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Hey! Let s re-define " major."

1 by Steve V_Archive
from Pitchfork wrote:What was your introduction to indie rock? Think back. Was it seeing the Replacements on "Saturday Night Live"? An R.E.M. video? A band t-shirt Kurt Cobain wore? Garden State? Hearing "Float On" on the radio?

We've all had those turning points in our lives (you probably wouldn't be reading Pitchfork right now if you hadn't!), but what about the next generation? What about those kids out there right now who don't know who Sonic Youth are (gasp!) or don't care about the Arcade Fire (shock!)? Who or what is going to be the gatekeeper for them?

According to Entertainment Weekly and Billboard, a group of independent (and "independent") labels are teaming up to put out a series of compilations aimed at seducing the newbie listener over to our way of life.

EW.com says that the comps will feature the likes of Bloc Party, the Shins, Bright Eyes, Air, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, M. Ward, Ted Leo, Cat Power, Silversun Pickups, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Sonic Youth, and that labels such as Vice, Matador, and Sub Pop will take turns putting out each volume.

However, both Matador and Sub Pop would not confirm their involvement in the series. Vice's label manager Adam Shore was quoted in Entertainment Weekly's article, but told Pitchfork that "those comments went out prematurely and all the information in there is not 100% confirmed."

Said information included Shore saying, "We're partnering with MTV2, and the focus is going to be Wal-Marts, big box stores, red states, and TV advertising-- to really go beyond... We don't really expect indie rock stores to support this record. It's for the casual fan."

MTV acknowledged that they have discussed the possibility of becoming involved in the series, but that nothing had been confirmed yet.

Billboard.com reports that the entire project is being "spearheaded" by the Alternative Distribution Alliance (or ADA, if you're cool), the Warner Music Group-owned company that distributes Vice, Sub Pop, Matador, and countless others. ADA had not responded to questions at the time of this story's publication.

So. Are these compilations actually coming out? Probably. Will they be on Vice, Matador, and Sub Pop? Maybe. Will MTV be involved? Not so sure.

But the most uncertain thing of all? Whether anybody will actually buy the things.



A friend of mine emailed me this at work.

Thoughts? Besides this being totally fucking retarded and just another nail in the independent music coffin?

Hey! Let s re-define " major."

4 by Skronk_Archive
Hmmm, how will this be independent if it's in every major shithole store? This "clever" campaign ought to be shot down before one booklet is printed. It's obvious those "indie" bands (Cat Power, The Shins, etc) would love to be plastered on MTV2, with their dicks held high to grab at that "stardom".
Marsupialized wrote:I want a piano made out of jello.
It's the only way I'll be able to achieve the sound I hear in my head.

Hey! Let s re-define " major."

8 by Minotaur029_Archive
Where I grew up (Mt. Prospect), it was hard for me to acquire music that wasn't strictly corporate in nature. As a result, it was hard to get any good music for a long time. Once in a while I'd get a ride to the record store in Hoffman Estates or that Rolling Stone record store where I'd get something by the Microphones or something...but there was all sorts of independent music I wanted...all sorts of independent music I wasn't exposed to...I only had so much money...

I would have loved a compilation like this when I was still a moron. I don't like most of the bands listed (exception: Cat Power [still, she's grossly overrated]) but such a CD would have been an important stepping stone from pure dumbassery to poser hipster-dom. When I was younger, something endorsed by MTV would have made it easier to digest as well (weren't you a stupid kid once?).

When I was like 13, crappy radio stations like 92.7 KISS FM and MTV helped me to get back into music (I was a Beatles FANATIC when I was very young, but that intense love faded in the latter half of the '90s...probably replaced by video games, politics, girls, and sports). Their bullshit marketing ploys were exciting to me...corporate whoredom is what I (and every American [at least around my age]) grew up with...I could understand and even relate to that horseshit. I thought that having videos and commercials made a band more exciting...somehow more "legitimate." I would have rejected a compliation from say, the OC, but MTV carried some weight in my pre-teen/early teen years.

I don't think that earlier exposure to quality music would have made me more well versed on the subject now, but it was rough for me growing up...I just didn't have anything to believe in...I had a lot of problems, a lot of confusion, a lot of pain. It would have been nice to get exposed to some lesser bullshit as I blazed my trail away from douchebaggery.


As for the bands involved...well shit, shouldn't all of them just be on major labels already? Fuckers.
kerble wrote:Ernest Goes to Jail In Your Ass

Hey! Let s re-define " major."

9 by Barbo_Archive
This is really nothing new. I personally don't see a difference between making a comp for Wal-Mart and making a comp for Hot Topic. Plenty of labels (Deep Elm, Saddle Creek, Volcom, Tooth and Nail, Ferret, the Militia Group, Hopeless, Fat, Epitaph, Fueled By Ramen, etc.) have spent a great deal of time and money trying to market an image. It is disgusting no matter what store they try to sell it through.

Jon
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