What This Mix Is:
Today it feels as if asking for “authentic” or “genuine” or “true” music is more likely to be found in the mouths of Disney preteens in High School Musical or Band Slam than from the keyboard of two self-defensively hypercynical 22 year olds. Yet past all the quotation marks, snide remarks, and ultimate posing by desperately trying not to pose, that is what we've found in Lo-Fi. From our Wikipedia-trolling, blog-reading, and college-radio-station-showing-up-to-our-show-late-and-getting-yelled-at-ing, we've learned that Lo-Fi is a genre of music that emerged in America/England around the late 80s/early 90s centering around a do-it-yourself aesthetic characterized by poor recordings and equipment. Break out bands include Guided by Voices, Pavement, The C86 Compilation, and Thomas Leer. But beyond this kind of rigid classification, we've found that, in a weird way, the farther away the singer seems to be and the more obscured the melody is by static, fuzz, and feedback, the more pure the music seems to resonate. You don't need us to rail against the music industry, or to take easy shots at Miley Cyrus, or to make the obvious point that MTV now seems to stand for Mass Marketing Television. You also don't need more of the hyperanxiety that plagues out generation's narcissistic search for the underground, the underrepresented, and undiscovered. Really the music we've picked for this mixtape seems to us to scream out the essence of rock-and-roll: not money, hype, image, and maybe not even revolution or statement, maybe just the expression of the fear, insecurity and uncertainty that comes with youth. For our parents' generation, this need to be told, “No! You're not alone; I feel what you are feeling,” was found in folk singers with acoustic guitars and an empty stage. Maybe for our generation we could find this in distorted-beyond-recognition vocals with enough half-broken electronics to bring down a power grid in a crowded basement. Or maybe these are just the songs that we put on sunglasses, load up our iPods, and walk with a strut and a knowing smile for. “Lo-Fi is the embodiment of anti-commodification of culture. Art for art's sake that is more pure for being enjoyed outside of the confines of museums, classrooms, or galleries.” We argued for ten minutes whether or not to include the previous statement. We decided to soften the pretension by putting it in quotation marks. Really, it's how we feel though. If you skipped the above rambling paragraph, the point is that we are giving you 22 songs of rock out!
- A + D
Liner Notes:
01. Coachwhips - Prison 119: There is no way not to completely lose your shit rocking out to this song. Clocking in at 1:10 mins, this song sometimes gives me a headache from pretending I'm in a prison riot dancing fighting overweight prison guards. Also is he yelling "Amadeus"??? -D
02. Eternal Summers – Safe at Home: This is what I picture the sirens to have sounded like. I play this song when I want a comforting voice to sing over me. I am my beloved's and she is mine; her banner over me is love. -A
03. Cloud Nothings - Hey Cool Kid: This kid is in a bunch of bands. One of which is on our friend MW's cassette label, Speedtapes. (Check it out. It's awesome!) In a weird coincident he also went to our friend C's high-school. His bedroom dream pop is so catchy and addictive that we strongly suspect that C went to his concerts as a 14 year old and fell hopelessly in love with him from afar and often wrote his name with pink gel pens in her notebooks. C vigorously denies this. -D
04. Male Bonding - Stare at My Problems: From the confused voice-over in the beginning, the listener is thrown into the fray of activity. The vocals are initially goofy, then childish, then goofy, then childish, then goofy all over again. My favorite part starts with the drum solo and the stupid guitar solo that follows. Majestic in its disjointedness. This song is a mess. -A
05. Ty Segall - The Drag: You guys! Ty Segall just made up a new dance! Its called the Drag and it involves finding a partner … um … and then … taking someone's hand and … uh like … hitting up the dance floor. I don't know. He isn't very specific about the details. All I know is that it feels like the rhythm guitar takes a place thumping in the back of your skull and then the lead grooves your frontal lobe and then just when you think you can't take anymore because there is just too much rock, Ty Segal woooooooos. Ty Segall is the first person to really turn me on to lo-fi. I think he is a genius. -D
06. The Spectrals – Rot With Me: Catchy lo-fi pop. I picture the band to be at the bottom of a swimming pool, serenading the divers, children, babes, sun-soakers, lifeguards, ice-cream vendors during adult swim. Only this time, the kids aren't pissed for because they spend the ten minutes dancing and dodging their mothers who are insisting they put on more sunblock. -A
07. The Yolks – Sir Charles: I originally wrote a long note deconstructing the intersection of the bouncing surf rock guitars and the crashing toy organ, discussing the delicate inversions of pentatonic scales present, concerning the at once distinct and clear vocals, celebrating the dactylic delivery of the words. Then I listened to the lyrics of the song and realized what a jerk I was/am. -D
08. Tall Dwarfs – Nothing's Going to Happen: First of all, these guys taught me the proper spelling of dwarfs. You learn something new every day. The true stand-out moment starts halfway through the song with the sing-song, existential pontificating and word(letter?)play. Notice the rhythm: tambourines and some twinkling, metallic jingling—almost a triangle? Not so much a head-rush as a head-bob, let these New Zealanders carry you somewhere alone and isolated. Why aren't you sad that nothing's going to happen? -A (B, C, Deez guys rule.)
09. Fergus & Geronimo – Tell It (In My Ear): If I'm not mistaken (and I don't think I am), two elementary school teachers who are also roommates come home from work everyday and jam together, recording their more successful efforts in their garage. If you're not sold already, wait until after the second chorus. That groovy bassline is nothing short of perfection. Whichever is the songwriter is a pop genius. -A
10. Beat Happenings - Cast a Shadow: This song was on a mixtape that JMG, being the wonderful friend she is, gave me when I was going through a bummer time. I set up my itunes so that when I play the mix the album art is a picture of JMG smiling and dancing with a mop. So even though this song is about unrequited love and the voice is so simple and plain that it gives everyone the hope that they will one day become a rock and roll singer, this song reminds me of old friends. -D
11. The Pheromoans – Trevor Eve's House Party: I suspect that these guys stole their name from Nirvana. Oh well. This song sounds like you're hearing it from next door. The beat is progressive, the guitars are aggressive, the vocals are suggestive. In fact, the vocals are also terribly off-pitch. But the whole all-of-it feels authentic, and everything I would love to see/thrash to live-and-in-concert/backyard shed. -A
12. Tropical Pills – Banned from Earth: Surfy guitars. Nasally wailings. Brilliantly simplistic drumming. Cassette release. That's all you need to know. -A
13. Nerve City - Dogs: For some reason this song makes me imagine two 70-year-olds are listening to this song somewhere on a record player while slow dancing and whispering to each other. The two 70 year olds are deeply in love. They also once killed a man at a Rolling Stones concert. Plus it features my favorite guitar move: Chucka Chucka Chucka! (Listen to the song you know what I mean). -D
14. The Twerps – Dance Alone: Slick back your hair, pocket your switchblade, and pull on your high-waters. This self-aware cassette release is amazing as a whole, but this in particular track is the gem. Remember: “It's okay to listen to rock-and-roll music, I mean, Mom doesn't care...I just turn it down reaaaal low.” -A
15. Suicide – Girl: A purist might claim that Suicide is really “No Wave,” a genre distinct from lo-fi. A non-purist might respond, “Hey purist! How 'bout you save off that ironic facial hair and get a job? Not even Brian Eno gives a shit about DNA anymore.” But I think we can reach a happy compromise. We included this song because the interplay between the anxious vocals and driving rhythm section makes you want to dance, take a shower, and scream all at the same time. -D
16. Body Rot – Skull Bitch: We needed a noise rock song on the list. Here it is. Body Rot is an all-girl trio, and they are as dirty and foul as they seem. The imagery of “Stretch marks all over your mouth, you let it all hang out,” is horrifying. Careful—this song is pretty loud compared to the others. This one was included specifically for our aloof muse, L. -A
17. Girls of the Gravitron – rainbo: Ignore the obnoxious squealing and sampling for the first 18 seconds. The song gets fun(ky) when the drum machine whisks you away in the lighthearted quirkiness of this track. The lyrics seem incongruous with the feel: “There's only one shade of gray in the rainbo”—but that's what makes the song infectious. Listen only once per day for maximum enjoyment. -A
18. Bob Dylan & The Band – Yazoo Street Scandal: Sometime around 1967, Bob Dylan returned exhausted from his adventures in slaying Napoleons in Rags, getting called Judas, and looking remarkably like Kate Blanchet and stuff to his remote castle, “Big Pink”. In a marijuana and malt whiskey haze, a heavily bearded Bob Dylan led five terrified Canadians into his basement and forced them to sing songs about Motorcycle safety. A homemade device was used to capture the fractured song sketches that emerged from this strange collective. These tapes are unfortunately lost forever. Luckily after they were done, Bob Dylan decided that he was overacting a little and that he didn't hate hippies that much and that motorcycles weren't that scary after all. So in a cramped basement they recorded a bunch of awesome songs rooted in traditional folk ballads. Yazoo Street Scandal is one of those songs. -D
19. Bloody Hollies - Satanic Satellite: We were listening to this song last weekend when our good friend, L, asked us disdainfully if we listening to The Hives. We almost deleted the song from the mix in despair, but then we realized that L would chug down hater-ade even if it was explicitly marketed as "Jim Jones' Kool-aid Flavored Sports Water". This song doesn't sound like The Hives, it sounds like I wanna air- guitar all over that solo. -D
20. Smith Westerns - Girl in Love: Apparently the Smith Westerns didn't have enough money to pay for quality microphones, amps, or advanced music lessons but they did have enough money to produce this song so that if you listen to it on your headphones the call-and-answer moves from ear to ear. It's actually an awesome effect. This song is just a genuine love song about a girl. It makes me feel good inside. -D
21. Louis - : Louis is a buddy and future roommate of mine. This folky, ukulele-driven track is told from the perspective of a weirdo with a behavioral disorder. Why is he counting toes? The last line sounds sweet initially, “I wish there was more than just one of you,” but ask yourself: is that something you would want? Therein lie the genius of Louis. Apparently this took him fifteen minutes to write, practice, and record on his MacBook. -A
22. Daniel Johnston – Peek A Boo: Utterly heartbreaking in its straightforwardness. DJ, an unstable manic-depressive, used to (still does, I believe) record his tapes in his basement. Here's the crazy part: he didn't know how to duplicate his cassette recordings, so when he would give out a tape to a stranger (which he did frequently), he would rush home and play, sing, and record the tracks all over again. Rinse and repeat. You might be listening to his 54th recording of this song. The tragedy is summed up at the end: “You can listen to these songs, have a good time, and walk away. But for me, it's not that easy: I have to live these songs forever.” -A
