Critically-created trend, or most fruitful music scene of summer/fall 2009?

I find it very difficult to answer that question, what with the division between music fan/artist/critic becoming increasingly less defined. I haven't been around long enough to attribute much life experience to this statement, but it seems to me that the internet age has brought increased attention and participation from all sides of the music equation. Anyone interested in music from around the world can access it in several minutes time (with only the slightest inclination of where to look), and many that are willing to invest time and attention to utilizing various music softwares seem able to crank out some sort of cut-and-post musical fantasia.

My first thought is that this is a very good thing. Increased musical output means more choice for the consumer, and more opportunity for every artist to have their music heard. On the flip side of this issue is the thought that more people creating music does not necessarily mean more quality/inspired/interesting music is being made. Certainly there's support for such thinking, but once we begin condemning bedroom auteurs of all shapes, sizes and styles, at what point do we stop and accept an artist as being "authentic" or "relevant"?

Perhaps I am beating a rhetorical dead horse into the ground, but these thoughts have consumed some of my time this year as I have taken my music listening more seriously. Before the past couple years, I mostly stayed within a genre, mining my favorite artists' releases for all they were worth. Now my tastes have expanded, and I continually ask myself "At what point does this go from something new and exciting, to laptop noodling with an ego?" I certainly don't have any definitive answers, and I attempt to approach each artist on their own terms, but is it possible that a time will come when the scene/fashion/trend-following surrounding various strains of indie music becomes more talked about than the music itself? And is that a bad thing, or just a sign that mainstream music is no longer only what the major labels throw money behind?

Whether we think to ourselves or someone spells it out like you have, this debate comes up every time a sub-genre becomes the "next big thing". You question the quality. You question the sincerity. You question who's banking in.. who we're going to remember beyond this phase.. As we've seen with Owl City, it doesn't really take a lot of effort, talent, uniqueness, or honesty for something in the electronic range to blow up in the mainstream. When we get to branches of electronic that "anyone" has access to and can make on their computer at home, I think it gets even more intense scrutiny and put under the microscope after the initial infatuation with the pretty and dreamy aesthetic. I agree with you that it's a good thing and a bad thing that any bedroom "artist" can gain some traction in popularity and getting their name out there through the internet and blog hype without major label support and sometimes no label at all. I have trouble with sorting out all of this myself and ultimately end up having to question myself with what do I actually like? That is the question.

Thanks for your reply, and thank you for focusing my questions back on the genre originally in question (I have the unfortunate tendency of sometimes running past my point).

I strongly agree with your statement concerning any trendy artist's sincerity. Whenever I listen to an album, what I'm hoping comes through is some part of that artist - either a message or life experience they wish to communicate, a sound they choose to explore, etc. All too often I find that music within the indie community explodes simply because someone proves capable of aping a movement or culture that has evolved organically. I don't think it's bad or lazy for artists to borrow ideas and try new sounds (David Bowie built an exciting, if not patchy, career out of doing just that), but if there's no love of the source material, no appreciation for the people and ideas behind the music, then the results can sound like a bland cash in on the zeitgeist.

Aaron's an internet celebrity now that his post was referenced in this article on Eye Weekly. Too bad the guy being interviewed doesn't take too well to the "genre" being discussed, but his opinion might be relevant in this question. Of course, listening to 1000 albums a year can't really give you much of a grasp on many of those records either. FWIW.

Haha, that's pretty cool.

He disses Memory Tapes, but thought that Lightning Bolt was going to "change the world."

Fail.

And that is pretty cool about this thread being referenced.

what the fuck are you guys babbling about?

i'm so lost.

The new trend in music this year being a mix of lo-fi/noise/ambient/experimental/pop noting such acts as the xx, neon indian, wavves, japandroids, memory tapes, and dozens more. As far as I can tell...