A Paler Shade of White

Couldn't get an interesting (though also wrong & a bit dubious in parts) New Yorker blog on "How indie rock lost its soul" to appear in our 'Worth Reading' section, so read it here.

For what it's worth, I hear lots of black influence - thankfully - in much of what LMYE deals in (naturally enough, since you could define that space, as Eno said somewhere about his original inspirations, as music with Steve Reich & Tony Allen as its main forebears).

Sure, "the lassitude and monotony that so many indie acts seem to confuse with authenticity and significance" is & long has been a recognisable side of the indie rock world. But there's plenty else around outside the mainstream, thank God (hasn't the author ever heard of electronica, IDM, post-rock?).

&, rightly, black musicians wouldn't thank you for the assumption that the indie ethos isn't available to them because of the piece's banal reduction that indie = white.

More importantly, terms like 'segregation' & 'miscegenation' don't need throwing around so lightly - there's a bit more at stake than whether Arcade Fire should loosen up & feel the funk...

Resistance is futile...

Tortoise & Spring Heel Jack in one 15-minute extravaganza (Reference resistance gate)? What's not to like?!