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    Just like any other genre of music, listening to the classics of indie rock is not only an education in and of itself, with lots of jems to discover on the way, but also a good lesson about a form of music that has only recently matured - that is indie rock (or alternative, whatever you want to call it).

    This week's "Digging The Archives" featured album may have come out 11 years ago, but it still fresh and inviting - chock full of great, if not obscure, 'oldskool' indie rock.

    With an indie star line-up that includes singers from Yo La Tengo and Luna, Wasps' Nest (1995), by The 6ths, easily ranks as one of the most influential records that emerged onto the indie scene during the still-very-underground genre.

    Produced and composed by The Magnetic Fields front man Stephin Merritt, Wasps' Nest offers a collection of wonderfully diverse songs that somehow all fit together to form a classic album. Listening to tracks like 'San Diego Zoo', 'Falling Out' of 'Love, Winter in July' and 'Heaven In A Black Leather Jacket' conjures up images of bands like well, yeah, The Magnetic Fields, but also later day indie sensations like Built To Spill, Future Bible Heroes and Yo La Tengo.

    Not so ironically, one of the indie artists performing on the album is Yo La Tengo's Georgia Hubley. It seems a natural collboration for Merritt and Hubley. Also lending their vocal talents to the indie classic are Barbara Manning, Dean Wareham of Luna, Mary Timony of Helium, Robert Scott of The Bats, Chris Knox, Lou Barlow.

    Can you imagine if this talent-drooling experiment had taken the next step and become a permanent indie band? Talk about it using the Comments below.

    Thankfully, and to the praise of many rock critics and indie fans, Merritt resembled and reconfigured The 6ths two years after Wasps Nest to produce a collection of songs he almost exclusively composed. Merritt and Magnetic Fields were reeling from the accolades of 69 Love Songs (a three-disc indie classic) when Merritt set out to conceive a follow-up to Wasps Nest debut, Hyacinths and Thistles, five years later. To help out, he commissioned the vocal gifts of Bob Mould, Sarah Cracknell, Gary Numan and Marc Almond.

    The result was a yet another critically received work of pure indie genius five years after the release of Wasps' Nest. Indie rock critics and fans around the world praised it and some called it yet another indie classic.

    Shortly after it's release, The 6ths unofficially disbanded. That's a bit strange since they were never officically an established band in the tradition sense, but more as an experiment.

    Fans of The 6ths would love to hear more. Let's hope that Merritt gets the itchies to revive The 6ths and set out to recruit some of the best in the indie music world to collaborate on creating a potentially third classic indie rock band.

    The result, which included Hot on the heels of the well-received Magnetic Fields project 69 Love Songs, Merritt was the 6ths second album, Hyacinths and Thistles, with vocal help from Marc Almond, Bob Mould, Gary Numan, and Sarah Cracknell, among others.

    To think of the subsequent work they could release if the union reunited.

    Meanwhile, each member continued on their road to making great music. Merritt, not surprisingly (and thankfully for MF fans and yet to be fans), returned to The Magnetic Fields and pump out some great work.

    Take a look at the band's official web site discography [link]
    Die-hard indie fans have ready heard this album or are trying to find it right now. Enjoy and get a sense of some of the pioneers of indie rock as we know it today.

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      4:32 PM   November 30, 2006   Leave a Comment        0 Comments    MP3 Policy  Follow IRC  Facebook IRC

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    Current and upcoming releases (US dates)

    11/24/09 Franz Ferdinand
    11/24/09 Lenka
    11/24/09 MGMT
    11/24/09 Tortoise
    11/24/09 Oh No
    12/1/09 Gossip
    12/1/09 Modest Mouse
    1/14/10 Vampire Weekend - Contra
    1/26/10 Basia Bulat - Heart Of My Own

    Best 2009 Indie Releases

    2009 best indie albums
    Favorite 2009 indie albums in no particular order; strongly recommend these for your music collection.

    Roman Candle - Oh Tall Tree In The Ear
    Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy
    Fanfarlo - Reservior
    Freelance Whales - Weathervanes
    Kings of Convenience - Declaration of Dependence
    Foreign Born - Person To Person
    Real Estate - Real Estate
    Them Crooked Vultures - s/t debut
    Volcano Choir - Unmap
    Au Revoir Simone - Still Night,Still Light
    Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
    The Raveonettes - In and Out of Control
    Ramona Falls - Intuit
    Holiday Shores - Columbus'd The Whim
    Why? - Eskimo Snow
    Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
    Cage The Elephant - Cage The Elephant
    The Dead Weather - Horehound
    Portugal The Man - The Satantic Satanist
    Port O'Brien - Threadbare
    Broken Records - Until The Earth Begins To Part
    Headlights - Wildlife
    Bango or Freakout - Upside Down EP
    The Clean - Mister Pop
    Sin Fang Bous - Clangour
    Passion Pit - Manners
    The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
    Brazos - Phosphorescent Blues
    Spring Tigers - Spring Tigers EP
    Sea Wolf - White Water, White Bloom
    The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
    Bodies Of Work - Flyers
    The XX - XX
    The Black Hollies - Softly Towards The Light
    Sonic Youth - The Eternal Youth
    Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
    Modest Mouse - No One's First and You're Next
    Generationals - Con Law
    BLK JKS - After Robots
    White Denim - Fits/Exposion
    Rodrigo y Gabriella - 11:11
    Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk
    Atlas Sound - Logos
    The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You
    Califone - All of My Friends Are Funeral Singers
    Taken By Trees - East of Eden
    Chet - Chelsea Silver, Please Come
    Julian Casablancas - Phrazes for the Young
    Washed Out - Life of Leisure
    Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
    Deer Tick - Born On Flag Day
    The Clientele - Bonfires of Heath
    Iron & Wine - Around The Well
    Pete Doherty - Grace/Wastelands
    It Hugs Back - Inside Your Guitar
    Peter Bjorn and John - Living Thing
    Conor Oberst & The Mustic Valley Band - Outer South
    Paper Route - Absence
    Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
    Throw Me The Statue - Creaturesque
    The Dodos - Time To Die
    Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
    M. Ward - Hold Time
    Deastro - Moondagger
    The Decemberists - Hazards of Love
    Matt & Kim - Grand
    The Antlers - Hospice
    Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
    The Brakes - Touchdown
    Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
    Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
    Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
    Franz Ferdinand - Tonight
    Frightened Rabbit - Quietly Now
    We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls
    The Times New Viking - Born Again Revisited
    A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar
    Pet Lions - Soft Right
    Paramore - Brand New Eyes
    Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Beware
    Bishop Allen - Grrr
    Cage The Elephant - Cage The Elephant
    Birds of Avalon - Uncanny Valley
    Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
    Ben Kweller - Changing Horses
    The Acorn - Heron Act
    The Twilight Sad - Forget The Night Ahead
    AC Newman - Get Guilty
    Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
    Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen
    Beirut - March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland
    The Most Serene Republic - And The Ever Expanding Universe
    Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
    Woodpigeon - Treasury Library Canada
    Wye Oak - The Knot
    Vica Voce - Rose City
    Pomegranates - Everyone, Come Outside!
    Dananananaykroyd - Hey Everyone
    Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
    Akron/Family - Set Em Wild, Set Em Free
    Lemon Sun - Run With the Faithless
    Eels - Hombre Lobo
    Fruit Bats - The Ruminant Band
    Mellow Down Easy - Cosmisutra
    The Mary Onettes - Dare EP
    Odawas - The Blue Depths
    The Veils - Sun Gangs
    Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
    White Rabbits - It's Frightening
    Loney Dear - Dear John
    The Lonely Forest - We Sing The Body Electric
    The Uglysuit - self-titled debut
    Handsome Furs - Face Control
    Vampire Hands - Me & You Cherry Red/Cuz It's a Beach Funeral


    This list is updated regularly.






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