Lo-Fi

Lo-fi on vinyl: charm instead of gloss

In short: Lo-fi comes from “low fidelity” and describes an unpolished recorded sound with audible rough edges and hiss, often chosen deliberately – frequently recorded at home on cassette or multitrack recorders. The term became known through American indie bands of the late eighties and nineties such as Pavement, Guided By Voices and Sebadoh. The Vinyl Room currently has 23 lo-fi records.

What is lo-fi?

Homemade and idiosyncratic: Animal Collective are represented with “Danse Manatee”, Panda Bear with “Person Pitch”, Ariel Pink with “Dedicated To Bobby Jameson” and Alex G with “Rules”.

The sound reaches into indie pop and electronics: DIIV are here with “Oshin”, Toro Y Moi with “June 2009”, Kings Of Convenience with “Quiet Is The New Loud”. Under this style tag we also have Gorillaz’s “Demon Days” and the first album by The Velvet Underground with Nico.

What to look for

Many of these albums came out in several pressings; label, catalogue number and year of release help you tell which edition you have – it’s noted with each copy.

From our stock

First pressings

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FAQ

What does lo-fi mean? “Low fidelity” – an unpolished, rough-edged recorded sound, often chosen deliberately.

Who shaped lo-fi? Among others Pavement, Guided By Voices and Sebadoh.

Does lo-fi mean poor sound quality? Not necessarily – it means a deliberately raw, personal sound.

Which lo-fi records do you have? Here, for example, Panda Bear’s “Person Pitch” and DIIV’s “Oshin”.