Indie rock playlists for your brief entertainment
Some of my favorite women lead singers showing what you know already. Women rock!
Metric (Emily Haines) – Breathing Underwater
Courtney Barnett – Pedestrian at Best
Sharon Van Etten – Serpents
Lykke Li – Get Some
YouTube playlist: Rock and Roll Front Women
Spotify playlist: Rock and Roll Front Women
I’m no expert in dance, modern or otherwise, but clearly dance can be very expressive in the hands of the right person. Experimental, modern, weird, call it what you will, if you are open to it these videos are sure to add more feels to your day.
(It goes without saying the dance part will not be apparent if you just listen to the Spotify playlist.)
Fleet Foxes – Fool’s Errand
alt-J – Deadcrush
Arcade Fire – Afterlife (YouTube Music Awards)
YouTube playlist: When Modern Dance Meets Indie
Spotify playlist: When Modern Dance Meets Indie
In this edition of 15 Minutes Underground it is time to move. Turn up the volume, clear some space and go crazy – well for about 15 minutes anyway.
Two aspects of this playlist are: 1) Electronic – are you ready for all electronic bands yet? Electronic instruments are capable of making sounds you can’t get from traditional instruments and the technology keeps advancing. This is where new music is right now. Don’t think about it, just enjoy it! 2) Dance – Nothing wrong with EDM, but everyone should find the music they like best. No need to join the crowd. Indie provides some great alternative options. Typically Indie brings more emotion and meaning and in my opinion that enhances the overall experience.
Chvrches – Leave a Trace
Grimes – Kill v. Maim
Sylvan Esso – Kick, Jump, Twist
Purity Ring – Heartsigh
YouTube playlist: Electronic Dance Music, Not EDM
Spotify playlist: Electronic dance music, not EDM
Everyone has to deal with depression sometimes. Why not do it while listening to really great music?
Middle Kids – Edge Of Town (Official Video)
Courtney Barnett – Depreston
Lana Del Rey – Love
Lykke Li – Sadness Is a Blessing (Live on the Moon)
YouTube playlist: Guitars and Depression
Spotify playlist: Guitars and Depression
Fun list of videos where bands are not taking playing their instruments very seriously. You can listen on Spotify, but if you want to see what I mean you’ll have to watch the videos.
Vampire Weekend – A-Punk
Gold Guns Girls – Metric
Hinds – Bamboo
Best Coast – The Only Place
YouTube playlist: Play your instruments, don’t play WITH them!
Spotify playlist: Play your instruments, don’t play WITH them
Sylvan Esso / Metric / Arcade Fire / Lykke Li / Decemberists / Animal Collective / Vampire Weekend / Middle Kids / Tame Impala / M.I.A. / Hinds / Chvrches / Neko Case / Temples / The xx / Lana Del Rey / The Orwells / Parquet Courts / Sufjan Stevens / The Kills / Best Coast / The War on Drugs / Alt-J / Grimes / Warpaint / New Pornographers / Purity Ring / Courtney Barnett / Yeah Yeah Yeahs / St. Vincent / Belle and Sebastian / LCD Soundsystem / Strokes, Interpol, Arctic Monkeys / Grizzly Bear / Broken Social Scene / Fleet Foxes / Alvvays / Sleater-Kinney / Jagwar Ma / Yo La Tengo / Bleached / Foxygen / Cults / Daniele Luppi with Parquet Courts and Karen O / tUnE-yArDs / Ty Segall / Sleigh Bells / Beach House / Phoebe Bridgers – Queen of the Pandemic Performance
Play your instruments, don’t play WITH them / Guitars and Depression / Electronic Dance Music, Not EDM / When Modern Dance Meets Indie / Rock and Roll Front Women / Psychedelic Experience / Great Voices / Chill / Panorama 2017 / Live Guitar Rock Bands Thriving in 2017 / Summertime Beach Music / It’s All About the Feels / Indie Rock Wake Up! / Zombies! / Indie Rock Collaborations / Fall Concert Season Playlist 1 / Fall Concert Season Playlist 2 / Retro Influenced Indie Rock / Indie Halloween / The Softer, More Melodic Side of Indie / Indie Rock Nerds / 15 Top Indie Songs of 2017 / Anticipation – New Indie Rock Coming in 2018 / International Women’s Day / The Summer of Indie Rock / Top Indie Rock Picks 2019-2020 / My Top Ten Songs of 2021 / My Top Indie Rock Songs Of 2022/ Front Women Of Rock Are Alive and Kicking
One huge YouTube playlist with all the videos from this site: Full YouTube Playlist
One huge Spotify playlist with all the songs from this site: Full Spotify playlist
About us:
15 minute indie rock playlists – both video (YouTube) and audio (Spotify) by me is what you’ll find here. Some playlists focus on a single band – say “Grizzly Bear” for example – and some are just themes like “beach music” or “chill” or “psychedelic”. All built by me – an Indie Rock lover, concert goer, and downloader, to give you a nice intro to a new band, or a nice little escape from the rest of your day enjoying tunes for the mood you’re in.
Why am I doing this? Because sometimes you don’t have hours to check out the latest playlist or the time to search out music that you’ll like. 15 minutes of music curated by someone who loves Indie Rock can hit the spot. Catch up on a band you’ve been wondering about or just spend 15 minutes chilling before your next commitment. It’s all about spending just 15 Minutes Underground.
I recently had the good fortune of seeing this young Australian band live in Brooklyn (my photo above) and I was incredibly impressed. For a group with only six published songs they have a sound and a power that is truly phenomenal. Maybe it’s from growing up “down under”, I don’t know; but, I think this band is going to have some huge success in front of them. The singer brings feeling and energy, the music is moving and exciting. I just can’t say enough about this band. Watch for their first full-length album and download it. I am a fan and a believer.
In this playlist:
Edge Of Town, Never Start, Your Love, Old River
YouTube playlist: Middle Kids
Spotify playlist: Middle Kids
Metric is basically a rock and roll band with plenty of rock and roll cred (seeing them with Lou Reed drove that home for me.) They are one of my favorite bands and Emily Haines is one of my favorite performers. She is just a badass rock and roll icon.
In this playlist:
Sick Muse – Classic Metric song – straight up
Cascades – From their newest album where they have added more electronic instruments and this song (live version on YouTube playlist) shows how the guitars and electronics fit together.
Gold Guns Girls – Great dong, fun video you should watch to the end
Synthetica – From their previous album – Emily!
YouTube playlist: Metric
Spotify playlist: Metric
15 Minutes Underground 