Well of course we were pulling for Now That’s What I Call Indie Rock, but the series of indie jamz compilations that made waves earlier this year has its very own title: This Is NEXT. All caps on the “NEXT,” ’cause they’re focusing on up-and-comers. Like Bloc Party, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cat Power, and the Shins! Get to elbo.ws and check ‘em out lest ye fall behind the times.
In fairness, the folks behind NEXT have been forthcoming with the comps’ intent. They say they were “inspired by the success of the Garden State sountrack,” and you’ll remember that Vice man Adam Shore told EW:
These bands’ records sell really well to a particular audience…But even though these artists are getting all this media exposure, they’re not necessarily crossing over to a very casual record buyer. We’re partnering with MTV2, and the focus is going to be Walmarts, big box stores, red states, and TV advertising ? to really go beyond…. We don’t really expect indie-rock stores to support this record. It’s for the casual fan.
Casual indie rock fans can look forward to two editions of NEXT a year, though the hipster set’s condescension on said purchases likely will be a tad more frequent. Different ADA labels will take turns curating, but the first comes to you via Vice. Tracklist after the jump.
01 Bloc Party – “The Prayer”
02 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Cheated Hearts”
03 Sonic Youth – “Do You Believe In Rapture?”
04 The Shins – “Phantom Limb”
05 Spoon – “The Underdog”
06 Bright Eyes – “Four Winds”
07 Cat Power – “Lived In Bars”
08 Neko Case – “Hold On, Hold On”
09 Of Montreal – “Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse”
10 Deerhoof – “The Perfect Me”
11 The Hold Steady – “Chips Ahoy!”
12 Cold War Kids – “Hang Me Up To Dry”
13 Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – “Colleen”
14 M. Ward – “Chinese Translation”
15 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! – “Satan Said Dance”
This Is NEXT Vol. 1 is out 8/21. Now that’s what we call an awesome gift for your little sib.
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WOW those tracks are sooooo hip and cool i have never heard any of those (sarcasm)
but that would be a very good gift for people whose taste in music is laking
You are so slow.
They couldn’t find a better CYHSY song than “Satan Said Dance”??? That one sure ain’t gonna get the masses to go buy a CYHSY album.
yeah i was going to say.. not so great on the song choice.
this makes me sick to my stomach
Can’t wait for the KIDZ BOP versions of these!
LAME
Hey, most of these are good songs. I put a number of these on mix tapes back a couple of years ago.
Yes, it’s a little late, but it’s not like this is a bad tracklist. Just a little out of date.
Shitgum poking fun at poor titles? That’s rich.
this stuff is as indie rock as the radio station indie 103.1. its as if the makers of this comp. bought the cheapest songs they could from the bands..
I actually think its awesome. I’d be totally thrilled to see my 13 year old niece buying this.
Its not something the Stereogum readers are going to buy, but I’d rather the masses bought this than practically anything else on the market.
Sure, it’ll make the readers here feel less special to have little mall-brats singing Deerhoof on the street. Having the same tastes as a tween girl is embarassing, but isn’t any music lovers dream to finally have decent music win over the world?
Isn’t that what Bill & Ted’s was all about?
see I disagree though. I think people should have to listen to top 40 shit music for a while, and if they grow past it then that’s good, but if they don’t then don’t sell them perfectly good music at walmart so they can catalogue it next to their Rihanna cd!
this is horrible. why make your niece go to walmart to pick up this garbage when you could just make her a CD that would be 1,000s of times better than this?
Why is everyone so vitriolic about this. I’m sure everyone who reads this site could devise a better tracklist with the same group of artists. But there really is some good music on the cd. Its is aimed at people who don’t buy a ton of music, and certainly aren’t exposed to any of these artists. If this leads even a few people to seek out more m ward, or the hold steady, or whoever, then that’s absolutely great. and if its just a way for some smaller bands to get some money, well that’s fine too. Who loses out here?
Well said. God forbid people who listen to Rihanna listen to the Shins, too!
Oh, wait.
WTF? Does that make money? Why the F**k didn’t I get off my ass and do that sH*t?!!
Satan said dance = AWESOME. <– see… I’m an engineer… I can do simple math equations.
Nylund, all I’m going to say is this: I am a 13 year old and I will even say the tracklist is crap. This is like indie for dummies.
I can see the economic motivation for making a comp like this.
However, I like that most people don’t listen to what i currently do. You have to admit there’s some honest to god elitism in indie rock.
We want something to call our own, but something that’s not banal. When it becomes popular it ceases to be cool.
What if everyone… your boss, your mom, your little sister, members of congress all listened to Baile Funk or Fabriclive or Deerhunter?
There’s something to be said in trying to remain ahead of the curve.
Julie I hate you
I’m calling BS on Julie being 13.
I’m confused, am I lame because I still like The Hold Steady or because I still like The Shins? Apparently, I’m not even supposed to like The Twilight Singers anymore. Next thing I know, someone will tell me that Dan Deacon is so May 2007.
mrs, well because this is the internet, you can’t really find proof that I am 13, but I am. No. The Shins are pretty awesome and so is the Hold Steady. To be honest I like those bands on the list, just that they’re like popular indie bands. More people heard of them than Grizzly Bear.
there’s some awesome songs on there
so what if you’ve heard them before?
no one’s asking you to buy it…
I agree with wldrpretnd & co. The rest of you make me hate stereogum.
Wow. This is an AWFUL idea.
“the focus is going to be Walmarts, big box stores, red states, and TV advertising”
Is that a joke? Is this some kind of large-scale post-punk exercise in irony fueled by a fetish for the ire of indie fans? It has to be… right?
This thing makes Death Cab’s O.C. cameo look like PR Gold.
I think it’s cool.. obviously I won’t be buying it, but still.
You can tell that it’s an American compilation too, which is great. Any “indie” compilation albums over this side of the Atlantic have The Kooks, The View, The Fratellis, Baby Shambles, Coldplay, Travis on it.. NME type stuff and stuff that’s plainly not indie music.
At least this is tasteful indie.
Seriously, though, I can’t fucking stand it when bands I like gain exposure and notoriety. I mean, why the hell should they get any credit for playing what I and their fans consider to be excellent music?
I know that as an artist, whenever anybody at all seems to start to take an interest in my work, I can’t help but think “Why is this HAPPENING to me!?” I always just want to crawl in a hole and die. I can only imagine what awful times these bands are going through right now.
Suck ‘em. Everybody. Nobody can be an elitist when everybody is is suckin’ on everybody else’s “‘ems.”
does this remind anyone else of those Christian alternative rock compilations from back in the day?
oh man i just realized they will have a commercial for this! that could either be really awesome and have like david cross announcing it or have that same guy who does all of those commercials and make it sound really sleazy
All I have to say is, even as a huge Bloc Party fan…why is “The Prayer” the leadoff track on this comp? It’s not exactly something that’ll suck people in.
ive always thought that the main difference between people who listen to “top 40″ and fans of “indie rock” is that the latter cares more. You don’t see dedicated music blogs on top 40 music. [i could be wrong] i make an effort to search for music and feel rewarded by it. By doing this compilation there is no effort. It’s just handed to them. But then again if someone is willing to buy it then they obviously will care somewhat.
Name has a good point there…
god forbid independent artists make a buck or two. Every artist on this playlist made the dicision to be on here at some point in their chain of command.
Go start your own band, make a record, tour around and try to get anyone to give a shit. You kids are so fucking selfish. You deserve the fate of surfing around on shitty “indie” blogs and getting in comment wars!
Bwaw Ha Ha
The Cold War Kids song is called “Hang me OUT to dry” not “Hang me UP to dry”….
Just thought I’d put in my two cents.
i get being annoyed about this, but how would it really make a difference on what people consider “indie rock”. i mean, the oc already has equally obviouslynotthatindie music which makes 13 year olds think they’re independant. an old friend of mine dyed and cut her hair, dubbing herself not only indie, but indieindie (double whammy). unfortunately, the ride has begun.
i say accept it, fasten your seatbelt, and take pleasure in watching these dumbasses make fools of themselves.
Not to be in the position to defend fans of Top 40 rotations, but I’d have to say you don’t really need a ton of blogs about your favorite Top 40 songs when you can hear them every 10 seconds on the radio. The reason there are so many blogs for indie/progressive/alternate/insert current term of new music here is because people want to get the music out. The irony is that once it’s out, albums like Next get made, then everyone pisses and moans that their favorite indie band is now a sell out or not “indie” enough anymore….
was anyone else surprised to see ted leo on this list? not that i’m upset that he would agree to do it, i’m sure he had his reasons, but he doesn’t strike me as a person who would be proud to know his music is being sold inside a walmart.
it’s obvious anyone who buys this doesn’t take him of herself too seriously… i would hope not anyways
I don’t see what is wrong with this…these artists need exposure or else they are going to dry up and wither away. I think that hipsters often forget that these musicians actually do this for a living, not for the benefit of your own pseudo-indie, self-actualizing crusade/aka “my rebellion against my white bread suburban upbringing.
Let’s be serious too…13 year olds are not going to buy this, they are too sucked into (there’s nothing wrong with this either) what the mainstream is feeding them at that point in their lives…they’ll probably get 16 – 40 year olds who, for whatever reason are not really in touch with what music has to offer nowadays. These musicians have to find alternative ways to get their product out, seeing that the die hard 33% of their fan contingent have already downloaded their new album three months before it was supposed to be released.
You people who are up-in-arms furious about this compilation need to gain some perspective. There are lots of things to be really upset about in this world, but this is not one of them. Sheesh.
What a waste. I’m pretty tired of “look at how much more awesome we are than these fools” posts and the snide comments that follow.
Hey if more people start listening to Ted Leo, fine by me. He deserves it. Though I don’t think “Colleen” was such a great song choice for new listeners.
All of you need to lighten up and stop caring about whether certain people who listen to both Ciara and Ted Leo are worth your precious musically snobby time.
This is just…sad.
But wow, everything on here is just so indie!