Lo-Fi Appreciation Thread

[PhaedrusX]

Hello Head-Fi,
Long time listener, first time caller...love your show...

Even though I have lurked almost exclusively in the gear forums, trying to put together my first rig, it is ultimately the music that brought me here, and so thought it apt to post my first thread here.

My sole concern with putting together a solid audio system is what it will mean for the musicians that I truly love. I have an affinity for lo-fi music.

There. I said it.

I remember having an all-night discussion with a studio engineer, debating the merits of music production. He, naturally, waxed on about the absolute need for highest quality production in a studio. I, on the other hand, pointed out the primordial kick one gets only when confronted by raw, visceral music, rough and edgy in all its naked and flawed splendor.

Can I have my cake and eat it, too?

I cannot live without my Velvet Underground bootlegs, Daniel Johnston's basement recordings, the likes of Pavement, Sebadoh, Half Japanese, and of course, the punk.

Can one still enjoy this music on a respectable system?

Any other lo-fi lovers out there?
have your preferences changed based solely on the quality of recordings?

I'd like to hear about the less than pristine quality recorded artists you like or liked, and whether you can still enjoy them.

Peace.

 

[Quaddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhaedrusX /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hello Head-Fi, Long time listener, first time caller...love your show... Even though I have lurked almost exclusively in the gear forums, trying to put together my first rig, it is ultimately the music that brought me here, and so thought it apt to post my first thread here. My sole concern with putting together a solid audio system is what it will mean for the musicians that I truly love. I have an affinity for lo-fi music. There. I said it. I remember having an all-night discussion with a studio engineer, debating the merits of music production. He, naturally, waxed on about the absolute need for highest quality production in a studio. I, on the other hand, pointed out the primordial kick one gets only when confronted by raw, visceral music, rough and edgy in all its naked and flawed splendor. Can I have my cake and eat it, too? I cannot live without my Velvet Underground bootlegs, Daniel Johnston's basement recordings, the likes of Pavement, Sebadoh, Half Japanese, and of course, the punk. Can one still enjoy this music on a respectable system? Any other lo-fi lovers out there? have your preferences changed based solely on the quality of recordings? I'd like to hear about the less than pristine quality recorded artists you like or liked, and whether you can still enjoy them. Peace.

he has the devil in him, banish him from the village!!!!!

(little highlander nod there)

 

[PhaedrusX]

Please don't...I just got here!!

 

[Quaddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhaedrusX /img/forum/go_quote.gif Please don't...I just got here!!

LOL - j/k - theres plenty of heathens here that will agree with you, i am only jessing.

welcome to head-fi and sorry about your wallet!

i have said that more this week than ever!

 

[Bluetick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhaedrusX /img/forum/go_quote.gif Any other lo-fi lovers out there? have your preferences changed based solely on the quality of recordings? I'd like to hear about the less than pristine quality recorded artists you like or liked, and whether you can still enjoy them. Peace.

I wouldn't say that I am particularly fond of low fidelity recordings per se, but IF the music is good enough- I can overlook the noise. A case in point- Skip James. You can't be a real blues fan without having a few bad recordings in yer collection- especially the early Delta stuff.

Asie Payton, Super Chiken, T-Model Ford, R.L. Burnside (he had poor recordings despite the amazing SACD release), Junior Kimbrough, the Black Keys, J Spencer Blues Xplosion, and many other artists residing at Fat Possum Records are GREAT, with less than great recordings. Talk about your raw, naked music- it's on this label!! 'Possum's "Not The Same Old Blues Crap" compilation CD's (volumes 1-3) are all spectacular and no blues fan should be caught without at least one of 'em.

Listen.


You mentioned Velvet Underground, but have you ever heard of Velvet Underwear? They're amazing! Sounds like your system is gonna blow up even at low volumes.

Oh, and let's not forget the great record you find at a garage sale that is in less-than-desirable-condition, but you simply MUST play it (over and over again). That's definately lo-fi.

 

[EnOYiN]

An artist I have been enjoying and do still enjoy is Sparklehorse. He made an album called: It's a wonderful life. Definitely worth checking out.

 

[PhaedrusX]

Thanks for the welcome Quaddy...I was waiting for someone to say that. Hehe.
I definitely will check out your recommendations, fellas.
I do have some Robert Johnson on vinyl and of course some requisite Muddy and Wolf recordings, although Lightning Hopkins might be my favorite.
That's the second time I heard Sparklehorse mentioned today...I'll take that as a sign.
Velvet Underwear? Check. Will give that a listen, though I hope there is no Warhol banana anywhere near the underwear.
Of course, I still don't have a decent rig, so I am wondering if these recordings get better or worse the more high end the system gets.

 

[Champloo]

Well you could call Portishead, Velvet Underground and Sebadoh lo-fi and they are definitely three of my favourite groups. A lo-fi sound can really add something, especially when done intentionally as with Portishead.

 

[skellington]

Totally.
Emperor "The Wrath Of The Tyrant" is about as lofi as could be imagined. But somehow the swirls of crackling distortion adds to the atmosphere of the record. With clean production it would have lost most of it's power. Do you know that many of the production techniques My Bloody Valentine used were based on copying tape to tape multiplying 'tape boom'? Same with the Knonner record 'Handwriting' where he uses a tape hiss 'rain' effect through the record with interesting results.
Sometimes music can be more effective being vague rather than defined.

 

[Wmcmanus]

I think I hear what you guys are saying and definitely identify with the Velvet Underground and Skip James examples. But I do get frustrated with some of this stuff at times.

On the one hand there is a certain beauty to the rawness of it all; that sense of "being there" when you listen to music with all sorts of annoying artifacts. Some of the early Marley recordings were extremely poor and of course much of the early blues recordings (RL Burnside comes to mind) sound like crap, same is true with Elvis. But yet you know they were doing something "special" and thus you want to listen to this kind of music. It takes you to important and exciting places and it gives you a much stronger connection to the artists themselves than you would get by listening to clean, well mastered material.

On the other hand, it sounds like crap and sometimes makes you want to start scraping paint off the walls with your fingernails. So for me at least, I've found that the happy medium is to occasionally pull out those dusty old recordings and listen to them for their historical significance or raw musical intensity, whatever. But then I tuck them away and click my mental "check in the box" (being the completist that I am), telling myself, "Ok, you gave it a listen, so now you've officially heard everything there is to hear from Artist A, B, or C." Then I go back to well recorded material from the same artists and am at audiophile peace once again. My main speaker system just sounds too good to intentionally make it sound bad!

 

[ken36]

Me too.

 

[mcmyers]

I think you can enjoy lo-fi music with hi-fi gear. It just has to be the right kind of hi-fi gear. For instance, I recently stopped listening to my Senn 595s, which were the first headphones I'd ever owned that had decent soundstage. And for me, they only sounded good with music that was recorded with a good soundstage. Anything that didn't have a lot of spacial dimension to it, or anything recorded in mono, sounded flat and boring. I also think that an excessively bright or detailed rig will be murder on low-fi music.

I would read around and look for headphones and other components that are warmer rather than neutral or analytical. Warmer gear will provide punchiness, but not shine too much light on the harsh higher frequencies in the static of those four track recorders.

You might want to start with the venerated Koss KSC75s, the cheapest intro to audiophile sound there is. Or if you don't like ear clips, you could get Koss Portapros. And Grados with a really warm amp might be nice.

 

[JadeEast]

I'm thinking the opposite of mcmyers I would stay away from warm and smooth. (oh and welcome to head-fi where for every opinion there is usually a just as well thought out opposite side or preference). If you like the Rawness of the low-fi sounds look for something with a bit off bite to it.

Where I do agree with Mcmyers is on the Grados. Even low-end of the Grado line is has enough of the qualities to balance out the "poor" recording but is up front and intimate enough with a lot of bite to give you the "thereness" and immediacy of the recording. To me that sounds like what your after and it's a great place to start with headphones.

 

[mcmyers]

Yeah, I guess I think it's a balancing act. The in-your-face presentation of the Grados would be better, since most lo-fi music isn't about soundstage anyway. But too much bite, and I think it will bite your ears off.

I personally haven't listened to much Guided By Voices since I got into hi-fi gear, if that means anything. But a lot of early Pavement still sounds pretty good.

 

[Davey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcmyers /img/forum/go_quote.gif But a lot of early Pavement still sounds pretty good.

That early Pavement was recorded and produced simply in the lo-fi aesthetic, but still sounds very good. In fact, the dynamics on that debut (at least before they remastered it) are great cause they didn't use a lot of limiting and compression like more "professional" recordings, really quiet average level but peaks that hit the max. Unfortunately, nothing like it today in rock or pop music.

I tend to agree with mc though, stay away from your typical bright and clinical audiophile setup and keep moving in the direction that keeps your old favorites sounding good. You can definitely get there, but it's not the normal path people take. Don't listen for hyper-detail, listen for the bloom and the liquid sound. The color.