Indie Rock

Last night I read an article in the New York Times entitled Truly Indie Fans (who titles these articles), a look at the place of african americans in the indie rock scene and their relationship with rock and roll in general.

There was one thing that immediately struck me as odd: the article was in the Fashion and Style section of the Times, not the music section - it was an article that approached the subject as a lifestyle choice rather than a musical one. This was reflected in the article's explorations of what it means on a surface level to identify with a music scene, something I've never participated in or understood. When I got into grunge I didn't start wearing ripped jeans and flannels, and when I got into jazz I didn't start wearing...I don't know, what do jazz fans or musicians wear?

As soon as I started reading the article, two of the first thoughts that popped into my mind were: I wonder if they'll discuss Jimi Hendrix and the backlash from african american audiences to his perceived pandering to white audiences and use of white musicians in his band. I also wondered if there would be any mention or discussion of the Black Rock Coalition made famous by Vernon Reid and Living Colour.

Indeed, both subjects were mentioned in passing, amidst discussion of extra-musical factors such as fashion. It's a shame that the article wasn't in the music section so it couldn't delve into getting some musical answers from both audiences and performers.

I wonder if the question should be less about acceptance within the scene itself and more about why the scene is so racially homogenized in the first place, and the reasons why musical genres are still so sharply divided amongst race lines.

Not to mention the fact that the term blipster is totally inane and an absurd an extraneous racial label. In any case, hipster is not, or at least should not be, racially exclusive, so if we want to be fair, we'd have to have whipsters and blipsters.

I would like to commend their mention of James Spooner and Afropunk, a great documentary and an in depth look at race and identity in the punk scene. It offers a much more thorough examination of race in a genre that was overwhelmingly white to begin with.  I haven't read some of the other books mentioned in the article but I'd like to check them out. If anyone has a personal recommendation of where to start, please let me know.