HI-FI LO-FI

20 YEARS OF THE BEST-SOUNDING INDIE ROCK

- ANNE E. JOHNSON

AS THE TITLE OF A FAN BLOG PUTS IT, INDIE IS NOT A GENRE. IT IS POTENTIALLY EVERY GENRE. IT’S AN ATTITUDE, AN APPROACH, A COMMITMENT TO SELF-EXPRESSION WITHOUT REGARD TO, OR IN SPITE OF, MAINSTREAM DEMANDS. IT’S THE BLEND THAT NOBODY CAN LABEL, THE OUTRÉ, THE AHEAD-OF-ITS-TIME, THE DEFIANTLY RETRO.

AS EMOTIONALLY SATISFYING AS THAT WIDE-RANGING DEFINITION IS, THE RECORDING OF INDIE MUSIC OFTEN PAYS THE PRICE IN SOUND QUALITY. MANY INDEPENDENT ARTISTS CAN’T AFFORD TO DO IT RIGHT, DON’T KNOW HOW, OR HAVE DECIDED THAT TOP-NOTCH PRODUCTION AND ENGINEERING REPRESENT THE ESTABLISHMENT AND THEREFORE HAVE NO PLACE IN THEIR ART.

Indie music is often not taken seriously by home audio aficionados. After all, the indie scene is the birthplace of lo-fi and bedroom pop, recordings made on someone’s home recorder, often literally in their bedroom. Yet lo-fi does not mean the sound is bad; it’s just a different idea of what music should sound like. Think of the production as another instrument, a part of the performance. And consider how easy it is to install top-quality recording equipment in one’s bedroom studio these days.