Topic: Indie Elitism (Read 19186 times)

Amiku0ot · « **on:** 02 Apr 2006, 22:26 »

Hey guys Ive been doing some thinking about indie hipster elitism for a paper I'm working on, from my own experience and some of the reading I've done it seems like a largely male phenomenon. Has this been your experience? Any ideas why this is?

soap · « **Reply #1 on:** 02 Apr 2006, 22:35 »

because we all have this crazy dumb competitive streak and constantly fell the need to impress anyone and everyone around us in anyway we can ?

also the more underground the bands you like are the bigger your schlong is.

siobhan · « **Reply #2 on:** 02 Apr 2006, 22:36 »

you know, i wrote a paper on indie hipster elitism before anyone even knew what it was. geez, get with it.

umm, i think it is a bit of a boy's club but i've yet to meet anyone who has been a real ass about it. the occasional *gasp* you've never heard of {insert name of band that sounds like dying animal here} comments but once you point out that you have a social life, and the hipster does not it usually ends.

El Opium · « **Reply #3 on:** 02 Apr 2006, 22:36 »

Men will always try to compete with eachother. They don't call it "Whippin out yr indie rock cock" for nothing when two guys are trying to out name drop eachother to establish a hierachy. On the other end of things I'd say that in my experience Iowa City's hipster population seems to be split about 50/50 between the sexes. The whole idea of trying to write a paper about hipster elitism seems rather ironic to me.

E. Spaceman · « **Reply #4 on:** 02 Apr 2006, 22:52 »

I agree with it being a male thing, if I'm talking with a girl who is inot indie and she mentions a band I don't know she'll try to describe it and maybe burn me a cd, trying to share. With boys it's more of an attempt to impress.

beat mouse · « **Reply #5 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 02:03 »

On the contrary I find it much more of a retard phenomenon. Atleast they're not trying to sound intelligible by having political conversations.

nescience · « **Reply #6 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 02:21 »

I don't talk about my personal life with anyone but my mother.

jcknbl · « **Reply #7 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 03:00 »

My experience is by no means extensive but I haven't really seen it all that much. As a general rule the kids I've met who are into indie music (including myself) want to introduce you to music- show any interest and they will play some or burn a cd as soon as possible. I'll voice my opinion about bad music but not any more agressively than a most people would if their friend started listening to 'Nsync or something. I've seen kids who tried to fake it be mocked mercilessly, but thats about it.

I'm sure it does exist but my guess is it has a reputation for being more extensive than it actually is.

beat mouse · « **Reply #8 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 03:34 »

the thing is, i know a lot of people that will do it jokingly so often that it just becomes what they do, and it's really obnoxious.

IndentityCrisis · « **Reply #9 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 09:05 »

I think with girl hipsters it's not as much of a music elitism as an image eltism. At my university, there's a lot of girls with a pretentious "indier than thou" complex.

books_out_loud · « **Reply #10 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 12:18 »

Quote from: jcknbl

My experience is by no means extensive but I haven't really seen it all that much. As a general rule the kids I've met who are into indie music (including myself) want to introduce you to music- show any interest and they will play some or burn a cd as soon as possible. I'll voice my opinion about bad music but not any more agressively than a most people would if their friend started listening to 'Nsync or something. I've seen kids who tried to fake it be mocked mercilessly, but thats about it.

I'm sure it does exist but my guess is it has a reputation for being more extensive than it actually is.

i agree with this post.

E. Spaceman · « **Reply #11 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 13:41 »

Quote from: Spinless

Girls want bigger Indie Tits than you.

Let me say I fully endorse this.

Thrillho · « **Reply #12 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 13:57 »

Elitism in any musical genre is a total joke and I just ignore it. I like what I like, so they can fuck off.

karl gambolputty... · « **Reply #13 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 14:25 »

Quote from: Spinless

So, to summarise:

Guys want bigger Indie Dongs than you.
Girls want bigger Indie Tits than you.

So let's see if I've got this right...Indie kids are looking down their noses at you because they're better endowed?

Except that girls seem to be a lot more secure with their indie endowment (indowment?) than dudes. That being said, I'm indie hung like an indie horse.

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #14 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 14:43 »

music is good. the people that make, listen to, and produce it....aren't.
*gasp*

if this makes sense to you then you are an elitist.
if it doesnt...then you are good people.

</simplification>

Gryff · « **Reply #15 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 15:14 »

Quote from: tommydski

I was talking to Carrie Brownstein and blah blah blah blah blah

Is this a joke? I hope it's a joke.

Rubby · « **Reply #16 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 15:39 »

Quote from: Scandanavian War Machine

music is good. the people that make, listen to, and produce it....aren't.
*gasp*

if this makes sense to you then you are an elitist.
if it doesnt...then you are good people.

</simplification>

You're pointing the finger at yourself by that logic.
(I was really hoping I could only read this topic).

Kai · « **Reply #17 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 15:43 »

Quote from: Spinless

It's an ego thing, like all those guys who can play guitar who think it makes them cool.
Then they try to show off and people laugh at them because they're crap.
"Yeah! I can totally pay the trooper! You know, Maiden? ROCK!"
*Downs an alcopop, nearly throws it all back up*
"EUGH! I mean...YEAH! Gimme nuther."
"Hey, why don't you play 'the trooper for us?"
"Uhhh...sure..."
*Butchers one or two notes that happen to be somewhere in the main riff for 'the trooper'*
"That was crap."
"Yeah...I can play it perfectly when there's nobody else around. You can sorta hear it, it's because of the amp. Yeah, the amp..."

Now, this may or may not be based on a guy I knew who thought he was a great guitarist but in actual fact, was crap.

Oh man, do I have stories about people like this.

And yeah, as Beat mouse said, they could be sitting in a coffeehouse discussing the parallels between Hitler's Germany and America today and be all like, "OH MAN WE'RE BEING OPPRESSED".

karl gambolputty... · « **Reply #18 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 17:58 »

Quote from: Scandanavian War Machine

music is good. the people that make, listen to, and produce it....aren't.
*gasp*

if this makes sense to you then you are an elitist.
if it doesnt...then you are good people.

</simplification>

This intrigues me mathematically.

People who make, listen and produce music = just about everybody
By definition [People who this makes sense to] is a subset of [everybody]
So if [People who this makes sense to] = [good people]
then
[good people] = [people who realize they are not good]

Disprovedz0r3d!

FeralCats · « **Reply #19 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 18:20 »

Quote from: beat mouse

On the contrary I find it much more of a retard phenomenon. Atleast they're not trying to sound intelligible by having political conversations.

Frequently, though, people tend to dabble in both, being equally stupid.

Gryff · « **Reply #20 on:** 03 Apr 2006, 18:54 »

HA YES PEOPLE ARE STUPID AMIRITE LOL

Narr · « **Reply #21 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 01:19 »

Quote from: karl gambolputty...

Except that girls seem to be a lot more secure with their indie endowment (indowment?) than dudes. That being said, I'm indie hung like an indie horse.

It's endowment.

And on topic:

I am reminded of the QC comic where Faye and Marten are talking about how the greatest Indie rock band of all time can never be known because the less people that know about the band, the bigger the Indie cred, and also the one where Marten and Sven are comparing the size of their Indie penises.

AdamIsConceited · « **Reply #22 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 06:49 »

Quote from: Amiku0ot

Hey guys Ive been doing some thinking about indie hipster elitism for a paper I'm working on, from my own experience and some of the reading I've done it seems like a largely male phenomenon. Has this been your experience? Any ideas why this is?

You posted the same thing on the Pure Volume Alt. Rock forum.

http://www.purevolume.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=85707&start=0

yaslmiri · « **Reply #23 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 07:45 »

you can find that in punk too. they're pretty heavy in the "that sucks cus they sold out" thing. i guess the competition is just another way of feeling involved and enjoying the scene. though, it does take away from the music.

karl gambolputty... · « **Reply #24 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 08:50 »

Quote from: Spinless

Quote from: Narr
It's endowment.

He was making a joke, indie+endowment=Indowment.

I have travelled the 17 corners of cyberspace in search of one who would, if not appreciate my jokes, at least recognize them, and lo! I have found such a one.

Thrillho · « **Reply #25 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 09:12 »

Quote from: Kai

Quote from: Spinless
It's an ego thing, like all those guys who can play guitar who think it makes them cool.
Then they try to show off and people laugh at them because they're crap.
"Yeah! I can totally pay the trooper! You know, Maiden? ROCK!"
*Downs an alcopop, nearly throws it all back up*
"EUGH! I mean...YEAH! Gimme nuther."
"Hey, why don't you play 'the trooper for us?"
"Uhhh...sure..."
*Butchers one or two notes that happen to be somewhere in the main riff for 'the trooper'*
"That was crap."
"Yeah...I can play it perfectly when there's nobody else around. You can sorta hear it, it's because of the amp. Yeah, the amp..."

Now, this may or may not be based on a guy I knew who thought he was a great guitarist but in actual fact, was crap.

Oh man, do I have stories about people like this.

And yeah, as Beat mouse said, they could be sitting in a coffeehouse discussing the parallels between Hitler's Germany and America today and be all like, "OH MAN WE'RE BEING OPPRESSED".

See, there are plenty of people who talk about how crap Britain is, and actually have no idea how lucky we fucking are.

Go live in Serbia, mate. Then cry to me about the NHS. At least it fucking exists. Go to the US and pay for your healthcare.

valley_parade · « **Reply #26 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 10:51 »

Quote from: yaslmiri

you can find that in punk too. they're pretty heavy in the "that sucks cus they sold out" thing. i guess the competition is just another way of feeling involved and enjoying the scene. though, it does take away from the music.

Which is why most "punks" abandoned Green Day. In their defence, Warning WAS crap.

Bunnyman · « **Reply #27 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 12:17 »

Nothing like a little Nazi Allegory to spice up a political argument. Never been done before, right? Right?

Look, indignant liberals, understand this: While no society is perfect, the USA (and other proper republics) are great because their ingrown ability to self-refine. Understand that your protest is towards polishing a rough edge in the system, not overthrowing it because it's a Fascist Police State. Also recognize that, while it is true that you have a right to assembly, the Police must walk a fine line between civil liberties and public order (the latter being their bloody job, for Christ's sake). If it really were as bad as you say, your livelihood, self-expression, and eventually your physical well-being would be stripped away systematically. If poverty hasn't done it already. But I digress.

Back on topic...
Elitism is okay as long as it is done for enrichment, and as long as it is at least somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Nee Ishkur.

Kai · « **Reply #28 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 13:20 »

Yeah, I love it when the silly kiddies exaggerate how their civli liberties are being taken away. It's like, shut the fuck up and go out and actually look at the world and realize how goddamn better off you are than a good portion of the planet.

Thrillho · « **Reply #29 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 13:20 »

Quote from: Valley_Parade

Quote from: yaslmiri
you can find that in punk too. they're pretty heavy in the "that sucks cus they sold out" thing. i guess the competition is just another way of feeling involved and enjoying the scene. though, it does take away from the music.

Which is why most "punks" abandoned Green Day. In their defence, Warning WAS crap.

Punk is a joke. Selling records = evil according to punk these days, which is total bollocks.

What role models do you have from punk? Pistols? They were put together like a cheap boy band. Clash? How punk was London Calling, really? Ramones? Er, Phil Spector?

Kai · « **Reply #30 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 13:22 »

I thought the entire point of punk was to be a big, gigangtic joke.

A gigantic joke that can't play it's instruments.

Bunnyman · « **Reply #31 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 13:39 »

Wait, so Punk is just like modern art.

BeoPuppy · « **Reply #32 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 13:41 »

Quote from: Bunnyman

Wait, so Punk is just like modern art.

Because modern art can't play instruments either?

soap · « **Reply #33 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 14:21 »

Quote from: IndentityCrisis

I think with girl hipsters it's not as much of a music elitism as an image eltism. At my university, there's a lot of girls with a pretentious "indier than thou" complex.

it's the boys too round here. you go to gigs or clubs, or even just out in the street and everyone looks like walking clones, each more identical than the last in a bid to look cooler and "indier" than everyone else.

Kai · « **Reply #34 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 14:26 »

You know what would make them indier than everyone else? If they wore a top hat.

This would work for about a week.

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #35 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 14:59 »

Quote from: karl gambolputty...

Quote from: Scandanavian War Machine
music is good. the people that make, listen to, and produce it....aren't.
*gasp*

if this makes sense to you then you are an elitist.
if it doesnt...then you are good people.

</simplification>

This intrigues me mathematically.

People who make, listen and produce music = just about everybody
By definition [People who this makes sense to] is a subset of [everybody]
So if [People who this makes sense to] = [good people]
then
[good people] = [people who realize they are not good]

Disprovedz0r3d!

you got it backwards. if that phrase makes sense, then you are "holier than thou" and not a good person. if that phrase seems stupid to you, then you are a chill person.
hope that makes more sense

Gryff · « **Reply #36 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 15:24 »

Quote

my post wasn't a joke as such. it was supposed to be amusing but the concept itself is fairly serious.

…maybe you disagree with specific points sir. if so, write them down and we could have a discussion about it. or you can pm me if you don't want to write it down here.

The argument itself is legitimate enough, I suppose. I just found it reasonably ironic that a post about elitism began with such blatant namedropping.

Jedit · « **Reply #37 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 16:07 »

Quote from: karl gambolputty...

Except that girls seem to be a lot more secure with their indie endowment (indowment?) than dudes. That being said, I'm indie hung like an indie horse.

Amateur. I do the indie pole vault with what God gave me, and buy my indie socks in threes.

(Yes, I am aware that arguing about how elite one's elitism is is ironic. That's kind of the point.)

El Opium · « **Reply #38 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 22:22 »

I have a collection of punk rock and techno on 78. My old-timey music doesn't even exist anymore so I keep it in the collective unconscious. My loft is at the top of the tower of babel and my front door is so pretenscious that it says "Knock" in a sarcastic tone two seconds before you rap on it. I once found some genuine old time Americana but in order to escape gentrification the guy lived in the middle of a river. Soon as he saw me he croaked and floated away never to be seen again though they did find some wax-cylinders when they dredged the bay that year.

Synchronicity · « **Reply #39 on:** 04 Apr 2006, 22:55 »

Quote from: Bunnyman

Wait, so Punk is just like modern art.

Basically. I think that's actually a pretty good comparison. (But who am I to talk, seeing as I actually enjoy some punk.)

Narr · « **Reply #40 on:** 05 Apr 2006, 05:49 »

Quote from: Spinless

Quote from: Narr
It's endowment.

He was making a joke, indie+endowment=Indowment.

That totally went over my head. I usually see people posting something like that, you know, with parenthesis and another spelling of the word, followed by a question mark, as a "I don't know how to spell this, do you know? type of thing.

Now that you've explained it, I think it's pretty funny, but it makes me feel dumb for not getting it when first presented. :\

Amiku0ot · « **Reply #41 on:** 05 Apr 2006, 13:19 »

Hey Spinless I did get your PM thank you and sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I think I agree with what you said, it’s a tricky topic but your observations certainly seem to make sense.

Thanks everyone for the posts they’ve been really helpful in my research for this paper.

If anyone is interested one of the best books I’ve found on the subject is “Sexing the Groove” edited by Sheila Whiteley specifically the article “Sizing Up Record Collections: Gender and Connoisseurship in rock music culture” by Will Straw.

ASturge · « **Reply #42 on:** 05 Apr 2006, 13:56 »

Indie Elitism kicks ass, that's why I do it!

blanko blanco · « **Reply #43 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 14:57 »

I got accused of indie elitism for saying Pavement was better than Death Cab For Cutie (don't ask me how that comparison came up; it was pretty ridiculous), because the person said I obviously just liked them because they're obscure. Man, what the hell?

And yeah, Indie elitism is pretty uncool. I'll often make fun of music jokingly, including music I listen to myself, citing actual reasons for making fun of it, but it's just in fun. People like what they like.

Kai · « **Reply #44 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 15:00 »

Which is obscure? Pavement or Death Cab? Both are shit, neither are obscure. BAM. THERE'S YOUR EMERIL-ISM

mberan42 · « **Reply #45 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 15:05 »

Y'all got it wrong. siobhan won the thread before it even began.

Quote from: siobhan

you know, i wrote a paper on indie hipster elitism before anyone even knew what it was. geez, get with it.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #46 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 15:13 »

Okay, how the fuck did I completely miss that? I guess I just stopped reading at ""I wrote a paper..."

blanko blanco · « **Reply #47 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 15:20 »

Quote from: Kai

Which is obscure? Pavement or Death Cab? Both are shit, neither are obscure. BAM. THERE'S YOUR EMERIL-ISM

By the context of the sentence and the magic of reading, you should have been able to figure that out. The buffoon was trying to say Pavement was obscure. I obviously thought that was ridiculous, hence "what the hell?" and entire my reason for telling the story.

IN CONCLUSION SO OBVIUSLY U R DUM N THATS Y U DUNT LIEK PAVEMENT

karl gambolputty... · « **Reply #48 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 15:59 »

Maybe the buffoon was right though. I mean, in our little circle of kewlness Pavement and Death Cab are equally well known, but out in the real world? I dunno...

Kai · « **Reply #49 on:** 06 Apr 2006, 16:02 »

Have either of you been to a high school lately? I'm pretty sure I could walk down the halls and find a pretty large portion of people who know about both. and this is high school. You know, there place where everybody listens to shit because they're stupid high school kids?

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: Indie Elitism (Read 19186 times)

Amiku0ot

soap

siobhan

El Opium

nescience

jcknbl

IndentityCrisis

books_out_loud

Narr

AdamIsConceited

yaslmiri

Bunnyman

Bunnyman

soap

El Opium

Synchronicity

Narr

Amiku0ot

ASturge

blanko blanco

blanko blanco