INDIE & ALT
This band’s debut album Funeral helped define 2000s indie rock and features the track “Wake Up.”
Arcade Fire
This 2015 Kendrick Lamar album blends jazz, funk, and spoken word with political themes.
To Pimp a Butterfly
This band released Rumours in 1977, one of the best-selling albums of all time.
Fleetwood Mac
This French duo released Discovery featuring “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.”
Daft Punk
This R.E.M. album, featuring “Radio Free Europe,” was a staple of early college radio.
Murmur
This artist released Punisher in 2020, earning multiple Grammy nominations and critical acclaim.
Phoebe Bridgers
This MF DOOM and Madlib collaboration album is titled after a villainous alter ego.
Madvillainy
This guitarist of Led Zeppelin used a double-neck guitar for live performances of “Stairway to Heaven.”
Jimmy Page
This Scottish DJ produced the hit “Feel So Close” and the album 18 Months.
Calvin Harris
This label, home to bands like Pavement and Sonic Youth, was key to indie distribution.
Matador Records
This UK band’s album In Rainbows was famously released with a pay-what-you-want model.
Radiohead
This Chicago rapper’s mixtape Acid Rap includes the track “Cocoa Butter Kisses.”
Chance the Rapper
This Pink Floyd album shares its name with a Shakespearean character.
The Dark Side of the Moon
This producer is known for the “Harlem Shake” and co-founded LuckyMe label.
Baauer
This band’s lo-fi album Bee Thousand became a college radio favorite in the ’90s.
Guided by Voices
This band fronted by Ezra Koenig broke out with “A-Punk” in 2008.
Vampire Weekend
This producer coined the term “chipmunk soul”
Kanye West
This band’s album Remain in Light incorporated African polyrhythms and production by Brian Eno
Talking Heads
This UK genre, pioneered by artists like Burial, is known for its dark, syncopated rhythms.
Dubstep
This artist’s album Illinois blends orchestral indie with historical storytelling
Sufjan Stevens
This experimental indie artist released Fetch the Bolt Cutters in 2020 after an 8-year hiatus.
Fiona Apple
This 1996 album by Nas features the track “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That).”
It Was Written
This song by The Who was one of the first rock operas and appears on Tommy.
Pinball Wizard
This Aphex Twin album has a nearly unpronounceable title often stylized with symbols.
Selected Ambient Works Volume II
WSUM