Indie used to be short for independent, meaning an artist who is without big-label representation and, at least theoretically, free to record music that comes straight from the heart. At some point, the term came to refer not just to an artistic philosophy but also to a genre of music, which, sadly, tends to be about the least-offensive, middle-of-the-road production in the industry today it can only be described as adult contemporary/soft folk. Its meant to appeal to yuppies, which is why so much of it sounds like an Apple ad rudimentary guitar strumming, lily-white boys and girls singing whimsically and an air of deluded happiness. If you still dont know what its like, take an infectiously charming song like Here Comes the Sun; then, strip it of innovation and melody and replace its musicianship with a rich liberal arts graduate whos played guitar for two weeks. Theres lots of bad music out there, but this too-frequently takes the cake. Its inoffensiveness is by far its most offensive aspect. Bizarrely, its a darling to much of the establishment music press, but its got to be called out for what it is. As the great music critic Butt-head once said of an indie song, This is music for like people who have, like, never had anything bad happen to them.
Kyle Schmidlin is a writer and musician living in Austin, TX. He manages the news blog at thirdrailnews.wordpress.com. Follow him at facebook.com/kyleschmidlin or twitter.com/kyleschmidlin1.
