Tuesday, February 06, 2007

What All Indie Music Should Be Like

1. Catchy guitar hooks (which sound a bit like what I remember the theme to The Magic Roundabout being like, no, wait, that's the keyboard bits, I'll start again...)

1.5 Swirly keyboard bits that sound like the theme to The Magic Roundabout

2. Androgynous French indie-girl singer

3. Cute Swedish indie-boy guitarists

4. Less than three minutes long

5. Endearingly DIY video, featuring endearingly DIY 'effects'

6. Infectious shouty bits that make you want to go and shake your hair a lot in indie clubs, even though you are thirty-six years old

7. Brilliant.



Oh dear god, I posted a YouTube video. It must be the beginning of the End Times. Here, have an olde-worlde audio file as well; it's considerably better quality:

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12 comments:

Billy said...

Any band with boys and girls and shouty bits is good in my book.

This is marvellous.

patroclus said...

It's good, isn't it? I finally figured out that the reason I tend to prefer American/Canadian indie bands to British ones is because they generally have girls in them too, so you often get some nice male/female harmonies. Whereas British indie bands tend to be quite blokey, don't they?

Spinsterella said...

As Resident Indie Expert (er, until Tim gets here), that wasn't nearly as annoying as I'd expected from your description.

I especially like the bit where she goes all shouty and incomprehensible. I didn't like the instrumental bleaty bits though.

epikles said...

i think i saw something exactly like this on the VH1 countdown of Top 100 something-or-others just the other day. I could not tell what decade they came from but it turned out to be brand new this year. Unfortunately I could not remember their name or the name of the song, or, come to think of it, even the song. It WAS catchy. I remember that much :}

patroclus said...

Spin: Yes, this is why I never became a music journalist. Although I do miss the perks of being music editor of the uni magazine (free tickets to Ned's Atomic Dustbin gigs! Getting to interview My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult! Free Levellers albums in the post! EMF once said hello to me! Etc!).

Tom: Ooh, that's *almost* enough information for me to embark on an unholy guessing frenzy. Erm, was it the Raconteurs? No, wait, they were last year. Ummm...it'll have to wait till Tim gets here.

Spinsterella said...

Hmmm - Tom's countdown - I'm thinking all this 'new rave' bollocks. Which is just boring indie-pop with extra keyboards. Shite.

I turned down free Levellers tickets recently. That was the point where I realised that I was a Proper Grown Up.

realdoc said...

American/Canadian indie music definately has better women. We seem to have a lot of opinionated, self-obsessed solo female artistes but very few shouty or even tapdance-drumy women. Which is a shame.

Johanna said...

Oh I liked that. And I think you'll find I am an expert on this sort of thing, I have a "radio" show called Twee as Fork!

cello said...

In yet another unnerving instance of co-incidental serendipity in your and my life, I was listening to this in the office when someone who works with me said, "That's my boyfriend's band".

So yes, indeed, I have now been told all about Audrey the singer, Hendrik the guitarist and the boyf, Philip the drummer, who is indeed Swedish. And I think there might be a transvestite - or maybe transexual - in the mix too.

So v exciting...except my lovely colleague now thinks I like that sort of stuff and is bringing me their latest album.

Quid pro quo, have you listened to any Rameau yet?

patroclus said...

Loganoc: Blimey, you have a radio show? Can anyone listen?

Cello: Wow, what a coincidence! Umm, please reassure your colleague I wasn't trying to muscle in on the boyfriend by referring to the guitarists as 'cute'. Is this a new album, or the 'Demon' one?

I have the Rameau DVD now, and I have been very remiss in not emailing you to thank you, will rectify situation immediately. The lovely Mr BC advises me not to watch it until he is in the vicinity and can draft in Paul Pennyfeather to provide expert commentary.

I did hear some Rameau on Classic FM yesterday (which my mum was listening to; I haven't changed my listening habits just yet). Erm, I don't remember much about it. I am quite hopeless.

cello said...

The naked dancing will ease the pain of the music.

And my colleague is not worried because you didn't salivate over the drummer. Although she's probably thinking "What's wromg with him?"

patroclus said...

Ohh, the drummer is the boyfriend! I misread that bit. He is indeed very nice - well done your colleague!