Wow! That captures this really well. My respect for Xgau has I think quadrupled in the last year or so. (And since I had never heard of him until a couple of years ago, his stock is rising fast!). I think Frank is right that what I'm describing doesn't mean indie (and I'm as guilty as anyone of polarising pop and indie AS IF THEY WERE ALTERNATIVES on this community when actually the relation is much more complex -- Tom's post later today starts to show how (in a British context at least) they're kind of imbricated in each other). "Semi-popular" allows us to take a step back from the polemics, and I like the link to decadence and to the preferences of artistic types.
I think I had an argument about your last point with someone last week (IRL!): I suggested that no-one ever likes something because it's pop or because it's indie, but if in explaining why they like something they say because it's pop or indie that's because there's some kind of social tension (probably a whole series of them) which has become crystallised into that label. This is certainly the case with the Lex, and when I use 'indie' in discussion with him I am probably still fighting some war that should have been over a dozen years ago. (With the insular musical snobs at university who would only listen to the latest imported American alternative album or whoever).
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-08-08 07:11 am (UTC)I think I had an argument about your last point with someone last week (IRL!): I suggested that no-one ever likes something because it's pop or because it's indie, but if in explaining why they like something they say because it's pop or indie that's because there's some kind of social tension (probably a whole series of them) which has become crystallised into that label. This is certainly the case with the Lex, and when I use 'indie' in discussion with him I am probably still fighting some war that should have been over a dozen years ago. (With the insular musical snobs at university who would only listen to the latest imported American alternative album or whoever).