13-07-2008, 18:53
underclass hero Wrote:isn't indie anything made on an independent label
No it isn't. That would make all the cookie-cutter bands who are trying to make it big by sounding just like more popular bands "indie". Indie rock is an approach to making music, an aesthetic, and a loose collection of sounds drawn from punk rock and other styles. It started out on independent record labels because none of the majors would release the records. Then they decided they could make money off of it and signed some of the big names.
The two bands you mentioned, Modest Mouse and Franz Ferdinand, are signed to major labels.
"Indie" draws its name from "independent" but that independent does not necessarily refer to the record label that released the album.