lo-fi

Tim O’Brien of Blood Is a Multi-Dimensional Man

Tim O’Brien of Blood Is a Multi-Dimensional Man

It’s raucous, it’s queer, and it’s uncompromising. Blood’s Tim O’Brien is sticking to his guns. “I won’t change the [band] name for the sake of search engines.”

“Bee” Here Now: Guided By Voices and 1994’s ‘Bee Thousand’

“Bee” Here Now: Guided By Voices and 1994’s ‘Bee Thousand’

Guided By Voices emerged from their Dayton, Ohio basement and launched into indie rock on their own terms with the endlessly weird and inspiring Bee Thousand.

The Oral History of Grizzly Bear’s Wild Remix Album

The Oral History of Grizzly Bear’s Wild Remix Album

Two decades ago, the hushed indie-rock luminaries Grizzly Bear released a buzzy acoustic debut. A year later, it got a wild remix LP. This is its story.

The Mountain Goats’ Musical Theatre Storytelling in ‘Jenny From Thebes’

The Mountain Goats’ Musical Theatre Storytelling in ‘Jenny From Thebes’

Can the Mountain Goats’ uncompromisingly oblique and challengingly uncommercial Jenny From Thebes become a fully-staged Jennymusical?

Zzzahara’s ‘Tender’ Is Exactly That, Plus Irresistible Hooks

Zzzahara’s ‘Tender’ Is Exactly That, Plus Irresistible Hooks

Zzzahara’s Tender is poignant and sincere above all else but is also a fantastic and sonically relevant collection of pop rock with no time to waste.

Buck Meek Steals Away to the Lo-fi ‘Haunted Mountain’

Buck Meek Steals Away to the Lo-fi ‘Haunted Mountain’

Reality is much scarier than special effects. Big Thief guitarist, Buck Meek’s music on Haunted Mountain has its charms thanks in part to its purposeful flaws.

Reconsidering Sonic Youth’s ‘Confusion Is Sex’ at 40 Years Old

Reconsidering Sonic Youth’s ‘Confusion Is Sex’ at 40 Years Old

Sonic Youth’s Confusion Is Sex is impressively raw and uncompromising, thrilling and terrifying as a walk through the Lower East Side in the early 1980s.

In the Aeroplane Over the Meme with Neutral Milk Hotel

In the Aeroplane Over the Meme with Neutral Milk Hotel

Neutral Milk Hotel’s ambiguous 1988 album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, suffered a memeified atrocity. But the tides of public opinion rise and fall, and memes come and go.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Epic Double LP ‘V’ Just Wants to Vibe

Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Epic Double LP ‘V’ Just Wants to Vibe

Unknown Mortal Orchestra return from a five-year hiatus to deliver a double album, V, containing both the best and blandest songs they’ve ever made.

‘The Collected Works of Neutral Milk Hotel’ Are Newly Re-Issued

‘The Collected Works of Neutral Milk Hotel’ Are Newly Re-Issued

Essentially a re-issue of a 2011 box set with Neutral Milk Hotel’s recorded work, their legacy remains unparalleled even if there’s not much new to exhume.

Daily Worker Writes a Strong New Chapter with ‘Autofiction’

Daily Worker Writes a Strong New Chapter with ‘Autofiction’

If you like mid-period Beatles and Byrds, Wilco at their lightest, the Stones at their brightest, and Big Star, you’ll like Daily Worker’s Autofiction.

‘Scalping the Guru’ Highlights Guided By Voices EPs of the 1993-1994 Era

‘Scalping the Guru’ Highlights Guided By Voices EPs of the 1993-1994 Era

Scalping the Guru‘s 20 songs come from 1993-1994, just as Guided By Voices were about to release their landmark album Bee Thousand.