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The 10 Step Guide to Interesting Guitar Based Music (for Those Who Only Listen to What They Hear on the Radio)
PART 6 - EXPERIMENTAL ROCK: LO-FI

Lo-Fi, as you may have guessed, stands for low fidelity, and refers to the quality of a musical recording. Much of the earliest rock 'n' roll, as well as the garage and punk rock of the 60s and 70s, would be regarded as lo-fi, due to its tendency to be recorded on cheap 4 track tape. The idea of a genre based on a recording quality is a confusing concept, to the point that some critics label it a misleading faux-genre. Regardless of what you may think of it's credibility, in the mid 80s lo-fi did begin to become a genre in itself, led by American underground artists like REM.

The recording style of lo-fi allows for a DIY aesthetic that meshes naturally with the experimental tendencies of underground artists. Lo-fi recordings generally feature a lot of distortion and tape hiss. Many groups went to the point of even harnessing these elements, once considered weaknesses of 4 track recordings, and using them as instruments within their songs. While most of the early genre-lo-fi (or, say, intentional lo-fi) was not even released commercially (it began mostly as a cheap way for bands to create and swap home recordings), it was pushed into cult status in the mid eighties by Calvin Johnson's K Records, who were the first to release large quantities of lo-fi music on vinyl. The label has gone on to become the biggest display of lo-fi talent, featuring brilliant groups like The Microphones, Beck, Modest Mouse and Johnson's own band, Beat Happening.

When you combine the tape hiss and distortion found naturally in the recordings, with experimental techniques such as reversed tape-loops, noise, found sounds and obtuse lyrics, lo-fi can often evolve into some truly remarkable, not to mention frighteningly bizzare music. The fact that the genre is not actually based around a specific style of music also allows for a great deal of variation. Recordings can range from pop to folk to freeform improv, sometimes even within the confines of a single album (or even a single track!).

By the time the 90s had arrived, lo-fi groups like Pavement and Sebadoh had gained massive cult followings, with the former's Slanted and Enchanted being considered by many as the quintessential lo-fi album. Lo-fi finally broke into the mainstream in the mid 90s, with albums like Beck's Mellow Gold gaining more attention for the genre than anything before. With this increased exposure, many more indie labels started adding lo-fi outfits to their rosters, with groups and artists like The Magnetic Fields, Neutral Milk Hotel and The Mountain Goats enjoying significant exposure.

END OF PART 6.

 Album Recommendations.
Sebadoh - III (1991)
Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted (1992)
Guided by Voices - Bee Thousand (1994)
Beck - Mellow Gold (1994)
Chris Knox - Songs of You and Me (1995)
Smog - Red Apple Falls (1997)
Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West (1997)
Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998)
Smog - Knock Knock (1998)
The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs (1999)
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - I See a Darkness (1999)
The Microphones - It Was Hot We Stayed in the Water (2000)
The Microphones - The Glow, Part 2 (2001)
The Mountain Goats - Tallahassee (2002)


NEXT: PART 7 - EXPERIMENTAL ROCK: PSYCHEDELIA