Preface To Indiepop A To Z # 54: Sisyphus

(Somehow I never imagined Sisyphus as so muscular, but I guess in Hell you still get rewarded for constantly working out.  Image from here.)

Actually, there won't be any discussion of Sisyphus in this little blog post.  Except to say, you know who I'm talking about, right?  The guy condemned to roll a rock up a hill for eternity?  When he gets to the bottom, he goes back to the top of the slide, where he stops, & he turns, & goes for a little ride?  Wait, no, that's Charles Manson.  Anyway, I think you know what I'm talking about.  I won't be talking about that right now.  Though I do have to briefly talk about it to let you know I'm not going to talk about it.

What I did want to say, which I hope to say during tomorrow's show, but which I sometimes forget to say, is that my stupid Indiepop A To Z adventure owes a hell of a lot to the band list at Twee dot net.  I haven't counted how many bands they have on the list - for the letter M, there are 92 (!) - but even if I had stuck to the list (I haven't) I would probably still not be finished with the series.  But it's been perfect as a skeleton for which to hang my own idears about indiepop, plus I have discovered a few bands thanks to them!

Also it's important to point out that, as the Internet has gotten bigger, it's become much easier to find the more obscure bands, the ones that just released a single in 1987.  Indiepop thrives on singles, on flexi-discs & compilation appearances, & on playing out - the latter of which I have no access to.  One band that released a great single might have been active touring around England for years.

Sometimes I do wish I had been an archivist, & so this series sometimes serves to feed that desire in me.  But I have to acknowledge that this hasn't been entirely my thing.  I got the idea looking at the twee.net list.  & it continues to aid & inspire me as I stumble through the letter M.  Which I'll be doing for some time now.  There are lots of bands/musicians whose name starts with the letter M!  In the indipop world, at least, for me.

Thank you, TweeNet!  If ever someone over there finds out I was doing this, I hope that you also find my gratitude!