Getting the spins

[Rex]

Yeah, that was the other one I was thinking about.

[govmentchedda]

It's a Pixies song, I guarantee it.

[mister d]

I’m not sure how they’re measuring, but I’d put my money on “Love Will Tear Us Apart”.

[govmentchedda]

XMU doesn't seem to ever really go that far back. Feels like Here Comes Your Man to me, but maybe Where Is My Mind.

[EnochRoot]

Sirius XMU is doing one of those top 500 countdowns this weekend. I used to love listening to those on old fashioned classic rock radio back in the day, even if everyone knew it was going to end up with Stairway to Heaven.

It’s not clear what the criteria are here but I guess it’s anything that you might have ever heard on the station going back to the beginning. They just played a Pavement song so I guess they consider the 90’s to be part of the era. So I thought of 2 questions which I’ll pose to the group:

1) When does “indie” actually begin as an era?
2) What is the #1 here? Is there a Stairway in indie rock yet? I’ve been thinking about it for about 20 minutes and my guess is Seven Nation Army. It’s the most iconic non-hip hop, non-pop song of the century, if only because every soccer team in the world uses it.

They’re culling data from their own listenership, as well as Pandora’s. Indie music’s been around forever. Basically, it started out as non-popular folk music, right? And for whatever reason, Tanita Tikaram’s “Twist in My Sobriety” just popped into my head.

[EnochRoot]

XMU doesn't seem to ever really go that far back. Feels like Here Comes Your Man to me, but maybe Where Is My Mind.

XMU shouldn’t have to go all the way back. If there can be 8 freakin ways to listen to heavy metal, there should be a few ways to listen to classic alternative music. But anyway, that Aquarium Drunkard show they broadcast goes down a bunch of rabbit holes.

[DaveInSeattle]

2) What is the #1 here? Is there a Stairway in indie rock yet? I’ve been thinking about it for about 20 minutes and my guess is Seven Nation Army. It’s the most iconic non-hip hop, non-pop song of the century, if only because every soccer team in the world uses it.

It seems pretty obvious to me...Its going to be 'Smells Like Teen Spirit".

[Rex]

Sirius has a separate station for 80’s new wave, and another station for 90’s grunge and everything Nirvana inspired, and I don’t think they would cut into the core songs from those stations. I think pretty soon they are going to have to lop off a new station for Naughties music or whatever they will call it, because XMU has always been about the here and now and a whole lot of “classics” from the early 2000s get left out.

[govmentchedda]

2) What is the #1 here? Is there a Stairway in indie rock yet? I’ve been thinking about it for about 20 minutes and my guess is Seven Nation Army. It’s the most iconic non-hip hop, non-pop song of the century, if only because every soccer team in the world uses it.

It seems pretty obvious to me...Its going to be 'Smells Like Teen Spirit".

It probably should, but that seems way more like the grunge station one channel below.

[mister d]

“Wake Up”?

[Rex]

Here’s the full list, courtesy Reddit. It’s in order:



No Killers at all (too mainstream)? A handful of White Stripes songs but none of their best known (???). Seemed to struggle with how to honor the old stuff. Also, their #1 song is like the 3rd or 4th best song on its own album. But good playlist at least.

[mister d]

Yeah, I forgot that’s kind of considered the top post-90s song from a band that hasn’t been kicked out of indie. Tons of good songs but every 10-20 there was a “wait, if they count for this list then how are they not higher” one.

[mister d]

(Killers, I think, are the new Coldplay. Came out credible before retroactively losing it.)

[brian]

I agree with that arc for Coldplay but don’t think it applies to The Killers. Their stuff is pretty good still but they got abandoned as “indie”, maybe understandably.

[mister d]

Vegas defends Vegas.

[Rex]

It’s one thing for a station to stop playing The Killers because they got too big, but it’s another to pretend that 15 years ago their listeners weren’t playing those Hot Fuss songs in rotation with the four songs that they ranked #1-4.

[mister d]

Maybe it’s ceases to be indie if it crosses over while still new? Like if you take a generic “music listener” age 30-50, they’ve almost assuredly heard “Mr. Brightside” and probably a couple others. I’d believe they’d never heard “Wake Up” or even “Float On”.

[A_B]

I’ve definitely heard float on but I bet I havent heard 90 percent of that list. Or at least don’t remember it to be able to place it by name.

[EnochRoot]

Handshake Drugs (Wilco) is better than 90% of those songs (and all of the “top ten”).

God damn I hate people. (0;

[brian]

You guys are all right. Modest Mouse isn’t indie at a certain point and the White Stripes and any of several bands you could name because the underdog isn’t as much fun to root for when it’s a favorite. We let ourselves off the hook for it when it’s sports sometimes but it’s the same idea.

[brian]

And you can say whatever you want about that list but that would be an awesome playlist if you had to choose one you couldn’t create yourself.

[mister d]

Was kinda hoping someone had.

[Rex]

[EnochRoot]

Apparently I have 111 of the top 500 in my Apple Music Cloud thingy. I do have to drive to NC from Palm Beach Gardens in a couple of days. I guess I could download the list...

[EnochRoot]

I downloaded the playlist.

It was a lot of fun to listen to during my drive back to MD (FL > NC (zzz) > MD).

Yet..I have opinions.

[mister d]

It worked really well for the weekend because its my basic music but stuff my wife mostly knew versus just running through an album like I tend to.

[mister d]

I've gone from really disliking Father John Misty to really enjoying his new one. Pretty stellar release day: the aforementioned, New Pornographers, Cory Brannan (has one of the better protest songs on it, for lack of a better word), The Weeks and Future Islands.

I keep hearing that the new Father John Misty is really good, but after seeing him be a total dick/diva (dickva?) at the KEXP benefit show in December, I'm pretty skeptical.

He's impossible to reconcile. I've given up.

I'm listening again now and his first album is just really, really good. He's a little closer to what I don't like about the Hold Steady these days but the older stuff still works.

[Giff]

I get to see him and Isbell in a few weeks.

[DaveInSeattle]

I get to see him and Isbell in a few weeks.

You must be talking about Father John Misty (or Father John Buzzkill as I now call him).

That same tour is going to be here this summer, but after seeing what a primidonna he was at the KEXP benefit a few years back (seriously...playing a 10 minute piano dirge, at midnight, and stopping halfway through and yelling at the people at the bars at the back of the venue to shut up), there's no way I could work up the desire to see him again.

[brian]

I get to see him and Isbell in a few weeks.

You must be talking about Father John Misty (or Father John Buzzkill as I now call him).

That same tour is going to be here this summer, but after seeing what a primidonna he was at the KEXP benefit a few years back (seriously...playing a 10 minute piano dirge, at midnight, and stopping halfway through and yelling at the people at the bars at the back of the venue to shut up), there's no way I could work up the desire to see him again.

That kind of actually makes me like him more.

[mister d]

I modified the quote and your opinion has really not changed. But #ImWithGiff in not minding that so much; if he's annoyed on the stage how do you think fans in the middle feel?

[Giff]

Yeah, I've had a couple artists do that, but I can't speak to the venue/atmosphere Dave was at. BJ from American Aquarium has no tolerance for that and will call out anyone who's talking during songs. The best was Chris Robinson after a Crowes' show pointing at a guy near the front, "everyone have a great night...except for you, mutherfucker. You didn't put your fucking phone down once".

[sancarlos]

This isn't quite the same thing, but it reminds me of a time back when I lived in Arlington, TX in the 80s. My best friend at that time managed a couple local bar bands. One night I went with him to see his most popular band play at a bar. It was a small place and right as they started their first song, some dick walked over and started playing the pinball machine. I walked over to him and asked him to stop it because the sound was interfering with the music. He said something that pissed me off, so I reached down and unplugged the machine and said something to him. It didn't end well for either of us, as we both ended up getting ejected.

[brian]

“Here Comes My Girl” is the best Tom Petty song and not sure there’s a close second. (And he has at least a dozen absolutely great songs.)

[EnochRoot]

“Here Comes My Girl” is the best Tom Petty song and not sure there’s a close second. (And he has at least a dozen absolutely great songs.)

It's probably my favorite song too, but others right up there would be "A Woman in Love", "Jammin' Me" and "Don't Come Around Here No More".

Still, his solo song, "I Won't Back Down" rallies the weakest among us to fight the good fight.

[sancarlos]

“Here Comes My Girl” is the best Tom Petty song and not sure there’s a close second. (And he has at least a dozen absolutely great songs.)

I don’t think it’s even the best song on its album. Of course there’s no right or wrong answer. Just opinions. Tom Petty has tons of songs I like, including that one.

[EnochRoot]

Sparks are so freakin good it's not funny. Or it is funny, cuz well, they're pretty funny.

[govmentchedda]

“Wildflowers” is the best Tom Petty song and not sure there’s a close second. (And he has at least a dozen absolutely great songs.)

FIFY, and "Down South" is an underrated classic.

[Rush2112]

[DaveInSeattle]

Yeah, I've had a couple artists do that, but I can't speak to the venue/atmosphere Dave was at. BJ from American Aquarium has no tolerance for that and will call out anyone who's talking during songs. The best was Chris Robinson after a Crowes' show pointing at a guy near the front, "everyone have a great night...except for you, mutherfucker. You didn't put your fucking phone down once".

It was at the KEXP Smooch Benefit show, which raises money for uncompensated care at Seattle Children's Hospital. Great cause, with bands playing short (4-5 songs), and lots of fund raising. If I remember, the other bands that night were Naked Giants (local kids), J Mascis, and New Pornographers.
So it had been a long night, crowd was pumped up (and drunk)...lots of positive energy in the room.

And then Father John Misty came out, sat at the piano, and played long slow dirges, and acted like a total diva. Which is his right, I suppose, but he just completely did not read the room at all.