I feel the exact same. I loved most of those names you listed, and my poor Sufjan banjo brain was not ready for the onslaught of assembly line indie that came barreling in after them.

Some of those original indie darlings are goddamn weird people, and they brought all their quirks into their music. There's a very messy personal artistry you get with bands like The Microphones or Neutral Milk Hotel that is completely polished away in the generation of indie bands that exploded in the early 10’s.

I'm glad some of the earlier scene is alive still though. I saw Owen live this year and I can tell you he is still fucking killing it.