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I think I know what you mean.

JSBX
Chrome Cranks
Subsonics

Everything on SFTRI perhaps?

Yeah, not crap.

enframed wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 7:39 pm I think I know what you mean.

JSBX
Chrome Cranks
Subsonics

Everything on SFTRI perhaps?

Yeah, not crap.

The Chrome Cranks! Their first two are next level great. They had a solid following here in Australia in the 90s. The scientists were obviously a big influence on them I think

It spawned khonnor's 'Handwriting' in 2004. For that alone, Not Crap.

Some great music in there despite the recording technique. Occasionally the hiss suits the music (Flying Saucer Attack, Libraness) but more often wonder if the band couldn't have come up with something slightly better than what they did, especially stuff that ended up selling well and was reissued frequently. And most people aren't gonna stick around for I Am A Scientist Redux or whatever, can't put that genie back in the bottle..

seby wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:39 am

enframed wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 7:39 pm I think I know what you mean.

JSBX
Chrome Cranks
Subsonics

Everything on SFTRI perhaps?

Yeah, not crap.

The Chrome Cranks! Their first two are next level great. They had a solid following here in Australia in the 90s. The scientists were obviously a big influence on them I think

I LOVE The Scientists and Kim Salmon in general. Hit Me with the Surreal Feel is another great lo-fi record. Saw Scientists on their tour a few years ago in San Francisco, fan-fucking-tastic. My only complaint is they did not do "Solid Gold Hell."

Yo La Tengo should be mentioned in this thread.
Drake Tungsten
Peek-a-Boo records entire roster.

I remember at the time thinking that the recordings of GBV, Pavement, Sebadoh, Cheater Slicks, etc. sounded less than pristine, but hell, the Ramones and the Clash, and the Cramps and (almost every hardcore band) sounded like crap too, but the songs were good. The lo-fi stuff from the 90s was just good songs finding sympathetic ears, as it has always been. Polvo was a lo-fi band, but their Bob Weston records are some of the best sounding things I have ever heard. Never thought of Yo La Tengo as a lo-fi band, all their records sound great to me.

So, its not a thing. Never really was, just young poor bands making do until they didn't have to anymore.

motorbike guy wrote: So, its not a thing. Never really was, just young poor bands making do until they didn't have to anymore.

By the later '90s I feel like it was something else. Hardcore, punk, metal, even a lot of noise rock bands with their shit somewhat together didn't have a problem driving a few towns over and spending a few grand to make decent sounding records. Indie/college-y bands seemed to get more lenience when it came to amateur tendencies, along with Tape Op and "lo-fi" as a genre tag almost made it kind of cool to make shitty sounding records for awhile. So unless it was truly freakish music made under unusual circumstances, I do feel like it was a bit of an affectation.

And yeah: Polvo was a fucked up sounding band who mostly made documentarian style recordings with Bob Weston, and someone like Yo La Tengo or the Breeders may have had home-recorded aspects they still likely took it to real studios to mix in with well recorded stuff. The mastering bill of the latter records probably exceeded most bands recording sessions, heh.

jason from volo wrote: I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss it as not a thing.

Some of the bands mentioned, particularly GBV, could have very easily taken a little bit of care to get (subjectively) better sound out of their recordings without it costing another dime. Like not recording while doing laundry or while someone is vacuuming in the next room. Or tuning your instruments. There are plenty of examples of it being used as another method of art.

Right. Mag Earwig! was recorded like 2 years later in I believe a semi-pro studio in Ohio but sounds 20x better. I have a hard time buying that the 'someone tuning the radio dial' sound happening thru most of 'Watch Me Jumpstart' was some sort of "magic".

I don’t mind it, for the most part, and sometimes like it a lot.

Without question, 90s lo-fi > 2000s pristine, antiseptic digital.

enframed wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 8:39 am

seby wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:39 am

enframed wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 7:39 pm I think I know what you mean.

JSBX
Chrome Cranks
Subsonics

Everything on SFTRI perhaps?

Yeah, not crap.

The Chrome Cranks! Their first two are next level great. They had a solid following here in Australia in the 90s. The scientists were obviously a big influence on them I think

I LOVE The Scientists and Kim Salmon in general. Hit Me with the Surreal Feel is another great lo-fi record. Saw Scientists on their tour a few years ago in San Francisco, fan-fucking-tastic. My only complaint is they did not do "Solid Gold Hell."

Yo La Tengo should be mentioned in this thread.
Drake Tungsten
Peek-a-Boo records entire roster.

Shit - sorry that you missed out on Solid Gold Hell. That is definitely not one to leave out of the set! Was Tony Thewlis playing with them for the 2018 tour? To my mind he was the real sound of The Scientists for their second-wave art-goth period. Okay I might be overplaying things a bit, but he really is terrifically underrated. I went to all three of their reunion shows in 2000, and they slayed. Thewlis was on fire