lo-fi epiphany (the believer)

[bickle]

Sorry for the long post, but I've got a nice little parable about what matters:

So, I've been doing better work with better musicians lately, and as a result I've been really focussed on upgrading my recording gear - new mixers, preamps, mics, cables, etc. etc., sometimes to the detriment of my focus on the music. As I prepared to leave on vacation last week, I decided to grab a couple recording magazines to feed my gear lust while lying on the beach.

Only, as I browsed, I realized: Those magazines mostly suck. While there's certainly some good info in there, it's mostly advertising, even when it isn't supposed to be. And then I noticed the newish music issue of The Believer.

The Believer is a literary mag loosely associated with Dave Eggers, of Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius fame. And this issue, CD included, caught my eye, even though I don't read the mag that often, b/c it mentioned Greil Marcus, Don DeLillo, Juana Molina, and some others you should look into if you haven't heard of them. I check the track listing on the compilation, and find that not only is it not just a collection of payola-placed ads from record labels, but it's not even devoted to any genre, scene, or style. The common element of all the songs is that they're recorded super lo-fi, often w/ only one or two mics, and always with a very prominent sense of place. One song, for instance, is recorded on Flannery O'Conner's porch with binaural mics (what an idea!).

The result: OVERWHELMINGLY MIND-BLOWING!!! There's some of the best music I can remember hearing on this thing, and some of it's recorded on a laptop mic, and almost all of it benefits greatly from its lo-fi quality and the feeling of (to me) reality that somehow goes along with that. Highlights include a Calexico rehearsal with a freight train running through it, a Juana Molina track dominated by Argentinian nature sounds, and (my favorite) a quiet but mic-blowing Feist demo that, no shit, brings tears to my eyes. Every time I hear it. When was the last time that happened?

Plus, there's some of the best music writing I've ever read: insightful, mind-bending stuff that makes you realize how there can always be more in a song than you realized, especially if you let some of it just fall in there without worrying too much.

Anyway, I'm going to spend a lot less time gear shopping and a lot more time writing, playing, and recording music now, and I have The Believer to thank for it. Just wanted all of you to know, and to encourage you to go out and get it while it's still on newsstands (or, preferably, your local indie bookstore, or, if necessary, your local corporate megabookopolis).

I'd love to hear what you all think about this thing.

Oh, forgot the relevant link: http://www.believermag.com/issues/200606/

[w_]

Thanks for posting this. I actually live just up the block from Eggers' store (called 826 Valencia, in San Francisco) and will have to try to find a copy of the magazine. I haven't seen it around but maybe they sell it at the store. I agree in regards to the minimal/lo-fi thing too. People often forget how important the aesthetic and envrionment are to a recording.

[bickle]

Right on, Wes. How's that store? Still selling pirate gear?
And has anyone else checked this out? It's serious, I swear.

[w_]

Yep, still selling the pirate gear...they have a really cool display out front right now. I found the magazine at Aquarius Records. Very cool stufff. My favorite article was the music journalist and Delillo discussing Bob Dylan.

[bickle]

wes, what'd you think of the recordings?

[tetsu9]

Would you share any of the tracks?
...or. is. that. not. erm... allowed?

[cassettefetish]

They had another NICE CD last year, sometime.

[bickle]

Yeah, I'd say you gotta buy the disc to hear it - but it's worth it, the book's great, too. I can't believe nobody else's checked this out - it's like it's made for tape-opers!

[w_]

The tracks were cool...most weren't really my cup of tea musically speaking per se (though I am a big Six Organs of Admittance fan), but I thought each song having it's own texture through the recording medium itself was really cool...definitely something I am into with my own music.