"Being in an indie band back then, you weren’t allowed to have dreams of being huge. None of the major labels [had] touched anything that’s remotely left of field since the punk movement. It was all Huey Lewis. That changed with Sonic Youth and then Nirvana signing to Geffen. Alternative became this huge business, and now Arcade Fire or Vampire Weekend can be No. 1."

"Noise pop [is the] more approachable, shoegaze-adjacent sibling [of noise rock]."

"Indie rock is difficult to define not only because of crossover appeal but also because the music has never had a specific sound, unlike other musical genres such as jass, blues or country. There are no telltale sounds like country music's guitar twang or signature motifs such as as jazz's improvisations. Although indie rock is a form of rock and roll and uses guitars, basses, and drums in the basic band unit, the music encompasses a wide range of sounds."

"Indie [rock began] as a subculture — and a subgenre — and it became one, once again. The spotlight moved on, and in a world of Kanye and Kim and Taylor, indie seemed backward-looking, retro, private and small. The Columbia University philosopher Arthur Danto used to talk about visual art reaching the end of its history — the conclusion of a master narrative that began with Renaissance painting. The dream of indie rock, that it could somehow become the vanguard and the mainstream at the same time, is now as dead as Caravaggio. But in the hearts, minds, and record collections of more than one generation, the reality of indie lives on, noisy and sublime."

"As the title of a fan blog puts it, indie is not a genre. It is potentially every genre. It's an attitude, an approach, a commitment to self-expression without regard to, or in spite of, mainstream demands. It's the blend that nobody can label, the outré, the ahead-of-its-time, the defiantly retro."

"This unique genre is known for creating dreamy atmospheres with sound, obscure vocals, feedback, distortion, and amped-up volume."

"Emerging in the United Kingdom in the late 1980s, shoegaze was Britain’s answer to America’s emerging grunge craze. [...] Obtaining the classic “shoegaze” sound requires the use of effect pedals to capture its spiraling complexity."

"The original, early-’90s era of shoegaze took to the EP like ducks to water. Not to generalize but shoegaze bands tended to favor extended instrumental sections allowing them to bliss out on a riff, or even just a chord. A whole album of that might prove taxing for some, but with an EP, the indulgence is more digestible and the best groups’ EPs offered up a “hit,” a song where they really let go, and made room to experiment too. With acid house, the Manchester scene and grunge all happening at the same time, there was a lot of sonic osmosis going on."

"A number of critics claim to have coined the term back in the 1990s, including Andy Ross and Moose magazine, but they didn’t invent the music itself. The origins of the genre may depend on how strict your definition of shoegaze music is. Before the genre experienced a full-blown boom in the 1990s, albeit overshadowed by the giants of Britpop and grunge, a number of artists showed shoegaze leanings in their sound."