35-525: Indietracks was an annual indie pop music festival at the Midland Railway in Butterley , Derbyshire , England. The main site was located at Swanwick Junction . Bands played in variety of locations, including a restored church, in a train shed, and on the moving trains themselves. The event was staffed by volunteers, with the proceeds from the festival going towards the upkeep and renovation of
70-466: A Melody Maker journalist in the late 1980s and founding member of pop band Saint Etienne , acknowledges that participants at the time reacted against lazy labelling, but insists they shared an approach: "Of course the 'scene', like any scene, barely existed. Like squabbling Marxist factions, groups who had much in common built up petty rivalries. The June Brides and the Jasmine Minks were
105-635: A mirror-image of it, a pop world where they were the stars... and a little bit of a raspberry blown at the larger musical world, which (sensibly) went right on preferring something more interesting than average white kids playing simple pop songs. Despite their relatively minor commercial success (their third album was sardonically titled They Could Have Been Bigger than the Beatles ), the Television Personalities are highly regarded by critics and have been widely influential, especially on
140-413: A retrospective of the band's early Rough Trade singles, BBC and Capital Radio sessions, and other unreleased early sessions. In 1985, with the same line-up as on Cast a Long Shadow , The Monochrome Set recorded The Lost Weekend for Warner Bros. Records . The Lost Weekend failed commercially, and after a few singles, the band officially broke up, though they served as Jessica Griffin's backing band on
175-640: Is a Japanese style from the 1990s that was embraced by indie pop enthusiasts, partly because many of its bands were distributed in the United States through major indie labels like Matador and Grand Royal . Out of all the Japanese groups from the scene, Pizzicato Five was the closest to achieving mainstream success in the US. Chamber pop is a subgenre of indie pop that features lush orchestrations. Heavily influenced by Brian Wilson and Burt Bacharach ,
210-583: Is not just "indie" that is "pop." Not too many people realize this, or really care either way. But you can be sure indie pop's fans know it. They have their own names for themselves ... the music they listen to ... their own canon of legendary bands ... and legendary labels ... their own pop stars ... their own zines ... websites ... mailing lists ... aesthetics ... festivals ... iconography ... fashion accessories ... and in-jokes ... in short, their own culture. —Nitsuh Abebe, Pitchfork Within indie genres, issues of authenticity are especially prominent: indie
245-662: Is often described as being the band's "fifth member". They released several singles for the Rough Trade label before recording their debut studio album, Strange Boutique , produced by Bob Sargeant for Virgin Records ' imprint DinDisc in 1980. It peaked at No. 62 in the UK Albums Chart in 1980. Their follow-up effort, Love Zombies , was produced by Alvin Clark and the band later that same year. Haney left
280-650: The C86 generation. Reynolds has said that "what we now know as indie music was invented in Scotland," with reference to the emergence of Postcard Records in 1979. However, some have posited that the concept of indie music did not crystallise until the late 1980s and early 1990s. Brisbane band the Go-Betweens were an early influential indie pop band, releasing their first single " Lee Remick " in 1978. American indie pop band Beat Happening 's 1985 eponymous debut album
315-471: The Ants , a childhood friend of Bid, joined in late 1979. Morrissey and Johnny Marr of The Smiths were influenced by the band. Experimental filmmaker Tony Potts began collaborating with the band in 1979, designing lighting and stage sets with film projections for their live appearances . The band's early persona was defined by the shadowy, uncertain stage images created by the films to such an extent he
350-510: The Brighton Port Authority (aka. Fatboy Slim ) featuring Iggy Pop . The band reunited on 8 October 2008 for a one-off performance at Cherry Red's 30th anniversary party at Dingwalls , London. It also marked the 30th anniversary of The Monochrome Set. Bid, Warren and Square were joined by Jennifer Denitto (drums) and Sian Chaffer (keyboards) of Scarlet's Well, and performed 13 songs. In 2010, Bid, Square and Warren reformed
385-543: The angst and abrasiveness of its indie rock counterpart, the majority of indie pop borrows not only the stripped-down quality of punk, but also "the sweetness and catchiness of mainstream pop". Music critic Simon Reynolds says that indie pop defines itself against "charting pop". Abebe explains: One of those things was the idea that rock music was supposed to be cool – "cool" meaning sexy, tough, arty, fiery, or fantastical... The charts had "cool" covered – these kids, in their basements and bedrooms, were trying to hand-craft
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#1732791947872420-455: The artwork, gluing the sleeves together, releasing them and sending them out, writing fanzines because the music press lost interest really quickly." Many of the actual C86 bands distanced themselves from the scene cultivated around them by the UK music press - in its time, C86 became a pejorative term for its associations with so-called "shambling" (a John Peel -coined description celebrating
455-570: The band in 1981, and was replaced by Lexington Crane. In 1982, the band switched labels to Cherry Red to release their third album, Eligible Bachelors , produced by Tim Hart . Square and Crane left soon afterwards, and were replaced by keyboardist Carrie Booth and drummer Nicholas Weslowski. This line-up recorded a 1982 single, "Cast a Long Shadow", for Cherry Red, before Booth was in turn replaced by new lead guitarist James 'Foz' Foster (later of David Devant & His Spirit Wife ). In 1983, Cherry Red released Volume, Contrast, Brilliance... ,
490-509: The band in 1990 and played on the Dante's Casino album, joined the band in September 2016, replacing Steve Brummell on drums. In 2018, the fortieth year since the band formed, their 14th studio album, Maisieworld and a box set, The Monochrome Set 1979–1985: Complete Recordings , were released. In 2019 they toured the United States again, playing for the first time on the west coast as well as
525-403: The band were joined by Helena Johansson from Scarlet's Well on violin and mandolin, replacing John Paul Moran, and Steve Brummell (formerly of the band Luxembourg) replaced Jennifer Denitto on drums. The band completed a short tour of the east coast of the US in spring of 2013 and released their 11th studio album, Super Plastic City in the autumn of the same year. Helena Johansson left the band in
560-604: The band, with the addition of drummer Jennifer Denitto from Scarlet's Well and keyboard player John Paul Moran. Following Bid's recovery from an aneurysm in late 2010, they played dates the following year in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Greece, Japan and The Netherlands. The band continued to tour in the UK, Europe and Japan throughout 2012, playing material from their 10th studio album Platinum Coils (their first album since 1995's Trinity Road ) as well as selections from their extensive back catalogue. In 2011
595-480: The biggest names at Alan McGee 's Living Room Club and couldn't stand the sight of each other. Only when the Jesus and Mary Chain exploded and stole their two-headed crown did they realise they were basically soulmates". Manic Street Preachers bassist Nicky Wire remembers that it was the bands' very independence that gave the scene coherence: "People were doing everything themselves - making their own records, doing
630-546: The early psychedelic sounds of 1960s garage rock . Names that indie pop fans use for themselves are popkids and popgeeks , and for the music they listen to, p!o!p , twee , anorak and C86 . Abebe says that the Scottish group the Pastels typified the "hip end of 'anorak': Their lazy melodies, lackadaisical strum, and naive attitude transformed the idea of the rock band into something casual, intimate, and free from
665-478: The east and released their 15th studio album, Fabula Mendax in September that year. In mid 2021, John Paul Moran left the band, to be replaced by Athen Ayren, and the announcement of a new album, their 16th, to be released in Spring 2022. The new album, Allhallowtide , was released on 11 March 2022. Mike Urban left the band in September 2022 to be replaced by Stephen Gilchrist . In July 2023, Tapete Records released
700-548: The first album by the Would-Be-Goods , The Camera Loves Me in 1988. Nicholas aka Nick Wesolowski, drummer with the band in the 1980s, was also a photographer for él Records , a subsidiary of Cherry Red Records .He later worked in Risk Management . In early 1990, Bid, Square and Warren reformed the band, with the addition of keyboardist Orson Presence and drummer Mike Urban (then known as Mike Slocombe), who
735-418: The genre's spread across the country. Everett True , a writer for NME in the 1980s, believes that C86 was not the main factor behind indie pop, arguing that Sarah Records was more responsible for sticking to a particular sound, and that: "C86 didn't actually exist as a sound, or style. ... I find it weird, bordering on surreal, that people are starting to use it as a description again". Bob Stanley ,
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#1732791947872770-464: The last Indietracks, citing the pandemic as a primary reason for the festival not continuing. 53°03′48″N 1°23′57″W / 53.0632°N 1.3993°W / 53.0632; -1.3993 Indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop ) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music . It originated from British post-punk in
805-409: The late 1970s and subsequently generated a thriving fanzine , label , and club and gig circuit. Compared to its counterpart, indie rock , the genre is more melodic, less abrasive, and relatively angst-free. In later years, the definition of indie pop has bifurcated to also mean bands from unrelated DIY scenes/movements with pop leanings. Subgenres include chamber pop and twee pop . Indie pop
840-713: The majority of Louis Phillipe 's productions for él Records embodied the sophisticated use of orchestras and voices that typified the style, whilst the Divine Comedy were the most popular chamber pop act of the Britpop era. The Monochrome Set The Monochrome Set are an English post-punk / new wave band, originally formed in London in January 1978. The most recent line-up consists of Bid, Andy Warren , Athen Ayren and Stephen Gilchrist . The Monochrome Set
875-508: The majority of indie as "all about that 60s-styled guitar jangle ". The Monochrome Set's early singles were so heavily influential to indie pop band the Smiths that Johnny Marr stated without them, the Smiths would not have existed. Indie pop was an unprecedented contrast from the gritty and serious tones of previous underground rock styles, as well as being a departure from the glamour of contemporary pop music . Distinguished from
910-430: The notion of indie-pop fans being given to whimsy. It's the annual gathering of the twee tribe – think lovers of a broad church of outsider sounds from C86-inspired three-chord shambling to riot grrrl and anti-folk." The festival inspired compilation albums , released annually. The 2020 festival was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic . In November 2021, the festival organisers announced that 2019's event would be
945-552: The pretense of cool". Following on from the aforementioned Postcard Records, in the UK, Bristol-based Sarah Records became the archetypal indie pop record label. They began releasing 7" singles in 1987 by bands with overt feminist and left wing principles that made "sweet pop". In the US, Beat Happening's Calvin Johnson founded K Records in Olympia, Washington , and later labels like Slumberland and Harriet encouraged
980-520: The self-conscious primitive approach of some of the music) and underachievement . Twee pop is a subgenre of indie pop that originates from C86 . Characterised by its simplicity and perceived innocence, some of its defining features are boy-girl harmonies, catchy melodies, and lyrics about love. For many years, most bands were distributed by Sarah Records (in the UK) and K Records (in the US). Shibuya-kei
1015-461: The site and trains. The first indiepop event held at the centre was in April 2007, organised by steam train restorer Stuart Mackay. Indietracks was established as a two-day festival in summer that year. Reviewing the 2011 festival, Malcolm Jack of The Guardian described the artists as "so obscure you have to wonder if they've even heard of themselves". He writes, "Indietracks does little to dispel
1050-527: The summer of 2013. In 2014, they signed to the German record label Tapete and their 12th studio album, Spaces Everywhere was released in 2015. Guitarist Lester Square left the band in late 2014, after completing recording of the album, and former member John Paul Moran rejoined. Their thirteenth studio album, Cosmonaut , was released on the Tapete label in September 2016. Mike Urban, who had previously been in
1085-482: The then-novel premise that one could record and release their own music instead of having to procure a record contract from a major label. According to Emily Dolan, indie is predicated on the distorted music of the Velvet Underground , the "rebellious screaming" of early punk, and "some of rock's more quirky and eccentric figures", such as Jonathan Richman . Pitchfork ' s Nitsuh Abebe identifies
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1120-504: Was also influential in the development of the indie pop sound, particularly in North America. In the early 1990s, English indie pop influenced and branched off to a variety of styles. The US, which did not have as much of a scene in the 1980s, had many indie pop enthusiasts by the mid 1990s. Most of the modern notion of indie music stems from NME ' s 1986 compilation C86 , which collects many guitar bands who were inspired by
1155-420: Was born in a Utopian attempt to stop the inevitable cycle of bands being co-opted - and, it is assumed, corrupted - by the mainstream. —Emily I. Dolan, Popular Music Both indie and indie pop had originally referred to the same thing during the late 1970s, originally abbreviations for independent and popular . Inspired more by punk rock 's DIY ethos than its style, guitar bands were formed on
1190-588: Was formed in London in 1978 from the remnants of a college group called The B-Sides, whose members had included Stuart Goddard, later known as Adam Ant . Their first live gig was on 15 Feb 1978, at Westfield College in London. The original line-up consisted of Indian-born lead singer and principal songwriter Bid (real name Ganesh Seshadri), Canadian guitarist Lester Square (real name Thomas W.B. Hardy), drummer John D. Haney (formerly of The Art Attacks ) and bass guitarist Charlie X. The band had two more bassists, Jeremy Harrington and Simon Croft, before Andy Warren of
1225-523: Was replaced by Trevor Ready. The new band toured extensively, especially in Japan where they had become very popular. The band released five albums for Vinyl Japan/Cherry Red during the 1990s, before going on hiatus in 1998. Bid recorded a number of albums with his band, Scarlet's Well . The song, "He's Frank", appeared on the TV series Heroes . The recording used was a cover version of the original, recorded by
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