The brave souls over at Amazon.com have rolled out what they consider to be the top 100 indie bands of all time. My problem is that by stating “indie label” the good folks at Amazon have limited themselves dramatically as different countries consider indie music to be different things. Here in the states indie is considered to be a sound, while across the pond is still using the original definition of an indie band as one that is signed to an independent label.
Here are the hard and fast rules:
• One album per artist.
• No EPs or singles, this list is about albums.
• No greatest hits collections or compilations of previously released tracks.
• Nominations must have been originally released on an independent label. Albums released on indies which were later acquired and/or re-released by majors are allowed (like Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation, originally released by a pre-1989 major label merger Enigma Records).
The arguments have already begun over at Amazon.com as well as at Stereogum as to who was left off and who made it and didn’t deserve to. The biggest complaints that I am finding as I read the comments is that they put the wrong Sufjan Stevens album on the list, they’re saying it should have been Illinois instead of Michigan and that the Vivian Girls ruin all Amazon’s credibility. Personally, I think lists like this are a bad idea, why don’t you just put a sign around you neck saying “Please bludgeon me”?
That article is intentionally bombastic, nothing more. It’s akin to walking into CPAC with a Barack Obama shirt on. Radiohead didn’t make the cut? Nor did The Flaming Lips? Explosions in the Sky? And only one LP allowed, no matter who? (The aforementioned Sonic Youth is a perfect example.)
There’s no use in getting myself worked into a lather. The list is fatally flawed.
I won’t even click on the link to that article, a list of that sort cannot be compiled perfectly, therefore should not be compiled. nice blog though, keep it up