Can The Smiths really be counted as indie? They've kind of been co-opted into the indie community, but they're really... kinda... 80s pop.


NMH - In an Aeroplane (obviously)
Elliott Smith - XO (vital)
Mogwai - Come On Die Young (since post-rock is shoved in with indie so often)
Cat Power - Moon Pix

I can't choose a fifth album... there are so many sounds I'd have to cut out :/. Should I go softer and weirder (Cocorosie)? More energetic and respected (DFA1979)? Another odd off-shoot of a more popular genre (Spoonboy)? Folky (Sufjan Stevens)? Required listening but not solely indie (Dylan)?

They're an Indie Pop band from the 80s.

Yes. The Smiths pretty much are the definition of 80's UK indie. If it wasn't for bands like The Smiths and Joy Division and pioneering indie record labels such as Rough Trade and Factory, indie as we know it would probably not exist today.

I think you would have to throw My Bloody Valentine in there too. REM are another band I would consider as one of the forefathers of what we now have as indie

Most people here have just been throwing on albums that they love. While I agree that they're great albums, I disagree that they're a great entrance into Indie for someone that's never actually listened to much of the genre. Personally, my list would be something like:

1. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (obvious. basically the greatest indie rock ever devised)
2. Loveless (introduce some shoegaze in here)
3. Funeral (very solid album that basically anyone will like)
4. The Queen is Dead (basically the beginning on Indie)
5. Daydream Nation (the heavier, more raw end of Indie)

These are not necessarily my favorites, even though I love them all. I still think that these five are the most essential and the ones that should be introduced first and foremost to someone that knows nothing about the genre.

I think there needs to be a Pavement album in any essential Indie list, not only are they one of the best bands within the 'genre', they practically define the 'genre' itself.

As for which album... take your pick.

Slanted & Enchanted obviously.

There's an argument for Crooked Rain Crooked Rain and Brighten the Corners too, S&E is their most influential release, but does that equate to the most essential? Debatable.

Why not all of them?

Wowee Zowee