Seattle's Josh Niehaus reflects on the 90s in Zanadu.

Another great and truly independent artist out of Seattle; perhaps the Olympia Brewing Company is right about the water up there. Josh Niehaus couples his gift of song writing with a polished production value uncharacteristically high for an unsigned artist. To top it off, Josh writes about his music in a way that we, at IndieAndie, couldn't have done better ourselves. So, without further ado, this week's spotlight is a repost of a spot Josh Niehaus wrote about his song Zanadu; a tribute to growing up in Seattle. 

-andie

Growing up in Seattle during the nineties was the best! Well, maybe it would’ve been cooler to be in Paris in 1789 or in Greenwhich Village in 1968. But, if you had to spend your teen years alive during the 1990's, you couldn't hope for a better place to do in it than Seattle. I can already feel the non-Seattle-ites rolling their eyes, and saying, "how can you possibly back that up?" Well, to understand what was so great about Seattle in the 90's, let's take a look at the popular culture that it emerged out of, my first decade, the 80's; a time when the counter cultural revolution was but a fading memory, and in its place stood an empowered GOP with Reagan at the helm. A time when the airwaves were saturated with synthesizers and drum machines. A time when Eddie Van Halen melted peoples faces with some of the most iconic guitar shredding ever played. In other words, it was a time when the spirit of rock and roll was being suffocated under a nation's desperate plea for order and conservatism. A time when the chaos of rock’s sound was quantized into new-wave dance fluff by primitive computers. And a time when the men and women who yielded rock’s most powerful weapon, the Axe, were all trying to be Van Halen. But luckily the cultural tides shifted as I entered into the 90's, and Seattle was at the center of this movement.

From the muddy banks of the Wishkaw to Puget Sound, the 90’s were ruled by flannel wearing, garage dwelling, skateboard riding junkies from Seattle, whose appearance left but one title; Grunge! Grunge was a genuine form of expression, free from consonant fluff, cheesy synthesizers and overly-reverberated drum kits. Free from ostentation, affectation and record label subordination. It was a tiny movement that housed a few creative geniuses who sounded nothing like the billboard bands of their times, yet astonishingly took over the charts. Of course the labels caught on, as they always do, and began mass-producing Nirvana knock-offs by the mid to late nineties. But there was a time, in my childhood, in my city, were there was a genuine artistic movement that the whole world wanted a piece of. A time when I could ride my skateboard down 'The Ave' to buy comic books at Zanadu, bump into Krist Novoselic at Cellophane Square, see Pearl Jam in concert for free, or, sadly, attend a community wide vigil for Kurt Cobain; the unofficial poet laureate of our city’s scene. 


My song Zanadu is a tribute to growing up in my city during this era. The song ends with a simple notion that 'all good things must come to an end'. Grunge is dead. And Although I am left with only memories, the music lives on as a reminder of how lucky I was to grow up within the pages of music history. 

Check out more music and videos by Josh Niehaus on Facebook or Reverbnation. 

The Imaginary Cities of Manitoba

No, this post's title is not a stab at the size of Brandon or Winnipeg, the two largest (but perhaps too small to be accurately called) cities in Canada's lake-ridden prairie province, Manitoba. But what the "Heart of the Continent" lacks in population it more than makes up for in flora, fauna, tall-grass and a "suspiciously good" musical act, Imaginary Cities. 

The group formed after a fortuitous encounter between founding members Rusty Matyas and Marti Sarbit. The relationship quickly blossomed into local gigging, a critically praised debut album and an international tour opening for The Pixies, all within a fantastically short period of time. In under two years, Imaginary Cities has risen to Canada's national stage and put out an album that caused a CBC host to declare "I F#%*ing love this band." This is a band that I fully expect to see great things and big moves from in the next year or two. But enough prophecy and praise from me, you simply need to hear their album Temporary Resident and see for yourself. 

For more on Imaginary Cities check out http://www.myspace.com/imaginarycitiesmusic 

Check out this movie, Before The Music Dies.

How can we reconcile that we live in a time when high quality recordings can be produced from home and the largest distributors in history (iTunes and Amazon) are open to all artists, yet popular music is increasingly formulaic and radio playlists are shrinking? How is it that major labels no longer control the modes of production or the channels of distribution of music, while remaining in control of nearly all the music that moves through those channels with force and ends up on the charts? Before The Music Dies is a fascinating documentary that addresses many of the questions that leave today's artists and music lovers perplexed and disheartened.

From the consolidation of power in the music industry, to the takeover of executive posts at major record labels by MBAs with no appreciation for music, to the rise of MTV and a visual orientation to music, to technology that makes it easy to cover up and correct lousy performances, to our culture's growing emphasis on physical beauty and youth, to our youth's tranquil acceptance of musical formulas and craving of more of the same... Before The Music Dies rounds up majors, indies, fans and executives, and pieces together an in depth understanding of how the music industry evolved into something that pumps out what Bob Dylan has labeled "pollution". It is a fascinating and well-told story, filled with interviews, archival footage, live performances and humor.

So next time you have a movie night, fire up indieAndie, turn on Before The Music Dies, hit the full screen button, and then let us know what you thought, and what you think the future holds! Desperate times call for imaginative solutions.

Having trouble viewing the video above? Check it out directly @ http://www.hulu.com/watch/62945/before-the-music-dies. For our readers in countries that block hulu, we hope you can find this movie somewhere else online. In the meantime check out the trailer on Youtube.

Tiger Love: located on the corner of indie and indie.

Tiger Love is putting the independent back into indie! They have all the markings of a contemporary "indie band"; the unkempt look, the marriage of organic instrumentation and raw playing, with precise electronic sequences and synthesizers, the humorous lyrics and hilarious videos... But unlike most bands from the "indie genre"- who look as good, sound as polished and have as large of a following- Tiger Love breaks the mold by actually being independent! Of course that may not be the case by the time you read this; they are widely marketable, and (from what we gather) are on the hunt for a label. And as much as we at indieAndie hate to hear that, we can't blame them. They have "the goods" and they have acquired a good amount of success on their own. And if they feel a label will help them reach the next rung in their career, we wish them the best of luck. After all, good musicians who work at music professionally deserve to make a decent living (we just wish it didn't take a label to do that, or that labels didn't suck the creativity and money out of their musicians). But all titles/labels/speculation aside, Tiger Love is simply a good band that makes you want to get up and dance, and for the time being we're happy they are a part of the independent music world! 

Tiger Love has less information online about themselves than any band we have ever come across. Their entire bio reads, "New band and an upcoming pop sensation 'Tiger Love', formed in 2010 by brothers Roy and Gigi, and underage drummer Loral." Instead of unnecessary commentary (which is our department) they let their music and their videos do the talking for them- so take a listen! 

Under Control by Tiger Love

indieAndie is thrilled to share an independent band with so much commercial potential! Whatever the future holds for this bunch, we wish them all the success and creative control the music industry has to offer. 

Pussy Cocaine by Tiger Love