who is (are) the premier alternative group(s) of the 2000's SO FAR?



Post Edited (07-20-04 18:09)

I dont know M, but such a profound and potentially life changing question like that require a true professional. Hopefully at a reasonable price, as wages haven't exactly been keeping up with the cost of honest advice.
I'll tell you this though...I would love to see the constantines live.

actually, you wouldn't...sorry to say

actually i was trying to gauge whether or not it was wise to hold on to
my new wave records.

Maybe there is a little reported club scene happening in some city that is a breeding ground for a new style of music, a 2004 equivalent of CBGB's in the 1970's.

Dear M,
That is Mutiny! Toe the line mate!

When I hear the 'alternative' tag I think of the frat bands of the 90's. Maybe the term was co-opted by the 'corporate right'. I always liked the term 'underground' and now prefer 'indie' (which means more than 'independant label' ). There are too many 2000's bands too list, but I stand by my claim of Yo La Tengo as the best 'alternative' national touring band for live act.
Otherwise, how 'bout:
WHITE STRIPES
INTERPOL
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB
BEULAH
BADLY DRAWN BOY
RAVEONETTES
for starters...

alternative as opposed to mainstream.
the major record companies did use the term "alternative music" to their
advantage. i remember the first time i saw an indigos girls recording in
the alernative section. i like their music, but they are a folk group.
i was looking for the early indication of the group that would prove to be
this decade's critical and influential BEST.
1960's - velvet underground
1970's - clash
1980's - rem
1990's - nirvana
2000's - ?

It may be too early to know who will have the longest influence from this decade. I understand how these bands influenced your tastes beyond a doubt as they have mine. I don't understand how REM or Nirvana were influential and not mainstream. Nirvana was derivative and claimed to be. They influenced the boardrooms and a flood of contracts but not music itself. REM were somewhat original on their first EP and LP at the time if you hadn't been listening to more underground artists of the era who eschewed effects for jangle. The VU weren't widely appreciated until the 80's outside of a very minute handful which makes them difficult to list as that decade's greatest. The same goes for the Clash whose albums hit in the US in 1980 itself with the release of London Calling (my local stores first stocked it in Jan 80 and the US s/t LP was relatively rare to be a wide influence yet) making them an anachronistic influence as well. Nonetheless, Nirvana were the 'premier alternative' group of all time. They sold the most and were the most widely recognized by the corporate alternative mainstream.

-postscript - my bid for the 90's would have to be those in the lesser mainstream/underground that influenced the worldwide trend of bringing the shoegaze and hiphop elements to the now accepted mix. Critically, that would be My Bloody and Valentine and ___________?



Post Edited (08-12-04 22:28)