From bedroom set ups and Bandcamp LPs to the mainstream, the lo-fi aesthetic is in a lot of your favourite music. Mackenzie Cummings-Grady wrote a great article on how lo-fi minimalism has permeated different genres. He opens with Jim Morrison’s famous 1969 interview with Rolling Stone: “Some brilliant kid will come along and be popular,” he said. “I can see a lone artist with a…
The Japanese duo return with a new collab project. Japan’s influence on hip hop should not go unmentioned. The nation gave us anime which has become synonymous with the genre’s lo-fi variant. Some of the greatest DJ’s were born there: DJ Kentaro, DJ Krush, The Silent Poets, and the late Nujabes. From the underground, Bugseed continues to reign supreme. His heavy style of boom bap…
Lo-fi boom bap with Zelda and Mario samples? AC3Beats’ Nostalgia lives up to its name. I didn’t get my first games console until 1998 but I played on a few in the preceding years. Whether you were like me or you had them growing up, you’ll appreciate the subject matter on AC3Beats’s new album. Nostalgia has been described as “the musical equivalent of a big, warm…
Today is Madlib’s birthday. Here’s why I love his music and personality so much. In the mid-to-late 00s, I discovered a compilation by Zero 7. It was part of Late Night Tales’ mix series (then called Another Late Night) and it featured a song called Real Eyes by Quasimoto. I found it intriguing for many reasons but it took a few years before I discovered…
Cali producer Ahwlee’s latest tape, [G]ist, is just what you need to chill. Ahwlee’s been on and off my radar for years and a tumble down the Bandcamp rabbit hole lead me to [G]ist. It’s a sub-15 minute journey through sweet calming tunes, perfect for a summer’s day or a quiet night while you’re relaxing. As major artists begin to embrace shorter releases, it’s important…
London producer Eahwee gives us !Healxng_ [Side.A] A lot of the lo-fi scene comprises of American producers but there are plenty on this side of the Atlantic. One such artist is Eahwee (pronounced errr-wee). The London beatmaker has been around for a few years but his latest tape, !Healxng_ [Side.A], is our focus today. A defining feature of the scene is the ability to stimulate….
Straight out of Argentina comes beatmaker mora. and his latest tape, suspendido. I don’t know how I’ve been running Sampleface for nearly 6 years and never found an Argentinan beatmaker until now. mora. hails from Berazategui, a coastal city in the Buenos Aires Province and suspendido. is collection of lo-fi goodness, from the warped title track to the ironically titled habla mucho. with its dragging…
Florida’s sundrenched recalls the past in his new release, “the sundrenched lofi guitar ensemble, vol. 1” Solitude can be the best of catalysts and the worst. It’s down to how you harness that alone time. sundrenched, in his own words, “got lost in a blanket of sound”, comprised of “a mound of guitar loops and tape hiss, found sounds and audio artifacts”. The result of…
Rap amalgam Alvie The Skywalker and Mello Marc brings us the woozy “Cosplay”. I’m currently suffering with allergies so my head is feeling foggy right now. Musically, I appreciate that kind of aesthetic and that’s exactly what you get with Alvie The Skywalker and Mello Marc’s Cosplay. Described as a project “where in every costume you can recognize pieces of yourself”, emcee Alvie spins vocal yarns…
