are the new pornographers, belle & sebastian, bands like that really that obscure and unknown by the mainstream? i live under the reverse kind of musical rock, where i don't listen to the radio or watch mtv at all. if i didn't come here, i wouldn't even know that pearl jam had a new album. and the only reason i know the black eyed peas have a song about humps or whatever is because i've seen people online gripe about how horrible it is. i've never heard it. the real life people i'm around during the course of an average day are constantly trying to out indie each other, and if you didn't know of the new pornographers before twin cinema came out, you ain't shit.
i'm not saying that's the right perspective on music. elitism breeds just as much stupidity as anything else. but this thread kind of scares me, from the original post all the way to page 4. a good portion of the bands being listed are bands putting out albums on maybe not major labels, but on labels like matador or sub pop that have decent distro. hell, aren't the killers on a major? the arctic monkeys hold some kind of fastest selling cd record. this stuff is out there, and so many of you seem to think you're so obscure for liking a band that doesn't get played 6 times an hour on clear channel radio stations.
indie = independently released, and that's all it means. so it's the guy selling his homemade cd-rs out of the back of his truck after a show, not side one dummy's latest sign.