If you like indie rock you may have noticed a trend. Every musician on the planet has lived in Portland. Okay that’s an exaggeration, but it seems like a huge number of indie bands and icons are Stumptown alumni. From Elliott Smith to the Decemberists to the Dandy Warhols, Portland is bringing the indie rock heavies.

Some musicians move here from elsewhere, like Sleater-Kinney or the The Shins. Others, like Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse, are Portlanders who go elsewhere to rock. Even “Louie, Louie” was written there. While you are surely familiar with Stephen Malkmus, there are a lot of Portland bands that aren’t getting the attention they deserve. But don’t take my word for it–take the word of Brandon Summers of the Portland band The Helio Sequence:

Man, if there’s a city you don’t think is indie, it’s probably Vegas. The place shouts corporate in big bright blinky letters. But that’s not the only side of Vegas! There’s another side, but you might need a bus to get there, according to Doug Levitt:

Oh, The Shark just HAD to bring up the whole Nickelback controversy again, didn’t he? For the love of all that is holy, I am going to start wearing a Nickelback t-shirt to CMJ events to piss people off. Hey, wait, is loving Nickelback ironically the thing that will cause all hipsters to die? I think it might be. Come, let us all love Nickelback so that Williamsburg will again be habitable!

That’s okay though, because you know who will be on board with my newfound Nickelback love? Awesome UI-Approved, Must-See CMJ Marathon Artist Juliana Hatfield! Check it out. Nickelback’s her guilty pleasure!

Even though Poingly doesn’t want to hear it, I am going to talk about indie elitism. First, I am all for Project Jenny, Project Jan. And I am all for them listening to whatever they want to listen to. And I am all for them respecting likeminded artists who fight the corporate machine of music.

What I am not okay with is PJPJ implying that people who don’t agree with them are stupid.

It’s great to show some respect for musicians who “do the right thing” (whatever your definition of that is), but their personal and professional respectability has little to do with how awesome their jams might be. Do I support R. Kelly’s actions as a person? No. God, no. But will I sell my first born to see the next episodes in his hip-hopera “Trapped in the Closet.” In the words of Gov. Palin, “You betcha!”

As horrifying as rape allegations against an indie musician might be, I am still going to sing “Trucker’s Atlas” at the top of my lungs whenever it comes on in my proximity. That doesn’t make me dumb, it makes my appreciation of music devoid of interest in the politics of the people who create the music.

(Read more “Elitism” after the jump)

It’s the second installment of breaking down indie myths. One of the most common is that once a band becomes popular, they are no longer talented. Maybe they sold out, or compromised their sound. Any band who has been popular from the beginning must be talentless hacks that pander to the stupid masses.

Ask any hipster what they think about a very popular band and they will get visibly angry at worst, or laugh and pretend to like them ironically. No self respecting hipster can say they earnestly like the Pussycat Dolls unless they can construe their work as “societal commentary.” Just say the word Nickelback and see indie rockers become visibly angry. No, really! Look here, here, and here:

(After the jump, that is)

Shark was correct that the phrase “giving it the old college try” seems incorrect, since most people try very little in college.  Unless you are referring to drugs or experimental sex.  In which case, “Giving it the old college try” does in fact denote a total willingness to do anything at the drop of a hat (what does THAT phrase mean?).  The Hymns know what I am talking about.

The Shark mentioned he is offended by the idea that Nickelback achieved some level of musical credibility by affiliating with Live Nation and going indie. As you might have guessed by now, Freebird almost spat coffee at the screen in order to shout, “Bullshit!”

Now let’s underline that I am not a Nickelback fan. Previous to reading their Wikipedia entry five minutes ago, I could not name one song by them. I assume I have heard them but I couldn’t tell you anything about their music. So this defense is not out of a fanboy love of Nickelback.

Let’s say you’re in an awesome band. You make amazing music and the world loves you (basically, what happens when you play Guitar Hero). You get so much money and power, you call the shots. If you care about music, wouldn’t you support the indie movement (not to mention your profits) by going indie? As a person who supports indie musicians, how can you vilify any band that tries to take profits away from corporations, and increase the popularity of the indie movement in terms of money and people? Go Nickelback, I say!

And if the point of being in a band is to reach the largest number of people with your awesome music, why not take every opportunity to make that possible? And if you can, with your money and power, help other bands do the same, how can I argue?

Now you may say that the music of Nickelback could not be called awesome. Fine. But their bringing the issue of independently producing music controlled by and benefiting the artist to a large group of people who wouldn’t normally care about the issue IS awesome. And for those about to rock independently, I salute you, Nickelback.

But it’s not just me! Bands love selling out if it gets more people to their music. And so why shouldn’t the reverse be true? Man in Gray discussed the difference between having an indie versus major label in terms of how it can benefit your music, not your cred. And isn’t that ultimately what it’s about? Music? Not cred?

With a video title like “Go Ahead, Sell Out!” you can imagine they aren’t crying over Nickelback ruining indie