Week 3: Lo-Fi

Low fidelity, or lo-fi, describes a style of music that has far transcended the simple means by which it is made.  Although lo-fi artists record their material on substandard equipment, usually due to cost and time, they are notably different than other rockers who embraced poor audio quality, such as garage rock of the '60s and punk of the '70s.  Lo-fi originally began in the 1980s with a group of underground artists on small, independent labels who were influenced heavily by post-punk and embraced that D.I.Y. spirit so prevalent in the twee pop movement of the 1980s.

Throughout the past 20-30 years, similar artists have continued in this manner, ranging from rock to noise pop to experimental music.  What these artists all shared was their tape distortion (crackles, hisses) and increasingly abstract lyrics, sitting comfortably in the more arty and later postmodern realm.  Over time, the actual recording equipment has improved, and many artists have relocated from the basement to the recording studio.  Nonetheless, the lo-fi spirit has remained and has found itself in a revival of sorts these past two years.