Pavement - Brighten The Corners

Every lo-fi fan must have a set of the first Pavement album, Embryonic by the Flaming Lips and the entire 4AD Ariel Pink discography. John Maus would veer into the chillwave, but the guitar-based lo-fi are those albums. The chillwave sound is a bit mainstream for my liking, akin to the sounds of Washed Out and Neon Indian which is merging into mainstream. Guitar based lo-fi is those first albums. They are all classic albums that Pitchfork has given stellar reviews that prove highly influential in times to come.

Pavement - Terror Twilight

Pavement were existing in a world where it was dominated by rock bands obsessed with success. They were not grunge and they were not metal, they were lo-fi indie. Which proved incredibly influential not just in their time, but later in time. They were laying the style and approach for many bands to come, and it prove pivotal in the emergence of a lo-fi scene out of California headed by Ariel Pink. In lo-fi there is a sense of harking back to the past, and a sense of doing things how they were meant to be done, an antique style like the 70s, before MTV and in a way that was meritable and pure. Not overdone like the toxic music being released in the 90s.

Pavement - Wowee Zowee

This album showcases Pavement's range of different styles, not just the typical noisy punk sound, but incorporating other instruments, and would prove to be the way, Stephen Malkmus would veer into in his solo years. Pavement experimented with a range of different instruments. Malkmus would play lead guitar. They had a percussionist and a ''hype man'' like hip-hop. They were completely unique and unorthodox in their approach to music. They really appealed to outsiders and people who did not want to abide by the conventions of metal and grunge. Pavement were different. 

Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

The indie sound is not really a sound, it is a type of label. It rejects the mainstream in search of community and not the big faceless names in music that profit and just release music for profit. Pavement are probably the greatest band true to the sense of indie, where the Flaming Lips veered away to a major label, Pavement stood strong as being proudly indie. The question arises, ''why make music only for money? why not change the world with your music, not just make a profit.'' Music should not be about money and should be universally available to help people through tough times and unite people.

Pavement - Slanted And Enchanted

Pavement shook up the scene with this release way back in the nineties. A pioneering album which sounded like nothing else. It is reportedly known that they recorded it in a matter of days, and the bass was actually guitars. Great songs, innovative and unique sound, but lacking chart hits. The song ''Summer Babe'' appeared in the rock & roll magazine, Rolling Stone's best songs of all-time list. Stephen Malkmus has always been a darling of the critics, for that ability to match the humorous with the serious like a truly gifted writer. This is no mean feat, in a world that was dominated in the grunge sound, Pavement shone a light. 

The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

This album was recorded into one microphone and was released around the pioneering times of the lo-fi movement. It was the old school catching up with the new school. The Flaming Lips are a bit hit and miss. They can produce gorgeous albums like this or they can release terrible music. They are not truly indie in a sense because they are signed to a major label. But saying this they have this dark cult-like following that many mainstream bands do not have. They get pigeonholed as being alternative rock, but they are on a major label. Serious songwriting and themes are prevalent in Wayne Coyne's lyrics and the rest of the group are all quite adept at their own instruments. 

Ariel Pink - Dedicated To Bobby Jameson

Ariel is known for his fixation with 70s pop and outsider rock, and lo-fi is like harking back to those days. He also maintains a presence on Bandcamp.com and is known for DIY releases on CD with hand-drawn artwork and other variations on a release. Coupled with this DIY aesthetic is a sense of humour, but coupled with an almost dark slapstick persona. He rarely has hit singles, but his albums reap heaps of praise from contemporary critics. It proves in his solo stuff that it was not just all about Haunted Graffiti, because Ariel can release quality material also.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes

Ariel Pink is known for his DIY ethic to his music, coupled with great songwriting, and a longing for the antique and retro. As stated before he couples the serious with the comical. He is also known for his output which is prolific. Once in a tour of Australia, he refused to sing in front of the audience and turned his back. He is extremely non-obedient and even wears women's clothing and sunglasses onstage. He listens to outsider rock like krautrock etc. He is the epiphany of the lo-fi attitude, which really is not a style, but a style of recording which is nigh impossible to replicate live.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today

Even though the backing group of Ariel Pink, the Haunted Graffiti do not exist anymore, it plays merit to Ariel Pink as his solo stuff still is on par with this classic album. The band ended up in a shambles, but Ariel still maintains a good output. Most of the tracks on here are from previous releases, and really it is an amalgamation of various releases. The lead single ''Round And Round'' is fabulous, which you could say for every track. He has a knack for fusing the comical with the serious, seen in great songwriters like Stephen Malkmus.

Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks - Mirror Traffic

This album was produced by Beck and it is a good collection from a dominant name in indie music in the world since the nineties. Although Pavement did not sell many records or have chart-topping hits, their legacy continues with the much borrowed and homaged indie sound they possess along with Stephen Malkmus' solo work and stuff with his backing band The Jicks. One can always rely on astute songcraft from Malkmus, his music sounds fantastic on vinyl. The lo-fi aesthetic sounds really good on some small speakers, it is not a headphone record.

Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks - Sparkle Hard

This album continues in the same vein as some of his other material. He has veered away from the reckless noise that dominated his earlier work with Pavement, continuing for a subtle kinder sound, probably similar to indie coming out of America during the nineties. Kim Gordon actually makes an appearance, famously the female bass player from Sonic Youth. What remains is an adept skill at songcraft and a tendency to adopt other instrumentation, not just the standard electrical rock equipment, but a whole range of other instruments.

Ariel Pink - Pom Pom

Many of the current Ariel Pink releases on the label 4AD borrow a lot from his early releases. The story goes that Animal Collective - the American band found a tape on the floor that Ariel had given them to listen. Months passed and they found this tape on the tour van floor. The put it on and were amazed. Ariel has a very distinct sound, bathed in cassette tape effects and Ariel also has a tendency to use DIY instruments, like beatboxing for vocals, and guitars with no strings. He has a completely unique sound and throws music on its head how he approaches music as a multi-instrumentalist and producer.