The curse of the hipster playlist

So, we know hipsters are pretentious and often obnoxious. They aim for intellectual and cultural superiority at every turn. This includes dropping names of obscure bands you’ve probably never heard of.

Okay, okay... You may have heard of some. I mean, Arcade Fire just won a Grammy. But don’t bother yourself with them. They’re now off the hipster playlist. And so are Foster the People now that they’re on radio.

The thing is, there may be something to the music taste of these prescriptionless glasses-toting vintage store-loving misfits.

The music they listen to (whether out of choice or just to be ironic) tends to be awesome.

Some of this underground mainly-for-smart-people music has reached the ears of us mere plebeians, such as The Fleet Foxes, The Streets, Death Cab for Cutie, and South African hipster deluxe band,The Frown. PJ Harvey and Imogen Heap are fairly well-known and so are Bon Iver and The Flaming Lips, though they’re still cool to hipster ears.

I’ve recently gotten to know a few hipsters. Not so that I can feel normal – that’s just mean. They’re quite interesting and knowledgeable about their music, even though that knowledge is mostly based on the need to be different. I don’t care about motives. I care about the music.

Amid the sweet and bouncy Fiest, creepy Joanna Newsom, sad Karen O and the very random The Do, I have found some gems on my hipster mates’ playlists.

Fionn Regan, folksy, oddball and quirky, like most hipsters, is a keeper. If you like acoustic guitar and happy emo-ness, give him a listen. Explosions in the sky, 65daysofstatic, and Icelandic rockers Sigur Ros, all instrumental wierdos brought to the rest of the world by The Discovery Channel, are definitely regulars on my playlist.

Missy Higgins, though she may sound too much like Regina Spektor for most die-hard hipsters who claim to have been hipster before hipster existed, is quite a prize listen if you have the patience for emotional journeys through every single break-up you’ve ever had. Laura Veirs is pretty much the same, but less pained and more piano.

Post-rock This Will Destroy You is magical. When I listen to them, I feel like things could be right in the world, especially when I hear their song Threads. Lzn02, ambient instrumental nonsense, has the same sort of feel to it.

The more accessible Mumford & Sons, Frightened Rabbit, Bishop Allen, The Magnetic Fields, Airborne Toxic Event and Two Door Cinema Club are probably old hat for hipsters, but thank goodness they were discovered. These eccentric groups are talented, fun, and make for easy listening.

New Young Pony Club is electro-funk-rock-pop. A hipster’s wet dream. I like their singalong without being Rihanna quality. It’s hard not to break into dance with frontwoman Tahita Bulmer at the helm, leading everyone as if in a trance.

My personal favourite is Porcupine Tree. Eclectic, heavy when needed, eerie at the right moments, I can listen to these dudes for hours and not get bored. They’re not for everyone, but those who like them end up loving them.

The movies hipsters like also tend to have great soundtracks. Once, a movie about two musicians, contains the very arbitrary Marketa Irglova and The Frames' frontman Glen Hansard. Music that will make your heart bleed with hipsterness. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist will have everyone looking for Fluffy and Juno's Kimya Dawson will have you singing 'Vampire' at every opportunity.

Of course, befriending a hipster means you have to put up with condescending, “Oh my God, you don’t know 'The History Of Apple Pie'? What are you?” comments, but try commandeer a hipster’s iPod for a day and give the cheese a chance.

If nothing else, their pretentiousness does lend itself to finding the most amazing arbitrary music.

Just don’t tell them I said that.