(Untitled)

[taintedphallus]

Oh. My. Gods. VAST is amazing live. Even in a small venue with limited light show capacity, they did some really nice synaesthetic shit (Visual Audio Sensory Theater is their name, after all), and they have great stage presence. One of the fundamental building blocks of a good concert, as judged by me, is that not only are the performers having

Comments

[choirsoftheeye]

Three things:

1. Rateyourmusic genres are user-determined - don't like it y'should get an account and change it. And you can add anything. Like "hanky panky".
2. Indie Rock is a non-genre at this point - it basically encompasses anything that's even slightly not mainstream - as in, a little bit more off key than 3 Doors Down. Mostly a marketing tool, to make the kids feel all hip and shit.
3. Some Indie vocals don't suck, even by your standards (aka on-keyness). No, RLY.

[taintedphallus]

I know not all Indie vocals suck, Wilco and Pinback for example. But in general, the genre (as much as it is a genre) is almost defined by crappy vocals. Actually, it's defined by laziness: "I could play complex instrumentals, I could write less repetitive melodies, I could sing on-key and with some sense of style and tonality, but that would be less artistic." I know that's a generalization and therefore necessarily false, but it's what defines Indie in my mind. And in my world, there is a special hell for Modest Mouse and all their ilk...

[choirsoftheeye]

While I like Modest Mouse (which is hugely different from, say, freshman year), I think using them as representatives of all things "Indie" is a mistake, especially since they've been major label for the last 8 years. There is a certain type of "Indie"* Rock that is characterized by vocals that are more emotional than on-key (dfrn't values), but a lot of them do have complicated and interesting instrumentation (see, for example The Flaming Lips - Soft Bulletin, Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane over the Sea or Built to Spill - Perfect From Now On) And Indie Pop is very much characterized by on-key singing (Belle and Sebastian, etc.) And I don't think that there's necessarily a perception of more/less artistic for those values you placed - just an awareness that they're additional things that can be manipulated to have a different effect from music. (This has gotten into me defending things besides Indie, but anyways).

!!AND I think that Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica is well worth your time.

*See issues with that

[jenaflynn]

VAST is amazing. I'm quite jealous of you. I have yet to see them live.. And I hope they get out near Boston at some point.