Supergrass
Supergrass is a really well known band and it's mostly because of their hit single Alright. This is a bit strange, since Alright differs from rest of their songs quite a lot. Especially their later albums contain much more adult and deep songs. In my opinion, they have successfully renewed their sound and made something great with those later albums as well.
British Sea Power
This band was one of the bands that made a lasting impression to me in the mid-00's when big sounding indie rock bands were still in the centre of musical world. In addition to electric guitars and other usual band instruments, British Sea Power uses a great deal of brass instruments to make their sound even bigger.
The Cure
The Cure is one of the biggest alternative rock bands in the world. Their music has changed quite a lot in the years they've been around. They started out with first wave punk sounds, moved on to dark alternative emo-rock and at the start of the 90's they made some danceable indie hits with catchy melodies.
Radiohead
Radiohead used to be one of my absolute favourite bands, but in some ways their melancholic indie rock has not lasted time as well as some other contemporaries of theirs. Their music still sounds great but I guess I have over-listened them. After their first couple of albums of guitar-driven me rock, they moved on to make weird electronic sounds using all sorts of instruments. This era was groundbreaking soundwise. Nowadays their music is quite boring creeping closer to dub step.
Slowdive
Slowdive is a legendary cult band playing melancholic shoegaze. The aesthetic in their songs is primarily based on the echoes and huge sound walls. Unlike many other bands of this genre, you can actually make out the lyrics, which is nice. This band paved the way for 00's post-rock sound.
Ride
Ride was one of the legendary 90's bands that were born in the wake of Brit-pop along the bands like The Stone Roses and Oasis. you can hear the influence of 90's alternative rock bands such as the Smiths or Jesus & Mary Chain. It's like a mixture of shoegaze and dance indie.
The Cooper Temple Clause
I only heard about this band about five years ago. It was already too late to fully appreciate them, but still I've been impressed with their music over and over again since. Raspy vocals, angst-driven sounds and melancholic rage in the attitude. Still, there's some funky and soulful spice in the mix to make it different from many other bands in this genre.
Toy
This psychedelic rock band indicates the new wave of psych rock in the 10's. Their sounds draw influences from 70's garage and psych rock and German Krautrock. This is one of the most interesting bands out there today, but I'm still waiting for the album that will truly set the score for all other bands in this genre.
Esben and the Witch
This post rock band plays high and clear electric guitars, but instead of mere instrumental sound walls, they also have vocals in a big role. And what vocals they are. High and clear female vocals have dream-like qualities that give you shivers down your spine. Dark and melodic.
Fear of Men
Fear of Men plays dream pop that resembles The Cranberries quite a lot. Instead of your average radio-pop, Fear of Men use dark and beautiful electric guitars on top of their disco-beat drumming and etheric female vocals.
MYYTHS
This is probably one of the weirdest bands I've heard in a while, but on some level that is exactly the reason I'm quite exited about them. Their songs are very dark and slow with huge echoes. Electronic instrumentation is accompanied with beautifully clear female vocals.
Brett Anderson
Although Brett Anderson's bands Suede and The Tears are found in my London list, I wanted to present his solo material in this region since he is originally from Sussex. His solo career has been filled with amazingly beautiful ballads accompanied by strings and sad melodies. I think his album Wilderness is amazing!
Thom Yorke
Radiohead's frontman Thom Yorke made a solo album Eraser and at the same time changed the course of Radiohead. When Eraser came out it sounded more electronic than Radiohead, but his band followed and in retrospect it's difficult to tell his solo sound apart from Radiohead's.
The Boy Least Likely To
I just love it when indie pop-rock bands use loads of strange space-age synthesisers and effects in their music. This band knows how to use those to make their endearing indie-pop interesting. The songs are melodic and you can hear that child-like enthusiasm in their songs.
Mojave 3
This band started out making acoustic country-folk with beautiful melodies. Later on they developed into a more indie rock direction making more up-tempo songs and increasing the number of instruments used. Mojave 3 is a great band for all you indie fans of the 00's.
Johnny Flynn
Johnny Flynn is an actor/singer-songwriter. You can hear the actor in his music as very clear pronunciation. His music could be characterised as folk, although some of the songs are more on the basic pop side of genres. The lyrics are quite good.
Ethan Johns
Ethan Johns makes fantastic folk music. He's really skilful with guitar picking and his songs are like stories. This is great music for relaxation and adventures in the nature. i think the nature is present in his songs.
The Leisure Society
The Leisure Society makes folk music with influences from many other musical genres. Some of their songs have soulful qualities and some resemble gypsy tunes. I think the sounds and songs are very beautiful but I still can't help thinking that their music could be even more brilliant with just a little improvements here and there.
Frank Turner
Couple of years ago I used to have a Frank Turner phase. I just listened to his songs constantly. His folk-punk songs have excellent and funny lyrics and his songs are beautifully melodic. Although the main instrument is his guitar, there are quite well produced band instruments on top of that all to give it more power.
Matthew and The Atlas
Matthew and the Atlas is a fantastic folk band drawing influences from traditional English folk. Their vocal harmonies are beautifully done and the picked guitars and banjos work perfectly. The melodies are dark but not too heavy.
The Levellers
This celtic-rock/folk-punk band plays excellent songs that have quite political themes. The Levellers sounds undeniably 90's and therefore they sound a bit old today, but I can still appreciate their attitude and place in the history of music.
Bear & The Woods
Bear & The Woods play up-tempo folk music with raspy and wild vocals. Their attitude is their strongest card. The songs could benefit from a bit more adventurous and interesting melodies, but the skills and attitude are just right.
Laura Marling
Laura Marling has become quite well-known recently. Her singer-songwriter folk songs are great and endearing. There's some great guitar picking and vocal harmonies in there and I can't complain about the lyrics either. Some of the songs are more rock-oriented.
Tom Odell
Tom Odell plays beautiful singer-songwriter songs accompanied mainly by piano. Sometimes I think his music is a bit overly produced, but his songs are quite good when it comes to melody. His vocals are really beautiful.
Puzzle Muteson
Puzzle Muteson's singer-songwriter type folk-pop is melancholic and beautiful. His voice is delicate and fragile, and carries a great deal of emotion. The vocal harmonies are excellent. This is great music for those sad moments when you want to wallow in your sadness.
Ed Tullett
Ed Tullett's folk music is warm and endearing. His vocals are etheric and high-pitched. There are some great vocal harmonies and guitar picking in his songs. This music sounds belongs to the category of high-pitched male folk singers that Bon Iver made famous.
Birdy
Birdy's music is full of heartbreak and sad emotions. Her songs are mainly carried forwards by piano. Her vocals range from delicate to strong and powerful yells. This is for all you sentimental fans of sad music out there.
Bat for Lashes
I don't really like Bat for Lashes that much, but they do have some good songs. Their electro-pop is way too commercial for my taste, but when it's just about the vocals and stripped down piano, I quite enjoy her voice.
The Webb Sisters
The Webb Sisters make beautiful folk music with excellent vocal harmonies. They take turns with their vocals but also sing in harmonies. The music is accompanied mainly by guitars and other string instruments. There are some excellent sad melodies in their songs.
Passenger
Passenger makes beautiful dream folk with highly original sounding vocals. high-pitched yet soft male vocals are delicate and endearing and work perfectly in these beautiful songs. The melancholic songs work much better than the more up-tempo songs with his voice.
John Martyn
Legendary John Martyn is a unique character in folk music. His songs draw influences from blues and jazz while still sounding very folky. his raspy voice is great for improvised style. Especially his album Solid Air is a fantastic piece of music.
David Sylvian
David Sylvian's music sounds like it was made for a film. There are dramatic melody structures with echoey baritone vocals that are accompanied by various string instruments. Something in his music reminds me of Bond films, while the music is much more down to earth than those Bond themes.
Aqualung
Aqualung's music differs quite substantially from one album to another. There are some great moments and some not so great. At best it's about beautiful piano ballads with romantic lyrics. The high male vocals are really beautiful.
Mike Oldfield
Mike Oldfield is a pioneer of synthesiser music and I think most of us are familiar with his massive Tubular Bells that was used in the film Exorcist. Oldfield plays a number of instruments himself and he managed to make highly original and futuristic music in the 70's when studio techniques were far from what they are now.
Stornoway
Stornoway's music is a mixture of folk influences and pop-melodies sung in beautiful, yet a bit weird, harmonies. It is quite clear from the sounds that this is an indie pop artist. They are skilful, but they sound a bit lo-fi on purpose.
The Jam
The Jam is one of the most interesting new wave bands combining first wave punk aesthetics with 60's mod-styles. Their songs are quite melodic, but at the same time the vocals with strong accent and out of tune qualities lean towards punk.
Royal Blood
Royal Blood is really hip right now. Their self-titled album was heavily advertised in UK. Their music is quite aggressive modern grunge/garage with blues rock influences. The closest comparison must be The Black Keys.
The Wytches
This band's style is really difficult to be categorised. There are influences from garage rock, psychedelic rock, noise-rock and surf-rock. The result is highly original sounding wave of aggressive music that is not the most beautiful sounding thing out there, but what they lack in beauty, they win in attitude.
Hope of the States
Hope of the States sounds like well produced 00's indie rock. The obvious comparison would be Maxïmo Park. Their music could well be categorised as post-punk revival, but it's not as dark as some of the other bands in this genre.
The Electric Soft Parade
The Electric Soft Parade makes alternative rock that has influences from grunge and garage rock. it's much lighter in style than those genres, but the attitude is similar. Bass lines are innovative and guitars have just the right amount of overdrive.
Viva Brother
Viva Brother continues the list of guitar indie bands that sound really British. There are similarities to bands such as Blur and Oasis, but the sound is more 00's indie sound than 90's Britpop. Their music is so ordinary that it's almost boring, but at the same time it's well made pop-rock.
Hurricane #1
This oddly named artist makes guitar indie that sounds incredibly similar to Oasis' later albums. He even looks like a long lost Gallagher brother in the album cover of his self-titled album. Wailing guitars and solid pop-rock backgrounds.
Foals
Foals play unique kind of dreamy and soulful music with some disco elements. The main sound, however, is dark. The guitars play stylish echoey doodles. it's difficult to categorise their music since it seems to draw influences from so many different genres.
Toploader
Toploader plays powerful and soulful rock music. Their music is maybe a bit more rhythmic than it is melodic, but the melodies still have a substantial role in their music. The lead singer has very powerful raspy vocals that range from small to huge.
Glass Animals
Glass Animals is a strange indie-pop band. Their music is filled with strange effects and electronic sounds, but at the same time the foundation is laid down with ordinary bass and drums. There are modern soul elements in their vocal style.
Bordeauxxx
This indie pop band plays fast lo-fi songs with quite apparent resemblance to bands like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. This is directly made for those hipstery indie kids in the club who want to get drunk and jump up and down.
The Go! Team
This band is a bit too noise-oriented for my taste. It's not particularly melodic and the production is messy and all over the place. I'm still including it here, because a lot of my friends who generally like the same kind of music as I do, seem to like their music. I guess this is okay for dancing.
Talulah Gosh
Talulah Gosh is a lo-fi shoegaze band with endearingly badly sung vocals. Their sounds are quite 80's or early 90's. The aesthetics of alternative generation-X make this music worth listening to. It's a window to a certain period of time by it's changing tempos and intentional lo-fi sounds.
Mumm-ra
This indie band sounds very British, because of the wide accent in the singer's voice. Unlike many bands like that, Mumm-ra's musical sound is very stylish and hip. Their music was heard in a film (500) Days of Summer, known for it's hipster soundtrack.
The Kooks
The Kooks should probably be something that I would like, but for some reason it hasn't made that much of an impression to me. Their songs mix acoustic guitars to more rock oriented pop songs. This is music for summer and sunny days.
Clearlake
Clearlake plays unique sounding indie rock with echoey drums and fantastic surf guitar sounds. Their songs could be a bit more innovative, but the sound is quite fantastic. there are some apparent influences from 60's mod-rock.
Brakes
Brakes plays nice indie rock with authentic electric instrumentation and weird effects. It sounds nice and organic in the world of computerised music. This sounds like a real band with real instruments. The songs could be a bit more innovative.
Colour Revolt
Colour Revolt plays raw sounding indie rock with heavy garage-drumming. The vocals have grunge influences. Songs have progressive elements with changing tempos. Songs are more about rhythm than melody, but I guess it goes without saying in this genre.
Theo Verney
Theo Verney plays excellent raw garage-psychedelia. There are a lot of influences from Krautrock and 60's psychedelia, but also from 80's alternative rock. Not the most beautiful music, but the attitude is great.
The Blow Up
The Blow up is a great garage rock band. Their sounds are not as crappy as in garage usually, which takes some of the edge off their music. Still, the pounding drumming and guitars work brilliantly and there's no lack of attitude.
Aberdeen City
This indie rock band sounds really 90's. There are elements of college rock, but still the sounds are more classy than that. Laconic vocals are exactly as they should be in this kind of music. The guitars are quite aggressive from time to time.
Morning Runner
This is indie music to jump up and down to. Pounding drums and sharp electric guitars handle the rhythm, while the bass lines have more melodic structures. This is very much what 00's indie rock was all about.
Fatboy Slim
Fatboy Slim was definitely a phenomenon in the 90's. Their music videos were innovative and fun to watch. Their songs are pretty much made for clubbing. There are elements from many different genres, but it's all about loops and making you dance.
Fujiya & Miyagi
Despite of their name, this has nothing to do with Japan. Fiji & Miyagi's music is electronic looping beats with influences from Krautrock and Madchester. The electronic sounds are classy and this music is great for dancing the night away.
Imitation Electric Piano
As the name might suggest, crappy sounding electric piano is at the forefront of this band's music. They also play some acoustic and electric guitars and other typical band instruments. The overall sound is endearing indie pop.
Winterhours
Winterhours makes beautiful and moody post-rock/indie pop music with excellent high-pitched male vocals. The electric guitars are mostly clean and they are accompanied by good use of strings. The album covers of this band are great.
Andy Yorke
Andy Yorke makes melancholic singer-songwriter music. Sadness, acoustic guitars and heartbreak. Everything I usually love in music. You can hear him sing about his own life and it makes his music really honest.
LAISH
This band plays melancholic indie-rock with great use of clarinets. Somehow the general sound is very Icelandic. Or at least similar to the music in the Nordic Countries. Very classy stuff with sounds in the forefront.
Delays
As the name suggests, this band uses quite a lot of delay in their guitar sounds. This accompanies excellent and catchy pop tunes that are sung with excellent high-pitched female vocals. There's something quite 90's about this music.
Prinzhorn Dance School
The sound of this band resembles post punk revival, but it's much more quiet and subtle. It's actually in some ways closer to The XX's dream indie. The bass has a lot of treble and guitars are clean and sharp.
Temposhark
This music is very unique. String orchestra plays dark indie-pop tunes. The vocals are quite normal for an indie-pop band, but the use of only string instruments makes this sound really menacing and innovative.
Swervedriver
This indie rock band is all about electric guitar harmonies and laconic, classy vocals. The melodies are not necessarily that interesting, but the mood set by the sounds is pretty good. Definitely good job on the production side.
Mark Gardener
Mark Gardener's music is absolutely fantastic. There are excellent melancholic melodies, his vocals work brilliantly and the production is top notch. Everything is where it should be. I only just found his music, so I don't have that much to say, but even so, I'm very impressed.
The Candyskins
The Candyskins plays 90's style Britpop with cool vocals, guitar and bass driven melodies and relaxed feeling. They also really know the meaning of building their songs from minimalist verse to an extravagant chorus.
Andy Burrows
This excellent artist makes singer-songwriter songs that have elements from folk, blues and Americana. The acoustic guitars and rock organs accompany his great voice brilliantly. There are also some excellent hero electric guitars there.
The Wilde Flowers
The Wilde Flowers started a phenomenon in the 60's. Their kind of progressive rock started a movement called Canterbury Scene. They combine progressive rock to hippy sounds of the 60's. The production is very lo-fi, with these mono recordings.
Soft Machine
Soft Machine plays fast progressive rock with long improvised guitar solos and innovative rhythm changes. Most of the songs are very long and the emphasis is given to improvised approach rather than for very planned song structures.
Caravan
Caravan plays progressive rock that has influences from English folk scene as well. This sounds like it draws influences from Medieval stories. Some of the melodies seem a bit childish, but I bet this kind of music has influenced many bands of the 60's and 70's.
Hatfield & The North
Relaxed progressive rock with calm and classy vocals. This band sounds like sunny Sunday mornings when there are no worries in the world. The emphasis is on song composition more than on improvisation.
The Naming of Things
This band is not on Spotify, but it deserves to be notified still. Their music is folky indie pop-rock with great melodies and great use of multiple instruments. You can click the name of the band to get to their Soundcloud page.
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