Album Review: Various Artists - ‘This is Next: Indie’s Biggest Hits, Vol. One’

By Jeff Swindoll Aug 20, 2007, 23:09 GMT

‘This is Next’ takes up the Indie music side for ‘Now (That’s What I Call Music of which I just reviewed volume 25 of the popular series).’  The new series from the Alternative Distribution Alliance brings together some independent bands that you may not have ever heard of before (or maybe you have). 

The two artists that I had heard of before on this first volume were Spoon (“Underdog”) and Sonic Youth (“Do You Believe in Rapture?”).  I can’t claim that I had heard of the songs though. 

Some of the other artists include Bloc Party (“The Prayer”), Bright Eyes (“Four Winds”), The Shins (“Phantom Limb”) and others.  I didn’t hear anything that was horrible, but “The Perfect Me” by Deerhoof and “Satan Said Dance” by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah were strange. 

“The Perfect Me” features a high voiced singer who sound like English is her second language.  “Satan Said Dance” is just surrealistic with it’s repeated chorus of “Satan!,” but it did make me laugh. 

I’m always a fan of the “instant collection” and also of highlighting indie bands that don’t get the exposure of the big record companies.  This nifty little collection will satisfy both of those urges. 

‘This is Next: Indie’s Biggest Hits, Vol. One’ is now available at Amazon. Visit the music database for more information.