44-789: The Mynabirds are an American indie pop band founded by singer-songwriter and pianist Laura Burhenn, who was previously one half of the Washington, D.C., indie duo Georgie James . Burhenn formed The Mynabirds in 2009, and shortly after signed to Saddle Creek Records and relocated to Omaha, Nebraska . The sound has been described by Pitchfork as "...openhearted, politically engaged, feminist pop that, miraculously, never veers into schmaltz." After years of classical piano and stints singing and playing keyboards in rock bands and electronica projects in Washington, D.C., Burhenn founded her own record label, Laboratory Records, and began releasing solo work. Burhenn's first solo record, Not Ashamed to Say ,
88-466: 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
132-569: A common reference point for chamber pop bands. Just as ork-pop acts shared a love for Wilson, they also held an admiration for one another's work. In the late 1980s, the majority of Louis Phillipe 's productions for él Records also made sophisticated use of orchestras and voices that embodied and defined the chamber pop style. Chamber pop was part of a larger trend which involved musicians who rejected traditional rock conventions, such as Tortoise and Stereolab , although those specific bands are not considered ork-pop. The genre's orchestration
176-635: 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
220-638: A shame that it couldn't be discovered from the get-go for what it is. A lot of it is just very simple dumb-guy rock." Bored by the three-chord simplicity of grunge and neo-punk, a new breed of popsmiths is going back to such inspirations as Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach, and Phil Spector in the quest for building the perfect orchestrated pop masterpiece. [...] their music offers an alternative for those who have grown tired of distorted guitars and angst-ridden vocals. —Craig Rosen writing in Billboard , 1996 Fisher and Flota trace chamber pop to "at least"
264-551: A string section, was released to critical acclaim and rose to #1 on the Billboard Magazine Hot 100 chart. The Beatles began implementing string arrangements in their music, starting with the 1965 song " Yesterday ," and further expanded upon the use of horns and strings on their 1966 album Revolver . The Beach Boys would develop their response to The Beatles' 1965 album Rubber Soul with their own 1966 studio album Pet Sounds , which would further explore
308-585: A variety of bands whose work attracted comparisons to Pet Sounds . The combination of string sections and rock music has been called " symphonic pop ", "chamber pop", and orchestral pop (or "ork-pop" for short). The first use of strings in R&;B or rock music was in the 1959 song "There Goes My Baby" by The Drifters , produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller with string arrangement by Stan Applebaum . The following year, The Shirelles song " Will You Love Me Tomorrow ", written by Carole King and featuring
352-534: A year to make, as Burhenn drove across the US twice and toured South Africa solo while writing. Burhenn then spent eight months in studios in Los Angeles, Nashville, Joshua Tree and Auckland, New Zealand with producer Bradley Hanan Carter (of Black English). The first single, "Semantics", debuted on NPR 's All Songs Considered on May 12, 2015. In the summer of 2017, Burhenn released a series of EPs that culminated in
396-592: 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 ,
440-583: 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
484-407: Is stylistically diverse. AllMusic states that the genre carries on the "spirit" of the baroque pop of the 1960s, while cultural writers Joseph Fisher and Brian Flota call it the "heir" to baroque pop. Strongly influenced by the rich orchestrations of Burt Bacharach, Brian Wilson , and Lee Hazlewood , chamber pop artists once again focused on melody and texture. Another major source of influence
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#1732797434115528-437: Is typically more complex than rock music, making extensive use of brass and strings. It drew from the 1990s lounge music revival but avoided any influence from other contemporary styles like grunge , electronica , or alternative music , particularly the lo-fi hiss and distortion of the last. Although modern rock groups like Smashing Pumpkins , The Verve , Oasis , and R.E.M. occasionally used strings, their approach
572-650: 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
616-516: The United States through major indie labels like Matador and Grand Royal . Shibuya-kei ultimately peaked in the late 1990s and declined after its principal players began moving into other music styles. In a 1996 profile of ork-pop, Craig Rosen lists examples that include Yum-Yum, the High Llamas, Richard Davies , Eric Matthews , Spookey Ruben , Witch Hazel, and Liam Hayes (Plush). Matthews, who partnered with Davies for duo Cardinal ,
660-543: 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
704-455: 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
748-480: 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
792-416: The current crop of navel-gazers populating today’s underground music scene." The Mynabirds supported their debut LP with more than a year of touring with Bright Eyes , David Bazan and Crooked Fingers . Burhenn also toured at this time as a member of Bright Eyes. At the end of 2011, Burhenn headed back into the studio with Swift to begin work on The Mynabirds' second album, Generals . Saddle Creek released
836-546: 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
880-418: 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 ,
924-502: The genre. According to the High Llamas' Sean O'Hagan , Pet Sounds had been "the beginning of the great pop experiment. But it wasn't allowed to continue, because rock and roll got hold of the whole thing and stopped it. Pop didn't take off again until this decade [the 1990s]." Author Carl Wilson (no relation) says that Brian's "pained vulnerability", "uses of offbeat instruments", "intricate harmonies", and "the Smile saga itself" became
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#1732797434115968-494: The genre. Wilson's productions of the Beach Boys ' albums Pet Sounds and Smile are cited as particularly influential to the genre. From the early 1970s to early 1990s, most chamber pop acts saw little to no mainstream success. The genre's decline was attributed to costly touring and recording logistics and a reluctance among record labels to finance instruments like strings, horns, and keyboards on artists' albums. In
1012-403: The intricate use of strings , horns , piano , and vocal harmonies , and other components drawn from the orchestral and lounge pop of the 1960s, with an emphasis on melody and texture . During chamber pop's initial emergence in the 1960s, producers such as Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller , Burt Bacharach , Lee Hazlewood , and the Beach Boys ' Brian Wilson served as formative artists of
1056-534: 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. Chamber pop Chamber pop (also called baroque pop and sometimes conflated with orchestral pop or symphonic pop ) is a music genre that combines rock music with
1100-508: 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
1144-508: The mid 1990s. According to Natalie Waliek of music retailer Newbury Comics , the then-"renewed interest in psychedelia " and the "overlap with the cocktail /lounge music thing, because that music [also] has orchestrations", likely contributed to the sales of ork-pop albums, but acts were restricted to only a moderate degree of commercial success. The majority of musicians were aged beyond their early 20s, and many struggled to achieve significant retail or radio success compared to modern rock. In
1188-454: The mid-1990s, chamber pop developed as a subgenre of indie rock or indie pop in which musicians opposed the distorted guitars, lo-fi aesthetic, and simple arrangements common to the alternative or " modern rock " groups of that era. In Japan, the movement was paralleled by Shibuya-kei , another indie genre that was formed on some of the same bedrock of influences. By the 2000s, the term "chamber pop" would be inconsistently applied to
1232-536: The ork-pop and chamber pop movement to bands like Yum-Yum, Cardinal and Lambchop . By 2009, the term "chamber pop" had fallen to general misuse, as songwriter/author Scott Miller suggests, it "made more sense applied to the Fleet Foxes than to other bands I've since seen it applied to". He also noted that Pet Sounds had become a ubiquitous object of comparison; "[If people] are happy about that, I have to pinch myself and reflect that I'd never thought I'd see
1276-441: The past, record companies had helped facilitate large multi-instrumental bands by financing instruments like strings, horns, and keyboards on artists' albums, but this became rarer as time went on. Touring with full string and brass ensembles also proved difficult for some, which became another factor that prevented the genre's mainstream success. In Japan, a remote parallel was the development of Shibuya-kei , which also revisited
1320-552: 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
1364-548: The release of the album Be Here Now . This album was the product of two weeks of writing and recording with singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer Patrick Damphier in Nashville, TN after the presidential inauguration and the Women's March. 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
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1408-520: 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
1452-711: The studio with Richard Swift in the summer of 2009 and recorded what would become the debut album from The Mynabirds. The band signed with Saddle Creek in January 2010 and released What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood to critical acclaim in April 2010. Anthony Lombardi described the record in PopMatters as "...a soul-purging, powerful statement of survival and self-assertion that stands head and shoulders above
1496-499: The style and tone of mainstream pop music . It originated from British post-punk in 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
1540-482: 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
1584-580: The title-track single in February 2012 as a free download. The album was released on June 5, and was met with near universal critical acclaim, with Gianna Stefanelli of CMJ describing the work as "...a serious and intellectual pop album." In 2013, Burhenn was a touring member of The Postal Service 's reunion tour. She provided back-up vocals along with Jenny Lewis . In May 2015, The Mynabirds' official website announced that Lovers Know would be released on August 7, 2015 via Saddle Creek. Lovers Know took
1628-453: The trend of foregrounding instruments like strings and horns in its arrangements. The genre was informed by classic Western pop music, especially the orchestral domains occupied by Burt Bacharach, Brian Wilson, Phil Spector, and Serge Gainsbourg . Unlike other Japanese music scenes, its audiences did not necessarily cross over into anime fandoms , but rather indie pop enthusiasts. This was partly because many of its bands were distributed in
1672-551: The use of strings in rock music and define the baroque pop genre. Ork-pop refers to a branch of underground rock musicians who shared an affinity with the Pet Sounds album, such as The High Llamas and bands from the Elephant 6 collective. According to CMJ ' s David Jerman, the name was the creation of rock critics, "encompassing everyone from fans of the Beach Boys to fans of Bacharach and Mancini ". Chamber pop
1716-504: 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
1760-420: 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
1804-438: Was considerably less intricate. The High Llamas were one of the first to anticipate the easy-listening fad with their 1993 album Gideon Gaye . O'Hagan felt that "There is this whole misconception that American college rock with twisted baseball hats and checked shirts is adventurous, but it's the most conformist, corporate thing out there." with Eric Matthews adding "All these bands sound like Nirvana and Pearl Jam . It's
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1848-439: Was considered a leading figure in ork-pop. Popmatters ' Maria Schurr wrote in a retrospective review of Cardinal's eponymous 1994 debut album ; "in some circles, [it has] been called the grunge era's answer to Pet Sounds , and, although it has not been as widely cited as the Beach Boys' classic, it has undoubtedly influenced more off balance indie popsters than one may expect." Music journalist Jim DeRogatis associates
1892-426: Was released in 1999 and is a collection of thirteen songs written from 1994 to 1998. After releasing a split 7" in 2003, Burhenn released the full-length Wanderlust in 2004. In 2005, Burhenn teamed up with John Davis, drummer of defunct DC trio Q and Not U , to form Georgie James. Laura first worked with Saddle Creek in 2007 on Georgie James' debut LP, Places . The duo parted ways in late 2008. Burhenn went into
1936-480: Was the singer Scott Walker . New York Daily News ' Jim Farber summarizes the genre; "think Donovan meets Burt Bacharach". Newsmakers believes that the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds helped define chamber pop as "intimate, precisely arranged songs with rock's sweep but without its bluesy clamor." Following the album was the group's unfinished 1966–67 work Smile , a collaboration between Brian Wilson and lyricist Van Dyke Parks that also heavily influenced
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