Expanding Indie-Rock: Selling Out, Mockery, and Dance Music

[Pic: Philip Klinger, 2009]

Indie-rock certainly does not need to jettison a class-based ethos. Other genres, from the cocaine-rap of Young Jeezy to the contemporary classical minimalism of Philip Glass, appeal primarily to very specific groups. Ideally though, music should promote cross-pollination. In fact, indie-rock appears to be following three different paths to expanding their listener base:

Jump to Pop
Start small. Write well. Run the local club gamut. Hone your skills. Get lucky. This classic formula for ‘selling out’ is such a dominant part of our collective psyche that it needs little explanation. Yet it provides a straightforward path for indie groups to expand beyond the college crowd. Just like Vampire Weekend before them, Thao and the Get Down started out as a local cult secret several years ago. Now “Bag of Hammers” plays in the background at JCrew and represents the commercial front of Clorox. Trade your dormitory soul for argyle v-necks and bleach wipes.

• Thao and the Get Down - Bag of Hammers
• Vampire Weekend - The Kids Don't Stand a Chance (Chromeo Remix)
  

Post-Modern Self-Deprecation

Critic and expose the very class structure that confines your genre. The most enjoyable method is the gangsta-rap cover song. Following the path blazed by Ben Folds Five, The Klaxons sardonic and brilliant cover of Blackstreet’s “No Diggity” is arguably better than the original, which attracts a more mainstream audience. All the while, the subtle mockery of the entire construct of musical ‘genres’ is instantly appealing to the English-major hipster crowd. As Tom Yorke bemoaned back in the Halcyon days of indie-rock, “this is our new song, just like the last one, a total waste of time. my iron lung.” So aloof, so hot right now.

• The Klaxons - No Diggity (Blackstreet Cover)
  
• Radiohead - My Iron Lung
  

Dance-Off
The burgeoning fusion of indie-rock and dance music over the past half-decade speaks to a more Dionysian path. Innovative producers, such as The Twelves from Brazil, remodel indie tracks into a funky amalgamation of base hedonism with beats so infectious that both Arcade Fire and Jeezy fans find themselves locked in a frantic pants-off dance-off. Of course, this simply shifts the genre from the insular structure of indie-rock to the more cosmopolitan dance music scene. While different groups certainly meld on the dance floor, socio-economic considerations never disappear. In fact, it’s possible that such divisions are merely remixed and amplified.

• The Twelves - 5 Minute Minimix for BBC Radio One
• Radiohead - Reckoner (The Twelves Remix)
• The Ting Tings - Great DJ (Calvin Harris Remix)
• The Knife - We Share Our Mother's Health (Trentemoller Remix)