Amazon takes indie myopia to exciting new heights

But that list is close to 100% accurate for me.

I'd put them in a different order, especially 1) NMH, 2) Liz Phair, 3) Bell and Sebastian 4) GBV but they're all fantastic records.

Enough cannot be written about how much of a masterpiece Exile in Guyville is. Everyone should own it. Pretty much every one of these records makes me think "this is the best thing ever" each time I put it on but Liz, NMH, Guided by Voices, and B&S are the big players.

'should the five American men in their late 30s/early 40s who complied the list and are clearly music fans have maybe taken a stab at considering indie as a whole rather than the stuff they liked at college?'. Obviously we're not talking about CORPORATE responsibiity. Hardly an overtly commerical list, either.

Indie means independent record label line when ruling out The Smiths, R.E.M., Pixies, Joy Division / New Order and so on but stuck to the ‘slacker-ish American stuff from the Nineties, nothing too loud plz’ demographic with the actual picks. Next to nothing that doesn't fit that template on here.

1. "City of Caterpillar" City of Caterpillar
2. "Spiderland" Slint
3a."In on the Kill Taker" Fugazi
3b. "End Hits" Fugazi
3c. "Red Medicine" Fugazi
4. "False Cathedrals" Elliott
5. "Believe it Mammals" Bats & Mice
6. "Memory-Minus" Sleepytime Trio
7a. "Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock" Sebadoh
7b. "Bakesale" Sebadoh
8. "Further" Guilt
9. "Dinosaur" Dinosaur Jr
10. "Superwolf" Matt Sweeney & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
11. "Save Everything" Shipping News
12. "The Biz" The Sea and Cake
13. "3" Rex
14a. "Lost Blues and Other Songs" Palace Music
14b. "Viva Last Blues" Palace Music
15. "Rehearsals for Departure" Damien Jurado

wasn't indie about Factory Records? They may have had a distribution deal with a major (Although I'm not even one hundred percent sure about that) but the label itself was as independent as they come. And, while we're at it - The Smiths (As opposed to Mozza) were on Rough Trade; R.E.M signed for Warners later but their earlier (And better) stuff was on I.R.S. and The Pixies were on 4AD (Another text book example of

Being on Warner Brothers Records in the US they've taken that as not indie. Slightly unfair on any non-US artists, very unlikely that they would be distributed in the US by an indie.

Mojo's UK list plugs a lot of the gaps.

50) Huggy Bear - Herjazz
49) The Delgados - The Great Eastern
48) James - Village Fire
47) Swell Maps - Read About Seymour
46) Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken
45) Half Man Half Biscuit - Trumpton Riots EP
44) The Wild Swans - The Revolutionary Spirit
43) The Pooh Sticks - On Tape
42) Fire Engines - Candyskin
41) McCarthy - Keep An Open Mind Or Else
40)Jane And Barton - It's A Fine Day
39) Josef K - The Missionary
38) Ride - Ride EP
37) The Bodines - Therese
36) Shop Assistants - Safety Net
35) The Primitives - Really Stupid
34) Saint Etienne - So Tough
33) The Sea Urchins - Pristine Christine
32) Elastica - Line Up
31) Stereolab - Peng!
30) The Wedding Present - George Best
29) Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
28) New Order - Temptation
27) Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
26) The Libertines - What A Waster
25) The Loft - Up The Hill And Down The Slope
24) The Vaselines - Son Of A Gun
23) Aztec Camera - High Land Hard Rain
22) Happy Mondays - Lazyitis (One Armed Boxer)
21) The Pastels - Up For A Bit With The Pastels
20) Spacemen 3 - Revolution
19) This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren
18) Lloyd Cole And The Commotions - Rattlesnakes
17) Teenage Fanclub - Everything Flows
16) Wire - Outdoor Miner
15) Echo & The Bunnymen - Crocodiles
14) Belle & Sebastian - Tigermilk
13) The House Of Love - Destroy The Heart
12) Subway Sect - Ambition
11) Felt - Forever Breathes The Lonely Word
10) Primal Scream - Crystal Crescent/Velocity Girl
9) The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
8) The La's - There She Goes
7) Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
6) Joy Division - Transmission
5) My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise
4) The Fall - How I Wrote 'Elastic Man'
3) Orange Juice - You Can't Hide Your Love Forever
2) The Jesus & Mary Chain - Psychocandy
1) The Smiths - This Charming Man

"Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock" is their best (although technically it is a compilation rather than an album proper). Why this record doesn't get the props it deserves really does boggle the mind – the amazing schizophrenic, genre-bending nature of this record is unparalleled. Sheer brilliance.

all points