lo-fi
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Similar to: models inc • indie-folk • no-fi • cabaret • bedroom records • chamber pop • krecs • twee
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Wiki
Lo-fi is an aesthetic in music production which uses low fidelity recording practices. Its use is usually due to the artist’s financial limitations. Many lo-fi artists use inexpensive cassette tape recorders for their music. The term was coined by WFMU DJ William Berger who dedicated a half hour segment of his program to home recorded music throughout the late ’80s under the name Lo-fi…
As a term to describe a musical genre, lo-fi is mainly associated with recordings from the 1980s onwards, when cassette technology such as Tascam’s four-track Portastudio became widely available. Prime early exponents included Daniel Johnston, New Zealand bands such as the Tall Dwarfs, who recorded on Chris Knox’s 4-track and released on Flying Nun Records, and Beat Happening and the Olympia, Washington label K Records. In the early-mid 1990s, Lo-fi found a wider audience with the success of such acts as The Apples in Stereo, Beck, Sebadoh, Guided By Voices, Pavement, Liz Phair, Will Oldham, Yo La Tengo, David Kilgour (musician) and (later) Elliott Smith.
Often lo-fi artists will record on old or poor recording equipment, ostensibly out of financial necessity but also due to the unique aural association such technologies have with “authenticity”, an association created in listeners by exposure to years of demo, bootleg, and field recordings, as well as to older pop studio recordings produced more simply.
As a term to describe a musical genre, lo-fi is mainly associated with recordings from the 1980s onwards, when cassette technology such as Tascam’s four-track Portastudio became widely available. Prime early exponents included Daniel Johnston, New Zealand bands such as the Tall Dwarfs, who recorded on Chris Knox’s 4-track and released on Flying Nun Records, and Beat Happening and the Olympia, Washington label K Records. In the early-mid 1990s, Lo-fi found a wider audience with the success of such acts as The Apples in Stereo, Beck, Sebadoh, Guided By Voices, Pavement, Liz Phair, Will Oldham, Yo La Tengo, David Kilgour (musician) and (later) Elliott Smith.
Often lo-fi artists will record on old or poor recording equipment, ostensibly out of financial necessity but also due to the unique aural association such technologies have with “authenticity”, an association created in listeners by exposure to years of demo, bootleg, and field recordings, as well as to older pop studio recordings produced more simply.
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Events
lo-fi gigs in United States • view all
| December 2008 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 18 December 2008 | ||
| Cory Legg |
Cory's House Broken Arrow, United States |
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Shoutbox
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femmeartis wrote:
usually, if they are on a record label, i doubt they'd let "low fidelity" or "low quality" get by.... so what's with the description? what does it ALL mean! =)
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Waqcku wrote:
lo quality
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Recent Activity
- redri tagged LCD Soundsystem – 45:33 (Part 3) with ‘lo-fi’. 4 hours ago
- curbyourentropy tagged Half-Handed Cloud with ‘lo-fi’. 4 hours ago
- lykofws tagged Vincent Gallo – Was with ‘lo-fi’. 5 hours ago
- spencerjohnson tagged The Moldy Peaches with ‘lo-fi’. 5 hours ago
- bzic tagged Muslimgauze with ‘lo-fi’. 7 hours ago
- erikusland tagged My Bloody Valentine – Sometimes with ‘lo-fi’. 8 hours ago
- by_starla tagged Pavement – Strings Of Nashville with ‘lo-fi’. 10 hours ago
- pol_noir tagged A Smile and a Ribbon – One-night Wonder with ‘lo-fi’. 11 hours ago
- profetasrusos tagged ignorance (folk punk) – Farewell Humankind with ‘lo-fi’. 11 hours ago
- pol_noir tagged Architecture in Helsinki – The Owls Go with ‘lo-fi’. yesterday evening
