Magic Word

Charming or Terrible? The Lo-Fi Choice.

I have been writing and making music since I was an overweight, acne-ridden teenager. When I turned 16 I pleaded with my father to drop a few hundred dollars on a cassette 4-track recorder at the local music store. I had until then been recording demos of songs into the answering machine. I had gone through several of those tiny tapes and the whole process was a bit tedious, not to mention invasive as I at times had accidentally recorded over important messages. My father relented and I returned home with a brand new Fostex X24. This surprisingly flimsy piece of equipment became my new obsession. Using a cheap microphone, I began pouring all my teenage angst and depression into cassette after cassette. I would love to tell you these recordings held some sort of innocent charm, honest if not perfect. Truthfully, they are awful. It is just a kid whining over a guitar which sounds awful both sonically and in proficiency.

The point is I used the 4-Track out of necessity. Had I an option I would have used better equipment. Today many artists are choosing to use inferior recording equipment and techniques to achieve style or mood. I am aware not every artist or group can afford to go into a multimillion dollar studio and spend weeks perfecting their work, but there are very affordable options that, if used correctly and creatively, can produce work that rivals those expensive studios.

Tallest Trees’ album The Ostrich or The Lark was recorded in a cabin and my basement. We did mix and master in a studio, but it cost no more than two determined musicians could scrape together. We released the album to modest acclaim and record sells. We used the best options available to us and produced a home-recorded album that compares well with albums that cost several times the money to produce.

I have no intention of judging the way other artists conduct their careers. I am actually a fan of lo-fi music and have produced recordings in the past that are decidedly lo-fi, though often by necessity. It just strikes me as odd when artists choose to use broken or outdated equipment when they have access to better options or, still stranger, record manufactured lo-fi sounds into state of the art equipment.

I have often employed tricks to achieve a certain credibility or solidarity with current recordings or dated materials. It is commonplace at all levels of the recording industry, dialing an amp “just so” to obtain that 60’s shimmer or applying the digital equivalent of a favorite artist’s plate reverb. Though it sometimes equates to downright theft, it is accepted and often encouraged.

Perhaps it is reaction to this theft and availability that drive the artist into the exploration of the frequencies of low fidelity. Maybe it is some fierce desire to be individual that implores him or her to add extra limitations to their art, to be able to proudly declare, “Look what I did with this crappy, piece of broken recording equipment!” It is a way of saying “screw off” to the status quo.

Perhaps not. It could be that a trend has risen to popularity. Sounding harsh and/or drenched in outdated effects is encouraged by bloggers and connoisseurs of independent music. Sometimes it seems the more garbled a recording, the better it is received. Is it that the artist is hiding behind his or her self-inflicted limitations, a lack of talent just covered in noise?

I have no answer. I find myself drifting to one side of the argument to the other. I did, however, dig out my old Fostex 4-track and record a series of experiments. I wrote nothing before I sat down to record. Using sophisticated equipment on one end, I heavily effected and distorted the tracks. The poor little recorder, which now has the tendency to turn itself off inexplicably, could barely handle the input. The resulting lo-fi music was at once harsh and strangely satisfying. I have posted one of these experiments for you. It is called, Call Me Out. You be the judge.

Beauty Cannot Be Contained, Tropicalia vs. Military Government.

Song by Caetano Veloso from the album Tropicalia: Ou Panis Et Circenses

March 31, 1964 a United States backed military coup occurred in the new capitol of Brasilia, Brazil. Thus began a 20 year reign of terror. The goal, of course, was to stop the spread of Communism in South America. Cuba had just fallen to the Socialist Revolution and concerns were heightened by the rising influence of labor organizations and the nationalist policies of the previous presidents.

Upon taking control military leaders began consolidating their oppressive powers by drafting a new constitution that “promoted democracy” and purging intellectuals and dissidents. Student groups, progressive members of the Catholic Church, politicians related to the previous government, and labor organizations were quickly disbanded. In the coming years members of these groups were often imprisoned and tortured for information. The grand and despicable practices of dictatorship had begun their stranglehold on the liberties of the people.

At this time, however, another movement was dawning. The bright and colorful music of Tropicalia was rising to popularity. Steeped in psychedelia and rock and roll influence, arguably the world’s most progressive music at the time was being recorded and performed in the midst of chaos.

The Tropicalia movement, also known as Tropicalismo, was led by internationally acclaimed artists like Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, and the more experimental Tom Ze and Os Mutantes. The music and associated visual, literary, and cinematic aspects of Tropicalia were based on the ideas of Antropofagia, or the cannibalism of all culture in the effort to create something new and unique. The influence of African rhythms, samba, rock, reggae, ska, jazz, blues, etc… can be heard in these groundbreaking recordings.

In the midst of terrible oppression, the music of Tropicalia was at once joyful and deadly serious, a testament to the incredible perseverance of the Brazilian people. Often considered the genre’s manifesto the 1968 album Tropicalia: Ou Panis Et Circenses is a stunning work of collaboration amongst Tropicalia’s elite. The album’s strong political message ultimately led to the arrests and eventual exile of it’s masterminds, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. Other artists in the movement were not so lucky. Many were arrested, tortured, and/or forced into psychiatric care.

While some artists continued to blossom and enjoy long and celebrated careers, the genre mostly faded from popularity in the early 1970s due in part to the Brazilian military government’s enactment of more and more extreme methods of oppression. This brief and bright musical movement, however, has had a long and lasting impression on the world’s music inspiring popular artists as diverse as Beck and Bjork.