Hipsters the only movement without its own music style

You can deny it all you want, but we all want to be a part of something bigger, we all want to belong to a group of kindred spirits, especially in the young age when we begin to shape our personalities. This gave rise to the subcultures. In the last decades, the subculture talk has been centered around music genres: we have hippies with psychedelic rock, we have ravers with acid trance and what not, we have metalheads, punks, goths, - their name is Legion. Their common denominator is that despite you get enrolled in a group of people with similar mindset and its manifestations, you feel like your subculture helps you outline your individuality.

However, today's postmodern era brings re-evaluation of all aspects of life, including our view of subculture as a phenomenon. In this regard, hipsters are a product of the postmodern era. Despite the word is overused, a hipster will very seldom call himself this way. Why? Because this subculture, unlike others, proclaims individuality as the main value and the starting point – no common denominator is accepted (ideally). For this reason, a hipster's musical tastes can vary dramatically. Instead of subsiding to subcultural obligations to love or hate certain music, to ignore or rush to certain events, hipsters are expected to “grow” their own tastes and be able to defend them. This leads to them developing some actually great tastes, even though they may seem to collide at times.

So, what DO hipsters listen to?

Arcade Fire

Since their very formation, Win Butler's and Régine Chassagne's band has made a point of sounding and looking desperate to bring their emotion to the listener, desperate for the audience's attention. Somehow they pull it off without being salesy.

No wonder, Arcade Fire's success was (and remains) stunning ever since their 2004 debut Funeral. Today, it is arguably the most commercially successful bands on this humble list.

This has two effects. On the one hand, a given hipster has most likely started his/her acquaintance with “real” music with Arcade Fire. On the other hand, s/he has probably grown into a snob since then and won't admit liking them, and will be very embarrassed if caught listening to them, let alone being spotted at a live concert.

The Knife And Fever Ray

It's almost as if The Knife knew what a hipster may fall in live with, and served exactly that, shaken and stirred.

• They are not from your country. Unless you are from Sweden (which doesn't have that much population), that is. We know that Sweden has been extremely prolific in the pop music industry, but none of their commercially successful acts has ever sounded so exotic and stand-alone.
• The vocals. Karin Dreijer Andersson's singing voice is alluringly hypnotic and intensely emotional at the same time, and she has a distinct accent. Swedish acts seldom have issues with English pronunciation, which leads to the thought that the accent is intended.
• Own terms. You will not spot any formulas in their songs. And even if you do, you are most likely making them up.

There are more minor details adding up into a hipster's dream band.

Sadly, The Knife have disbanded in 2014, but now there's Fever Ray – Karen's solo project – which sounds even less conventional.

Radiohead

There is this one band, without which such a list would definitely be incomplete, even if the list is in no particular order. There is no other band that appeals to the misunderstood better. With or without intention, this has always saved Radiohead from obscurity, putting it mildly.

Yet, it was the year 2000 when they released their most controversial album Kid A. The controversy was caused by their decisive departure from their alternative rock origins and into the experimental domain. Plus, no singles were released or videos made to promote the album. Instead, the promotion was heavily focused on the Internet, which was a super big deal for 2000. This is the volume of individuality that just cannot be topped.