Aneurhythmia wrote:Yeah, but commercial viability is inextricable from art in all but the most ideal situations.

I would argue that this is neither art, nor is it merely commercially viable. It is done for profit under the guise of "hipness" and art.


Jon

Aneurhythmia wrote:Yeah, but commercial viability is inextricable from art in all but the most ideal situations.

This is obviously, demonstrably wrong. It couldn't be more wrong, actually.

steve wrote:

stevenstillborn wrote:...I didn't start actually hearing anything other than mainstream/"classic" rock until there was a good radio station in the New York market. Now I'm Jonny-come-lately to all sorts of good music that I missed out on because I never heard about it.

You're proving my point. You eventually found music you liked. You didn't miss it.

I was gonna say something similar. I didn't "get" punk rock until i was 20, and had only discovered it two years prior at 18. Before then, i was hair metal morning, noon, and night, because that was all i knew about.

Sometimes i'm jealous of the kids coming up today, who have the internet at their disposal and can discover Pere Ubu and DEVO and Black Flag at age 10, but on the other hand, i think it's pretty rad that i ended up a johnny-come-lately, because at age 33 i'm still discovering amazing music that i missed the first time. You might think it's sad that i only heard The Wipers for the first time a couple years ago; i think it's keeping me young.

EDIT: P.S: When i did finally discover punk rock, it was from making new friends who dragged me to see live punk bands, not from some silly comp i bought at Wal-Mart.

Everyone calm down and remember, this could be worse.

I like to think that when the folks at Pitchfork first started the site, their intention was to make it sort of like a modern day Trouser Press.
I first started looking at the site in 2002 or 2003 and they were covering some really cool records and kind of hipped me onto some bands I would not have checked out because Mojo wasn't covering them.
Ultimately, it went to shit because as they started becoming known for making or breaking a band, the writing went south and they started to become this Rolling Stone/Alternative Press-esque cliché.
Then they started holding this yearly festival that had all the hot new bands and some "respectable" bands to headline.
Whatever, festivals are boring and tedious.
As far as this stupid indie rock compilation goes, it's nothing new.
I remember hearing about K-Tel issuing a compilation very similar to this in the late 90's.
Plus you can't forget that labels like Epitaph, Matador, Merge, etc... have been throwing out these two disc $5 comps for years.
If I was some 15 year old kid in a record store and saw that I could buy this record with 30 songs by 30 bands I had never heard of for $5, I have to say that I'd be tempted to check it out, but that's just me.

stevenstillborn wrote: For example, my family is all Billy Joel fans, and I'm the youngest. Hence, I didn't start actually hearing anything other than mainstream/"classic" rock until there was a good radio station in the New York market. Now I'm Jonny-come-lately to all sorts of good music that I missed out on because I never heard about it.

What's your point? My folks didn't even listen to music. No records, no CDs, no radio in the car. I knew nothing, basically until my older brother started doing drugs that I got turned on to "underground music" (this was 1990-94), though most of that era's "college-rock" music is pretty horrible as well (Jane's Addiction, Dinsosaur Jr., Cure).
The fact that I heard Atomizer at age 12 is about the best I can say about it. "It" being most of my "underground" adolescence.
Being more familiar with the Pixies than Led Zeppelin... I'll say that's actually a disadvantage.

Listening to an album, considering it as a whole, is a worthwhile experience. It gives you something to discuss and maybe discover new music through. Listening to the radio or a Compact Disc sampler is just a dissapointing mess, certainly when the corporate America is involved.

steve wrote:

Aneurhythmia wrote:Yeah, but commercial viability is inextricable from art in all but the most ideal situations.

This is obviously, demonstrably wrong. It couldn't be more wrong, actually.

I think Aneurhythmia's statement is a little ambiguous. It can be interpreted as art = commercial success, but that is easily proved factually bankrupt.

A way I like to see it is in this way: When you're doing any kind of art, music, painting, whatever, you can't be unaware of either potential commerciality or uncommerciality. You don't have to care about it, but the awareness is there.

On second thought, this makes little to no sense, and I should probably quit while I'm behind.

kerble wrote:Yes, I can totally see why paying $25 to see sonic youth and de la soul and grizzly bear and fifteen other bands would be so horrible

Fifteen bands is horrible. I don't care how they do it.

when you could spend twice as much to see the stooges at the shitty congress theatre.

The Stooges show is fucking dumb. That does not exclude The Pitchfork Festival from being dumb as well.

Surely none of you reading about "Now That's What I Call Indie" is surprised - The bands on the comp are among the highest selling on the CD format, and these NOW compilations have traditionally sold outrageous amounts. Of course these bands are going to be willingly exploited by these parasites. It's ALWAYS been this way; the nature of the marketplace demands it. It's time to milk this "genre" while they can.
This is not a nail in the independent music scene by any stretch of the imagination. Like Steve said, underground music has a way of finding it's audience. As long as there are people who are discerning and use their brains, no problem. Leave this vapid garbage to everyone else.

You guys realise that the the bigger a big band gets, the more money it makes and the more people adore it. This big band then tramples on little bands. This is handy for Mr. Iwantluxury and Mr. Famewhore, but lousy for bands or people who are trying to get bands off the ground.

Fuck them all in the bum, labels, scene, bands willing to do this. Aside from the Replacements, I love their first record. Oh god this is lamer than MTG ever was.