Lo-fi didn’t always rule over us with a rusty iron grip. Back in the early 2000s, there was a movement towards excessive high fidelity, up to the point of almost sheer absurdity. Part of that had to do with IDM’s fascination of perfect sound, the beginning of MP3 sharing of “bedroom musicians” and the glitch movement. Bedroom musicians used to spend inordinate periods of time on their music, making sure it sounded sure of itself and fully polished. Radio still maintained a greater importance, and you could find alternative kinds of music from major stations (though it did happen mostly at night). Glitch, although supposedly focused on digital error, ended up having some very pristine, highly processed sound.
Now that so many bands sound like “they recorded inside a bum’s ass” there’s bound to be some sort of indie rejection of what has become a norm for so many bands. Certain bands have already caught onto this, cleaning up sound that had previously been messier, like Neon Indian on that one new song, Ariel Pink on his newest album, or Nite Jewel on her new EP. Eventually these outliers will become the trendsetters, if it already hasn’t happened.
Part of this lo-fi came from nostalgia for the “unremembered 80s” but what about the “yet to be mined for material” late 70s? And now, I’m not talking about No Wave and Punk. Punk died. No Wave may be explored, but so far precious few bands have tackled the difficult style. I’m talking about light jazz-rock fusion, you know, Steely Dan. Steely Dan, that YUPPIE band which played the YUPPIEST of music to investment bankers and other assorted rich New Yorkers, is poised to make a giant comeback.
In terms of comeback, I don’t mean their ghoulish faces haunting your children’s nightmares, though they are legendary for being hideous people. Instead, they might decide that now, with interest in disco coming back, light jazz-rock fusion might be next.
How do they take advantage of this? Well, they can use their extremely obnoxious sense of humor, like they did once they sent a letter to Owen Wilson about his role in “You, Me, and Dupree”. Perhaps sending a letter to Pitchfork about how hard they suck it and with rewrites of their album reviews, to make those albums look thrilling. Basically, the heavy irony they already incorporate in their day to day lives (from being assholes) will help to build a following among young people everywhere.
Marketing will be important, so they might want to do something to be funny and get it somewhere besides their embarrassingly bad website, which looks like it was designed by your grandfather. I’d suggest crashing a party, or acting like the creepy weirdos you describe in so many of your songs. Or just write parodies of your old songs:
“Driving like a tool out to Hackensack
Snorting coke off of a hooker’s crack”
-Daddy Don’t Live in that New York City
Failing this, there’s an easier way: re-edits. They’ve already been done with equally cheesy music (disco) and you don’t have to write any new songs. Get Todd Terje to come on in, and re-edit all your songs. He can even edit out those things you hate in music, like passion, emotion, and raw talent. Instead, all that will be left is your unhip sound, made hip using technology. Think of it as a facelift for music. I’m sure your old-school fans are more than familiar with the procedure.