Anyone who knows me or has read my posts knows that I am a big fan of indie artists. I include in my definition of “indie” any artists who are not readily discoverable, artists who are or were unsigned or independent artists, and any artists who heavily influenced modern indie genres. Today I’m sharing some of my favorite indie artists of all time and what work by them I enjoy.
Sonic Youth
One of my favorite 80’s bands, Sonic Youth, helped shape a generation of modern indie artists and created some amazing music in the process. Now a very popular band, they extended their influence despite humble beginnings within the American underground, and went on to influence the sound of indie rock for years to come.
Neutral Milk Hotel
Jeff Mangum and his band created some of the most interesting albums in this world. “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” is a quintessential indie album. I had the pleasure of seeing NMH on their very last tour and can attest to the raw talent the band has and the amazing experience provided by their artistry. Definitely check them out if you haven’t already.
Elliott Smith
Smith was a very talented musician and songwriter who also helped shape the sonic environment of indie and related genres. Smith also definitely created some of the most somber and melancholic discography of related artists. I recommend both his “Either/Or” and “Elliott Smith” albums.
Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens is one of the best artists of our time. Much of his discography is entirely produced, written, and played by him solely. His albums typically follow complex concepts, some of the best of which reflect religion, the grieving process, and childhood. The artist began from nothing and has built up enormous success in the indie genre.
of Montreal
I have mentioned this band a lot in previous posts but want to ensure that they are recognized. Their music is extremely compelling – emotional lyrics, shifting musical influence, and entertaining media and live performances make the band incredibly unique. Their best album, hands down, is their electronic-based “Innocence Reaches,” but I also really enjoyed their newest release “UR FUN” which has more rock & roll influence.
Honorable mentions include: They Might Be Giants, Toro y Moi, King Krule, Angel Olsen, and Soccer Mommy.
As a continuation of my series of Black Contributions to Music, this week I am discussing the influence of Black artists on the pop genre. It’s important to recognize musicians of color and their contributions to music, as they are often overlooked or ignored.
Black artists began transforming the pop mainstream in America with great popularity by the 1950s and 1960s. Pop origination from rock and roll, folk, and other styles into a genre of its own. Artists like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and James Brown helped bring R&B, funk, and soul to the forefront of pop culture and mainstream music. Their contributions have continued to shape music today and helped give pop music a wider breadth of sound.
Artists like the Jackson 5 continued to impact pop music in the 1970s with singles that become extremely popular like “I Want You Back” and “ABC.” Michael Jackson’s influence continued with his hits like “Thriller.” Whitney Houston was one of the greatest pop artists to ever live, her version of “I Will Always Love You” becoming iconic and recognizable throughout the country, and her album being a top bestseller of all time. Iconic artists like Jackson, Houston, and Prince helped define and influence the genre.
The 2000s gave rise to hip-hop and R&B-influenced pop music, exemplified by the popularity of Rihanna’s unique sound. The Pulitzer prize in music was given to a pop artist, rather than the typical classical, for the first time in 2018 to Kendrick Lamar for his album DAMN. Black artists continuously make an impact to the pop genre and create boundary-breaking mainstream music.
Check out these amazing Black artists: Ciara, Jill Scott, Santigold
As I said before, a part of the reason I started doing Musica de Indie was to get closer to the Spanish language since I’m trying to learn right now. So I just wanted to give another little tip that I found useful, find artists you like and follow them online. The more you read, write, and listen to the language the easier it gets~ And the music is amazing, so it’s a win win. This week on Música de Indie we’re talking about…
Yemayá by Mexican Institute Of Sound – This track has more of an ‘indie electronic’ vibe to it. There are more layers of background instruments including more electric guitars and synths. The vocals blend amazing with the music. This track became an instant favorite of mine. The hook ‘Ye-ma-yá carino’ really highlights the extremely catchy track and makes it irresistible.
Volcanes by Pilar Cabrera, Ceci Juno, Juliana Velasquez- Juliana and Ceci work the vocals on this track. The track uses volcanoes as a metaphor for understanding the strength of humans and our vulnerability. We learn to take breathes even through the ashes, but sometimes we explode. This track is a very slow and soothing one, with an acoustic guitar taking lead. The swap of vocals between the two women adds a ‘back and forth’ dialogue sound. The singing is carefully paced, and when it picks up in the chorus it’s hard not to sing along.
Entre Mis Venas by Ceci Juno – The title translates to ‘Between my veins’, and in the track the artist talks about ‘carrying songs for every flag’ and keeping ‘postcards for each moment’. The artist brings up themes of embracing her culture and that of others. She also talks about being a ‘non-conforming’ artist, and expresses her thoughts that not everyone has the same luck in life. She is one of the singers from the above track and her work is just as amazing as that collaborative piece.
Thanks for tuning in to Música de Indie today, what are your favorite songs from the last two weeks?
What’s going on Butcher Crew? It’s ya girl, your Master Butcher, The Saw and I am back with another fun blog post! Today we are going to learn our ABC’s, but with metal!! I thought it would be fun to see what the first 4 bands that come to mind when thinking on the alphabet. I know my ABCs!!!
A: Alice in Chains, Abbath, Abdominal Putridity, Amon Amarth
B: Behemoth, Beartooth, Boundaries, Bent Life
C: Cannibal Corpse, Cattle Decapitation, Chelsea Grin, Cryptopsy
D: Death, Dying Fetus, Debauchery, Devourment
E: Electric Wizard, Emmure, Emperor, Elysian
F: Fit For An Autopsy, Fit For A King, Fallujah, Facebreaker
G: Godsmack, Ghost, Genocide, Gwar
H: Hollow Point, Hands of God, Hypocrisy, Harms Way
I: I Am, I Declare War, I Prevail, Iced Earth
J: Jungle Rot, Judiciary, Justice For The Damned, Judas Priest
K: Kairos, Kamelot, Kataklysm, King Diamond
L: Laceration, Lamb of God, Led Zeppelin, Left Behind
M: Miss May I, Machine Head, Megadeath, Metallica
N: Necrot, Nile, Napalm Death, Nuclear Assault
O: Obituary, Opeth, Overkill, Omen
P: Parkway Drive, Pantera, Papa Roach, Pathology
Q: Queensway, Quiet Riot, Queen, Queensryche
R: Rage Against The Machine, Radiohead, Ratt, Rammstein
S: Six Feet Under, Slayer, Slipknot, Suffocation
T: Thy Art Is Murder, Testament, Typecaste, Type O Negative
U: Upon A Burning Body, Uriah Heep, Under Oath, UFO
V: Vader, Van Halen, Venom, Violence
W: Whitechapel, Wasp, While She Sleeps, White Zombie
We cannot continue to discuss the Black contributions to music without acknowledging jazz music.
Jazz originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was created within the Black communities of New Orleans, influenced by blues and ragtime. Like many modern genres, jazz has roots in West African musical tradition and slave folk songs, it also is influenced by European classical music.
Jazz and its creators also influenced music in general; the drum set was created by jazz musicians and jazz has influenced genres like R&B, rap, and classical music. Jazz has also influenced and been adopted by other cultures, resulting in new musical genres like CuBop, a form of Latin jazz invented by Cuban musician Chano Pozo and Dizzy Gillepsie. It has been absorbed into many different genres, exemplified by singers like Beyoncé compiling elements of jazz within their pop style.
The jazz genre is influential to our society not only for its contributions to other genres, but the incredible influence it has had on Americans. Jazz is instantly recognizable, but unique. The creativity of the genre and its nuanced features is known to help with focus, especially while studying. The genre also helped bring forward African-American influence to music, especially important in the polarized mid-1900s. Jazz music helped Americans across the board recognize Black history and culture as important and desirable, and furthered the position of female musicians as female jazz artists gained prominence in popular culture.
Check out some of the best Black jazz musicians like Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Miles Davis.
Continuing with my series about Black contributions to music, I am highlighting a genre especially important to those of us who are Southerners: bluegrass. This genre of music is another that is often dominated by White men, but it has been influenced by Black musicians who are typically not recognized for their achievements.
Many features of Appalachian bluegrass were influenced by or originated from African musical traditions, brought to America by African slaves. A key feature of bluegrass music is its instrumentation, including the fiddle, banjo, guitar, and more. The four-stringed banjo actually originated in Africa, most likely West Africa. In the 18th century the banjo and music inspired with themes of freedom and religion contributed to the spread of African-American music like gospels and spirituals, which was especially influential to the sound of music in the South. Black people in America were the first to learn and perform with the banjo. Another facet of bluegrass, “thumbpicking” or “thumb style” of guitar, popular in the bluegrass genre, is credited to Black instrumentalist Arnold Schultz. Schultz influenced both the bluegrass genre and many white guitarists. Another influence to bluegrass is the vocal tradition and tunes. Much of the powerful, emotive lyricism and vocal traits originate from African musical influence, and the dance tunes famous in bluegrass are very similar to those of the African musical tradition. There are also many European contributions to the genre, but the African, particularly West African, influences on bluegrass are just as essential.
Bluegrass is such a unique genre of music and is especially important for Southerners and the Appalachian region. It’s important to recognize its roots and the incredible influence of Black musicians and African musical traditions which have shaped the genre.
To further your understanding, check out these quintessential Black bluegrass artists: Joe Thompson, Victor Wooten, Kaia Kater, and Rhiannon Giddens.
As music listeners and lovers, we may forgot the importance behind the history of music. In lieu of the Black Lives Matter movement, I want to highlight some of the incredible influences by black musicians to music in general through this series. We will start by looking at some influential black composers and influences to classical music by black artists.
Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Saint-Georges was the first classical composer of African origin. He was also a violinist and conductor of a leading symphony orchestra in Paris. He’s most remembered for composing many string quartets and musical compositions for multiple operas.
George Bridgetower
Bridgetower was an Afro-European virtuoso violinist. He began as an extremely successful young musician who traveled across Europe performing. He was a protégé of Beethoven, but is often forgotten in history despite his talent, most likely because of his racial identity. He also created his own compositions.
Florence Price
Florence Price was the first African-American woman to have her composition performed by a major symphony orchestra. Living in Arkansas with her husband, she faced much racial discrimination. The couple moved north after racial tension led to a lynching nearby, to Chicago, where Price completed her first compositions. Price’s music combines traditional European classical with melodies inspired by African-American folk music. Price and her work are often overlooked based on her race, so most of her music is not available online, though you can hear some of her compositions on YouTube.
Thomas Wiggins
Thomas Wiggins, known as “Blind Tom,” was one of the most well-known 19th century pianists and composers. He was a musical prodigy and was the highest paid pianist of the 19th century by the age of 10. He created over a hundred piano compositions. Despite his relevance during this time, he is relatively unknown today, especially compared to his white musical counterparts.
George Walker
Walker was an African-American musician who broke ground in the musical world, known for influencing the world of black classical music. He was the first African-American to win a Pulitzer Prize for music, first black graduate of his college, and first black musician to play New York’s Town Hall. He’s known for his beautiful and moving string compositions.
Today, there is still obvious evidence of discrimination clouding the talent of black classical musicians. There’s still a blatant lack of representation within classical performances. Artists like Florence Price have reshaped the sound of American classical music despite the many obstacles; as listeners we must acknowledge their contributions and work against the institutional racial bias within music. Next time you are in the mood for classical music, remember the contributions of black musicians that shaped music today.
As a fan of EDM, I am constantly reminded of the under-representation of black EDM artists, despite the fact that EDM originated from gay black men. I wanted to write about the origins of EDM and recognize the influence of black artists, which constantly goes unrecognized based uninstitutional racial bias in the world of music.
House music and dance music was first created in the gay club scenes of the 70’s and 80’s. This sound is credited to gay men, particularly gay men of color; the music was created for and by LGBTQ people of color. Frankie Knuckles, a gay black man from Chicago’s South Side, is known as the “Godfather of House Music.” EDM draws heavily upon these influences and the rise of the genre would not have been possible without the queer black musicians experimenting with dance music. EDM gained global recognition as a genre in the mid-2000s with the appearance of artists like Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia. The industry has only gained in popularity since then, but is still dominated by straight, white men. EDM still lacks LGBTQ and POC representation, despite its origins. On the topic, Adam Davenport, the first African-American EDM musician to chart on Billboard said this: “It’s interesting that EDM has been dominated by largely straight white DJs [and] producers from Europe, and yet the godfather of house music — to which electronic dance music is indebted — happens to be a gay Black man, also from Chicago, named Frankie Knuckles. Frankie passed away in 2014, but I’d like to think that his spirit is blessing my efforts.” Largely the history of EDM has been ignored by the artists who have risen to fame from the genre, like David Guetta, who was credited by an ABC special for bringing house music to America.
Remember this the next time you hear a top-100 EDM song, likely produced by a straight, white artist. If you love the genre, remember its true history and consider it wouldn’t have been possible without the creativity of black individuals like Frankie Knuckles. Additionally, check out and celebrate black EDM artists like Green Velvet, Flying Lotus, and Black Coffee.
This Friday is a holiday known as Juneteenth. On this day in 1865, General Gordon Granger federally proclaimed that all enslaved people were now free in the state of Texas. Though the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed two years prior, its impacts were slow and varied within the South. Texas was the last state to officially recognize this decree, and thus Juneteenth became a community holiday.
In celebration of Juneteenth (from midnight to midnight), this year and every subsequent year, Bandcamp has committed to donating “100% of [their] share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.” They have further agreed to allocate $30,000 of their yearly budget to “partner with organizations that fight for racial justice and create opportunities for people of color.”
For the past few months during quarantine, Bandcamp has also been doing “Bandcamp Day” sales, in which they waive their portion of proceeds so that artists on their platform earn the entirety of the sale. WKNC reminded our audience to support local musicians on each previous Bandcamp Day, and for this Juneteenth edition we want to highlight specifically local Black musicians. The following list contains ten artists that WKNC has booked and promoted in the past who have music and/or merch available for purchase on Bandcamp.
Black Surfer was the second act of the second night of Double Barrel Benefit 17, and released their sophomore EP Run It Byke in the following month. Recently they raised $7,000 for Take Action Chapel Hill through merchandise sales on Instagram.
You can connect with Black Surfer on social media at @blacksurferband on both Instagram and Facebook, and check out their podcast done with DJ Beowvlf before Double Barrel Benefit.
King Gino performed on night one of Double Barrel Benefit 17 and brought the house down. He also spearheads an artist collective called Callisto Records, for which our very own Underground Music Director Nate Browning also works. King Gino also did a podcast before performing at Double Barrel Benefit.
Pat Junior is a jack of all trades who has his hands in every artistic medium that catches his eye or ear. He is another Double Barrel Benefit 17 performer and headlined night two. Much like his predecessors on this link, Pat Junior also did a podcast with WKNC, which you can listen to for more information about his artistic journey and his most recent album, I Thought I Knew.
GRRL rocked our world at Double Barrel Benefit 16, and really did us a huge favor hopping on that show at the last minute. This electronic maven is a staple of the Triangle house scene and a favorite of WKNC’s. Listen to GRRL’s interview with Afterhours Music Director, Liz and Social Media Director, Becca, here. Furthermore, GRRL’s next full-length album, Marathon, will be released on July 3, but you can already preorder it on Bandcamp now.
Switching it up from Double Barrel acts, Linanthem worked with WKNC in the fall of 2019 performing at our annual Concert on the Lawn series with future Double Barrel artist, DOTWAV Media. Linanthem is also a current NC State student and up-and-coming in the Triangle scene. His music is self-described as “chilled hip-hop beats and jazz vibes” which sounds like the ideal summer vibe.
Sonny Miles and WKNC have collaborated a handful of times, but most recently at a Concert on the Lawn in 2018. This prolific multi-instrumentalist seems to be constantly releasing music and for that we are grateful. His most recent single, Arbor Day, is available on Bandcamp along with the rest of his discography. Sonny has also been incredibly outspoken about current events on his social media, which we similarly urge you to check out.
What can we say except for the fact that the Muslims ROCK?! They performed at Double Barrel 15 but have also done a Local Beat session back in 2018, which you can stream on all podcasting platforms. Their most recent album, Gentrified Chicken, is brash in-your-face rage rock that never quits and does not leave a safe space.
Obviously, you can get connected with The Muslims on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, but to further get involved you can submit a clip to their crowd-sourced music video through Saturday. More details on that video can be found on their website.
Deniro Farrar has perhaps grown beyond the limited label of “local” and become an icon in his own right, but as he was a performer at Double Barrel Benefit 13 so we’ve still got a spot in WKNC history for him. Deniro’s fanbase has been called “cult like” based on its rapid growth and intense fan involvement.
If you’re unfamiliar with his work, check out his Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, as well as the music he has uploaded on Bandcamp.
Hailing from Carrboro, North Carolina, this local artist kicked off his expansive musical career while also being a Ph.D. student at UNC-Chapel Hill. WKNC is honored to have booked XOXOK for our Concert on the Lawn in Fall of 2017. It is fitting that XOXOK make it onto this list, not only for his musical prowess, but also for the content of his most recent single “Right On.” XOXOK explains this song’s purpose on his Bandcamp page, but an excerpt is written below. You can read the entire passage on his artist link above.
“On July 5, 2016, I defended my doctoral dissertation at the University of North Carolina. The next day, approximately 1100 miles away, Philando Castile was shot and killed in Minnesota. Each one of these shootings has taken a toll on me, but for some reason, this one leveled me… I wrote this song as a reminder – to myself and to others – that my education is not a shield, and that I could be next.”
Tim Mensa recently graduated from NC State University in the Class of 2020, but was able to connect with WKNC during his time as a student. He performed at one of our Concerts on the Lawn in 2018. Since that time Mensa has been rather active as a musician, though there is only one track available on his Bandcamp. Nonetheless, we encourage our audience to check it out for Bandcamp’s Juneteenth donation day. Here is Tim’s Instagram page.
‘Welcome back to Música de Indie, I’m DJ Psyched and in this show where we go over my favorite spanish indie tunes from the past couple of weeks. To start things off today we’re talking about Ángel, the song, not my leopard gecko. So be sure to keep it locked.’
Ángel by Angelica Garcia – I clicked on this song so fast when I saw the title, I am a sucker for anything with the name Ángel (because that is the name of my beautiful gecko), and I’m so glad I did because this track is absolutely beautiful. The singer’s voice is so smooth and soothing, and with the backing orchestra instruments and harmonies, this track is about mesmerizing. I couldn’t quite find the lyrics to translate this time, but the song is slow enough that someone in the learning phase of the language, such as myself, can really enjoy the track and sing along after a few listens. The singer does say a part of the hook in english ‘Even when you hide it I can always see the real you’ and based on how the music sounds it seems the singer is singing words of affirmation, or a confession, to someone they love. This song also apparently comes from the TV show ‘Vida’.
Muy Muy Chico by Juan Wauters – This track comes from the five track EP the artist recorded while traveling across South America. The artist said ‘some of these unreleased tracks are among my favorite ones from that time in my life’. I also could not find direct lyrics from this song, but thankfully someone on youtube explained that the track is a metaphor about height and how people complicate themselves when they focus on the fact that there are taller people around. He is really talking about worrying that others might be better than us. The guitar in this song is what hooked me in, the intro was very nostalgic feeling and the singing reminds me of folk style music. It’s a short but sweet track, reminding me vaguely of bedrooms’ song ‘nothing lasts’.
‘Thanks for tuning into 2k Indie online, I’m DJ Psyched and I ask that you keep it locked on the blog for all the sweet content to come. Thanks for reading, and until next time…’
