There are so many different types of music out there nowadays that it is hard to know exactly what to look for.
Of course, it’s difficult to write an article about music because of the vast amounts of different types of music out there, but mostly because of the variety of personal preferences. One person may think one band is the best band ever created, but then another person could think that they are just painful to listen to. Neither of these people are right or wrong; it’s all just a matter of what a person likes to listen to.
So this article is merely going to be an opinion piece about what kind of music I listen to and what kinds of things attract me to bands personally. Personally, I can never listen to country or rap, and even many pop bands, because they all pretty much sound the same. They never try to change their sound to make it their own because they realize that they don't have to because they will make money anyway.
Many great bands will take styles of music that we know and twist them a little bit to make it their own. This can be as subtle as just taking alternative rock and giving it a little bit of indie sound, something Tokyo Police Club and Spoon do very well. A lot of great bands will take a specific genre and give it their own indie twist. One band that did this and took a big risk by mixing in some country to their sound is the fantastic Band of Horses.
Every once in a while a more indie band will actually become very popular and win a few awards, like The White Stripes or the Black Keys, or more recently Arcade Fire. It’s exciting when this happens; it shows that the media doesn't only listen to rap or pop anymore.
Lately, many indie bands have been taking a more electronic-mixed-with-alternative sound. Most bands with this sound have been pretty successful with this approach, like Passion Pit, Miike Snow, Yeasayer and MGMT.
Some indie bands stray so far from anything we know that it’s hard to classify them and they begin to just fall into a genre of their own. These bands include Fleet Foxes, Modest Mouse, the Dodos and mewithoutyou. When bands do this, it creates an opportunity for other bands to follow in their footsteps and also go their own way. These are all great examples of bands that managed to create their own sound and stay original throughout their whole career.
So in the end, the two things that make the biggest difference personally in whether or not I like a band is if they have an original sound, and they have to have a certain level of intensity to their music. This last part is necessary in whether or not I either really like a band or love a band. If there is no intensity in the performance, then it is much harder for me personally as a listener to get into the music. Some bands that bring a lot of intensity to their music are Arcade Fire, the White Stripes, Sigur Ros and Sufjan Stevens, and those are just a few examples. It's important to realize that intensity doesn't mean that they jump up and down and run around a lot. but that the musicians themselves are really into their music and really care about what they’re doing.
Once again, I will say that this is just my personal view on music and that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But I would urge you if you enjoy a certain type of music that you would take a look at its more independent counterpart and maybe you will be surprised and enjoy it.
By Ben Stevenson
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