Indie Rock | Musicosity

Indie Rock

The Dirty Feel

The Dirty Feel summon images of Godzilla stamping through London sneering 'Talk In the City' with their bombastic sound of heavy drums and grunge guitars. But be prepared for a surprise as this monster comes over all cuddly and sits down for a clap-along outro

Artist Type: 

The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States in 1983. Currently the band consists of founding members Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, theremin, keyboards) and Michael Ivins (bass, keyboards), longtime member Steven Drozd (keyboards, guitar, drums, synths, vocals) and Kliph Scurlock (drums) Although grounded in an indie rock/alternative approach to rock music, The Flaming Lips are known for their lush, multi-layered arrangements, spacey lyrics and bizarre song titles.

Afghan Whigs

American band the Afghan Whigs were a soul-influenced, alternative rock band that was mainly active in the 1990s. While achieving only moderate commercial success, the Afghan Whigs attracted ample critical acclaim and deeply loyal fans, Rolling Stone described the band as spending "the bulk of their career on the brink of stardom", yet they've "never quite broken beyond a substantial legion of devotees enamored of their thinly veiled sleaze."

Artist Type: 

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/indie%20rock" class="bbcode_tag" rel="tag">indie rock</a> band formed in New York City, New York, USA in the late summer of 2000 by <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Karen+O" class="bbcode_artist">Karen O</a>, born Karen Lee Orzolek (vocals), <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Nick+Zinner" class="bbcode_artist">Nick Zinner</a> (guitar, keyboards) and <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Brian+Chase" class="bbcode_artist">Brian Chase</a> (drums). The group's music melds genres ranging from <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/art%20punk" class="bbcode_tag" rel="tag">art punk</a> and <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/garage%20rock" class="bbcode_tag" rel="tag">garage rock</a> to <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/electronic" class="bbcode_tag" rel="tag">electronic</a> and <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/new%20wave" class="bbcode_tag" rel="tag">new wave</a>. Karen O is known for her screaming, bluesy vocals and energetic stage presence, complemented by her outrageously colorful costumes.

The Great Spy Experiment

Easily the hottest and most exciting new band in Singapore right now, the Great Spy Experiment have come a long way since their first gig in a dive bar in March 2005. Drawing influences from musicians as diverse as Ash, Explosions in the Sky, The Killers, Underworld, Franz Ferdinand, Mansun, Sigur Ros, Metallica, Radiohead, Kent, Force Vomit, Supergrass, Muse, Suede and Interpol, the band’s music can only be described as ‘a champagne-fuelled orgy of powerpop, indie, rock and dance, informed by everything except J-Lo’.

Artist Type: 

Shellac

Shellac (sometimes referred to as 'Shellac of North America') is an <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/american" class="bbcode_tag" rel="tag">american</a> rock music group formed in <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/chicago" class="bbcode_tag" rel="tag">chicago</a>, <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/illinois" class="bbcode_tag" rel="tag">illinois</a>, in 1992 by <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Steve+Albini" class="bbcode_artist">Steve Albini</a> (guitar and vocals), <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Bob+Weston" class="bbcode_artist">Bob Weston</a> (bass guitar vocals) and <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Todd+Trainer" class="bbcode_artist">Todd Trainer</a> (drums). They have been classified as <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/post-hardcore" class="bbcode_tag" rel="tag">post-hardcore</a>, <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/noise%20rock" class="bbcode_tag" rel="tag">noise rock</a> and <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/math%20rock" class="bbcode_tag" rel="tag">math rock</a>. Albini has claimed they refer to themselves as 'Shellac of North America', "when we're being pretentious."

The National

The National is a Brooklyn-based indie rock band formed in 1999, by friends from Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger in a distinctive, deep baritone. The rest of the band is composed of two pairs of brothers: Aaron Dessner (guitar, bass, keyboards), Bryce Dessner (guitar), Scott Devendorf (bass, guitar) and Bryan Devendorf (drums).

Their self-titled debut album"The National" (Brassland 2001) was recorded and released before they had played even a single show. They cut the album with engineer Nick Lloyd and formed a label with writer Alec Bemis, so those recordings could be released. Kerrang! magazine gave it four Ks, calling it "the stuff underground legends are made of."

The National made a second album, "Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers" (Brassland/Talitres 2003). The staff was the same, though Peter Katis, who produced "Turn on The Bright Lights" and "Antics" by Interpol, helped produce and mix, and Australian composer Padma Newsome from Clogs collaborated on arrangements and strings.

Following the first session of several for Bernard Lenoir on France's Radio Inter, an in-between EP was released, Cherry Tree, containing what would become the blueprint for the sound on their next record and the session of Sad Song's standout Murder Me Rachael. After these accolades and being impressed by their live show, Roger Trust signed them to Beggars Banquet.

A show at their favorite bar became a van ride to neighboring cities, became a plane ride to Europe, became two summers overseas. Their ties to those good jobs slackened. And they continue on their own path, moving out even further out in Brooklyn to Ditmas Park, where there is space and familiar suburban streets and even Geese on Beverly Road. Their album, "Alligator", much of which was recorded at their homes in Ditmas Park, was engineered by Paul Mahajan, who has worked with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV on the Radio. Padma Newsome camped out for a month with the band, and Peter Katis added more production and mixed the record at his house in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Berninger's potent baritone still intones about matters fraught and funny and sad; about record collections, missing persons and medium-sized American hearts. But the record's not simply gothic or miserablist -- more like the plays of Tennessee Williams, it's full of peculiar intimacies and awkward grace. Alligator's heroes are reckless and possessed seducers, but they are apologetic ones. In The National's imaginings, in songs alternately lush and spare, there is something twighlit and dreamy worked out in the basement of our brains.

"Abel," "Secret Meeting," and "Lit Up" were released as singles.

On May 22, 2007, The National released their follow-up to Alligator, Boxer, on Beggars Banquet. Taking advantage of the fact that nobody had heard their first album and earliest demos, Matt proceeded to steal lyrics and melodies from them and give them the attention they deserved while keeping the intimacy that made them special. They even managed to convince new friend Sufjan Stevens to lay down some piano tracks for them, and recorded the album in a scant 6 months after coming off the long post-Alligator road.

"Mistaken for Strangers", "Fake Empire" and "Apartment Story" have been released as singles. The band have just finished touring North America and are on a large European autumn/winter tour after playing high slots at several large festivals. In their Dec. 07/Jan. 08 issue, Paste magazine named Boxer best record of 2007.

The band's fifth album, High Violet, was released on May 10, 2010 by 4AD Records. "Bloodbuzz Ohio", "Anyone's Ghost" and "Terrible Love" were released as singles.

In 2013 their sixth studio record Trouble Will Find Me was released and named "Best New Music" by Pitchfork. The album contained the single "I Need My Girl". In 2015, the album outtake "Sunshine On My Back" was released.

Four years after Trouble Will Find Me, marking the longest timespan between albums in their career so far, they released their seventh album Sleep Well Beast on September 8th, 2017 and were yet again met with great critical success.

The National homepage: http://www.americanmary.com/
The National blog http://tntl.tumblr.com
The National on Twitter http://twitter.com/The_National
Brassland homepage: http://brassland.org/
Beggars Banquet homepage: http://www.beggars.com/ Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Artist Type: 

White Lies

There are at least three artists who have used this name
1. A popular indie band from London, England
2. A singer from Belgium
3. A rock band from Devon, England 1) A three-piece London indie band formed from the ashes of Fear of Flying in late 2007. The line-up consists of singer/guitarist Harry McVeigh, bassist/lyricist Charles Cave and drummer Jack Brown. Unfinished Business (released April 29th 2007) was their first single, released on Jack Brown's label Chess Club Records. This single was released on a vinyl 7" format only and was limited to 500 copies.

Artist Type: 

Mike Noga

Mike Noga is one of Melbourne's most prominent and active musicians, currently the drummer for The Drones, percussionist/drummer for Mick Turner, and former drummer in the Legends Of Motorsport and Sandro. Orginally from Southern Tasmania, Australia he moved to Melbourne at the tender age of 18. His first solo album ‘Folk songs’ was recorded and produced by J. Walker (Machine Translations). The album features guest appearances by Kirsty Stegwazi (The Bites), Andy McKenzie (Legends Of Motorsport) and Mr.

Artist Type: 

The Mountain Goats

The Mountain Goats is the musical project of singer-songwriter and guitarist John Darnielle. The New Yorker magazine referred to him as "America’s best non-hip-hop lyricist". In its June 2006 issue, Paste magazine named Darnielle one of the "100 Best Living Songwriters". Darnielle’s lyrics are literate and filled with imagery that reference classic literature, religion and mythologies, pop culture, art and history. Others are vague references to his stepfather, and with the 2005 album The Sunset Tree Darnielle finally offers a more intimate account of his experience as an abused child.