Indie likes to pride itself on having an enlightened sense of gender relations. But that doesn't stop female audience members from being groped at shows

I've often thought that indie kids try to purport a more enlightened sense of gender relations between themselves (the boys and the girls dress really similarly, for example). Is this the case, and is their subculture some kind of equality-based utopia? Or are gender stereotypes still present but instead played out in a different way?
GuidedByVeal

Without a doubt, indie has a more enlightened sense of gender relations than many musical genres. You can see this in a number of areas, such as pioneering co-ed bands (Pixies, Arcade Fire, Lush, the White Stripes, Elastica, My Bloody Valentine, Quasi, Slowdive, the xx , Autolux, Beach House, the Kills, feel free to carry on) and the blending of gender-coded imagery where androgyny has been consistent in clothing and physicality. Blur didn't write "Girls who are boys, who like boys to be girls, who do boys like they're girls, who do girls like they're boys" for nothing. Androgyny can even been seen in the common use of falsetto by male singers as a higher register is usually associated with femininity. The blending of gender imagery is common in rock and pop, but the central value of equality, even between performers and audience has made humanist gender relations the ideal in indie.

However, in practicality, indie does not exist in...

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In films like Stranger Than Paradise, Dead Man, and Ghost Dog, filmmaker Jim Jarmusch created a series of surreal, deadpan worlds that bear only passing similarities to our own. Along the way, he's collaborated with a murderer's row of musical visionaries: Joe Strummer, Tom Waits, Neil Young, RZA, GZA, Iggy Pop, the White Stripes.

So it's fitting that the folks at All Tomorrow's Parties have recruited Jarmusch to curate one day of ATP New York, which comes to Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello, New York September 3-5. Jarmusch's day has a line-up that runs from indie rock and punk (Girls, Fucked Up, Kurt Vile, Vivian Girls) to drone-metal (Sunn O))) and Boris) to hip-hop (Raekwon, GZA, DJ Kool Herc), to psych (Dungen, Wooden Shjips, the Black Angels). Bands playing the other two days of the fest include Sonic Youth, Iggy and the Stooges, Sleep, the Breeders, Fuck Buttons, Shellac, Tortoise, Explosions in the Sky, the Books, and Avi Buffalo.

Pitchfork recently spoke with Jarmusch about music, his ATP experience, his relationship with RZA, and his future projects, including a documentary about the Stooges.

Conan O'Brien teams up with Jack White, T.I. works on a cartoon series, Weezer may tour 'Pinkerton' and more.

The Conan O'Brien/Jack White bro-down has been happening for years now, and it continues apace. Earlier this year, the once and future late-night host teamed up with White to release a live album on White's Third Man Records. At the time, there was also talk of a spoken-word 7" single. Now, TwentyFourBit points out exactly what that single will be: "And They Call Me Mad", out on Third Man on August 24. According to the Third Man site, it's "a hilarious improvised take on the Frankenstein legend." The b-side features Jack White interviewing Conan.

When a guy yells for an obscure B-side the band haven't played in 17 years, he isn't talking to them; he's talking to you

Hi Prof ;-)

At almost every gig an audience member will shout the name of a particular song, in the hope that the band play it. Ninety-nine percent of these requests are completely ignored by the band and, furthermore, the audience member generally knows this, being an avid concertgoer. Why then do fans persist in yelling out the name of their favourite track, often multiple times within a set?

Michael Kuge, via email

For some audience members, a gig isn't just a chance to hear and see a band perform live but a chance to express their status as a committed fan. A set list means the specific songs and order are decided in advance of a show. Superfans know about set lists. Half the time, they are the same ones who beg crew members for the copies taped to stage or ask the sound man for his/hers before the set starts (I'm just letting you know how to get a set list in case you want one). The songs superfans yell out tend to be little-known B-sides or other rarities. These call-outs aren't really to get the band to play the song but to demonstrate to everyone present that s/he knows every song the band has ever written. Occasionally, if the request is sufficiently obscure, someone in the band might react by...

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Third Man Records is very happy to announce that on Saturday, August 21st, world renowned photographer Autumn de Wilde will join us at our Third Man shop in Nashville for a rare and special signing of...

Dead Weather man in onstage outburst to audience including Sean Lennon and Liv Tyler

Jack White performed "Mother Nature's Son" in honor of Paul McCartney for the "Paul McCartney: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song In Performance at the White House" presentation.

Jack White's wife will play Bush Hall on September 20

Another video from Paul McCartney's Gershwin Prize ceremony at the White House has been released, this time of Jack White's heartfelt performance of the classic Beatles track "Mother Nature's Son."