The Obligatory Fake-Out Lo-Fi Intro, is it Cliche Yet?

[trodden]

i've sent the drums and vox through the rat pedal, panned it all the way right, bussed that to the left with an automated low pass or ring mod thingy, muted the guitars, then have it all come in huge and everything.. granted it was influenced by the minor threat thing/Refused "shape of punk to come" mixes, but it was fun... and covered up some stuff we didn't have time to retrack.

[vvv]

...and covered up some stuff we didn't have time to retrack.

Best reason to do it, IMHO.

[lg]

late finding this thread, but suppose i agree that in a strict sense this has become a cliche (as in lots of people doing it for no apparent reason).

i do still really love the stark contrast of the acoustic (not lo-fi) intro to frank black's 'los angeles'. makes the electric sound positively huge when it comes in.

[lg]

similarly, isn't it just like the 'fake victrola' sound of a good number of mid-to-late sixties psychedeiic vocal treatments? like, "whoa, you've done so much acid that a wormhole in time has popped your ears back in time 60 years." definitely a cliche by the fifth or sixth time you heard it.

[DGoody]

Alternatively, one could argue that an electric guitar with overdrive, playing a bar chord is cliche..............

......... and they'd be right.

[lg]

sorry to keep adding thoughts, but i've been away from the list for awhile.

has there been a thread of greatest intros yet?

[apropos of nothing]

Alternatively, one could argue that an electric guitar with overdrive, playing a bar chord is cliche..............

......... and they'd be right.

Hey knock that off. We've had that elephant packed very neatly under the bed, and now I'm not going to be able to effectively utilize that storage space again without taking everything out and reorganizing it. Thanks a lot.

[lg]

sorry to keep adding thoughts, but i've been away from the list for awhile.

has there been a thread of greatest intros yet?

to answer my own question, i found one, with some superb entries, but locked, circa 2003 sometime- long before i glommed onto the list (but certainly NOT before getting my subscription...ahem).

anyway, rather than start up a new thread on something so previously well-trod, i thought i'd just put my two cents in here and if there's enough interest i'd follow up with a separate thread.

and thanks for listening.

television- prove it (funny little harmonics)
tortoise- seneca (overblown rock god intro into typical funky 'postrock' instrumental)
lou reed- dorita/what's good (overblown rock god intro into typically groovy lou reed song)
stevie wonder- higher ground (reefer into headphones)
herbie hancock- watermelon man, headhunters version (pseudo-african reefer into headphones)

[wedge]

with no artistic merit.

At this point, yes...

it seems just as limiting to abolish a technique from the repertoire just because it has been used before.

I agree, but if you use it, don't do it like everyone else has in the past. Twist it into something new. Fer instance, start the song hi-fi, make the chorus lo-fi, back to hi-fi in the second verse, back and forth, etc... The brilliance of using cliches as inspiration is the level of expectation that they've established in the listener, which actually gives the artist an awesome opportunity to play with those expectations, and then to dash them unexpectedly against the rocks, creating drama and interest...

[wedge]

yeah c'mon, everybody likes can.

I'm hereby outing logancircle as a big can fan... Fan can-diddly-del.icio.us...
Can? I like 'em, too... Yes. Metronomic drummer, fer one thing... Musical math-diddly-ath...

[jx]

I think Can did a lo-fi intro (or outro) somewhere...I just know it.

"Mushroom"- the end of the song switches to just the output of the reverb channel (i think) for about ten seconds, and is then cut of by a explosion. very effective...

[centurymantra]

I think Can did a lo-fi intro (or outro) somewhere...I just know it.

"Mushroom"- the end of the song switches to just the output of the reverb channel (i think) for about ten seconds, and is then cut of by a explosion. very effective...

Good one...that's close anyway. A classic Can moment.

There's also that point in the middle of Hallejuwah (sp.?) where it drops into that little piano w/ mumbling ditty. That still makes me scratch my head a bit. I suppose that's just a dynamic shift actually.

[lg]

I think Can did a lo-fi intro (or outro) somewhere...I just know it.

"Mushroom"- the end of the song switches to just the output of the reverb channel (i think) for about ten seconds, and is then cut of by a explosion. very effective...

love's '7 and 7 is' makes particularly good use of an explosive outro device.

[ashcat_lt]

I didn't really intend to contribute to this thread, but then Idaho's "Evolution is Cold" popped up in the shuffle. Somewhere in the middle everything drops out and the guitar goes all lo-fi for a couple bars (and for no apparent reason) and then back to normal.

[johnny7]

i recently heard that ELO song Telephone Line.
Starts with the "telephone" voice and fades to full spectrum by the second verse.
Actually, quite effective.
J