The Indie Thread

[brightlights]

The Headphones album was a little disapponting, but there are some pretty decent songs. I feel like he should have mixed up the sound of the synths from song-to-song, as a lot of them sound the same. Either way, Natural Disaster is a great song.

It didn't disappoint me at all -- then again I never got into Pedro the Lion. I think that they made an excellent decision in using a live drum kit and I really love the lo-fi synth. Songs are somewhat similar, perhaps. Natural Disaster is great. Hey, how come all the indie kids are Calvinist?

 

[blackwasp]

Hey, how come all the indie kids are Calvinist?

Or were. Good question though.

 

[The Theory]

i'm not a calvinist.

from what i've seen of Calivinists they like to think of themselves as intelligent thinkers who are deeply theological.

aka, religious elitist snobs.

which is a mindset that is complimentary to indie rock elite snobs.

 

[philN]

Actually, I think it probably has something to do with the reformed views of art and culture as opposed to the mindset of the rest of christendom.

That's not to say that there are not other christians who have similar views on art, but the reformed church has held their view pretty consistently.

 

[philN]

Hey Jacob (TheTheory), I always wondered whether or not you were a calvinist. Alot of the things that I hear you say seem to have some sort of root in reformed theology, but I had never heard you come out and say whether you were or not. I'm surprised Andy hasn't gone out of his way to calvinize you yet. Or maybe he has. Heh.

 

[philN]

Actually, the more I think about it, alot of Christian artists come from reformed backgrounds too. David Eugene Edwards (16 Horsepower, Woven Hand) is a Calvinist; as is David Bazan of Pedro the Lion. Sufjan is episcopalian, which means that there is a chance that he has calvinist tendencies. There are probably others too.

 

[brightlights]

which is a mindset that is complimentary to indie rock elite snobs.

I laugh because this is me.

 

[nadroj1985]

Actually, I think it probably has something to do with the reformed views of art and culture as opposed to the mindset of the rest of christendom.

What views are these? I don't think of reformed theology as having any particular views on art and culture.

 

[philN]

During the reformation, the notion that not only is there are distinction between the sacred and the secualar, but that the sacred is intrinsically better than the secular was challenged.

By breaking this paradigm, the church essentially said that people who are christians are called to a certain vocation and they bring glory to God by fulfilling that vocation with the gifts that they have. As a result, the reformed church has tried to maintain a higher standard for christians and people in general and encouraged artists to really strive for innovation and creativity.

Again, the reformed church is not the only group of people to do this, it is just one of the things that the reformation did contribute to.

 

[Arnold_Philips]

Quaker. We traditionally defy most stereotypes (which could be a stereotype itself), except that we make terrible presidents.

 

[The Theory]

Hey Jacob (TheTheory), I always wondered whether or not you were a calvinist. Alot of the things that I hear you say seem to have some sort of root in reformed theology, but I had never heard you come out and say whether you were or not. I'm surprised Andy hasn't gone out of his way to calvinize you yet. Or maybe he has. Heh.

My background is Mennonite. I don't really consider myself that, though. I don't really consider myself anything at this point because there are things that I agree about with Anabaptism (which Mennonites fall under), there are things I agree with about Calvinism, and there are things that I agree with about the Emergent Church (whatever the heck that is).

Yeah, all andy talks about, it seems, is Calvinism. I... am not a debator. When I work with him it's an exercize in smiling and nodding. Like I said, there are things that I can agree with... but overall it's not something that I care about. A lot of my prejudices might be the skewed upbringing I had... and a lot of it might have to do with how 90% of the calvinists I've known act (see my previous post on the topic)... but I've always felt that Calvinism tends box Christianity more than my understanding of God is comfortable with.

 

[theFijian]

What Phil said.

 

[philN]

I've got the new Fiery Furnaces, Franz Ferdinand, and Deerhoof albums.

The Fiery Furnaces' one is really different. The music is sort of similar, but the vocals and melodies are different, in a way; and it just has a different feel to it. I can't decide if I like it or not. It's definitely not bad, but it's sort of hard to compare with past releases.

The new Franz Ferdinand is fun and catchy -- just like the last one. I doubt it will be something that I will listening to years from now or anything, but they certainly have their niche and they know how to write good records for that niche. It's enjoyable enough.

I haven't listened to the Deerhoof album much, which is a shame because the times that I do, I really like it. I'll have to get on that.


And I've been listening to First Light's Freeze more lately, which I really enjoy.



I will also be seeing the New Pornographers and Devendra Banhart in the next few weeks, which I am pretty excited about. (if you haven't heard twin cinema yet, do yourself a favor and check it out...even if that means messaging me on soulseek or having me send it to you via AIM)

 

[MoreInSorrow]

I heard the three songs they have up on Myspace. I'm completely jealous. Their Chicago show at the Metro (the same place Suf sold out 2 nights) is sold out as well. I am pretty much retarded for that band right now. Plus, they've got an ass-kicking song on the Weeds soundtrack.

 

[blackwasp]

Back in the day, there was a matchup of Joanna Newsom v. Devendra Banhart in the 'which band is better' thread. Nothing against Banhart, but I decided that Newsom takes the cake. I'm growing tired of waiting for new material by her.

Hopefully I'll get the new Franz Ferdinand and Fiery Furnaces discs to review. I only heard part of the new single by Ferdinand on MTV2, but it seemed pretty catchy.

 

[FieryBalrog]

The New Pornographers- "The Bleeding Heart Show". Man, this song is ridiculously good. I encourage everyone to listen to it 10 times in a row.

 

[Arnold_Philips]

Back in the day, there was a matchup of Joanna Newsom v. Devendra Banhart in the 'which band is better' thread. Nothing against Banhart, but I decided that Newsom takes the cake. I'm growing tired of waiting for new material by her.

I'd visit for http://home.fromamouth.com/milkymoon/ a lot of new songs that she's played live. They're gorgeous and a lot more melodic than stuff on Milk-Eyed Mender.

Hopefully I'll get the new Franz Ferdinand and Fiery Furnaces discs to review. I only heard part of the new single by Ferdinand on MTV2, but it seemed pretty catchy.

The FF leaked, I'm pretty sure.

 

[philN]

Yeah, FF leaked a few weeks ago, and I was fine waiting for it, but I happened to see it on soulseek, so I figured I'd give it a listen. They write catchy indie rock songs, I'll give them that. Whether it's lasting or not is a different story.

 

[blackwasp]

I'd visit for http://home.fromamouth.com/milkymoon/ a lot of new songs that she's played live. They're gorgeous and a lot more melodic than stuff on Milk-Eyed Mender.

Thanks. I downloaded that live show you posted a couple months ago, but the sound on it is only so-so, so it's somewhat hard to compare it to her studio outputs.

 

[blackwasp]

Yeah, FF leaked a few weeks ago, and I was fine waiting for it, but I happened to see it on soulseek, so I figured I'd give it a listen. They write catchy indie rock songs, I'll give them that. Whether it's lasting or not is a different story.

Soulseek is beyond me...I'm content waiting. I'm not sure what I think of their cover of "Norwegian Wood" for the Rubber Soul tribute album, but I'm hoping their album will be pretty good. I thought Blueberry Boat had quite a few good songs, though.