Pampelmoose is a music and MP3 web site covering the eclectic independent music scene. We stay clear of major labels and their artists to avoid having the Web Sheriff gallop through our offices. We are indie at heart so we support all things indie - in all its shapes and forms.
Dave walloped the bass strings and is a founding member of the highly influential, post-punk band, Gang of Four. With his business partner, Ned Failing, he started Pampelmoose in 2005. We love music and we love the way the internet leveled the playing field for all artists.
Josh Kneedler is a highly experienced interactive designer. He began working in online media in 1997 at the birth of the interactive world, a world we now take for granted, one that has become as common as the utilities we use at home. His skills consist of design, programming, and creative direction. It’s an eclectic mix, but one that is vital to pursuing new ventures where traditional broadcast media rules do not apply. Josh understands that music artists no longer need traditional record labels. A consumer in Japan may never have heard of our local Northwest music scene so local bands need a different way to promote their independently produced CDs. Josh has the necessary skills and experience that highlight innovation over imitation to tackle contemporary challenges in the world of interactive programming, design and creative marketing. Some of Josh’s work can be seen on his web site: http://www.joshkneedler.net
The UK’s Independent newspaper asks the question. It’s too long of an article to summarize efficiently so I encourage you to read it here and then discuss.
Also I’ll send a free Gang of Four 7″ single with a Shepard Fairey artwork cover to the person that tells me what the image above is parodying - hint, it’s political. [Hugo, you needn't apply....I know you know]
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Dave–I know the answer, but since I work from my home office and saw this five seconds after you posted it, I will refrain from giving the answer–wouldn’t be fair to snipe it :-) but I must say that’s a funny-as-hell riff on the original.
On the article…a guy I worked with at Gearwire once said “Now that everybody can put out a record, we finally see that sometimes exclusion isn’t such a bad thing.”
August 8th, 2008 at 10:25 amI am far more shameless than jwallace! It is a parody of a famous 1970s’ Tory campaign poster which blamed Labour for creating unemployment! The original slogan was “Labour Isn’t Working”!
August 8th, 2008 at 10:47 amOk, Joe and James, let’s call it a tie…send addresses to me at info@pampelmoose.com and a 7″ will wing its way to you both
August 8th, 2008 at 10:51 amwell, since the contest is over, i’ll just point out that “landfill-indie” is a pretty brilliant term. i feel like this is somehow (although indirectly) the libertines’ fault; up the bracket spawned all of these bands that want to be like the libertines, but none of those bands are nearly as clever. or, i dunno; maybe they weren’t inspired by the libertines and just started these bands to get girls and become rock stars. a good portion of this stuff is just a bland retread of something that’s been happening for decades, much like the singer/songwriter genre. as a musician, i’ve always thought that sounding anonymous and boring is a fate far worse than sounding weird or “inaccessible.”
with all of the interesting, progressive bands popping up what seems like every single day, it’s pretty surprising that these bland, anonymous guitar-pop bands can still sell records. i guess that’s what payola can do for you.
August 8th, 2008 at 12:21 pmDamn…I wanted to win something…
August 9th, 2008 at 2:31 amThanks again Dave. Will be pleased to receive it.
Fun fact: All of the people who posed for the original poster were Young Tories (or whatever they call themselves)! I wouldn’t have given any of them a job either! :-)
August 11th, 2008 at 6:44 amhmmm, Douglas. i don’t know if you can blame the libertines for inspiring lesser and watered-down versions of their own band, any more than you can blame ANY successful or interesting group for the hopefuls/hopeless which spring up in their wake. as to the bland, uninspiring and uninteresting: it’s omnipresent, because let’s face it — a large percentage of music listeners prefer bland, uninspiring and uninteresting, and really, there’s nothing wrong with that, as there’s plenty to go around.
August 12th, 2008 at 3:03 amInteresting article. You know, what makes it even worse is the fact that just about anyone can record some songs with a crappy 8-track, and release their music on the web, so it makes it even harder to find good “indie bands”.
I think the world does still need them, though. There are some great bands out there that no one has heard of. Every band starts somewhere- they just don’t have to copy how all the other ones dress, lol.
December 13th, 2008 at 1:31 pm