“Entertainment Weekly” Makes A Grab For Those Indie Rock Pageviews

noah | March 20, 2008 4:45 am
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Well-versed in the knowledge that nothing gets people clicking around Web sites like a photo gallery, nothing gets people arguing on the Internet like a slightly specious list, and no demographic has more work-hours time to click on said photo galleries and argue over said lists than the knowledge workers who proclaim themselves lovers of the nebulously defined genre “indie rock,” Entertainment Weekly has put together a photo gallery/list called “The Indie Rock 25,” which assigns one album to each of the 25 years since 1984, a year that was apparently defined by the Replacements’ Let It Be. There are some arbitrary rules (no solo acts, albums that came out on an indie overseas but a major in the U.S. are OK), some arbitrary picks (see: Bright Eyes in 2005), lots of white dudes (cf. 1993: Ultimate Alternative Wavers over Pussy Whipped? Really?), and an obligatory mention of Radiohead, whose stature in “indie” probably wouldn’t exist were it not for the major-label machine of 15 years ago but I’ll probably be stuck arguing that until I’m blue in the face. Full list after the jump.

1984: The Replacements, Let It Be 1985: The Smiths, Meat Is Murder 1986: R.E.M., Life’s Rich Pageant 1987: Dinosaur Jr., You’re Living All Over Me 1988: Sonic Youth, Daydream Nation 1989: The Pixies, Doolittle 1990: Fugazi, Repeater 1991: My Bloody Valentine, Loveless 1992: Pavement, Slanted and Enchanted 1993: Built To Spill, Ultimate Alternative Wavers 1994: Guided By Voices, Bee Thousand 1995: Archers Of Loaf, Vee Vee 1996: Belle And Sebastian, If You’re Feeling Sinister 1997: Modest Mouse, The Lonesome Crowded West 1998: Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea 1999: Sleater-Kinney, The Hot Rock 2000: Yo La Tengo, And then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out 2001: The Shins, Oh, Inverted World 2002: Interpol, Turn on the Bright Lights 2003: The White Stripes, Elephant 2004: Arcade Fire, Funeral 2005: Bright Eyes, I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning 2006: The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America 2007: Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga 2008: Radiohead, In Rainbows

The Indie Rock 25 [EW]