You Can’t Spell ‘International’ Without ‘Indie’. Almost.

Caleb Erikson STAFF WRITER

As far as you should be concerned, I'm a relative newcomer to this brave new world of modern indie music, struggling to adapt to the drastic culture differences between my former savage life of 1970s classic/folk rock and the contemporary synthesizer-driven electronic-pop beats of MGMT.

But much like the ubiquitous hallucinogen soma from the aforementioned Aldous Huxley novel, I have found an extremely effective gateway drug to ease myself into this eclectic world of Of Montreal, Grizzly Bear, and Bon Iver - ok so, Bon Iver was pretty easy to get into. Bon Iver = (Paul Simon - Africa) + falsetto.

So for all you swingin' cats that wanna get with the newest, innovative indie bands - and show how deep and obscure and ironic you are to everyone else - but find yourself fighting to keep your head above the Water Curses (Hah! Animal Collective reference!), allow me to slip you a gram of pure powder musical erudition that will get you high on indie music in ten songs or less.

International Music.

Yes, it really is that simple. While American bands are increasingly transmuting into practitioners of eclecticism for eclecticism's sake, international bands offer, by-and-large, a refreshing, conventional take on the evolution of music, often remaining fairly securely on the musical paths more taken.

International music is an ideal gateway drug to hardcore crystal indie music, straddling the line between the eclectic and the mainstream, injecting an exotic and storied musical heritage into the pop hooks and rock riffs we hear in every cookie-cutter Shins ripoff.

British bands such as the Kooks, Kasabian, and the Hoosiers evoke memories of alternative rock's benchmark bands - the Kinks, ELO, Smashing Pumpkins. And you'd be hard pressed to find an American who hasn't heard of Sigur Ros, hasn't whistled along to Peter, Bjorn and John's Young Folks, or -

"You best pump yo brakes, Caleb!" I hear you shout. "Just because they're not from America, doesn't mean they're indie!" But this is not necessarily a truism…

Despite its original definition, 'indie' music has more accurately come to mean "musical alternatives to media-popularized tunage" more so than "songs not produced by a major label." (For proof, refer to the Founding Fathers of indie music: Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr. - all developed as alternatives to radio music, and all still indie legends after 'selling out'.) And despite how far over the pond the Continent may be, or how the Aussies are living in the world of tomorrow, today (that fucking Date Line), Top 40 Charts around the world are still dominated by the likes of Coldplay, Kanye and Katy Perry.

So when I say International Music, I'm not talking "Froid 'n' Chaud (Katy Perry French Disco Remix)," I'm talking about a set of songs typified and popularized by a surprising source:

FIFA Soundtracks. Yes, the video futbol games.

You wouldn't know it unless you routinely game on your Xbox or PS3, but the FIFA franchise has quietly built itself an impressive taste in indie international tunes. And the really scary thing is, they pick up on a number of lesser-known artists before the rest of the indie community gets a good look at them. For reference, that's like finding a new style of flannel shirt before Jeff Luppino-Esposito does, or spotting a jackalope in the wild.

Each year's soundtrack features a 30+ song compilation of artists from countries all over the world. And six months after the game is released, the soundtrack reads like a Who's Who of indie music (and yes, there are a few American groups. But the point stands.).

I submit for your consideration, the soundtrack from FIFA 09 , which was announced August 14, 2008. Go ahead and read through the list. I'll wait.

Seriously, holy shit! This soundtrack features Black Kids, Lykke Li, Santogold, Hot Chip, MGMT, the Ting Tings, the Fratellis, Sam Sparro, CSS, and the Kooks! Ten of the most critically acclaimed bands from around the world, all prepackaged in a video game with a picture of a grimacing Wayne Rooney on the cover. Who knew? And look at the previous years' soundtracks to become increasingly impressed…

Lastly, before you rush off to torrent or "buy" some international music, we here at PopSense feel the need to tell you the most self-serving reason to listen to foreign tunes. You will win at being a hipster.

In the inevitable hipster-vs-hipster showdowns that commence daily at college campuses across the country, battle lines are drawn and shots fired over who is hipper - who has the most in-depth, obscure knowledge of indie music.

All you have to do is pick one favorite international band that never broke in the United States despite their genius, like Boy Kill Boy. Or better yet, pick an entire foreign country or region and school yourself in its bands.

Pick Southeast Europe, and when some keffiyeh-wearing poser mentions how inspired Beirut must have been to incorporate Romanian and gypsy nuances in his music, you can respond, "You know, Hungarian and Italian bands are finally starting to carve out a niche for themselves in the Continental soundscape. Yonderboi's music seems to draw on just as much Eurasian electronica influences as it does classic American rock beats."

We here at PopSense want to see you win. Don't let us down. Buy FIFA, fuck America.