When did Lo-Fi Suddenly Become a Synonym for Downtempo?

Submitted by PinothyJ t3_yeohsh in Music

I noticed there has been a lot of buzz around people suddenly being really into lo-fi music which made me quite happy. I really like those fuzzy recordings where the noise-floor is almost an instrument in itself. But I have found out that whenever anyone is talking about lo-fi music, they are talking about really slick sounding downtempo music.

When did this happen? Was it always like this and it was me that had it wrong all this time?

Look, I am not here to yuck anyone's yum, I am simply a curious music enjoyer.

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cmd_throw t1_itz0tr1 wrote

To me lo-fi will always be that basement recordings, garage bands, casette corders and tape hiss, with the likes of The Microphones/Mt. Eerie, early Mountain Goats, Guided By Voices, Minutemen, etc...

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whatistheformat t1_itz0v44 wrote

just like grunge, lo-fi started as artists working with limitations, became an aesthetic, the coincident music became the genre, now artists play in that codfied music style. Happens to every genre that has lasting influence.

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Asect-9 t1_itz1qpj wrote

Its lo-fi girl on YouTube with the young gen. They don't get that there is lo-fi house or that black metal is also lo-fi. Instead it seems to have become more synonymous with lo-fi hip hop. Which makes sense as it's also the most popular version of lo-fi music right now.

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JustBoredIsAll t1_itz2frc wrote

The same way techno and electronica became "EDM". Kids, man....

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easylisteningmuzak t1_itz2tac wrote

In my opinion, lofi has had 3 eras. The 1980s and early 90s was its first and it didn't really have a name yet, but it was really more of a part of outsider music at the time. By listening to artists like Daniel Johnston and R. Stevie Moore, you can hear the lofi sound or at least it's beginnings with that low quality, low fidelity (lofi) sounds. Next you got the second era which is from about the mid 90s to mid 2000s. This was the lofi genre that you remember, the low quality floor noise-floor sounding music with just the right amount of imperfection. Bands like the Microphones, Pavement, and Neutral Milk Hotel are some of the famous lofi bands that helped pioneer the genre. Lastly, the third era, this is from about the late 2000s to now. Lofi has almost stopped being low quality music that you can enjoy, instead becoming nice, calm, meditative, relaxed, and downtempo. This new era of lofi mixed a lot of jazz into its pot as well which also helped genres like vaporwave become what it is today. The original lofi isn't gone, those bands from earlier still get thousands of plays monthly, they are definitely quite influential, and artists from not to long ago like lil peep and x have used lofi samples in their music and have done their own take on it. Lofi like most genres has evolved over time but all eras of it still get attention and respect which what is important because lofi is one of my favorite genres as a whole. I hope this has answered your question.

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SpruceDickspring t1_itz6u8i wrote

Basically those 'Chill / Study Beats' compilations on YouTube where all the songs feature jazz chords over downtempo hip-hop beats blew up a few years ago.

To people producing beats on computers, 'Lo-Fi' has become synonymous with feeding your instrumental tracks through effects which deliberately sound like poorly calibrated analogue gear to give it that slightly distorted 'warble' tone. Sometimes they overlay fake vinyl noise to give the track a sense of 'warmth' too.

Fundamentally the phrase 'Lo-fi' was sort of abandoned by the indie scene and co-opted by electronic producers. Lo-fi essentially means 'digital music trying to sound less digital'.

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GiganticBlackHole t1_itzbjao wrote

Lo fi - low fidelity, pretty much basic recordings (4 track etc) it’s NOT a genre.

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Colonelfudgenustard t1_iu0wmf8 wrote

As soon as the kids started talking about dropping the beat, I no longer understood anything.

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PhoneAccountRedux t1_iu0ydli wrote

Genres shift and evolve. Everyone could do better to not be so rigid in their understanding. The only value labels provide is that which we assign to them

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Slow_Security6850 t1_iu10j78 wrote

The contrast between “lo-fi music” and lo-fi in black metal is pretty funny. When are they gonna start making “kvlt beats to relax to”?

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MyHouz t1_iu17gik wrote

Replying to SpruceDickspring (#256,023)

To add to this great explanation, the name itself is a reference to the genre's valuing attempts to reproduce lower-quality audio effects of a bygone era, things that would have been considered imperfections in the past but which we now regard as nostalgic: lo-fi = low fidelity.

Another wonderful example of an artist using techniques like these to create a sense of happiness and warmth is Atmosphere's "Sunshine" (which is also just an amazing song).

The language teacher in me also wants to add that different terminologies employed by different age or cultural or demographic groups are inevitable!

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