I occasionally watch a decent HD show called "London Live" which showcases established and upcoming musical acts. The lineup is usually hit or miss, with musicians like Beck and Lupe Fiasco sharing a bill with -- ahem -- Razorlight. Although Justice, Phoenix, The Rapture, Guillemots, Feist, Manic Street Preachers, Kanye West, and Lightspeed Champion have all graced the London Live stage, there are simply too many appearances from
seriously mediocre British bands. Case in point: chart-topping, platinum-selling "pop" band Scouting For Girls.
The Independent recently published an
article addressing the state of "indie" music that allows a band like Scouting For Girls to thrive. Among the topics discussed in the article are: what qualifies as "indie", the history and evolution of "indie" music, and the incredibly effective hype machines that propel shite like Scouting For Girls into the minds of unassuming listeners.
Although the article is predicated on an overly narrow definition of "indie", it makes some great points. A timeline from the piece:
How indie ate itself
1977: The Buzzcocks release their Spiral Scratch EP on their DIY label, New Hormones. Pop historians will refer to it as the first indie record
1986: NME and Rough Trade compile and release C86, the cassette (featuring, among others, Primal Scream, The Soup Dragons and Half Man Half Biscuit) that defines the indie genre
1987: The Smiths leave independent label Rough Trade after four albums and sign a more lucrative deal with EMI, then split acrimoniously before they record a note
1990: The Stone Roses, led by singer Ian Brown stage a Woodstock for the baggys generation – a huge gig at Spike Island in Widnes. Among the 27,000 fans is a young Noel Gallagher
1992: Alan McGee sells half of Creation Records to Sony for £2.5m. Later, Nude is sold to Sony, Factory to London Records, Go!Discs to Phonogram and Food to EMI
1993: Indie fans Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley take over Radio One's high-profile Evening Session slot and make it their own. Blur release their second album, Modern Life is Rubbish. According to John Harris, the author of The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of British Rock, this is the first true Britpop album. Alan McGee goes to Glasgow venue King Tut's Wah Wah Hut to see his label's act 18 Wheeler play, and discovers a little band called Oasis
1995: Blur and Oasis release singles in the same week ("Country House" and "Roll With It") in what NME bills as a "British heavyweight championship". Blur win the immediate battle to reach number one, but Oasis win the war: their album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, sells 18m copies worldwide
1997: Oasis's third album, Be Here Now, is bloated and ugly. Blur by Blur sounds American. Britpop dies a belated death
2001: New York hipsters The Strokes release Is This It. Everyone forgets about Britain
2002: The Libertines release their debut, Up The Bracket. Shambling guitars become chic again
2004: Snow Patrol's Final Straw and Keane's Hopes and Fears top the album charts. Indie reaches a low point
2006: Arctic Monkeys' Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not becomes the fastest-selling debut album in chart history. The major labels snap up every 17-year-old guikookstar player in the land
2008: Scouting For Girls' debut album reaches Number One. Indie eats itself
All I can say is: thank the heavens for freedom of choice. I'll never understand the U.K. charts and the continual chart-topping trash that has no place in critical circles, let alone on the soundtrack to
Notting Hill.
James Murphy and Pat Mahoney -- 2/5ths of the touring version of LCD Soundsystem -- will be flexing their DJ muscles at The Roosevelt Hotel on Sunday, August 10. The daytime performance has been dubbed "Special Disco Version" and will happen poolside at the hotel's Tropicana Bar. Expect something along the lines of Murphy and Mahoney's FABRICLIVE 36, "a hot sweaty blend of seminal disco, deep rare grooves and edgy tech-infused funk." There will also be DJ sets by Jason Bentley and Destructo.
