Lo-Fi House
A rough, emotional house style with hissy drums, soft chords and a homemade feel.
History
Lo-fi house appeared around 2015 among young producers sharing tracks online s1. It copies the warm, imperfect sound of old tapes and cheap drum machines s1. The drums hiss, the chords are soft and slightly out of tune, and the mood is often sad or nostalgic s2. The style grew through YouTube channels and small labels such as Lobster Theremin s1. DJ Seinfeld's 'Time Spent Away From U' (2017) is one of its widely known tracks s2. Ross from Friends's 'Talk To Me You'll Understand' (2017) and Mall Grab's 'Feel U' (2015) are also often named s1. Some producers disliked the name, because it described the recording quality rather than the music s3. By 2019 the style had become part of a wider interest in raw, emotional dance music s1. The style was shared widely on YouTube and Bandcamp, where small labels built large followings. Many of the tracks were made quickly at home with cheap equipment s1.
Sound
- Hissy, rough drum sounds
- Soft, slightly out-of-tune chords
- Warm tape-style production
- Sampled voices and textures
- A sad or nostalgic mood
Key figures
- DJ Seinfeld — Swedish producer behind 'Time Spent Away From U'
- Ross from Friends — British producer behind 'Talk To Me You'll Understand'
- Mall Grab — Australian producer behind 'Feel U'
Labels
- Lobster Theremin — London , 2013
- Shall Not Fade — Bristol , 2015
Defining tracks
Connections
Came from: Deep House , Ambient , Garage House
Sources
- Lo-fi house — Wikipedia
- Get familiar: DJ Seinfeld — XLR8R
- Irony is a dead scene: a user's guide to lo-fi house — HighClouds