Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with indie

Indie Yule Music

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 08:34:49 -0800

I need some Yule music. With kind of an indie rock feel if possible. Stuff that is a cross between Belle and Sebastian and the sountrack for the Wicker Man with a winter yule theme. This is anon because its for a surprise evening dinner/birthday party. Please suggest any songs/whole albums. Thank you!

Please help me remember the name of this 90s indie filmmaker

colinmarshall — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:40:37 -0800

Please help me remember the name of a 1990s indie film director. I'm trying desperately to remember the name of a filmmaker I've heard of, but I can't think of his movies' titles or anything else that's objectively Googlable. Here is what I know about him for sure:

- He's known as an "indie" filmmaker, and made a numerous of movies in the 90s and perhaps late 80s. I don't think he works as frequently anymore, if at all.
- His films tend to be modern-day comedies of manners, set in NYC or similar urban areas, whose characters are considered somewhat "cruel."
- My memory considers him to be "like Whit Stillman," though it also mentally lumps him with Tom DiCillio, Neil LaBute and, to an extent, Noah Baumbach. (My memory does not lump him with Kevin Smith.)
- He was born in 1959, or thereabouts.
- He has a floppy, middle-parted haircut and a beard (in most of his photos).
- His name might include the words "Jonathan," "Spencer" or versions thereof. But it may well not. (It's not a distinctive name, which might be why I have such a tough time recalling it.)
- He's married to a Japanese or Japanese-American woman. (Of this I am absolutely sure.)

I wanna shred you up!

sprocket87 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:14:12 -0800

Looking for recommendations of modern indie rock artists that aren't afraid to shred & solo - on the electric guitar, not a Casiotone. I'm a major music fan with tastes all over the board. For the past couple years I've been super heavy in the indie world. Much of what I've been listening to is quite, shall we say, "eclectic", and very experimental. I've noticed that prominent use of the guitar seems to be languishing in such music. It's present, yes, but subdued, scrubbed through a sea of effects, and diluted either into a wash of supplemental melody or a wall of noise. The Moog solo has replaced the guitar solo - and though that isn't a bad thing per se, I want to get back to my roots, so to speak.

I feel like I'm ready to go through an electric guitar rennaissance. I miss the riffs, energy, and lead of yore. Few 90's alt songs were lacking a decent solo, and I really miss that.

So, what can you recommend? I'm NOT looking for "classic" examples of solo-centric bands (classic rock, 90s alt, metal, etc). I've got plenty to choose from there (though, for examples' sake, Pink Floyd fits the bill nicely - really experimental music that employed guitar solos masterfully, yet weren't a silly shredder hair band either).

I'm looking for recent/up & coming bands that aren't afraid to turn the amps to 11 and bust out some righteous solos, or, at the minimum, that use the guitar in a technically impressive fashion, instead of just a yawn-inducing strum box.

Note: I'm not just looking for loud, power-chord-weilding indie bands (Glasvegas, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, etc). I love this stuff too, but I want to hear some riffs, man!

Examples:

The White Stripes (their older, more guitar-centric stuff - Ball & Biscuit, etc)
Apollo Up! (This is pretty much exactly what I'm talking about)
Some B.R.M.C.
Alberta Cross, a little
Eh... can't think of any others at the moment?

Don't feel that it has to be restrained to a certain genre, per se, but I'm not looking for pure metal (Uneath, Skeletonwitch, etc). Like I said, lots of easy choices there. I'm looking for more eclectic, indie-oriented groups that incorporate heavy guitar lead into their music.

Thanks!

Electro remixes of indie/pop music?

mikeweeney — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:54:54 -0800

Can you recommend good electro remixes of indie / pop music? One of my favorite examples is the Twelve's remix of the Black Kid's I'm Not Gonna Teach your Boyfriend.

Also, I really like this version of Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl.

Any other good remixes you've heard, or artists that regularly do this kind of thing?

97 covers of "book of love": go.

thinkingwoman — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:08:51 -0800

help me make a cool, sweet, smart, fun ipod mix for my wedding! bonus points if you have suggestions for processional/recessional music. we're both in our 30's, creative professionals, with wide-ranging tastes. it's a lunch reception with no dance floor, so we're looking for a nice soundtrack for a lot of drinking and talking and eating. leaning toward lush-and-pretty or spare-and-pretty indie(ish) pop/rock. like a mildly edgier and more diverse version of the "grey's anatomy" soundtrack.

here are some songs i am thinking of contributing to the mix:

"book of love" - mike doughty's version (honestly i could just put "golden delicious" on repeat and be done with it, but it's a wedding, you gotta make the effort)
"in your eyes" - peter gabriel
"as is" - ani difranco
"crazy little thing called love" - queen
"the way i am" - ingrid michaelson
"i want you to be my love" - over the rhine
"first day of my life" - bright eyes
"white trash wedding" - dixie chicks
"all of my days" - alexi murdoch
"all i want is you" - u2
"silver lining" - rilo kiley
"when the day is short" - martha wainwright (slightly inappropriate, but whatever, i like it)

he likes most ska, all those bands that sound like the yeah yeah yeahs, and white stripes, but there's not a lot there that we'd be happy playing for great aunt miriam.

ideas?

My neighbors will kill me if they hear "PYT" one more time.

zoomorphic — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:37:48 -0800

I need to update my dance-y indie music selection. My playlist is so 2007. Due to a change in jobs, I no longer listen to Pandora/Last.fm stations, so my awareness of recent music has plummeted. I like a pretty wide range of songs, but right now I'm specifically looking for upbeat, catchy indie music that I can play on a Friday night when friends come over for a drink, or for when I bring my iPod on a run. Right now this playlist includes stuff like MGMT, Black Kids, the Tings Tings, Handsome Furs, old Michael Jackson, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, etc. This question was interesting but still too electronic-heavy. As I am the most predictable, low-brow listener when it comes to locating the most single-ish single on an album, it would help plenty if you could specify songs rather than just albums and artists.

My roommates, friends, and headphones thank you in advance!

French indie pop/electro?

decoherence — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 11:08:21 -0800

What's some good, danceable French indie pop/electro? I was recently at a party in NYC that was mostly 20-something French hipster kids. The DJ, also French, was playing a lot of great music I'd never heard before. I'm not positive it was all French, but much of it was, and some people mentioned it was the sort of stuff they regularly danced to in Paris. It was less techno/house-ish (no Daft Punk), and more along the lines of, say, Phoenix, Cut Copy, or the Knife's "Heartbeats" -- melodic, a bit spacey, medium tempo, maybe some disco influences. Some of the songs were even a bit lounge-y.

Does anyone have any suggestions for bands to check out that might fit the above description? Or does anyone in Paris know what the "cool kids" are listening to, French or not, that might not have made its way over to the States yet?

if u live on the road theres a new highway code

Potomac Avenue — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:17:26 -0800

My band is going on a national rock tour: what should I know? Unexpectedly, a pretty big-time act wants this indie/psych group I play with to open for them on about 40 dates this fall. The dates are almost all booked, with a little break in the middle.

I have read this thread, and this thread, so I've got a pretty good idea about what to bring in the van, but mainly I'd like to know what you wish you'd known before your own band headed out on tour, or what you, as someone tangentially involved in the music scene in your town, wished that touring bands knew about.

Also: It's been 10 years since I went on the road what kinda stuff should I expect to have changed or be vital to know about now? What resources (besides BYOFL, which as far as I can tell is useless now) most came in handy when you were playing shows around?

FYI I am also the manager/publicist/booking agent and everything else. We have a self-released album and some t-shirts as a starter kit. We're buying a van. We walk the streets at night, we go where eagles dare.

Buying CDs online

woodway — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 07:37:38 -0800

What online music retailers would you recommend? I'm interested in CDs, new and used, preferably from an independent outfit. Does your favorite bricks & mortar store have an online site? Is there an AbeBooks type of clearinghouse for smaller sellers? I don't have a lot of options in town; Best Buy isn't doing it for me, and I want an alternative to Amazon.

I found the perfect job... but it's in Amsterdam

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:37:09 -0800

I found a job posting from a Mac software developer for a support/QA guru that pretty much sums up exactly what I want in a job right now. However, circumstances are not right for this particular position. How can I still do this as a job? For context, here's an abridged version of the job posting, from SOFA's job openings page:

Sofa is looking for a full-time support and QA professional to join its team. Excellent written and conversational English is required. Fluency in Dutch, French, German or another big language is a plus, as is having prior experience as a customer liaison – either in support, sales, or another customer-facing role.

You will be working 40 hours a week from our Amsterdam office (relocation to Amsterdam area required) [...] There will be plenty of room for you to learn, grow and have a good time. Your tasks will vary from answering support emails, monitoring and responding to questions on our forums, and filing, reproducing and triaging bug reports, to testing new releases, authoring end-user documentation for our products and working closely with the rest of our team to prioritize bugs and feature requests.

We employ people who show initiative and have strong opinions. You are encouraged and expected to push the envelope for support, documentation and software quality.

If you care deeply about how people experience using their computers, and have a soft spot for well-made Mac software, please email [...]

After randomly stumbling upon this page the other day, I've started to realize that it's pretty much the perfect job for where I am in life right now. I am extremely passionate about Macs and indie Mac software, and I'm a novice Cocoa developer myself. I love writing, and I love helping and teaching people, and I have had at least six years of tech support experience, with the past two being almost entirely Mac support. (The truth is that I've gotten really sick of Windows/PC support and I'm trying to escape it at all costs.) The real catch is the whole moving to Amsterdam thing. Not that I don't think moving to Amsterdam would be cool, it's just not really a viable option for my family right now. Bummer.

So even though that's a letdown, I began to wonder if services like that would be valuable to indie Mac and iPhone developers as a freelance sort of thing. With the tons of new Mac and iPhone users come the potential for a lot more support requests. Though support requests may not warrant a full-time employee for many developers, I can imagine many of them being willing to pay someone to offload those requests.

Am I off base? Do freelance positions like this already exist? I haven't found anything significant on Google if they do. If they don't already exist, is this really a viable goal to pursue? How do I get my name out there as freelance Mac software support guru and technical writer extraordinaire? What skills should I enhance to make myself marketable?

Really, any feedback at all regarding this idea will do. Words of affirmation, words of warning... Even if you'd like to crush my dreams and tell me this will never work. I'd especially like to see some comments from indie developers. I know there are several of you out there on MeFi. Keep in mind, I'm not making this my ultimate career goal, but it is a big stepping stone to becoming an indie Mac/iPhone developer myself. Also, I'm not quitting my day job tomorrow or anything.

What is this song that sounds like the Kinks but probably isn't?

AV — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:56:52 -0800

Please help me identify this song: it sounds like the Kinks, but I think it's more recent. Has something like "she asks, 'do you love me?' but she means, 'will you respect me?'" in the lyrics. I am usually pretty good at identifying random music but this one has me stumped. I heard it on the radio probably a year ago or more, but since I pretty much only listen to CBC radio or NPR it's definitely not a Top 40-type song. It sounded like the Kinks, but I think it's more likely to be one of the myriad modern indie bands that sound like the Kinks. It was about relationships and had a "person says X, person means Y" theme to its lyrics. The one line I can remember is something like, "she asks, do you love me, but she means will you respect me?" Since google turns up nothing on that, I have probably not remembered it 100% correctly. I am pretty sure I heard it on CBC radio, so it may very well be a Canadian band.

Any ideas? Every once in awhile this pops into my head and drives me nuts until I forget about it again.

Sonic Youth or Smiths?

cachondeo45 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:56:21 -0800

Rock 101 Filter (literally): I'm giving a lecture on popular music from 1984 - 2000. (!) I'm teaching by style (in 1.5 hours). I'm having a tough time with alternative, punk, and indie rock. Whaddya think? This is an overview lecture to (mostly) educators about popular music from roughly 1984 - 2000. The genres I will discuss (and are not up for debate) are the following:

*hip-hop
*punk
*dance pop
*alternative
*grunge
*riot grrrl
*metal
*pop
*electronica
*indie

I understand that you would have chosen X or Y over Z, but that's not the issue. I have time to play one musical example (or video) from each style. I will briefly discuss other artists from different parts of each decade. For example, for the hip-hop section, I will play "King of Rock" by Run-D.M.C., but I will also mention albums by NWA, TuPac, Will Smith, Dr. Dre and Jay-Z.

Now for the questions:
What example do you think I should play for the punk, alternative, and indie sections? And what artists do you think I should mention for these sections? These are the styles that are dearest to my heart and I'm having a tough time deciding. For example, I think that it's very important to discuss DIY, so I'd like to play Fugazi, but at the same time, I don't want to alienate my audience (primarily K-12 educators).

I know that this will open up all kinds of cans of worms about genre, style, etc., but I'm really looking for your opinions about what to play and why. Remember, this may be the only opportunity for these individuals to hear Sonic Youth or the Pixies, but I also want them to be able to relate, if only slightly, to some aspect of what I'm addressing (so would it be better to play REM for the alternative section?).

Thanks in advance!

Canadian Indie radio?

Sufi — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:12:43 -0800

Where can I listen to Canadian Indie radio, online? I'm a huge fan of the XM/Sirius channel "The Verge", a Canadian independent/new artist station. Recently the sound quality has gone down the drain so I'm in the market for an alternative radio station.

Are there any other sources for Canadian Indie music? Preferably available online; cost is not an issue.

Indie music to listen to while I write in my diary?

serak — Sun, 03 May 2009 12:43:07 -0800

So I just watched the fourth episode of Scrubs season 8 with the song Close Your Eyes by Young Love. What are some other sissy-rock songs that are worth crying over (more Further by Longview than, I dunno, Nick Drake or something)?

Vocal mix of Primal Scream's "Come Together"?

pompomtom — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:15:48 -0800

Where could I find the vocal mix of Primal Scream's "Come Together"? There is a mix of Primal Scream's Come Together, which includes (I believe) Bobby Gillespie singing a breathy vocal line which starts out "Kiss me, won't you won't you kiss me?". I believe this was released on the original 12", back in the day.

Can anybody tell me the name of the mix, and whether it was reissued on any compilations anywhere?

chad vangaalen's echo trian

madmamasmith — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:20:56 -0800

does anyone know the guitar chords/ tab for Chad Vangaalen's echo train? PLease....

Name that soul-crushingly sad indie flick

afabulousbeing — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:05:41 -0800

I'm attempting to track down the title of a film I saw years ago on the IFC that ended with a botched suicide/murder attempt by a troubled adolescent girl... If I recall, the movie may very well have been in black and white, but in any case, it was the very poignant, dark ending that stood out most for me and that I hope might spark a mefite's memory. I only have the vaguest recollection of events leading up to the movie's finale, but I seem to recall that the girl was out looking for work and temporarily landed a job in either a fastfood or newspaper stand (?).

Anyhow, the last scene takes place inside a trailer where her mother/female caretaker is lying passed out and the girl is making plans to kill them both by filling the room up with gas. She soon discovers however that more gas is needed so she leaves in order to obtain a gas tank from a man nearby. As she's dragging this tank behind her determinedly (and all the while, maintaining a blank face), a young teenaged boy who she had befriended earlier in the film comes biking up to her and begins circling around her incessantly. He doesn't say anything, and she, likewise, keeps silent while struggling to move onwards back to the trailer. Except...something finally gives. She stops and he stops, and she begins to cry. Finis.

Might anyone be able to tell me the name of the movie? If so, thanks in advance.

How to age a t shirt 30 years in a week?

ilovehistory — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 21:14:14 -0800

How can you speed-up the process of a T-short becoming thin, worn, and soft? I don't care about discoloration. Specifically I mean so worn that you can make out a person's chest through the shirt as if it's wet. I heard that the Japanese have method they use. Perhaps letting it soak in bleach for days? Sandpaper something?

Where's best on the net to get information about new documentaries (in order to interview their makers)?

colinmarshall — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:46:24 -0800

Where are the best places on the web for news, information — and, if available — streaming versions/trailers of new indie documentaries? (I'm interested in interviewing their directors on the radio and thus promote the films.) Some additional background: I do an interview radio program (and podcast) on which I talk mostly with authors, but I'd like to branch out and interview documentarians as well. I have a decent stable of places to find out what's up with new books, but it's tougher to get a line on indie docs that don't have studio backing or wide distribution, much less contact info for the filmmakers themselves.

WWGPS? (Where Would Gram Parsons shop)

drjimmy11 — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 14:01:47 -0800

WWGPS? (Where Would Gram Parsons shop) I'm looking to buy some clothes, hat and etc. in the "alt country" or "indie country" style, whatever you want to call it. Stuff like this and this, or like some of the men's fashions shown here. I am not so much into tank tops, but I like the hats, maybe the boots, and country style in general, as well as the kind of "earth tones/elbow-patches" look in the first two jpegs.

So, where can I buy stuff like this in the greater L.A. area, either thrift or new?

The question is about where I can buy this stuff, not if you think it's a good idea for me to dress like this, or if you personally like this style, or what you think of country music or Conor Oberst. thanks!!

Help me find some weeknight movies to watch <3

Precision — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:18:33 -0800

Can anyone recommend some cutesy indie films to me, in the style of Garden State and I'm Reed Fish? Feel-good love stories, but with a little I first saw Garden State years ago, and absolutely loved it. The quirkiness and charm was wonderful. I saw "I'm Reed Fish" last night, and thought it was also good (but not as good as Garden State). Can anyone recommend some movies in the same vein?

Criteria:
1. Somewhat clean (I know Garden State is rated R, but it still wasn't *that* bad).
2. Happy ending (Or at least decidedly bittersweet. Both movies have left me feeling thoroughly satisfied. I like that.)
3. Love story (Looking for bland, vanilla, heterosexual love stories like in this movie. Something easily relatable.)

Also, please nothing far too chick flicky. Both movies aren't the manliest movies out there, but hey, I have a soft side.

Both movies are also "coming-of-age" movies. I'm 18 years old, and I've found that I love watching these, or any movies in general about maturing and growing into adulthood, more and more. Bonus points for that.

Suggest away.

Punk rock / indie tunes about babies?

psmealey — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 09:12:47 -0800

Any good indie or punk rock songs about babies, young children as tributes or goofs? I was looking to put a mixed CD together as a gift for some friends with young children, and the theme was alt-ish/indie/punk songs about kids... either as genuine tributes, or quirky throw-aways. I thought this would be relatively easy, but all I'm coming up with is Sleater-Kinney's "Little Babies", The Presidents' "Drool on You", Talking Heads' "Stay up Late", and that's about it. Any suggestions or resources?

Help me remember the name of this acclaimed recent indie film.

overglow — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:07:42 -0800

Help me remember the name of this acclaimed recent indie film. Within the past couple months, I read somewhere online about a new independent film. I'm not sure if it had won an award or just gotten a lot of praise from critics--I seem to remember the phrase "film of the year" being used. I remember that the film used animation (maybe along with, or over top of video footage) and dealt with both personal and philosophical issues. It may have been compared to Waking Life or I just might have thought it sounded similar. I think that the director was Asian-American, and maybe the film talked about the Asian-American immigrant experience and ideas of reincarnation. I believe the website of the film had a brown background with an image of a many-legged insect crawling across it. Do you know of any films this could be? Thanks!

Production values are overrated

aspo — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:06:39 -0800

For the past 6-7 years I've owned a mac and therefore paid very little attention to the indie freeware/shareware pc games scene. Recently I got a copy of crossover for my macbook and I'm looking for good places to find small, quality, non resource-intensive games to play. In the past I've really enjoyed games like Dwarf Fortress or Dominions, games that were built by one or two guys on their off hours as a labor of love.

Now that I've got crossover, I've not only been playing some of great abandonware games of my semi-youth, I've also been having a blast staying up way past my bedtime playing old pc games like Space Empires 4 and Slay. But where can I find more games like these? Especially with 5+ years old games it seems really hard to find the gems out there.

How to rent out my video equipment?

JMB1138 — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:45:19 -0800

Where to list my video equipment for rental? I've accumulated what I think would be a great equipment package for no-budget indie filmmakers to rent in the New York area. Canon HV20 and HV30 HDV video cameras, plus a dual-channel wireless lav microphone system that I used to shoot a big project recently. I was thinking of trying to rent it all out as a package at a competitive rate to earn some extra cash while it's just sitting around collecting dust. Where's the best place to list something like this?