And you call yourself a mod. You should go the extra mile! Letting the MB team down. ;)

Well, in all fairness, I didn't say mine were more essential than NMH, I said just as essential:p: Obviously NMH is an indie rock cornerstone, but for me personally, discoveries like Boxer, Sigur Ros, etc. shaped my musical vision and development just as much as NMH did. They're all so original and still unmatched. So to me, they're all essential. Hence why they made my list:)

It's gonna be America-heavy because I prefer their brand of indie rock:

Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth
Surfer Rosa - Pixies
Slanted & Enchanted - Pavement
You're Living All Over Me - Dinosaur Jr.
13 Songs - Fugazi

I want this poor noob to get a solid base and hear the influences before they move on to modern indie... :D

In no order

1. Interpol - Antics
2. Arcade Fire - Funeral
3. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, Thats What Im Not.
4. The Strokes - Is This It
5. Modest Mouse - Good News... Or. We Were Dead...

A very generic list I know but 5 that everyone should have and as good a place to start as any.

Modest Mouse - Lonesome Crowded West Face-melting


Pixies - Doolittle - Can't leave this off.


The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? - Gorgeous playful soundscape. A bit proggy too.


Wolf Parade - Apologies To The Queen Mary



Slint - Spiderland - On first listen, this didn't do much for me. After giving it a proper review, it blew me away.

Might as well throw in my 5:

1. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
2. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
3. The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
4. Pixies - Doolittle
5. Arcade Fire - Funeral

Those 5 are a great starting point.

^

Very solid.

I left out Doolittle because I felt it was more Alternative than Indie.. but meh, I should've really put it in. It's an essential.

Pixies can fall into both really. The alternative rock scene in the 80's was pretty much the american indie movement. There was no real difference between the two at the time.

Aye, Indie rock is a very loose term I feel. Even bands on major labels, I'd say yeah they're an Indie band.. just because they make music that sounds Indie. But I wanted these lists to be as Indie as possible, so I left out stuff like Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not.

Good list though, I think if you gave them to someone who had only ever heard mainstream music their life would change.

i left off radiohead but really wanted to include them.