Essential Indie Songs

January 3, 2007 9:31 AM

I've seen many lists of essential indie bands and albums but never really a list of songs. What individual songs do you feel are absolutely essential for indie music fans? Old or new, any musical style. I'm interested in what you feel HAS to be mentioned when your favorite indie songs are discussed. Thanks....
posted by snowdrunk to media & arts (22 comments total)

I'll come up with some more when I get home, but right off the top of my head:

Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot
Pavement - Summer Babe
Guided By Voices - Motor Away
Pixies - Here Comes Your Man
Neutral Milk Hotel - Two Headed Boy

I'm missing a ton, but those are some bigguns. I'll come back later with more.
posted by ampersand2001 at 9:38 AM on January 3, 2007

King of Carrot Flowers, Neutral Milk Hotel
Bad Education, Tilly and the Wall
posted by Nahum Tate at 9:43 AM on January 3, 2007

Dinosaur Jr: "Little Fury Things", "The Lung" (both from You're Living All Over Me), and "Forget the Swan" (from Dinosaur)

Sebadoh: "It's So Hard to Fall in Love" and "Brand New Love" (from The Freed Weed, among others), "The Freed Pig" and "Violet Execution" (both from III), "Not Too Amused" and "Rebound" (both from Bakesale), "Happily Divided" and "Soul and Fire" (both from Bubble & Scrape), "Healthy Sick" (from "The Freed Man").

Not that these are necessarily the songs closest to my heart, mind you. (That would be another post.) But they're pretty representative, I think.
posted by loiseau at 9:50 AM on January 3, 2007

Mates of State - Proofs
Camera Obscura - Happy New Year
posted by puritycontrol at 10:05 AM on January 3, 2007

Alright, I decided to add my dear-to-me personal favourites by Sebadoh.

Healthy Sick (The Freed Man)
Stronger, High School (Winning Losers)
Ride the Darker Wave, Sexual Confusion (The Freed Weed)
The Freed Pig, Total Peace, Violet Execution, Renaissance Man, Spoiled, As the World Dies the Eyes Of God Grow Bigger (III)
Telecosmic Alchemy, Sixteen, Think (Let Tomorrow Bee) (Bubble & Scrape)
Dreams, Skull, Mystery Man (Bakesale)
Beauty of the Ride, Zone Doubt (Harmacy)
On Fire (acoustic version B-side of Rebound single)
Break Free, Love is Stronger (The Sebadoh)
posted by loiseau at 10:12 AM on January 3, 2007

Neutral Milk Hotel - Two Headed Boy Part 2
Elliott Smith - Needle In The Hay
The Magnetic Fields - I Don't Want To Get Over You
The Velvet Underground - After Hours
Smog - Rock Bottom Riser
Sloan - Deeper Than Beauty
Beirut - Postcards From Italy
posted by Dalton at 10:45 AM on January 3, 2007

I'm making a mix of late'80s through late '90s indie for MethyViolet, and while I haven't sorted it or pared it down yet, here're the songs that I've got (I also stretch the rules a bit):

Vamos. The Pixies Surfer Rosa
Shaped Like A Gun Verbena Souls For Sale
Wired That Way The Waxwings Shadows Of
Pink Triangle Weezer Pinkerton
Makin' Out The Hentchmen Three Times Infinity
No. 1 Fan majesty crush Fan
Mouth Breather Jesus Lizard Goat
08-TheNewFaceOfZeroAndOne The New Pornographers Electric Version
Private Affair Bantam Rooster Big Mess [45]
Blown Away Superdrag The Fabulous 8-Track Sound Of Superdrag
Freak Scene Dinosaur Jr Bug
make out club Unrest Perfect Teeth
Seems So Apples In Stereo Tone Soul Evolution
Hot Metal Dobermans Brainiac Bonsai Superstar
Dance Craze The Rants Get Back Into It!
Hey Hey You Say Papas Fritas Pop Has Freed Us
Cherry Bomb Magnapop The Great Summer Pop Sampler
License To Confuse Sebadoh Bakesale
jfa - nowhere blossoms 02 - pink slip jodie fosters army nowhere blossoms
Game of Pricks Guided By Voices Alien Lanes
Yore Days Apples In Stereo Velocity of Sound
Thermal Treasure Polvo Today's Active Lifestyles
Rose Of Jericho Eleventh Dream Day Lived To Tell
God Walks Among Us Now - Jesus Song No. 6 The Flaming Lips In A Priest Driven Ambulance
Now That You Know Me Grant Hart Intolerance
Not If You Were The Last Dandy On Earth The Brian Jonestown Massacre Give It Back!
Colonel Blimp The Yummy Fur Male Shadow At Three O'Clock
Never Saw It As Union The High Strung Moxie Bravo
Pink Turns To Blue Hüsker Dü Zen Arcade
You Can't Kill Stupid Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments Bait and Switch
Copenhagen China Box James Kochalka Superstar Don't Trust Whitey
Omaha Golden Palaminos A History (1982-1985)
Animals (Mary-Christ) Sonic Youth Goo Deluxe Edition
Goin' The Gories I Know You Be Houserockin'
Lions (Linden) Pavement Watery, Domestic
Shooting Star Versus Deep Red EP
Left of the Dial The Replacements Tim
Lift Me Up saturday looks good to me
Milk Man Deerhoof Milk Man
Closed Casket The Deadly Snakes Ode To Joy
Ricky Butthole Surfers Hairway to Steven
I_Should_Have_Kissed_You Casiotone For The Painfully Alone answering machine music
No New Wave No Fun McLusky Mclusky Do Dallas
Sue Me Jack Pavement Trigger Cut
Beast With A Gun Animal Light Trucks
Human Eye The Human Eye Human Eye
Your heart is a muscle the size of a fist The Quails Atmosphere
400 Metres Sloan One Chord To Another
Get It While You Can The Dirtbombs Dangerous Magical Noise
Irrigation Man Spoon The Great Summer Pop Sampler
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea Neutral Milk Hotel In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Turnaround Nirvana Incesticide
From a Motel 6 Yo La Tengo Painful
False Alarm Yo La Tengo Electr-O-Pura

(c&p so parse with care)
posted by klangklangston at 11:11 AM on January 3, 2007

Of those, if I was writing an encyclopedia:
From a Motel 6— Yo La Tengo
Vamos— Pixies
Make Out Club— Unrest
Seems So— Apples in Stereo
would be mandatory

I'd add Teenage Riot, Cut Your Hair by Pavement, The Good In Everyone by Sloan, Two Hearted Boy by Neutral Milk Hotel, Gold Star for Robot Boy by Guided By Voices, 30 Gallon Tank by Spoon, Unconsciously Screaming by Flaming Lips, and Magnet's Coil by Sebadoh. Oh, and probably Stars of Track and Field or something by Belle and Sebastian.
posted by klangklangston at 11:20 AM on January 3, 2007

Whoops. Two Headed Boy. Two Hearted is my beer.
posted by klangklangston at 11:21 AM on January 3, 2007

One could suggest any number of NMH tracks, but I think the most reasonable answer here is definitely In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.

If You're Feeling Sinister by Belle and Sebastian.

You'll surely need something from the Smiths - I recommend Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, or perhaps This Charming Man.

Something from Loveless by My Bloody Valentine - I can't pick a song off the top of my head though.

Something from Yo La Tengo, Guided By Voices, Modest Mouse, and REM.

Maybe something from Sufjan Stevens and The Arcade Fire. For the latter I recommend Neighborhood #1, but almost anything will do.
posted by ludwig_van at 11:24 AM on January 3, 2007

And if you're really going broader, outside of "indie" (which I kinda think of as the '90s indie rock/pop movement), you'd throw in Velvet Underground, Mission of Burma, Wire, REM (who were indie once), Husker Du, The 'Mats, Ed's Redeeming Qualities...

I also forgot to mention Beat Happening and Galaxie 500, but I don't really like BH and don't know enough G500 to recommend (though I realize they're both encyclopediacly essential).
posted by klangklangston at 11:24 AM on January 3, 2007

Yeah, Modest Mouse too. And if you're going for the broader sound, you can start talking about Jesus and Mary Chain, Pulp, Blur, The Smiths, Half Man Half Biscuit, The Soup Dragons, C86...
posted by klangklangston at 11:25 AM on January 3, 2007

(And Weezer, who were never really indie, but fit the sound).
posted by klangklangston at 11:27 AM on January 3, 2007

Superchunk - Slack Motherfucker
Faith No More - We Care a Lot
Replacements - Bastards of Young
Minutemen - Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing or The Glory of Man
Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick
Nirvana - Spank Thru
Jane's Addiction - Jane Says or Trip Away
posted by Atom12 at 11:35 AM on January 3, 2007

The Clientele - Rain
Guided By Voices - Motor Away, Tractor Tape Chain, Game Of Pricks, Now To War
Mogwai - Take Me Somewhere Nice
Blonde Redhead - Girl/Boy
PJ Harvey - Oh My Lover, A Perfect Day Elise, The River
The Sea And Cake - Afternoon Speaker
Slowdive - Allison
Tortoise - It's All Around You, Glass Museum
Cat Power - Cross Bones Style
Tristeza - Golden Hill
Built To Spill - Randy Described Eternity, Car, Stab,
Hayden - Bad As They Seem, Bass Song
Rocket From The Crypt - Burnt Alive
Sebadoh - Careful, On Fire, Total Peace

I could go on and on and on....
posted by afx114 at 12:10 PM on January 3, 2007

King Missle - Detachable Penis
Moxy Fruvous - King of Spain
T Rex - Cosmic Dancer

On galaxie 500 - i'd do Cheese and Onions and Leave the Planet

Joy Division/New Order - Ceremony

I'll post some more later when i get home
posted by Salvatorparadise at 12:10 PM on January 3, 2007

I'd have gone with Holland, 1945 to represent Neutral Milk Hotel, personally.
Smokers In Love - The Lucksmiths. Or maybe Untidy Towns.
If Pulp's in the mix, Razzamatazz is hard to beat.
I don't even know how to pick a Magnetic Fields song; maybe Strange Powers? 100,000 Fireflies, Papa Was A Rodeo, All the Umbrellas in London, Fear of Trains and Candy would all work.
Fox in the Snow - Belle and Sebastian. Ooh, or Stars of Track and Field.
Ruby - The Apples in Stereo
Letter From an Occupant - The New Pornographers
Everything by the Smiths. The excellent cover of This Charming Man by Stars.
Primitive Painters - Felt
Eh, there's more...
posted by willpie at 1:36 PM on January 3, 2007

Random Rules for the Silver Jews
Relative Ways for ...Trail of the Dead
Fuck and Run for Liz Phair
I See Darkness for Will Oldham
Nosferatu Man for Slint
The Moon for the Microphones
PDA for Interpol
The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory for Guided by Voices
Tunnels for Arcade Fire
posted by I Foody at 2:17 PM on January 3, 2007

[My focus is the British definition of indie, sorry if you were looking for US stuff]

The Smiths - This Charming Man
The Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again
The Smiths - How Soon is Now
Primal Scream - Velocity Girl

XTC - Making Plans for Nigel
The Teardrop Explodes - Reward (or Treason maybe)
Wire - I Am the Fly (maybe something else, I'm not hugely familiar with Wire)
Elastica - Line Up (or just play I Am the Fly again)
Pulp - Do You Remember the First Time?
Pulp - The Fear

Joy Division - Atmosphere (if you can call JD indie)
New Order - Ceremony

New Order - Blue Monday
The Stone Roses - Fools' Gold
Primal Scream - Loaded
Happy Mondays - Hallelujah
(indie meets dance)

The Jesus and Mary Chain - Upside Down (or Just Like Honey or You Trip Me Up or anything offa Psychocandy really).
The Stone Roses - Waterfall (anything off the debut)
Blur - This is a Low (maybe End of a Century instead)
Oasis - Wonderwall (because it marks the point at which British indie music became completely, utterly mainstream)
James - Sit Down

Super Furry Animals - Something for the Weekend
Spiritualized - Medication
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Sweet Johnny

REM - Radio Free Europe
Flaming Lips - lots of options, let's say Waiting for A Superman
Granddaddy - Summer Here Kids
posted by Infinite Jest at 2:38 PM on January 3, 2007

Okay, I've settled on Reel Around the Fountain instead of totally copping out on The Smiths.
Lazy Line Painter Jane - Belle and Sebastian. You can feel safe refusing to be friends with anyone who claims not to like this song, actually.
When My Baby's Beside Me - Big Star. Or, you could debate the merits of the Big Star cover of Femme Fatale vs. the Velvet Underground's version. Myself, I prefer Big Star. More than one person has offered to fight me over this, and I'm a pretty big dude.
Whoever it was who said Happy New Year by Camera Obscura was so right.
posted by willpie at 7:58 PM on January 3, 2007

hotel california- the eagles
posted by simonemarie at 9:47 PM on January 5, 2007

The Rat by The Walkmen
Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl by Broken Social Scene
Penelope or Tripoli by Pinback
The Bad Arts or Helena by Destroyer
Southern Anthem by Iron & Wine
Parallel Or Together by Ted Leo & The Pharmacists

Honestly those are personal choices from my Top Rated playlist. They probably hold no consensus, but I do feel they must be mentioned come the situation you outline. AllMusic has a list of Top Indie Songs on their Indie Rock genre page that seems to echo many of the bands listed above, not so much the individual cuts. I think there's a subjectivity threshold between albums and songs that might keep you from getting too definitive, best of luck though.
posted by carsonb at 3:37 PM on January 7, 2007