“It’s arguable that Feist isn’t indie (Cherrytree, her U.S. label, is owned by Interscope), and some might say that her commercial breakthrough and her agreeable sound may strongly correlate to that fact. But she’s still on the independent Arts & Crafts label in Canada. And to those who use the word “Indie” in it’s broadest capital-I formulation, her indie-rock status is more about dear Leslie wearing tights or having bangs than her corporate affiliations.” Don’t you hate when sorta-on-point commentary is interrupted by a badly placed apostrophe? [NY Press]
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Wow, and that right there is exactly what’s wrong about capital-I Indie — style over substance. The end.
Actually i think talking about an “agreeable sound” as if it’s a bad thing is what’s wrong with indie (in any capitalization you like).
I can see disliking something because it’s simplistic or facile, but disliking things on principle because they sound PLEASANT??
7th grade was a long time ago. Grow up.
We all know “independent” music tends to sound terrible (don’t kid yourselves, if they were talented enough to have a real deal they would) and “indie” music…wait, they play music? I always assumed it was more about the wardrobe.
After the apostrophe I couldn’t read the rest of it.
Man, am I glad I didn’t sell those tights when I sold out to the Man! Now I can still be indie!
A question and a comment: first, how old is this column? Because: “Just a few days before The Press went to print, in fact, the song had its penultimate airing: a live-TV Grammy performance.” (also, what would its ultimate performance be, if live at the Grammies is merely penultimate?)
Second, not to be douche about it, but a certain someone wrote about this exact topic–invoking Feist but also Sebadoh and the Who!–nearly a year ago.
When your label brings in a successful co-writer and has you collaborate on a song they pitch to Apple, you are also no longer “indie”…
@femstix: Is this a real comment? If they were talented enough to have a deal they would? Boy, someone’s never worked in the music biz before!
As for the it’s/its thing…yeah, it’s bad to an American, but the rest of the English-speaking world considers this acceptable, no? It drives me batty, but Brits and others do this all the time.
@Lucas Jensen: I have a new staff writer who’s from Scotland, and I’ve become much less rabid when I see it’s as opposed to its.
It isn’t really acceptable anywhere. It’s just, liek, wrong.
@the rich girls are weeping: Wow, really? It doesn’t strike me as a quirky color/colour thing, or (not gonna make a joke) an oxford comma. It’s is a contraction, its is possessive.
The Brits are wrong!
@scott pgwp: Not wrong to them, though. They kind of, you know, invented the language.
It is wrong to them…
When you play in Toronto at the ACC…you are no longer “indie”…