Tunes Consumed: the Poutine Silver Platter

The previous incarnation of this exclusive Pout feature tackled a genealogy of music that is, at least now, synonymous with a certain style of sound, its typifying character so often attributed to The Specials. This installment moves onto something a little more recent, so recent that you are, in fact, participating in it. Regardless of what anyone tells you, “indie” is not a movement that can be linked to any particular brand of music- at least not yet. If you were to take it in that context alone, it would be as meaningless as the “alternative” label which still somehow permeates our vocabulary.

If “indie” were a tree, you would find that it has 21 rings. 1986 was the year when NME decided to distribute a cassette through its own established mail-order service, and this cassette was called C86. This cassette concerned itself only with the freshest independent-label artists, and festered in time between punk of the 70s/80s, and what most (probably rightfully) consider to be the real independent roots in the 90s. See, the C86 cassette is merely a prelude & aside for what’s really on the table for us.

For all intents and purposes, “indie” began in the early 90’s. Major labels had long since snowballed in strength, with small ones being bought out by larger ones, who would then buy out smaller ones in return, thereby extending the dark kingdom. See, like Trent Reznor in his old age, these labels just got chubby. Even still, being such a lucrative business, the music industry found dastardly ways to maintain control, essentially becoming what was, in the 90s, pretty close to a monopoly on music. With the Big 4 reigning over store-front distribution channels, and even controlling FM-radio with illegal DJ pay-offs, things quite frankly were sticky for the little guy. There were a lot of talented artists that just wouldn’t make the cut. A lot of wasted talent that was somehow just not timely or “profitable”.

But c’mon now, this was the 90’s, a decade of magical happenings. Cassette tapes & 8-track recorders were not hard to come by, and, stemming from the punk DIY-ethos of the 70’s & 80’s, this was nothing short of practical for artists to consider. Mix tapes, and eventually recordable CDs were able to be produced on a small scale (where previously there were only expensive vinyls), and then these tapes could be traded around at local shows or by inter-city mail exchange. This was the technological backlash that opened a whole new avenue for artists. When artists were able to produce their own merch this allowed scenes to sprout up all over the nation, entirely unaffected by the inertia of the RIAA. In short, one might therefore define indie as not being unsigned, but being unsigned by any of the Big 4 (or their subsidiaries).

A list of notable uprisings (90s-now):
The Elephant 6 Recording Company
Essentially an American-midwestern commune of artists who dwelled in the cassette culture, and produced their own music day in, day out. Acts such as: Neutral Milk Hotel, The Apples in Stereo, The Olivia Tremor Control, and Of Montreal (to name but a few) grew out of this scene. While some are no longer together, their influences reach far & wide even today.
mp3:
Neutral Milk Hotel - Holland, 1945
The Apples in Stereo - Tidal Wave

The Washington D.C. Punk-Revival scene
Bolstered and fueled by none other than Ian MacKaye (of Fugazi), who would later found and co-head his own label (Dischord Records) to help struggling D.C. indie artists like Q and Not U, Minor Threat, Jawbox, & Rites of Spring.
mp3: Q and Not U - Passwords

Matt Mahaffey
Who clearly deserves his own scene. His dedication to Self proved that one-man power pop was entirely attainable, releasing ten albums in ten years, four of which were released to the internet and freely available (still).
mp3: Self - Mother Nature’s Fault

Godspeed You! Black Emperor
An avantegarde/post-rock outfit formed in our very own Montreal scene. Honestly they need no introduction, but the fact that their politics had a viral-like quality to them (due in large part to the sheer number of members, and likewise the number of side projects that splintered out) which is still a mainstay to the Montreal/post-rock scene is impressive to say the least. They also run & manage our most prized venue La Sala Rossa, and the “analog-only” recording studio: Hotel 2 Tango.
mp3: Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Moya

This post has been part of an indie blog carnival in conjunction with the fine gents over @ Motel de Moka. Be sure to swing over there for another “indie” introspection, ala The Post Modern Condition.

And for the rest of the carnie sites, dig:
01. Riot Grrrl (& Indie)
A little backstory to the riot grrrl musical movement (+ tracks).
02. Summer Web Search (& Indie)
Ideas on where to find some tunes for your summer pleasure.
03. Indie Bop
A little electro-buzz to top off your indie-an summer (okay, that was bad.)