Sunday Morning Playlist: Lo-Fi - Page 4

Some important/influential lo-fi bands include:

1. Pavement: Trigger Cut Wounded Kite at 17

The gritty, almost atonal guitars and Malkmus' laconic, Lou Reed-esque voice, and the band's fuzzy, slacker background vocals help define this fine example of the Pavement sound, from their groundbreaking Slanted and Enchanted. Light on bass, heavy on guitar crunch, punky and rootsy simultaneously, with the song structure turned halfway inside out, and a little riffing coda thrown in, this is an ambitious arrangement, recorded on a shoestring. Slanted and Enchanted ultimately stands as a watershed; it is one of the most influential albums of the 90's, and certainly Pavement's best moment. Pavement would continue to make albums of crackpot eclecticism throughout the 90's, never abandoning their lo-fi approach, even after they started generating some sales. They broke up in 1999.

2. Ween: Doctor Rock

Ween was formed in New Hope, PA in 1984 by Mickey Melchiondo and Aaron Freeman, both 14 at the time. Something of the comedians of four-track, the duo recorded witty, deconstructed rock music cut with satire, and humor that sometimes lapsed into tasteless. Their 26-track debut GodWeenSatan: The Oneness appeared in 1990 and featured fragmentary noodling of all stripes; many tracks clocked in at just over one minute. They upped themselves in the weirdness factor with their sophomore effort, The Pod, recorded under the influence of Scotchguard and a bad case of mononucleosis the pair came down with. Dark and moldy sounding in places, detached and distant in others, this established Ween as among the more outre of the lo-fi bands of the early 90's. "Doctor Rock" has a psychotronic garage band feel to it, and ranks among their early classics.

3. Liz Phair: Fuck And Run

Although this wasn't the single from Phair's debut and best album, Exile In Guyville, it is the one that turned the most heads, and now stands as the embematic cut. While the title is an attention grabber, suggesting an in-your-face-independence, in fact it and most of the album conveys a lonely, abandoned feel; Phair is a vulnerable tough girl, and is frank about it in her lyrics. She sings in an offhand voice, while the song has a muted, fuzzy jangle to it. Phair had a performing style that was essentially that of the classic singer/songwriter; a style she fused with an underground pop aesthetic. The album barely nudged the charts at #196; her subsequent albums would all chart in the top-40, making her one of the best selling lo-fi artists.

Article Author: uao

uao isn't my real name.

Visit uao's author page — uao's Blog