monacelli, 2023, the great psychic outdoors

written 20240222.

a geneaology of lo-fi music! monacelli starts from the position that lo-fi music, in and of itself, is a radical practice. lo-fi is deliberately poor and weird, it lets in sounds that should be filtered out. but against the perception that this makes the music somehow more natural or immediate, monacelli argues that lo-fi is more artificial, in that it involves a conscious analysis and deconstruction of the act of recording. lo-fi is a radical practice, then, because it unearths and puts into question the otherwise hidden conditions and power-structures that shape music construction.

if lo-fi is a radical practice, it is not an uncomplicated means of escape from capitalism. it moves between artists more or less in the music industry like brian wilson, to outsiders like r. stevie moore and daniel johnston, exploring their generally fraught relationships to music production, recognition and recuperation. there are interesting parallels and counterpoints between, for example, r. stevie moore’s expressed desire to be a superstar and make a lot of money, but only on his terms, and daniel johnston’s repudiation of his mtv fame.

and if lo-fi is a radical practice, the book remains neutral on the types of politics to which it can align itself. the chapter on ariel pink in particular sees his music as paranoid, in the sense of existing to reinforce and repeat existing structures of power and production, and makes a connection to his shitty “contrarian” politics. despite this, monacelli makes a clear, partisan case for lo-fi as a form of critique and as a form of engaged escape, as a “pathway to to experience new intensities beyond our contemporary condition” (300).

aside from all this, i’m grateful this book introduced me to r. stevie moore and marine girls.

monacelli, enrico, 2023, the great psychic outdoors: adventures in low fidelity, repeater books