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Lo-Fi

 
 

Description of Lo-Fi

 
Originally known only as a technique for making recordings, Lo-Fi -- shortspeak for low-fidelity -- is now a vibrant subgenre of Indie Rock. As the media embraced this budding sub-genre and gave it its two minutes, it became a musical/political statement of sorts. An intentional nose-thumbing to the glitzy, cookie-cutter albums major labels often churn out -- as well as being a minimalist form of art -- these records were notoriously produced on $200 four-tracks using cheap microphones. Despite indie rock's sometimes-sour elitism, Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted and Guided By Voices' pre-Do The Collapse catalog indeed offer strong testimony that production dollars can't alone write a song.
 

Lo-Fi Key Tracks

 
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Play/Add Track Artist
1. On Fire Sebadoh
2. Summer Babe (Winter Version) Pavement
3. try a new line on me sexfresh
4. Love Wheel Daniel Johnston
5. As We Go Up, We Go Down Guided By Voices
6. Windblown Lynnfield Pioneers
7. Mystery Action Supercharger
8. Jet Pet Royal Trux
9. Cry Sis Sebadoh
 

Filed Under

 
Alt/Punk  >  Indie/Alternative  >  Lo-Fi
 

Lo-Fi Key Artists

 
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

Beat Happening

If you find the
amateurishness and general
off-key nature of indie rock
irritating, blame Beat
Happening. The group's s...

Beatnik Filmstars

Beatnik Filmstars dredge up
the best in '60s pop and
dreamy acoustics and filter
it through post-punk
nihilism.

Electric Eels

Electric Eels were a seminal
pre-punk no-talent band in
early '70s Cleveland, Ohio.
They took negativity to new
extremes. Friends with Pe...

Elevator

Guided By Voices

Prolific indie rock stalwarts
whose love of brash,
Who-like melodies and lo-fi
aesthetics have made them
heroes to the kids. While...

Half Japanese

Half Japanese have been
deconstructing rock
through amateurish genius
since 1977. Half
Japanese’s only stable...

Neutral Milk Hotel

NMH combine the awe and
wonder of psychedelic-folk
with the intensity and
stripped-down nature of
Indie Rock. Led by Jeff M...

Pavement

Though never as huge as
some thought they'd
become, Pavement were
still the darlings of the '90s
Indie Rock underground....

Portastatic

Sebadoh

Sebadoh are often
described as the
quintessential Lo-Fi band of
the '90s. Sebadoh are the
creation of Lou Barlow, w...

Sportsguitar

Television Personalities

The Television Personalities'
quirk pop has influenced
everyone from Creation
Record's Alan McGee to
Green Day.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre

This important indie psyche
band has been punching
each other onstage and
generally causing chaos
since the early 1990s. "Dig...

The Cannanes

Crackly, warm pop band
that have gone from early
Punk-Pop songs to
something more
self-confident, yet still wi...

The Grifters

Active in the early and
mid-1990s, the Grifters were
a 4-track-abusing indie rock
band from Memphis, Tenn.
After the Grifters split up,...

The Mountain Goats

Earnest (yet not
pretentious) homespun
folk/pop songs delivered
troubadour style by singer
John Darnielle.

Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments

Times New Viking

Times New Viking is a lo-fi
trio from Columbus, Ohio.
The group strips down '60s
garage pop to its core with
treble turned up to 11. Fo...

Vertical Slit

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