>once i got to college in 04 i linked up with some people who
>introduced me to some of my favorite acts now (mbv, sonic
>youth, radiohead, etc...)

yeah, i had the opposite experience, i got into those bands in middle and high school but didn't get into "backpack" rap until the last year of high school and then college. there's still so much i don't know about/in hip-hop since i spent so much of the '90s listening to the radio artists.


>i have an affinity for the more dark, melodic and brooding
>style than anything else, but i'm open to just about anything
>now.

i don't know if you've heard the 3 albums you said you didn't own, but much of each of those albums i'd describe as dark, melodic, and brooding rock, it's just accessible, too...


>the label now denotes a particular sound
>more so than being released on an indie label.

that's exactly how i feel. up until the early 2000s if someone talked about/recommended something "indie" i'd be intrigued because all it really meant was that it was released on an independent label and probably sounds different from what's popular/on the radio, and i'm always up for something new. now when people say "indie" it's a particular type of music or, worse, image, and i'm just turned off immediately. i always have to make sure it's something interesting and worth my time. sometimes it is, but usually it isn't anything special to me.


>the alternative
>to that shit is lame genre revivals and power pop...

i'm not into that either... i'd sooner just listen to the original music that's being revived.