Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Music
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Music

Lesson Objective

• Audit prior knowledge of the Indie genre

• Understand the chronology of the genre

• Identify the stylistic fingerprints of the genre

• Identify the influence and legacy of the genre

 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Music
• Indie music appeared from the ashes of the punk scene

• During the 1980s it was difficult to get your music heard if you were not on a
major label

• Like the DIY scene in Punk music lots of small, independent labels began to
appear to finance, produce and distribute alternative bands

• The name indie refers to the independent labels that house the bands

• A lot of the earliest bands on these labels were considered to be post-punk and
new wave

• Although these bands on these labels didn't all sound similar, they were often
grouped together due to the way the music was made and released
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Music
• A common characteristic of these indie bands in they would often rebel against
the mainstream, both in their sound and look

• Some later indie bands tended to look back, retrospectively to the 1960s and
1970s for inspiration

• During the 1990s indie rock movements like Grunge and Britpop saw artists
breaking into the mainstream and signing to the big major labels

• Later, despite to more and more acts following suit and signing to major labels,
this type of guitar based music was still referred to as Indie

• Indie music has many umbrella genres such as College Rock, Grunge, Noise
Rock, Shoe Gaze, Space Rock, Britpop, Riot Grrl, Emotional Hardcore,
Indietronica and revivalist genres such as Garage Rock and Post Punk
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Music 1980s

• Indie rock bands on both sides of the Atlantic made efforts to distance
themselves from the Synthpop and later hair metal that was dominating MTV and
therefore the charts during the 1980s

• In the UK, bands such as Joy Division, Orange Juice, Echo and The Bunnymen
and The Smiths became figureheads of the Indie Rock movement whilst in the US
bands such as R.E.M, 10,000 Maniacs, The dB’s and Violent Femmes bacame part
of the similar College Rock scene.

• These bands weren't theatrical like the Synthpop and Glam Metal bands of the
time.

• They were influenced by Punk, 60’s Rock acts like The Bryds and Garage Rock

• The production of these records also differed significantly from mainstream rock
and pop
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Rock (1980s)

Listen to the following playlist

List the similarities in each song
List the differences to the 1980s mainstream music

Differences to mainstream Similarities to each other

 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Rock (1980s)

Listening Task

Listen to Blister In The Sun by Violent Femmes

1. Describe the relationship between the guitar and bass in the verse?
2. The guitar solo consists of a single note that the harmony moves around, what is this
called?
3. What characteristics of this track make it sound live?
4. This track could be referred to as Lo-fi, what is meant by this?
5. This song has been remastered. What is remastering?
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Rock (1980s)

Artists (We will research more artists in the future)

• REM
• The Smiths
• The La’s
• Orange Juice
• The Housemartins
• Joy Division
• Stone Roses
• Happy Mondays
• The dBs
• Echo and the Bunnymen
• Violent Femmes

• Playlist
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Rock (1980s)

Performance & Arrangement

• Clean, jangly guitars

• Limited overdubs

• Very few studio effects or production elements

• Influenced by 60s and 70s guitar music

• Use of chorus and short delays on guitars

• Pop orientated arrangement

• Focus on lyrics
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Music
1990s
 
Recorded to tape 16-24 channel machines (more channels could be achieved by slaving
machines together) and digital hard-disk recording
‘Back to Basics’ with more live sounding productions
Thicker LF than those of the 80s, less reverb and lushness of the 70s
Subtle use of effects and reverbs
Dryer sounding mixes
Subtle use of panning (more like a live stage)
Many mixes seem similar to modern mixes
Wide spread use of sampled breaks and loops in dance and hip-hop and even rock music
Heavy 60s and 70s influence on rock music
Heavy master compression resulting in loud mixes (beginning of loudness wars)
 
Genres
 
Grunge Rock, Indie Rock, Britpop, Manufactured Pop, Rave, Drum and Bass, Trance, Trip
Hop, Hardcore Dance, Gangsta Rap, Big Beat
Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Grunge
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Grunge
• Grunge evolved from the harder, distorted Indie Rock that was developing in the
US in the late 1980s

• Bands such as Pixies, Dinosaur Jr. and Husker Du pioneered a sound that owed
as much to Heavy Rock bands like Black Sabbath as it did to to 60s and 70s Rock
and Punk

• The Grunge movement was centred around Seattle, Washington

• Sub Pop records were the label most closely associated with Grunge

• Grunge was characterised by its sludgy guitar sounds, slower tempos, raw
production and angst ridden lyrics

• Bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice In Chains became
figureheads of the movement

• Watch
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Grunge

Performance & Arrangement

• Distorted Guitars

• Slow, sludgy tempos

• Use of fuzz and other extreme effects

• Lo-fi production, limited use of reverb and other studio effects

• Angst-ridden lyrics

• Harsh, shouted vocals

• Some solos but not the extreme virtuoso performances of 80s metal
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Britpop
• Britpop was the name given to the vast slew of British Indie bands that
dominated the charts and the (British) music press in the mid 1990s

• It was a reaction to the dominance of grunge and other US-centric music in the
UK pop charts

• It had a very British identity and marked a period of great pride in the British
creative industries

• Britpop bands tended to have quite a retro 60s and 70s sound. Blur were
reminiscent of The Kinks, Suede of David Bowie and Oasis of The Beatles

• Bands tended to be proud of their ‘Britishness’ either in their lyrics, appearance

or influences
Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Britpop
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Britpop

Listen to the following songs

List the similarities in each song – What are the similarities
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Britpop

Documentary
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Music

Instrumentation

• Drums
• Bass
• Guitar
• Vocals
• Some Organ
• Some Piano
• Vocals
• Some Synthesisers
• Limited Backing vocals
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Music

Instrumentation:
Vocals (usually male)
Backing Vocals
Two guitarists – Lead and Rhythm
Keyboards
Bass
Drums
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Music

Performance and Arrangement:

Guitar as the main harmonic instrument
Guitar sounds commonly associated with indie are often referred to as
jangly – a fairly light tone, often picked, sustained arpeggios with effects
Vocals are often fairly understated, with a melancholy or introspective
feel
Backing vocals are not usually a big feature, so the music tends to be
relatively sparse
Some songs are long and loosely structured, almost like extended jams
around a groove
Solos do not form a very important part of the music
 
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Music

Technology and Production:

Guitar amplifiers and effects play a big part in the sound of Indie music –
The light, sustained tone and use of delays is common in many bands
DIY production ethic, low budget recordings based on simple capture of
live performances.
 
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Music

 Influences:
UK Rock (The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks)
Velvet Underground and Psychedelic Rock
Punk Rock
Funk
House
 
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Music

In the United Kingdom the C86 cassette, a 1986 NME compilation

featuring Primal Scream, The Pastels, The Wedding Present and other
bands, was a document of the UK indie scene at the start of 1986. It gave
its name to the indie pop scene that followed, which was a major
influence on the development of the British indie scene as a
whole. Major precursors of indie pop included Postcard bands Josef
K and Orange Juice, and significant labels
included Creation, Subway and Glass. The Jesus and Mary Chain’s sound
combined the Velvet Underground’s “melancholy noise” with Beach
Boys pop melodies and Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound”
production, while New Order emerged from the demise of post-punk
band Joy Division and experimented with techno and house music.
 
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Music

The Jesus and Mary Chain, along with Dinosaur Jr, indie pop and
the dream pop of Cocteau Twins, were the formative influences for
the shoegazing movement of the late 1980s. Named for the band
members’ tendency to stare at their feet and guitar effects
pedals onstage rather than interact with the audience, acts like My
Bloody Valentine, and later Slowdive and Ride created a loud “wash of
sound” that obscured vocals and melodies with long, droning riffs,
distortion, and feedback. The other major movement at the end of the
1980s was the drug-fuelled Madchester scene. Based around The
Haçienda, a nightclub in Manchester owned by New Order and Factory
Records, Madchester bands such as Happy Mondays and The Stone
Roses mixed acid house dance rhythms, Northern soul and funk with
melodic guitar pop. 
 
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Music

The 1990s brought major changes to the alternative rock

scene. Grunge bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden,Hole,
and Alice in Chains broke into the mainstream, achieving commercial
chart success and widespread exposure. Punk revival bands like Green
Day and The Offspring also became popular and were grouped under the
“alternative” umbrella. Similarly, in the United Kingdom Britpop saw
bands like Blur and Oasis emerge into the mainstream, abandoning the
regional, small-scale and political elements of the 1980s indie scene.
 
 Area Of Study 2: Pop Music Styles Since 1910

Indie Music

The term “indie rock” became associated with the bands and genres that
remained dedicated to their independent status. Even grunge bands,
following their break with success, began to create more independent
sounding music, further blurring the lines. Ryan Moore has argued that in
the wake of the appropriation of alternative rock by the corporate music
industry that what became known as indie rock increasingly turned to
the past to produce forms of “retro” rock that drew on garage
rock, rockabilly, blues, country and swing.