Beginner's Guide to Indie Music
65The first question you may ask is, what is indie music? The technical definition of indie goes something like this "Indie Music, refers to a number of genres, subcultures, stylistic and cultural attributes, characterised by independence from commercial pop music and mainstream culture." However, indie music, much like art and literature, can't really be categorized - it can only be experienced. And once you have experienced it, you'll know it ever afterward.
There are two main ways of finding new/indie music - online radio and music sites. The two best radio sites I know of are Pandora and LastFm - the latter you have to download the toolbar but it's definitely worth it - type in any artist or song and it'll play amazing stuff exactly like it.
Other Music sites:
Ilike - they have a lot of free mp3s and I also recommend downloading their toolbar, as it will list downloadable indie/obscure music that's similar to whatever you're playing on your computer
CheapLullaby has a collection of fantastic artists, with myspace links if you want to listen
Download.com has a lot of free mp3s on it as well if you already know what you're looking for, as well as playlists. Check out their Best of 2007, which has a lot of indie songs on it.
gnoosic.com - recommends music based on your favorite artists or songs
Movie soundtracks are also a great resource, especially if you watch indie movies.
Artists to know:
Radiohead
Death Cab for Cutie
Iron and Wine
Kings of Convenience
Belle and Sebastian
The Postal Service
Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, Tegan and Sara, Sunny Day Real Estate and Neutral Milk Hotel are other staples. Arcade Fire right now is the hot new thing in indie music- I recommend their CD Neon Bible. Ben Lee, Elliott Smith, and Damien Rice are also important, and Eisley a new favorite.
and finally, one of the most helpful sites I've found for beginners in indie music is Amazon's Guide of Indie Music through the 2000s
See also The Indie Music Scene
Lucas 2 years ago
This is the laziest article that I've ever read.