s to describe punk rock-inspired music genres which didnt fit into the mainstream genres of the time. ... Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that arent on labels at all. ...

Typically, indie artists place a premium on maintaining complete control of their music and careers, often releasing albums on their own independent record labels and relying on touring, word-of-mouth, and airplay on independent or college radio stations for promotion. Some artists end up signing to major labels, though often on favourable terms won by their prior independent success.

Indie: status or genre?

In the UK, indie music charts have been compiled since at least the 1980s. These charts initially featured independent bands that emerged from punk and post punk, as well as indie pop artists such as Aztec Camera and Orange Juice, the C86 jangle-pop movement and the twee pop of Sarah Records artists. The 1980s indie scene directly influenced 1990s Britpop artists such as Blur and Suede (though many of these were technically not indie artists, being signed to major labels). Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... Look up Punk in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Punk can have the following meanings: A follower of punk music, fashion or culture. ... Post punk generally refers to the particularly fertile and creative period following the initial UK punk rock explosion, roughly spanning 1978-1982. ... Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that arent on labels at all. ... Aztec Camera is a Scottish New Wave music band from Glasgow. ... This article is about the music band; For alternative articles, see Orange juice (disambiguation). ... Taken literally, C86 was simply a cassette given away with the (British) New Musical Express in 1986 (hence (C)assette 86). ... Twee (or Twee pop) is a type of indie rock that is known for simple, sweet melodies and lyrics, often with jangling guitars. ... Sarah Records was an UK independent record label, best known for its recordings of twee pop. ... Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ... Britpop is a British alternative rock movement from the mid 90s, characterised with the appearance of bands who borrowed many influences from 60s and 70s while creating big and catchy hooks, as well as the glamour of earlier pop stardom and the sense that they were creating the soundtrack to... Cover of Blur: The Best Of - Clockwise from top left: Coxon, James, Rowntree, Albarn Blur is the name of a British rock band. ... Alternate meanings: Suede (band); Suede (album). ...

In reality, the term "indie rock" is so incredibly broad that almost anything from post punk to alt-country to synth-pop to afrobeat to ambient to noise pop to IDM to psychadelic folk to hundreds of other genres can fall under its umbrella. Post punk generally refers to the particularly fertile and creative period following the initial UK punk rock explosion, roughly spanning 1978-1982. ... Alternative country can refer to several ideas. ... Synth pop is a style of popular music in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. ... Afrobeat is a combination of American funk rhythms fused with African percussion and vocal styles, popularized in Africa in the mid to late 1960s. ... The genre commonly known as noise pop developed in the 1990s as an experimental outgrowth of ska. ... IDM is an acronym that can refer to different things, depending on context: In music, intelligent/intellectual dance music In information technology, Intelligent Device Management In information technology. ...

Currently, the term "indie rock" is sometimes used to refer to the current wave of New Wave-influenced alternative art rock such as Franz Ferdinand popularised by the media on the music channel MTV2 and in the rock music tabloid NME. The core of this movement has mostly been the resurgence of spiky 80's post punk rhythms and riffs akin to those played by Gang of Four, Television and Wire. Current bands in this movement include Franz Ferdinand, along with Bloc Party, The Futureheads, Razorlight, !!! and Moving Units. Often this style has been blended with other even more alternative genres such as garage rock (Death From Above 1979), synth rock (The Killers), Dance (Bloc Party), and Post-Punk (Interpol). Some would also classify the Scissor Sisters as fellow travellers within this movement. The term New Wave has been used to describe several movements in art. ... Art rock is a sub-genre of rock music that is characterized by ambitious lyrical themes and melodic or rhythmic experimentation, often extending beyond standard pop song forms and toward influences in jazz, classical, or the avant-garde. ... Franz Ferdinand; from left: Alex Kapranos, Paul Thomson, Nicholas McCarthy, and Robert Hardy Franz Ferdinand is a Scottish rock and roll band, named after Franz Ferdinand, archduke of Austria, whose assassination triggered World War I. The bands debut self-titled album released in 2004 debuted on the UK album... The New Musical Express (better known as the NME) is a weekly magazine about popular music published in the UK. It is unlike many other popular music magazines due to its intended focus on guitar-based music and indie rock bands, instead of mainstream pop acts. ... Post punk generally refers to the particularly fertile and creative period following the initial UK punk rock explosion, roughly spanning 1978-1982. ... Gang of Four was a British punk rock group from Leeds, England. ... Wire is a British punk/experimental rock band formed in 1976 by Graham Lewis (bass, vocals), Bruce Gilbert (guitar), Colin Newman (vocals, guitar) and Robert Gotobed (drums). ... From left: Matt Tong, Kele Okereke, Russell Lissack, Gordon Moakes Bloc Party are a British art-punk band. ... The Futureheads from left to right: Ross, Dave, Barry and Jaff The Futureheads are a four-member rock band based in Sunderland, England. ... Razorlight is a British-Swedish underground rock and roll band formed in the summer of 2002 around 22 year old singer/writer Johnny Borrell. ... !!! (pronounced chk chk chk, or any other three quick syllables—pow pow pow, uh uh uh, etc. ... Garage rock was a simple, raw form of rock and roll created by a number of United States bands in the mid-1960s. ... Death From Above 1979 are a Toronto based Canadian rock music duo. ... The Killers is a 1927 short story by Ernest Hemingway: see The Killers (Hemingway) There are also two films called The Killers, both based on Hemingways story: The 1946 version stars Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner: see The Killers (1946 film) The 1964 version stars Ronald Reagan, Angie Dickinson... Interpol from left to right: Sam Fogarino, Paul Banks, Carlos Dengler and Daniel Kessler This article is about the band. ... The Scissor Sisters are a five-piece American band strongly influenced by the gay-club scene of New York and named after a lesbian sex position. ...

Whether this movement embodies the indie ethos is debatable. Many of these bands are signed to independent labels, and express a disdain of the major-label marketing apparatus. (In the 8th January 2005 issue of NME, Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand authored an article championing the genre, saying independent labels 'have character', how they are 'run by people who are passionate about music' and stressing 'why independent record labels are so important' as the saviour of good music.) Critics point out that, while many of the bands are signed to labels technically independent of the Big Four, the movement is highly commercial, image-oriented and market-driven, with millions of dollars spent on marketing and the investment of corporate promoters such as MTV, Clear Channel and Carling; a far cry from the traditional indie world of labels run out of bedrooms by friends of the bands and unconcerned with commercial success. Furthermore, much of this movement has been said to be rigidly formulaic, with a set of aesthetic stances (i.e., the severe black suits and thin ties of bands such as Interpol and Kaiser Chiefs) and sounds imitating a small number of 1970s/1980s post punk and new wave bands, and thus not particularly independent in spirit. While some artists in this movement may embody the DIY aesthetic and unconcerned attitude of indie more than others, it cannot be said to infuse the entire movement. MTV (abbreviation for Music Television) is a cable television network which was originally devoted to music videos, especially popular rock music. ... Clear channel stations are AM radio stations that are designated as such so that only one or two 50,000 watt powerhouses operate at night on each designated frequency, covering a wide area via sky wave propagation. ... History In 1840 Thomas Carling began a small brewing operation in London, Ontario selling beer to soldiers at the local military camp. ... Post punk generally refers to the particularly fertile and creative period following the initial UK punk rock explosion, roughly spanning 1978-1982. ... The term New Wave has been used to describe several movements in art. ...

Further muddying the waters of the technical definition of "indie" is the fact that independence from major labels and independence from market-driven commercialism are not always correlated. For a time in the late 1990s, three of the most successful artists in the UK indie charts were NSync, the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. All three were signed to Zomba, which was technically an independent label at the time. (Zomba has since become part of major label Sony BMG). In contrast, there has been a small number of notable artists (such as Radiohead, Pulp and The Flaming Lips) who have maintained considerable creative independence and won critical acclaim whilst signed to major labels. Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ... *NSYNC is a five-part pop music vocal group, specifically a boy band, formed in Orlando, Florida, USA. The group members are James Lance Bass, Joshua Scott Chasez (JC), Joseph Anthony Fatone Junior (Joey), Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick (Chris), and Justin Randall Timberlake. ... Backstreet Boys The Backstreet Boys, or BSB, are one of the best selling musical groups of all-time. ... Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American pop music singer. ... Zomba Records was started in 1977 by Clive Calder as a book publishing venture and moved into the recording business in 1981. ... Bertelsmann is a transnational media corporation founded in 1835, based in G tersloh, Germany. ... From left to right: Ed OBrien, Jonny Greenwood, Thom Yorke, Phil Selway and Colin Greenwood Radiohead are a British alternative rock band from Oxford. ... The pop group Pulp were formed in Sheffield, England, in 1978 by then 15-year-old school-boy Jarvis Im not Jesus though I have the same initials Cocker (vocals, guitar). ... The Flaming Lips are an American rock band with psychedelic influences, formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma by Mark Coyne, Wayne Coyne and Michael Ivins. ...

Recent trends in the United States

In the last few years Omaha, Nebraska has been noted by various observers and fans as the unofficial capital of indie rock in the United States; some comparisons have been made with Seattle's role in the grunge scene of the early 1990s. This is largely due to the Omaha-based Saddle Creek Records, which is home to several highly regarded indie rock acts, most notably Bright Eyes and The Faint. Bright Eyes singer/songwriter and Omaha native Conor Oberst, who started the label, has been called the "King of Indie Rock" by Rolling Stone magazine, although his "indie cred" is often less than high. Some publications such as Spin magazine are now claiming Montreal as North America's indie rock capital, due to bands such as The Arcade Fire, The Unicorns, and Broken Social Scene. New York City (notably the neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn) has also been cited as a major scene for recent indie rock music with such bands as The Walkmen, TV on the Radio, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The Washington, DC area has also re-emerged as a hotbed of indie music. The area gained notoriety in the 1980s when it became one of the flagship cities of the American hardcore punk movement, with bands such as Minor Threat, Government Issue and Rites of Spring. All of these bands were on Minor Threat frontman Ian Mackaye's own record label, Dischord Records. Now the city is re-emerging as a hotbed of indie rock acts, namely Mackaye's own Fugazi, as well as Q and Not U, Dead Meadow, Decahedron, and The Evens. Mayor Mike Fahey County Douglas County, Nebraska Area  - Total  - Water 1,290. ... City nickname Emerald City City bird Great Blue Heron City flower Dahlia City mottos The City of Flowers The City of Goodwill City song Seattle, the Peerless City Mayor Greg Nickels County King County Area   - Total   - Land   - Water   - % water 369. ... Grunge music (sometimes also referred to as the Seattle Sound) is an independent-rooted music genre that became a commercially successful offshoot of hardcore punk, thrash metal, and alternative rock in the late 1980s and early 1990s. ... Saddle Creek Records (Originally Lumberjack Records) is an Omaha, Nebraska-based label established in 1993 whose roster includes Bright Eyes, Cursive, The Faint, Son, Ambulance, Desaparecidos, Now Its Overhead, Commander Venus, The Good Life, Mayday, Azure Ray and Sorry About Dresden. ... Conor Oberst Bright Eyes is an indie rock band fronted by Conor Oberst, an American singer-songwriter from Nebraska. ... The Faint is an indie rock band. ... Conor Oberst Conor Oberst is an American singer-songwriter born February 15, 1980 in Omaha, Nebraska. ... This article is about the music magazine. ... Spin is a music magazine. ... {{Canadian City/Disable Field={{{Disable Motto Link}}}}} Motto: Concordia Salus (Salvation through harmony) Ville de Montréal, Québec, Canada Location. ... The Arcade Fire. ... The Unicorns The Unicorns were an indie-pop band from Montreal, Canada. ... Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock supergroup formed in 1999 (see 1999 in music) in Toronto, Ontario. ... Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the largest city, by population, in the United States. ... The Williamsburg Bridge connects the neighborhood to Manhattan Williamsburg is a neighborhood in northern Brooklyn, New York City. ... The Walkmen, as seen in the music video for The Rat. ... TV on the Radio is an experimental rock music group, formed in 2001 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. They are considered to be one of the most creative bands in modern rock music. ... Yeah Yeah Yeahs are a New York-based rock & roll band headed by lead singer Karen O. Other members are Brian Chase (drums) and Nick Zinner (guitars). ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... Hardcore punk (or hardcore) is an intensified version of punk rock usually characterized by short, loud, and often angry songs with exceptionally fast tempos and chord changes. ... Minor Threat was a short-lived hardcore punk band from Washington DC. They have been hugely influential: Critics have called them and their work iconic, [1] and noted their groundbreaking music has held up better than most of their contemporaries. ... Government Issue (often just GI) were an American straight edge hardcore punk band originating from the Washington DC scene, formed in 1980 and signed to Dischord Records. ... There is also a ballet called The Rite of Spring. ... Dischord founders Ian Mackaye and Jeff Nelson Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based record label specializing in D.C.-area independent punk, hardcore, and post hardcore music. ... Fugazi were Japanese deserters during World War II. Fugazi is the name of a band from Washington, D.C. Fugazi was an American GI slang during the Vietnam war. ... Q and Not U are a post-punk band out of D.C., and currently signed to Dischord Records. ... Dead Meadow is a Washington, D.C., USA based band. ... The Evens at the East River Park in NYC on May 21, 2005. ...

See also

• List of indie rock artists
• List of independent record labels
• List of Australian indie rock bands

This is a list of indie rock artists. ... This is a list of record labels that are independent from the Big four record labels and typically specialize in different forms of indie rock, punk rock, and styles of alternative rock, electronica and hip-hop. ... This is a list of bands and musicians from Australia who released recordings independently between 1976 and 1992. ...

References

• Mathieson, Craig (2000), The Sell-In: How the Music Business Seduced Alternative Rock, Sydney, Allen and Unwin