2006: The Year 'Selling Out' Broke

Over the last four or five years, the term “indie” has stretched and expanded to the point where major-label acts such as the Killers (don’t be fooled by the moustaches, ladies) and local, unsigned, cassette tape-only bands can be corralled under the same name. What once exclusively meant independence from corporate labels and DIY ethics has now come to stand for an aesthetic, probably best represented to the general populace by the constructed “indie” tone of, say, “Garden State,” or indie-turned-major labelers Death Cab For Cutie.

Annoying as all hell to the purists who have their noses deep in blogs and basically unnoticed by the general populace (Does anyone really care about cred?), this shift from commercial attitude to aesthetic classification actually carries a huge shift for how artists can exist in a corporate, commercial climate while still existing as “independents.”

As opposed to the way grunge was undermined in the early 90s by a large-scale corporate buyout of the entire genre, the artists that identify as indie today have moved away from the idea that artistic integrity and major-label success act in opposition. Unlike the internal conflict experienced by bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, these bands (say, Modest Mouse) want to be successful, and do not see that there needs to be artistic compromise to gain this success.

In fact, many bands seem to be adept at using major-label attention and corporate budgets to their advantage—look no further than the concurrent increase in both album sales and sonic depth of TV On The Radio’s major-label debut, Return To Cookie Mountain.

Another would have to be LCD Soundsystem (a.k.a. James Murphy And Friends) and their new track, 45:33, which comes as part of a (are you ready?) Nike promotion. Yes, it is a commercial tie-in, and yes, Murphy probably received a hefty check for his song, but the fact is, Murphy had never before attempted such an artistic project, that is, a 45-minute techno workout. Not a 45-minute “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” remix—this is 45 minutes of brand new music that pushes stylistic boundaries for the already eclectic group.

To use what was once called “selling out” to in fact push his own artistic boundaries shows both a commercial and artistic adroitness that goes against the grain of the indie-turned-major horror stories of the mid 90s. The drummer for one-hit wonders Semisonic, Jacob Schlicter, in fact wrote a book, “So You Wanna Be A Rock And Roll Star,” about such a horror story. The book depicts the major label machine as inescapably bloated and inefficient for promoting smaller, independent bands. However, the new class of young bands seem to have a new outlook and freedom in navigating the corporate machine—and as suits against file-sharing programs have shown, it’s not the major labels that have changed.

It’s basically the job of a brand to attach itself to the hippest cultural touchstone and use it for its success— look no further than those Che shirts for proof of this corporate vampirism. But for Murphy/LCD to use this corporate ad as an opportunity to make something unique and challenging, especially within their own catalog, is exceptional.

The song pushes the band into new sonic territory—blazing through Kraftwerkian shimmers and house-y vocals, LCD turn in a track that might earn critical success based on its own merit. By associating it with Nike, they might lose blogger attention, but these are the same people who would probably hate to see a band play big venues or have their music sold at Wal-Mart.

I will give them this, though—by utilizing LCD Soundsystem’s music, Nike has done something their dynamically-sensitive air-cushioned shoes never could: make me think about going for a run.

LCD Soundsystem, however, did something far more impressive, which is to alter the idea of “selling out,” and with their 45 minutes of music, they have actually demonstrated the strength of “indie” not as a concept, but as an aesthetic that merges artistic integrity and commercial success.

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