Music | September 11, 2007 | 5 comments

Why Portland is America's indie rock Mecca

source: http://www.slate.com/id/2173729/fr/rss/

Image
khsing
But it's all pear-shaped from now on.
  1. groups:
    Entertainment,   Music,   Indie Rock
  2. tags:
    Entertainment,  Music,  Indie Rock,  Oregon,  11 more
  3.     
    |

5 comments // Why Portland is America's indie rock Mecca

  • forallthatisholy
  • jennatar
    • 0
      jennatar  

    • M Ward is my favorite, too.

      Anyway, this is well and good, but can Chicago and Olympia get a 'what' please? Oh, and Denton, Texas -- or as my friend Matt calls it, "the Olympia of tomorrow."

    • 4 years ago
  • kafka
    • 0
      kafka  

    • M. Ward is my all time favorite artist, but I was surprised by how many of my other favorite bands call portland home!! Malkmus, Shins, Spoon, That's amazing!!

    • 4 years ago
  • benjaminV
    • 0
      benjaminV  

    • I think you're right on, for the most part. I moved to Portland a year ago, and while it still feels fresh, I've noticed that the level of commercialism is rising to the point of turning some people off. The music scene is still booming, and there are never any evenings where the concert choices are slim. Here's hoping that it stays real.

    • 4 years ago
  • khsing
    • 0
      khsing  

    • So to start off, I actually interned with the author at the local it-shall-remain-unnamed alt-weekly (clue: there's only two in town, and it's not the one with fake news).

      That aside, Portland's indie rock heritage does not begin with Elliott Smith – it starts with all those '80s punk bands coming out of damp basements and never gaining much mainstream traction, but receiving plenty of respect from the next generation of Pacific Northwest musicians. The backdrop of grunge also happened in Portland, but since then the NW's secondary sister has eclipsed Seattle in all areas creative (blame Microsoft).

      When I lived in Portland in the early 2000s, it felt like things were going to explode soon. The peak of creativity had perhaps already been reached, and money was starting to come in, people were moving there intentionally from places like New York and San Francisco, and big companies were starting to take notice, which usually means the beginning of the end.

      Check it out while it's still alive and kicking, however.

    • 4 years ago
more from Music:
from the community

top videos