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So I checked out a users recommendation from last week of a band called the 'Foals'. I only got to their second song on their myspace page  before it crashed my computer. I quite liked the second song on their playlist but I didn't manage to catch the title before my screen froze!

They describe themselves as 'minimal, psychedlic pop', as a language learner, I wonder if such descrtiptions actually translate across languages, and whether a different nationality would have the same perception of what the music was?. To avoid confusion, it all comes under 'indie' to me.

So what exactly is indie? To most Brits in their thirties, it still means drain pipe jeans, floppy hair, jumpers with holes in them, and Converse trainers which should be constantly gazed at while playing the guitar. However, that is just a collection of fashion of a few generations and doesn't really describe what indie music is.

Indie music across the globe has also been termed 'alternative' music. The main origins for this were to make a distinction between bands and artists who were a part of independent music labels as opposed to the corporate mainstream music labels. The term became established in the 1960's and signalled musicians who had autonomy over their creativity and music production. An analogy of this indies versus major labels may be your local specialist corner shop as opposed to a global supermarket chain. One of the most famous global indie bands of recent years are Radiohead, search for them if you haven't heard of their name before.

I hope you managed to catch up with the British Council's music show The Selector. Staying on the indie tip, my recommendation from their playlist this week is RedTrack, an indie punk band. You can go to their myspace page  and check them out, provided it doesn't crash your page!

Glossary

to check out (v.) - to have a look at

minimal  (adj.) - in the case of music, it means little additional production and side instruments

psychedlic (adj.) - a difficult word to describe. In the case of music it often was music with repetitive beats and lyrics.

pop (adj.) - short for 'popular culture'

Brits (n.) - shortened, colloquial phrase for people from Britain.

drain pipe jeans - skinny, straight legged jeans

floppy hair - hair which is generally medium to shoulder length with no styling, so it 'flops down'

mainstream (adj.) - appealing to a large portion of an audience

analogy (n.) - a comparison based on similarity.

crash (v.) - in computer speak, it is when your computer, browser or website breaks down.

Discuss

Do you know of any Chinese indie bands?

Have you ever listened to a band on MySpace? Can you recommend one?