So... what the hell's going on?
I don't know how many of y'all share in my sentiments, but really, what a TERRIBLE start to the year!
What is going on? The quality side of the indie market has, by the looks of things, entered a stage of complete dry-up (no snide comments please from those who aren't even fans of contemporary indie to begin with). As a tentative indicator, the great darling of the wider hipster community, Pitchfork Media, has managed to gather up no more than a miniscule three albums with enough merit to warrant an inclusion in its Best New Music section since the start of 2009. As a more encompassing indicator of where the generality of indie critics stand, Metacritic also reveals that next to nothing has made any ground: the only indie records that seem to have made any notable impact on reviewers are Merriweather Pavilion and an album by British band Late Of The Pier.
So, what is the cause of the decline? Because I for one do not like what I'm seeing. It has not been this dire since I can remember. Even last year, which in many ways wasn't really great, still had a great deal more to say for itself by the end of February.
Perhaps this represents something of a long-term decline. What we are seeing in the early stages of this year is likely a mere continuation of the increasingly poor form that emerged as 2008 progressed. I would like to think that I will be proved wrong and things will pick up, but my greater inclination is to believe that we are witnessing a slow and painful death of the high standards we usually took for granted.
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