― alex thomson, Saturday, 17 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― ethan padgett, Saturday, 17 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― sundar subramanian, Saturday, 17 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Josh, Saturday, 17 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Jens, Saturday, 17 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 18 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
I think they're alright, I think their obvious dedication to their sound and art is fairly admirable, but the resulting records don't move me (the Christmas one is quite nice).
In some of the praise of them there's an undertow of virtues-of- simplicity stuff, and I can see why - when I listen to Low the word that often comes to mind is 'quaint'. You feel a little better for owning a Low record, I suppose, like a piece of handmade furniture or something. They're not classic.
― Tom, Monday, 19 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Josh, Monday, 19 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― the pinefox, Tuesday, 13 March 2001 01:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Mitch Lastnamewithheld, Friday, 20 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Josh, Friday, 20 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Phil, Friday, 20 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Mitch Lastnamewithheld, Saturday, 21 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― anthony, Saturday, 21 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― gareth, Sunday, 22 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
ha I never said on this thread that 'the curtain hits the cast' is one of my few most favorite albums ever.
― Josh, Monday, 1 July 2002 00:00 (twenty years ago) link
― Julio Desouza, Monday, 1 July 2002 00:00 (twenty years ago) link
i watched that low documentary on cable last nite. maaaaaaaan, was that boring. not even two members of napalm death could pep things up. HOW IRONIC LOW DUDE THEY ARE IN NAPALM DEATH AND YOU ARE IN LOW AND YOU ARE IN THE SAME BUILDING WHAT ARE THE ODDS. on the other hand, it made me want to listen to low records. i do like low. and watching low live from my couch is, if you ask me, the best friggin' place on earth to watch low live.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 20:25 (fifteen years ago) link
hahah, interesting post. a boring documentary that made you wanna listen to the records. i can see that. good documentary i guess, rather slow, i own it but have only watched it once, so far.
― stephen, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 20:33 (fifteen years ago) link
the live footage is indeed superb.
that's the Low In Europe thing, right? I've got that DVD too, should really watch it again too
― StanM, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 20:43 (fifteen years ago) link
they should have set up the most boring people alive premise even more than they did. they sould have called the doc: HOW LOW CAN YOU GO:THE DIRTY DULUTH 3 LAY WASTE TO EUROPE! with girls gone wild cover art.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 20:49 (fifteen years ago) link
Maybe the sequel will be even lower
― StanM, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 20:52 (fifteen years ago) link
Low & Lowerer, with new bass player Jim Carrey
― StanM, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 20:53 (fifteen years ago) link
ultimately characterless and forgettable
lol. Heard Drums and Guns?
― Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 9 January 2008 22:20 (fifteen years ago) link
it hadn't been released back then
― electricsound, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 22:27 (fifteen years ago) link
i have "low in europe" and only got halfway through it. hmm. and as you all know, i adore them.
vvv tickled to see the original post -- it was alex who got me into low, some ... fucking hell, 12 years ago now. christ.
― grimly fiendish, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 22:30 (fifteen years ago) link
which album do I listen to right now if I've never heard any of them before? quick!
― Preview of the Matrix 12, Sunday, 27 January 2008 23:44 (fifteen years ago) link
I think The Great Destroyer is very accessible, so that may be a good entry point. But I guess Things We Lost In The Fire might be a more representative disc.
A handful of songs on the new disc (called Drums and Guns) are also an excellent introduction to the band. Try, for example, this killer (no pun intended) version of Murderer, from a live, in-studio performance last year.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 27 January 2008 23:48 (fifteen years ago) link
Things We Lost in the Fire is a great introduction. I'd also recommend Secret Name, which was my intro, also very good.
― stephen, Monday, 28 January 2008 20:19 (fifteen years ago) link
Things We Lost in the Fire, definitely. Worked for me at least, from the first chord change.
― Z S, Monday, 28 January 2008 20:26 (fifteen years ago) link
Anyone see that film about Low that's now showing on Pitchfork.tv? It's called You Might Need A Murderer. I didn't know how troubled Alan Spearhawk was. Semi-boring film, but a totally compelling band.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 22 June 2008 01:34 (fourteen years ago) link
Oh it's on Pitchfork.tv? Sweet, I saw it in the local record store today and passed on it ($20 brand new) but i'll totally watch it for free. One of my all time favorite bands, love these guys.
― stephen, Sunday, 22 June 2008 01:58 (fourteen years ago) link
npr interview with the sparhawks a while ago that touched on his issues
― mookieproof, Sunday, 22 June 2008 02:00 (fourteen years ago) link
Catch it now, Stephen. It's the "One Week Only" feature on Pitchfork.tv.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 22 June 2008 02:14 (fourteen years ago) link
That NPR interview is fascinating. Sparhawk dances around his problems some, but this is the first time I've heard he was suicidal.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 22 June 2008 02:41 (fourteen years ago) link
Thanks Daniel, I'll be sure to check it out Sunday morning when i get up :D
― stephen, Sunday, 22 June 2008 03:53 (fourteen years ago) link
Retribution Gospel Choir (Alan's new, catchier, LOUD, rock band) played a sparsely attended show in Montreal on Friday that was fucking amazing. PLayed their hearts out for we seated folk, left my ears so happily ringing. Was sad to see him loading up the van alone in the street afterward (last time I saw Low it was at ATP with another 1000 people). If Retribution Gospel Choir come to chez toi, go go go. terrific.
― sean gramophone, Sunday, 22 June 2008 16:52 (fourteen years ago) link
Low have subtley crept, over the course of about ten years, into the position of being my favorite existing band.
― Pillbox, Sunday, 22 June 2008 18:28 (fourteen years ago) link
"subtly"
Some good discussion on this thread, methinks.
― Pillbox, Sunday, 22 June 2008 18:41 (fourteen years ago) link
Retribution Gospel Choir (Alan's new, catchier, LOUD, rock band) played a sparsely attended show in Montreal on Friday that was fucking amazing.
ARGH I was on the list for this but couldn't go, damn you, job.
― Simon H., Sunday, 22 June 2008 18:44 (fourteen years ago) link
I've seen them 7-8 times since 1997 and have observed as the venue/audience size has grown in tandem with the expanse of the band's dynamic (louder choruses, distortion pedals and such). The songs from their last few records are perfectly suited to the mid-size theatres they play these days. But my favorite gigs were one in the mid-to-late 90's, when they would come through the Ann Arbor/Detroit area quite regularly and play at little hole-in-the-wall spots: The (small) audience would generally sit on the floor and remain dead silent until the band finished playing (save for the occasional applause). There was a communal reverence, churchlike almost, unlike anything else I've experienced at rock gigs (even a "seated" Yo La Tengo show from their And Then Nothing.. tour, in which the band/venue provided the audience with folding chairs, didn't come close). It was a beautiful thing to be a part of, really.
― Pillbox, Sunday, 22 June 2008 19:12 (fourteen years ago) link
I totally get that. I'm sure you'd agree, though, that they deserve all the additional attention -- and higher audience attendance at shows -- that they now get. I'm with you: Low has become one of my favorite, if not my absolute favorite, band of the moment.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 22 June 2008 19:34 (fourteen years ago) link
I'll third that. Best band going today.
― stephen, Sunday, 22 June 2008 19:37 (fourteen years ago) link
i saw RGC a few years back with Kozelek and they were alright but the drummer was really stiff; if it's the same guy I'm sure they've loosened up a bit. I'm assuming Kozelek isn't on this tour.
― akm, Sunday, 22 June 2008 20:06 (fourteen years ago) link
the best thing they played though was a crazy ass cover of "the carpet crawlers"
I'm sure you'd agree, though, that they deserve all the additional attention -- and higher audience attendance at shows
Yeah, it has actually been very rewarding to watch a humble little band like Low build and expand their aesthetic over the years, and at the same time gain popularity because of the sheer quality of their art. Even thought I have those fond memories of tiny quiet shows, I have no problem sharing Low with The World.
Strictly in terms of popularity, though, I know Low is bigger in Europe than The States, at least circa early-2000s. Was it that way in the mid-to-late 90's too? I'd been used to Low concerts being generally as described above. But then, in 2000, I moved to Dublin for college and twice saw Low in sold-out concerts at The Olympia, a fairly large theatre (fantastic shows both, one with cello!).
― Pillbox, Sunday, 22 June 2008 20:13 (fourteen years ago) link
"thought" = though
― Pillbox, Sunday, 22 June 2008 20:15 (fourteen years ago) link
stop all the clocks, quieten all the whisperings about low's republican tendencies:
low are playing an obama benefit somewhere.
they're also doing christmas shows in the uk, in november.
― schlump, Thursday, 17 July 2008 11:32 (fourteen years ago) link
I had only heard about teh one show. Is it definitely shows plural?
― aldo, Thursday, 17 July 2008 11:48 (fourteen years ago) link
yeh, manchester ('uni' i think, which i guess is hop & grape/academy three?) and oran mor glasgow. there's a churchy bit to oran mor, although i guess it's more likely they'll be downstairs.
― schlump, Thursday, 17 July 2008 11:58 (fourteen years ago) link
I'm going to the London one - it's at Koko.
― Colonel Poo, Thursday, 17 July 2008 12:12 (fourteen years ago) link
So I've just heard something bizarre about how Alan S. threw a guitar at his audience at a Saturday show in the UK?
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 12:07 (fourteen years ago) link
Drowned in Sound thread with details:
http://drownedinsound.com/articles/4020122
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 12:10 (fourteen years ago) link
^^ shit's wack
and yeah, classic. particularly the very early stuff, which stylistically i prefer a whole lot to the recent stuff, which tends to be a little too comfortable and prosaic for my liking
― Charlie Howard, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 12:23 (fourteen years ago) link
Buncha fuckin Helen Lovejoys on that DiS thread non-shocker
― The Slash My Father Wrote (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 17 September 2008 12:31 (fourteen years ago) link
this is all very sad. that's not the first thing i've read about onstage trouble in the last few months, either.
― toby, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 12:35 (fourteen years ago) link
weird. I know alan was talking publicly about going on medication a couple of years ago so my assumption would be that it has something to do with that.
― akm, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 13:28 (fourteen years ago) link
but it is a bit funny to think you'd get HURT at a low show
it was a seriously dangerous and fucking stupid thing to do. also, that festival was awash with kids. sparhawk is very lucky that he isn't facing manslaughter charges, and i am not being remotely hysterical here.
― Smuckles Brothers (stevie), Wednesday, 17 September 2008 14:01 (fourteen years ago) link
i mean, i was there, and the whole thing was *horrific, actually properly upsetting. sorry that the DiS readers aren't chuckling it off with sub-Chunklet ironic machismo, dude.
― Smuckles Brothers (stevie), Wednesday, 17 September 2008 14:02 (fourteen years ago) link
I primarily meant the hectoring pseudo-concern for the mental problems of someone they've never met, and directives of what he should and shouldn't do with his life. I know people care about the band (as do I) and the guy's problems sound horrible, but it rubbed me up the wrong way is all
― The Slash My Father Wrote (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 17 September 2008 14:30 (fourteen years ago) link
no worries dude, i was totally over-vociferous up there. apols.
― Smuckles Brothers (stevie), Wednesday, 17 September 2008 14:36 (fourteen years ago) link
Would anyone out there be willing to ysi me a copy of "Prisoner"? It's on the Lifetime of Temporary Relief box set (also originally appeared in the limited Finally... EP). I'm desperate to find it but the songs from the box set aren't available on emusic, amazon, or itunes. I'd be very grateful...
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Monday, 6 April 2009 05:19 (thirteen years ago) link
unless someone beats me to it i'll up it later on today for you
― balls by titleist (electricsound), Monday, 6 April 2009 05:46 (thirteen years ago) link
Someone beat you to it - got an email with the link. Thanks though! I'm writing about Low all week starting tomorrow (here) and really wanted to include mention of this song. I only have it on cassette, of all things.
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Monday, 6 April 2009 05:49 (thirteen years ago) link
LOW played a unique (one time only) 2 and a half hour, 25 song concert in Eindhoven, the Netherlands (Catharina church) on January 22nd of 2009. (Crosslinx festival)
It was a collaboration with David Dramm and these were the players: (I just copy/pasted/translated this from concertzender.nl )
Low: Alan Sparhawk, voice, guitar. Mimi Parker: voice, percussion. Steve Garrington: bass guitar.VocalLab: Bauwien van der Meer, Elsbeth Gerritsen, Fanny Alofs, Christian Damsgaard, Job HubatkaMargarita Kourtparadisou, Marcel Andriessen: percussion.Dominik Blum (Steamboat Switzerland) : church organ, Hammond B3, piano, Korg.David Dramm: arrangements.
recorded at the Catharinakerk Eindhoven, 22-1-2009.recording technician: Kees van de Wiel
The whole concert was broadcast in two parts on the Dutch (online?) radio station Concertzender on May 18th and yesterday and the streams are still available on demand.All in 128 kbps, unfortunately, but still, not to be missed. (I don't know how long the station's on demand content remains online, by the way, don't think they delete anything, but I'm not sure at all)
PART ONE:
http://audio.omroep.nl/cz/cz/thema/20090518-20.mp3 (LOW = first 78 minutes of the 2-hour mp3)
David Dramm.1. The wheel of Catherina.
Low.2. Amazing Grace.3. Sunflower.4. In metal.5. Candy Girl.6. Dinosaur act.7. Kind of girl.8. Point of disgust.9. Whitetail.10. Canada.11. Belarus.12. Breaker.13. Silver Rider.14. Shots and ladders.
PART TWO:
http://audio.omroep.nl/cz/cz/thema/20090615-20.mp3 (LOW = first 77 minutes of the 2-hour mp3)
Low.1. July.2. Pretty People.3. Take your Time.4. Monkey.5. Evertbody's Song.6. The Lamb / Blood of the Lamb.7. Violent Past.8. Laser Beam.9. In Silence.10. Always Fade.11. Dragonfly.12. Murderer.13. &20 (My Love (is for Free))14. Sandinista.15. When I go Deaf. (with David Dramm joining in on electric guitar)
― StanM, Tuesday, 16 June 2009 19:07 (thirteen years ago) link
Thanks!
― Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 16 June 2009 19:23 (thirteen years ago) link
Tons of Things We Lost in the Fire material in that set. Seems kinda random but ok!
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Tuesday, 16 June 2009 20:03 (thirteen years ago) link
This is great, thanks.
― that's not my post, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 06:09 (thirteen years ago) link
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU will dl when I get home.
Amazing setlist.
Sandinista live is always *amazing*. Do they ever do "Embrace"? I'd love to hear a live version.
― Turangalila, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 07:07 (thirteen years ago) link
Oh wow, thanks for the links - some great stuff there by the look of it.
― Bill A, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 07:18 (thirteen years ago) link
Small detail correction, by the way: apparently I misunderstood the presenter there, this wasn't the crosslinx festival, but the heartland festival (a collaboration between two local Eindhoven museums and the Smart museum of Art in Chicago). Sorry about that.
― StanM, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 11:17 (thirteen years ago) link
"Take Your Time" is amazing here.
― Simon H., Wednesday, 17 June 2009 13:56 (thirteen years ago) link
(dammit! I thought I prepared my post thoroughly, but now I find out I can't count! That's 28 Low songs, not 25)
― StanM, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 14:39 (thirteen years ago) link
Do they ever do "Embrace"? I'd love to hear a live version.
Yes. If memory serves, they played it in Austin a few years back.
― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 16:01 (thirteen years ago) link
I saw Sparhawk open for the Meat Puppets a couple weeks back, and boy was it weird. His lyrics were bizarre and often embarrassing, and his voice and guitar reverberated so much that I started to feel like I was part of a weird social experiment where my reactions were being taped while I listened to someone mentally breakdown onstage. To date, it was probably the oddest concert experi[ence/ment?] I've ever had.
― Jesus Christ, Attorney at Law (res), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 16:54 (thirteen years ago) link
interesting story
― ramón gastro (omar little), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 16:56 (thirteen years ago) link
I thought the whole recording was all a bit quiet, but then it IS Low, of course... :-)
― StanM, Thursday, 18 June 2009 06:54 (thirteen years ago) link
In the main, this is Low's live wonderfulness and some of the additional instrumentation works really well. But the overpowering, and frankly wholly redundant, backing vocals (ie. female voice other than Mimi) on Sandinista totally scupper the song...
― Bill A, Thursday, 18 June 2009 11:04 (thirteen years ago) link
This is a concern, given Sparhawk's past (see that documentary film about the band from a year ago, You Might Need A Murderer).
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 18 June 2009 11:53 (thirteen years ago) link
I couldn't place him at first, only remembering him from Low towards the end of the set... He seemed like a local guy, certainly no one who would be recognized on a national scale; everything came off as sort of amateur (just a guy with an electric guitar, no back up band, strange and embarrassing lyrics about the perils of war, etc.). He just stood there almost motionless, strumming his guitar in a rhythmless manner way that created a giant, amorphous wall of sound. Aside from his set, which seemed like the soundtrack to a bad acid trip, his between-song banter was rather stilted, with a lot of awkward pauses and rambling comments, and an apparent lack of self-awareness. I'm not sure if this is how he always is, but it was somewhat unsettling to me. When he left the stage, he said something like "I guess I'll get off the stage now so you can see some real music."
― Jesus Christ, Attorney at Law (res), Thursday, 18 June 2009 13:47 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm not sure if this is how he always is
Yes, it is :)
― a tiny, faltering megaphone (grimly fiendish), Thursday, 18 June 2009 13:51 (thirteen years ago) link
Grimly otm. I've seen Low many times and Alan's stage persona has evolved (if that's the word) into this very dead-pan, almost bereft figure on the last couple of tours. Without the band it sounds like he's even more twitchy.
― Bill A, Thursday, 18 June 2009 14:12 (thirteen years ago) link
Wasn't there a thing where he forcefully threw a guitar at an audience at one of the ATP festivals?
― Metro Video Centers, Thursday, 18 June 2009 14:20 (thirteen years ago) link
Man, I worry about that dude.
― Simon H., Thursday, 18 June 2009 14:23 (thirteen years ago) link
Scroll up. (xpost)
― StanM, Thursday, 18 June 2009 14:25 (thirteen years ago) link
Ah, yes, I see.
― Metro Video Centers, Thursday, 18 June 2009 14:28 (thirteen years ago) link
I realise how incredibly lame this sounds spoken out loud, but... can anyone do something about this, FFS?
― Lostandfound, Friday, 19 June 2009 05:33 (thirteen years ago) link
Do you mean something like a fan intervention? We're all concerned for his wellbeing, and I think us fans could voice that, but any more than that, I don't know, wouldn't that become way too personal very quickly?
― StanM, Friday, 19 June 2009 07:39 (thirteen years ago) link
he's a guy with mental health issues; i don't know that circumnavigating awkward onstage conversation would be a real triumph of intervention. it is what it is.
― the heart is a lonely hamster (schlump), Friday, 19 June 2009 13:00 (thirteen years ago) link
he has a wife who loves him and many people who love him, he's not some loner out there on the streets with no-one overseeing how he acts and behaves
― akm, Friday, 19 June 2009 14:03 (thirteen years ago) link
You guys are right, that was my inside voice coming out... as well as a lot of personal life stuff involving loved ones with mental illness. I almost get anxiety attacks of my own thinking about Alan Sparhawk! I don't mean this in a stan-like way (hopefully), but we do get invested in the people whose music makes our own lives better. Not sure what we can do in this scenario, though.
― Lostandfound, Friday, 19 June 2009 18:07 (thirteen years ago) link
Let's call A&E and get him on Intervention. Hey, it was good enough for Travis Meeks from Days of the New.
― Jesus Christ, Chiropractor at Law (res), Friday, 19 June 2009 20:03 (thirteen years ago) link
i wonder if they'd play the opening music extra slow for that episode
― more tang than an astronaut (bug), Friday, 19 June 2009 20:39 (thirteen years ago) link
I just cried listening to the Transmission EP, so it would have to be classic.
― krakow, Saturday, 19 September 2009 23:02 (thirteen years ago) link
these guys make me well up all the time.
― ... (Pillbox), Saturday, 19 September 2009 23:10 (thirteen years ago) link
I saw them last week at this free music+movies thing in mpls, introducing Jaws (which they picked). Alan claimed that the first day he met Mimi, in 4th grade, she gave him a betamax copy of Jaws, and told him to study it if he wanted to make it big.
― clotpoll, Sunday, 20 September 2009 05:12 (thirteen years ago) link
'Long Division' playing now. I'm so maudlin at the moment.
― krakow, Sunday, 20 September 2009 09:41 (thirteen years ago) link
Has there ever been a Low poll? I can't find one. If not, then we should have one. I'm getting deep in again at the moment. 'Songs For A Dead Pilot' now, after 'Curtain Hits The Cast' this afternoon at work.
― krakow, Sunday, 20 September 2009 21:21 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, there is an album poll around somewhere.
― Andrew "Nice" Clay (Pillbox), Sunday, 20 September 2009 21:26 (thirteen years ago) link
I'll have a more dedicated look. Searching for Low brings up a lot of things.
― krakow, Sunday, 20 September 2009 21:29 (thirteen years ago) link
Found it, but it was screwed up for some image related reason, so that a load of the results don't show up at all: What is the best Low album/release?
I demand a re-poll!
― krakow, Sunday, 20 September 2009 21:31 (thirteen years ago) link
Was the solo guitar album any good?
― Sundar, Sunday, 20 September 2009 21:34 (thirteen years ago) link
xpost: it was repolled after that, but I don't recall what it was titled.
― Andrew "Nice" Clay (Pillbox), Sunday, 20 September 2009 21:38 (thirteen years ago) link
No, imho. xpost
― StanM, Sunday, 20 September 2009 21:38 (thirteen years ago) link
You know what was kinda good? The Retribution Gospel Choir album. The version of "Holes in our heads" in that is godly.
― Turangalila, Sunday, 20 September 2009 21:59 (thirteen years ago) link
Found the re-poll: What is the best Low album/release? (Encore version)
― krakow, Sunday, 20 September 2009 22:02 (thirteen years ago) link
Can't believe 'Things We Lost In The Fire' didn't run away with it, it's blatantly the best album!
― krakow, Sunday, 20 September 2009 22:03 (thirteen years ago) link
it really isn't
― million dollar pig junior (electricsound), Sunday, 20 September 2009 22:43 (thirteen years ago) link
Only recently discovered The Great Destroyer which I love. Too bad they're Mormons, though.
― Alex in NYC, Sunday, 20 September 2009 23:57 (thirteen years ago) link
Silver Rider, from The Great Destroyer, is a near-perfect slowcore song. Low is another band that should get mentioned in many Best-Of-The-Decade lists, but I think they'll be criminally overlooked.
― Daniel, Esq., Monday, 21 September 2009 00:16 (thirteen years ago) link
Alex, is that the only Low album you know? A lot of people like that album, but it's my least favorite.
― Turangalila, Monday, 21 September 2009 00:26 (thirteen years ago) link
Among Low's hard-core fans, I imagine The Great Destroyer is the least favorite album.
It's among my favorites of theirs, tho.
― Daniel, Esq., Monday, 21 September 2009 00:27 (thirteen years ago) link
Too bad they're Mormons, though.
too bad? why?
― Lowell N. Behold'n, Monday, 21 September 2009 05:48 (thirteen years ago) link
I prefer the version of Silver Rider on the Murderer ep to be honest.
― I thought I could make it work because you look a bit like a man (aldo), Monday, 21 September 2009 09:10 (thirteen years ago) link
Listening to it all again. "Over The Ocean" just spurred me to revive. Wonderful.
I was remembering how it was Mogwai that got me into Low, as they used to talk about them in interviews and how amazing they were, so I went and hunted it out. Mogwai were also responsible for getting me into Bardo Pond in exactly the same way.
― krakow, Friday, 6 November 2009 19:39 (thirteen years ago) link
"Venus" is their best song, imo.
― Trip Maker, Friday, 6 November 2009 19:43 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.jmichaelward.com/stnnng/images/sparhawk.jpg
― The looming shadow of the big baller/shot caller (M@tt He1ges0n), Sunday, 8 November 2009 16:55 (thirteen years ago) link
Anyone know what they're up to? It's been a few years since D&G, tho Sparhawk has been into the various side projects & things.
― you just freaked out more than our director of lols (Pillbox), Sunday, 8 November 2009 17:27 (thirteen years ago) link
not sure but the retribution gospel choir is pretty hot...like low meets crazy horse
― The looming shadow of the big baller/shot caller (M@tt He1ges0n), Sunday, 8 November 2009 17:28 (thirteen years ago) link
The RGC disc comes out in January 2010, I think.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 8 November 2009 17:46 (thirteen years ago) link
Dunno, I thought the self-titled album was a drag and I'll represent for most anything else Sparhawk has released.
xpost
― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Sunday, 8 November 2009 17:47 (thirteen years ago) link
hmmm i guess i'm reacting to seeing them live, i don't have the albums...live it's amazing if you have a chance
― The looming shadow of the big baller/shot caller (M@tt He1ges0n), Sunday, 8 November 2009 17:50 (thirteen years ago) link
the RGC album is pretty good but doesn't nearly do justice to their live show. maybe the next one will.
― LaMonte, Sunday, 8 November 2009 17:54 (thirteen years ago) link
Been listening to Lifetime Of Temporary Relief boxset all week and falling in love all over again again. So much wonderful stuff on there.
― krakow, Thursday, 19 November 2009 21:58 (thirteen years ago) link
On a walk in surprisingly-chilly South Florida, I just listened to a Low playlist: Whore; July; In Metal; Silver Rider; Death Of A Salesman; and Breaker.
The most intense -- and one of the most fascinating -- act of the decade.
― Daniel, Esq., Friday, 27 November 2009 23:35 (thirteen years ago) link
Picked up the two live albums today - "Paris '99" & "One More Reason To Forget". Life does come up OK sometimes.
― krakow, Friday, 27 November 2009 23:49 (thirteen years ago) link
Thread makes me (almost) happy.
― Lostandfound, Saturday, 28 November 2009 09:02 (thirteen years ago) link
saw a partially (intentionally?) obscured road sign yesterday that said
LOWOWN
― electrical audio's sm57 (electricsound), Wednesday, 2 December 2009 00:56 (thirteen years ago) link
and i had to agree
this was the first time i saw them live:
http://www.archive.org/details/low2004-02-27.aud.flac
― jØrdån (omar little), Wednesday, 2 December 2009 01:04 (thirteen years ago) link
pissing was so good around then
― rap band (schlump), Wednesday, 2 December 2009 01:49 (thirteen years ago) link
First time I saw them was when they were a last minute replacement for a band at a KUCI benefit show in late 1993, I think -- I Could Live in Hope hadn't even come out yet. I was completely entranced from the get-go.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 2 December 2009 01:58 (thirteen years ago) link
First saw them in 1996 when they opened up for Spectrum. Unbelievably most of the audience were there to see first opening band Edsel, but no accounting for taste (it was Jabberjaw after all)
― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, 2 December 2009 02:54 (thirteen years ago) link
I first saw them in Edinburgh circa 1996: my mate's band supported them. I'd never heard of them and they played so quietly that I missed most of their set because I was standing at the bar. Then they started doing Transmission and I thought, woah, hang on ...
First "holy shit, what?" moment came two days later when AlexT played me The Plan and I was blown away.
― What do you want? This ain't an egg shop (grimly fiendish), Friday, 4 December 2009 23:27 (thirteen years ago) link
playing the great destroyer front to back, at primavera & then i guess elsewhere
― rap band (schlump), Saturday, 5 December 2009 12:56 (thirteen years ago) link
First time I saw them was when they opened for Soul Coughing back in 95 or 96. There was the tiniest pocket of Low fans in the front row surrounded by a sea of people talking or booing. It was tragic.
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Saturday, 5 December 2009 15:56 (thirteen years ago) link
ewwwww why did they open for soul coughing :(
― Salvador Dali Parton (Turangalila), Saturday, 5 December 2009 17:38 (thirteen years ago) link
isn't there a soul coughing cover on the boxset? i might be thinking of the supreme dicks but i seem to recall there was some crossover.
― rap band (schlump), Saturday, 5 December 2009 18:36 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, there's a cover on there. Something about a split single planned or the like.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 5 December 2009 18:38 (thirteen years ago) link
Soul Coughing loved them and asked them to do a tour, so they went for it. I think it was the first "big" tour they ever did. I've Alan say before that they started Low as a kind of "punk" thing - trying to alienate all the spazzy/yelpy/angry bands they were surrounded by. So I think, at least in the early days, they were prepared for audiences to not get them at all.
And yeah, they did a cover of "Blue-Eyed Devil," recorded around that time. I think it wound up on some comp back then because I had it way before the box set. I was an OBSESSIVE Low fan for a long, long time.
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Saturday, 5 December 2009 18:51 (thirteen years ago) link
This is ten years old but I still hadn't seen it: Alan Sparhawk briefly commenting on every song they did up until 2000
http://groups.google.com/group/chairkickers/web/song-backgrounds
― StanM, Saturday, 23 January 2010 09:27 (thirteen years ago) link
Wow, thank you. Never seen that before, but it's very interesting.
― krakow, Saturday, 23 January 2010 17:54 (thirteen years ago) link
There's quite a few fantastic sounding soundboard recordings on archive.org and people are adding new ones every now and then but the new 1998 Bluebird Theatre one that was added this week sounds AMAZING. Go check it out, fellow low addicts.
― StanM, Sunday, 7 February 2010 16:03 (twelve years ago) link
Yes, I've listened to that one 3 times in the last day - really wonderful. Great to hear Words/Violence.
― toby, Sunday, 7 February 2010 18:13 (twelve years ago) link
The new Retribution Gospel Choir (2) is now out, too, and maybe even better than the first, the Crazy Horse comparisons even more apt...
― glenn mcdonald, Sunday, 7 February 2010 19:04 (twelve years ago) link
not sure how old this is but it sounds pretty amazing:
Hello friends.Low is embarking an another unique, collobrative event with nationally renowned modern dance choreographer Morgan Thorson. Providing the musical backdrop to Thorson's piece, Heaven, Alan and Mimi are providing original music and vocal orchestration. Heaven examines the trinity of dance, music and light while exploring the various manifestations of ecstasy in religious practices and the ritualistic nature of dance. Thorson's work has garnered the praise of critics far and wide, earning her accolades in the New York Times as well as being voted City Pages' best choreographer in 2008. Heaven will be presented at various venues across the country, and more information on the shows is available here.
Low is embarking an another unique, collobrative event with nationally renowned modern dance choreographer Morgan Thorson. Providing the musical backdrop to Thorson's piece, Heaven, Alan and Mimi are providing original music and vocal orchestration. Heaven examines the trinity of dance, music and light while exploring the various manifestations of ecstasy in religious practices and the ritualistic nature of dance. Thorson's work has garnered the praise of critics far and wide, earning her accolades in the New York Times as well as being voted City Pages' best choreographer in 2008. Heaven will be presented at various venues across the country, and more information on the shows is available here.
apparently there have already been two performances
did anyone catch this?
― !aNiMeGaLaXy (Future_Perfect), Tuesday, 23 February 2010 21:17 (twelve years ago) link
^^ this sounds really great. did anyone catch this?
In other news: Robert Plant has recorded versions of "Monkey" & "Silver Rider" for his next album - http://www.robertplant.com/press/first-look-robert-plants-band-of-joy/#more-1965
― 5 x 15-second shits, max fart (Pillbox), Wednesday, 9 June 2010 19:00 (twelve years ago) link
what the
I don't even
― StanM, Wednesday, 9 June 2010 19:08 (twelve years ago) link
cool!
― Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 9 June 2010 19:12 (twelve years ago) link
wow!
hmmm...trying to think of how this could have happened...i guess the most direct connect between plant and low is steve albini
― the dj screwtape letters (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 9 June 2010 19:14 (twelve years ago) link
A whole lotta Low.
― Lostandfound, Wednesday, 9 June 2010 19:14 (twelve years ago) link
Interesting, though.
― Lostandfound, Wednesday, 9 June 2010 19:15 (twelve years ago) link
Plant is a really big Low fan -- and I remember him talking about how much he loved "The Great Destroyer" around 2005.
― Cunga, Wednesday, 9 June 2010 19:16 (twelve years ago) link
(StanM, I only just saw that Sparhawk list you posted upthread, and wanted to thank you for it.)
― Lostandfound, Wednesday, 9 June 2010 19:16 (twelve years ago) link
I know RP used to rep hard for The Cocteau Twins & This Mortal Coil in the 80s (& didn't he do his own version of "Song to the Siren" at some point?), so I guess this isn't a giant leap in logic from there.
Still tho, Whole Lotta Low
― 5 x 15-second shits, max fart (Pillbox), Wednesday, 9 June 2010 19:18 (twelve years ago) link
RP's early 80s albums are such a weird classic rock/new wave mix
― the dj screwtape letters (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 9 June 2010 19:23 (twelve years ago) link
(my pleasure! xxpost)
― StanM, Wednesday, 9 June 2010 19:25 (twelve years ago) link
When you think about it, there's not a massive leap between "Battle of Evermore" and early Dead Can Dance.
― Lostandfound, Wednesday, 9 June 2010 19:30 (twelve years ago) link
wow i can't wait to hear these!
― TeRRaFuGiA FLYinG CaR - ELeCTRiC DReaMs - PHiLiP OaKLeY / GiorGiO MoRoDeR (LOLK), Wednesday, 9 June 2010 19:32 (twelve years ago) link
From the press release (WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!):
Plant gives the blues a full-on golden god workout as only he can with ‘Silver Rider’ and his rockier side emerges triumphant on standout tracks such as ‘Monkey’.
― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Wednesday, 9 June 2010 19:56 (twelve years ago) link
that description makes me less interested in his cover versions.
― Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 9 June 2010 19:57 (twelve years ago) link
full-on golden god
― kumar the bavarian, Wednesday, 9 June 2010 21:12 (twelve years ago) link
listening to the samples of robert plant covering monkey and silver rider. they're . . . okay, but pointless. they go for the same vibe as the original, and seem like they come nowhere close to the charm/power of the originals.
― Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 15 September 2010 01:49 (twelve years ago) link
but whatevs. full-on golden god.
― Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 15 September 2010 01:50 (twelve years ago) link
stream while you can http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129178865
― "Hipster" as prerogative. (diamonddave85), Wednesday, 15 September 2010 02:34 (twelve years ago) link
I thought Plant's Silver Rider >>> Monkey. Thought they did a decent job with Silver Rider; not up to the original of course. But if it gets more folks to search the originals then cool by me.
― that's not my post, Wednesday, 15 September 2010 02:43 (twelve years ago) link
Excellent show from ATP in 2008: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Low/
― that's not my post, Sunday, 21 November 2010 04:09 (twelve years ago) link
Anyone catch them on the current tour yet? Thoughts?
I didn't end up organising to get to any of the UK shows. Sad face.
― krakow, Sunday, 21 November 2010 05:22 (twelve years ago) link
xpost Thanks for the heads up - there's another version out there with the encore (a 12 minute version of Shots and Ladders), by the way.
Four new tracks during this show from last week: http://www.archive.org/details/Low2010-11-16.flac
― StanM, Sunday, 21 November 2010 08:38 (twelve years ago) link
Not playing Canada? (I mean the country, not the song, ha).
Oh, and thanks for these, fellow ILXors.
― Lostandfound, Tuesday, 23 November 2010 23:55 (twelve years ago) link
Free live EP from that Catharinakerk, Eindhoven show I linked to in this thread last year (those stream mp3s aren't online anymore unfortunately, if you haven't downloaded them)
http://pitchfork.com/news/40941-low-release-free-live-ep/
― StanM, Wednesday, 8 December 2010 18:10 (twelve years ago) link
so much love for this band
― FLEETWOOD MAC OS THE XX FILES (diamonddave85), Wednesday, 8 December 2010 21:48 (twelve years ago) link
this ep is really great thanks for the heads-up stan! :)
― EIEIoOoOO (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 December 2010 21:50 (twelve years ago) link
EP sounds niiiiice. i've lost track of Low over the years, but it seems like i should get back into them. what's the lineup of the band like? from the sound of this EP they're no longer a trio.
― tylerw, Friday, 10 December 2010 23:14 (twelve years ago) link
i think there's just one other dude on bass (?)
― bows don't kill people, arrows do (Jordan), Friday, 10 December 2010 23:16 (twelve years ago) link
ah, maybe there's just some guests on the EP? there are keyboards on at least a couple tracks ...
― tylerw, Friday, 10 December 2010 23:20 (twelve years ago) link
anyway, this EP is making me think i should go see them -- they're coming to my neck of the woods next week.
You should definitely go see them (that's what I'm doing on Wednesday).
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 10 December 2010 23:21 (twelve years ago) link
i think they switch it up instrumentation-wise, or maybe the third dude just does whatever's needed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GppbSt1H2o
― bows don't kill people, arrows do (Jordan), Friday, 10 December 2010 23:28 (twelve years ago) link
from chairkickers.com
Recorded live January 22, 2009 in the St. Catherina Church, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Track Listing:1. Monkey2. Silver Rider3. July4. Laser Beam
Credits:Initiator of Project: Muziekgebouw EindhovenExecutive producer: Frank VeenstraArrangement: David DrammPhotography: Bram Saeys
Additional Musicians:Chorus: VocaalLAB (Bauwien van der Meer, Elsbeth Gerritsen, Fanny Alofs, Christian Damsgaard, Job Hubatka)Hammond Organ/Analog Synthesizer/Piano: Dominik BlumPercussion/Vibraphone: Marcel Andriessen, Margarita Kourtparadisou
― FLEETWOOD MAC OS THE XX FILES (diamonddave85), Friday, 10 December 2010 23:33 (twelve years ago) link
ah thanks. yeah, sounded like a big chorus behind them.
― tylerw, Friday, 10 December 2010 23:38 (twelve years ago) link
So I take it the new record is Fridmann-free, then? (I see he co-produced the new Parts and Labor, though, which is...a little worrisome.)
― Simon H., Saturday, 11 December 2010 00:19 (twelve years ago) link
nels cline + low = unbelievable anticipation for this disc.
― Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 11 December 2010 00:20 (twelve years ago) link
the vocal harmony on the chorus of silver rider is every bit as good on this live ep as it is on the disc -- maybe better? it's astonishing.
― Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 11 December 2010 03:05 (twelve years ago) link
Many thanks to StanM for posting a link to the full show last year. Great to see that the transcendent versions of Silver Rider and July are getting wider circulation. And Mim's vocal on Laser Beam, wow.
― that's not my post, Saturday, 11 December 2010 07:08 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah see this tour. The show I saw consisted of a few old songs to start things, then their new album in its entirety (or at least 10 new songs, all played in a row), then most/all of the Christmas EP, then an all-request encore. Mimi's solo vocal on Laser Beam was in fact pretty stunning.
They're also performing as a four-piece for most of it, with a new guy on electric piano and enough drums to create a full kit between him and Mimi, and Charlie Parr accompanied at a few points.
― rope (lloydwabbitt), Saturday, 11 December 2010 09:26 (twelve years ago) link
how are the new tunes?
― FLEETWOOD MAC OS THE XX FILES (diamonddave85), Saturday, 11 December 2010 16:56 (twelve years ago) link
gonna miss this in SF this week, supremely bummed
― akm, Saturday, 11 December 2010 18:26 (twelve years ago) link
anyone know if they're coming to the east coast anytime soon? this tour sounds fantastic.
― swvl, Saturday, 11 December 2010 18:36 (twelve years ago) link
The electric piano was only really present on the first of them, where it takes a pretty prominent lead. Sounds in a lot of ways like a continuation of where they were going on Drums and Guns. I really liked one listed on the setlist as "Witches" (Alan brought out a Les Paul baritone for it). Lots of one-word choruses, a few moments of very noisy guitar playing. Really curious as to how this is going to sound with studio treatments and with Nels Cline on it.
― rope (lloydwabbitt), Saturday, 11 December 2010 19:22 (twelve years ago) link
I've renewed my love affair with Low in the last few months and have been catching up on the last few records which I passed on at the time of their release. Bought Trust last month and The Great Destroyer a couple of weeks ago. Trust was solid but didn't do a whole lot for me. But man, The Great Destroyer. I had totally written this record off based on the couple of songs I heard from it at the time, but to my surprise it's quite excellent! Been listening to it nonstop since I got it. It's not perfect, but it's really good.
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Saturday, 19 March 2011 18:10 (eleven years ago) link
new one's really good—it's called C'mon, comes out in three weeks or so—few throwaway songs but 2/3 or so is utter gold
― ilxor you've listened to one odd future album once (ilxor), Saturday, 19 March 2011 23:04 (eleven years ago) link
er... utterly golden? whatever. who knows
Low covers 'Africa' by Toto for The AV Club's 'Undercover' series
predictably, it is awesome.
― Challops Never End (Pillbox), Tuesday, 10 May 2011 06:20 (eleven years ago) link
Damn, I'm getting an error, it's not showing.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Tuesday, 10 May 2011 09:06 (eleven years ago) link
That's fantastic, thanks for the link!
Obnoxious Starbucks advertising though - urgh.
― naughty bell ringer (krakow), Tuesday, 10 May 2011 09:34 (eleven years ago) link
download http://videos.theonion.com/avclub_video/2011/undercover/AVUC2_009-Low.flv
― StanM, Tuesday, 10 May 2011 14:18 (eleven years ago) link
This band can do no wrong, really.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 10 May 2011 14:26 (eleven years ago) link
I am completely blanking on the name of the Low song-by-song blog, anyone remember it?
― 'what are you, the Hymen Protection League of America?' (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 19 May 2011 16:26 (eleven years ago) link
http://youcanttrustviolence.blogspot.com/ ?
― StanM, Thursday, 19 May 2011 16:36 (eleven years ago) link
Thats it, thanks!
― 'what are you, the Hymen Protection League of America?' (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 19 May 2011 16:41 (eleven years ago) link
http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Low_Route_du_Rock/
― StanM, Monday, 5 September 2011 18:25 (eleven years ago) link
^excellent, thanks for the link
― that's not my post, Tuesday, 6 September 2011 06:06 (eleven years ago) link
(fyi, setlist: Nothing But Heart / Nightingale / You See Everything / Monkey / Silver Rider / Especially Me / Sunflower / Try To Sleep / Canada / Violent Past / Last Snowstorm of the Year / Murderer )
― StanM, Tuesday, 6 September 2011 07:41 (eleven years ago) link
Awesome, thanks for this.
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Wednesday, 7 September 2011 03:15 (eleven years ago) link
http://devonrecordclub.com/2014/07/22/low-things-we-lost-in-the-fire-round-70-toms-selection/
― yugi ex, Tuesday, 22 July 2014 08:59 (eight years ago) link
something about early low is hitting me hard lately, like it hasn't in several years
― Karl Malone, Monday, 6 March 2017 22:21 (five years ago) link
Same!!
― Evan, Tuesday, 7 March 2017 01:02 (five years ago) link
Classic.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 7 March 2017 01:52 (five years ago) link
"words" is a perfect first song first album statement.
― that's not my post, Tuesday, 7 March 2017 07:56 (five years ago) link
You know that there is a part of Low that just wants to record an album where they croon "You're gonna die..........." over and over again for 40 minutes.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 30 May 2018 17:21 (four years ago) link
You could play "Shots and Ladders" 5 times in a row and achieve the same result tbh
― Simon H., Wednesday, 30 May 2018 17:47 (four years ago) link
Sometimes I can't handle "Pretty People" because it occasionally sounds like Low in self-parody mode, now I'm imagining it running 40 minutes.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 30 May 2018 17:50 (four years ago) link
new album double negative out in september, produced by b.j. burton
― flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Monday, 11 June 2018 18:03 (four years ago) link
Press release uses the terms "abrasive" and "defiant." fun!
― Simon H., Monday, 11 June 2018 18:06 (four years ago) link
Also, that has to be the ultimate Low album title
― Simon H., Monday, 11 June 2018 18:10 (four years ago) link
Low - Fun!
― Evan, Monday, 11 June 2018 18:11 (four years ago) link
lol
― Simon H., Monday, 11 June 2018 18:18 (four years ago) link
If "abrasive" and "defiant" mean "sounds like [their best album] 'Drums and Guns'" I'm very in.
― Soundslike, Monday, 11 June 2018 19:07 (four years ago) link
It sounds like it's a noisier, tighter version of the last album.
― Simon H., Monday, 11 June 2018 19:10 (four years ago) link
alan was rocking this incredible disintegrating guitar tone when i saw them a few months back, can't wait to hear that on record
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Monday, 11 June 2018 19:27 (four years ago) link
like the classic Neil Young jet engine guitar sound?
― StanM, Monday, 11 June 2018 20:01 (four years ago) link
close to dead man but instead of letting the notes ring, they crumble
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Monday, 11 June 2018 21:02 (four years ago) link
Has the album been announced? They seem to have disappeared from the Sub Pop website. Looking forward to the Leeds show next week. I have a spare ticket if anyone's after one.
― michaellambert, Monday, 11 June 2018 22:36 (four years ago) link
only via this listing AFAICT
https://www.cargo-records.de/en/item/126785/katalog_art.123.html
― Simon H., Tuesday, 12 June 2018 01:40 (four years ago) link
hope this is as great as The Great Destroyer/Trust/Secret Name/Things We Lost In The Fire because nothing they have done since those has been as compelling imo
― Dan S, Tuesday, 12 June 2018 02:05 (four years ago) link
I'm a little sad it doesn't seem like we're ever getting a Mimi solo album as I seem to imagine Alan teased quite a long time ago. (Though for anyone who hasn't heard it, his Solo Guitar is a neat bit of soundscaping.)
― Simon H., Tuesday, 12 June 2018 02:13 (four years ago) link
first 15 mins of the new album:
https://open.spotify.com/album/6nfpfcAiNLaxyFxwcj0lkm
― matt h, Tuesday, 12 June 2018 11:51 (four years ago) link
holy shit @ glitch ghost Mimi!
― Simon H., Tuesday, 12 June 2018 13:14 (four years ago) link
oh good this sounds like autechre
― flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Tuesday, 12 June 2018 13:20 (four years ago) link
I really hate to make this comparison ever but this is sounding very Kid A and I'm into it
― Simon H., Tuesday, 12 June 2018 13:24 (four years ago) link
it's amazing that The Invisible Way was only two albums ago lol
― Simon H., Tuesday, 12 June 2018 13:25 (four years ago) link
aoty probably
― flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Tuesday, 12 June 2018 13:25 (four years ago) link
:D
― lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 12 June 2018 13:31 (four years ago) link
whoa
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Tuesday, 12 June 2018 15:02 (four years ago) link
Very excited for this. I thought that Ones and Sixes was a great look for them (especially the colder parts like the first two tracks and "DJ") and am pleased that they seem to have travelled some distance further down that road.
"Quorum" really does sound like Autechre.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 12 June 2018 17:52 (four years ago) link
Going #fullBrad here but aoty. This is amazing.
― lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 12 June 2018 18:42 (four years ago) link
I've listened to these 4-5 times and I'm just mad we have to wait three months for the rest
― Simon H., Tuesday, 12 June 2018 18:43 (four years ago) link
For real.
― lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 12 June 2018 18:47 (four years ago) link
Didn't see this coming at all. Awesome music.
― Jeff W, Tuesday, 12 June 2018 19:07 (four years ago) link
There's video too, suitably glitchy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvEozu4Obfs
― Jeff W, Tuesday, 12 June 2018 19:12 (four years ago) link
Sub Pop is offering a pretty good deal for a bundle of their last 5 LPs.
― Simon H., Tuesday, 12 June 2018 19:12 (four years ago) link
holy shit these new songs are amazing. i'm so gutted that the local show for me (leeds, UK) is sold out... though i did see them in LA last year, and briefly met alan. he was sweet.
― meaulnes, Tuesday, 12 June 2018 21:05 (four years ago) link
wowowowowowow
excellent video too
― obviously DLC (Karl Malone), Tuesday, 12 June 2018 22:20 (four years ago) link
when did they turn into Andy Stott?
― boxedjoy, Tuesday, 12 June 2018 22:30 (four years ago) link
each of the three are so good in different ways. "dancing in blood" in particular raises goosebumps at times. if they hadn't done anything since trust/great destroyer times, then released this, it would sound like a portishead third kind of return. really refreshing to hear their voices and some of the same guitar tones in a new context
― obviously DLC (Karl Malone), Tuesday, 12 June 2018 22:31 (four years ago) link
Wow. I'm surprised and amazed. These are utterly unexpected, but progress into something that is unmistakably them and really beautiful. Dancing In Blood gave me goosebumps too, then the latter stages of Fly hit and... just wow.
― brain (krakow), Tuesday, 12 June 2018 23:19 (four years ago) link
This is fucking fantastic. Exactly what I've been hoping for from them since 'Drums & Guns'. They're wonderful even when they're just doing what comes naturally, and sometimes amazing with it (i.e. 'Secret Name'). But they're always so exciting when they take the sweet simplicity of their elemental sound and just absolutely fuck with it (i.e. 'Bombscare' EP, 'Drums & Guns').
I've been listening intently for 22 years, and based on these three songs, this has the potential to be their best work yet, at least for ears like mine.
― Soundslike, Wednesday, 13 June 2018 00:07 (four years ago) link
Karl Malone, if you're digging this--the way you're referencing Trust/Great Destroyer as their last great work--did you hear 'Drums & Guns'? If not, you're in for a huge thrill.
― Soundslike, Wednesday, 13 June 2018 00:08 (four years ago) link
If somehow there are folks that don't know the 'Bombscare' EP, it's fantastic and maybe the most direct precursor to the sound of these new tracks, from 18 (!?! I'm old) years ago, and what firmly cemented my love of Low:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRoIbBbJx4U
― Soundslike, Wednesday, 13 June 2018 00:13 (four years ago) link
the bombscare EP is really good! thanks for posting that. it does have a very different sound from their other work around the turn of the century, but i dunno, these new tracks still sound like a different place altogether to me.
i listened to drums & guns exactly in full exactly once, but the last two tracks are the ones i always go back to.
― obviously DLC (Karl Malone), Wednesday, 13 June 2018 20:10 (four years ago) link
hasitleaked.com says it has - two and a half months early!?
― StanM, Saturday, 30 June 2018 05:21 (four years ago) link
that's a bummer
― flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Saturday, 30 June 2018 05:23 (four years ago) link
wtf? I remember Invisible Way leaked before it even had a cover or title.
― Simon H., Saturday, 30 June 2018 11:30 (four years ago) link
maybe a daft question how do records even leak anyway. is it always an advance press copy that some naughty journo has uploaded to soulseek?
― meaulnes, Saturday, 30 June 2018 11:41 (four years ago) link
Happens a bunch of different ways, lately I'm guessing the most common is people getting + redeeming download codes early and sharing
anyway I fully intend to buy this when I see them in September so I feel comfortable saying the record is bold and brilliant in all the ways the already-released tracks suggest
― Simon H., Saturday, 30 June 2018 11:46 (four years ago) link
I hope Prins Thomas or Koze or somebody gets their hands on "Disarray"
― Simon H., Saturday, 30 June 2018 12:30 (four years ago) link
yeah well looking forward to manchester cathedral show.
― meaulnes, Saturday, 30 June 2018 12:48 (four years ago) link
really love how "tempest" sounds like my speakers are being fed through a spiralizer
― flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Saturday, 30 June 2018 13:38 (four years ago) link
this is absolutely some portishead third shit
― flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Saturday, 30 June 2018 13:42 (four years ago) link
That's an excellent comparison I should definitely have thought of
― Simon H., Saturday, 30 June 2018 13:46 (four years ago) link
karl brought it up upthread, h/t karl
― flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Saturday, 30 June 2018 13:49 (four years ago) link
*gets to "the son, the sun"* these songs are all black holes vibrating at different frequencies
― flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Saturday, 30 June 2018 13:50 (four years ago) link
Whoa portishead third??? Curious
― Y'all (Ross), Saturday, 30 June 2018 13:51 (four years ago) link
it'd be a shame if "rome (always in the dark)" never gets used in a movie trailer
― lowercase (eric), Sunday, 1 July 2018 16:02 (four years ago) link
anyway this is gorgeous and weirdly feels like an intuitive endpoint, the way the rhythm of "always trying to work it out" pulls everything inward is just mesmerizing
― lowercase (eric), Sunday, 1 July 2018 16:03 (four years ago) link
This thing is so cohesive and flows so expertly that I got too annoyed with the leak's track gaps and had to mix it down to a single 49-minute file before I could let myself relisten
The way the clouds part just long enough for "Dancing And Fire" to peek through relatively unobstructed is *kisses fingers*
― Simon H., Sunday, 1 July 2018 16:11 (four years ago) link
i am so excited to hear the rest! glad to hear that the other songs are just as engaging
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 1 July 2018 16:16 (four years ago) link
trying to decide whether this is samey and overproduced or genius
― meaulnes, Wednesday, 4 July 2018 21:50 (four years ago) link
low is at their best writing pop songs imo
― rip van wanko, Wednesday, 4 July 2018 22:34 (four years ago) link
Not even trying to defend them when I say that complaining that a Low album is "samey" is wild to me, nearly every Low album is them "trying on" a couple sonic ideas and flexing them to various extremes for 40-60 minutes
― Simon H., Wednesday, 4 July 2018 22:51 (four years ago) link
haha yeah fair shout actually simon, my gripe is completely moot. i think it's maybe why, even though i love them to bits, i almost never make it through a full play of their LPs. the second halves are often a drag.
― meaulnes, Wednesday, 4 July 2018 22:54 (four years ago) link
obv I find that personally heretical but I get it. this Low shit, it ain't for everybody. it's a motherfuckin vibe
― Simon H., Wednesday, 4 July 2018 23:24 (four years ago) link
i know the last album i heard from low was ten years ago, but i wasn't expecting this at all. i'm mesmerized.
― Nourry, Thursday, 5 July 2018 09:31 (four years ago) link
also the master is disgustingly loud, what's up with that? guess it's bathed in distortion anyway.
― meaulnes, Thursday, 5 July 2018 10:34 (four years ago) link
also xxp simon -- i was more fussed about the overproduction than the sameyness really. i love alan's guitar tone, and think low have done distortion and production perfectly to date. the distortion on this is the kind of distortion that grows old quickly to my ears. sounds very digital and full of odd harmonics. im sure its intentional. i dunno. its almost annoying, i just want to hear the songs that are hiding behind it.
― meaulnes, Thursday, 5 July 2018 10:40 (four years ago) link
even though the new record is destined to become one of my favourites - there is the same tension with albums like "drums and guns" where deliberate production choices set that particular song in concrete - and more power to the band for doing that. but the live versions of these new songs necessarily break them open in quite different ways, i genuinely can't wait to hear them again later in the year.
luckily theyre bootleg-friendly: https://archive.org/details/LowMusic - so i can have the jaunty "breaker" as well as the doomy live version on hand.
― matt h, Thursday, 5 July 2018 11:26 (four years ago) link
wow, yeah...hard to tell if this is supposed all sound like this or whether they did something to it to mark the leaks. at least one song is pretty unlistenable to me. but there is beauty in it.
― akm, Saturday, 7 July 2018 16:20 (four years ago) link
p meticulous marking then!
― lowercase (eric), Saturday, 7 July 2018 16:25 (four years ago) link
it's not marking, since the officially released singles are of the same production. matt h is otm tho -- hearing them live will shed some light.
― meaulnes, Monday, 9 July 2018 20:23 (four years ago) link
listening to their first couple of LPs today. man, i wish kramer was still producing records.
― meaulnes, Monday, 9 July 2018 20:24 (four years ago) link
OK im decided. the use of compression on this LP in accordance with its dynamic range is fucking phenomenal.
― meaulnes, Monday, 9 July 2018 21:18 (four years ago) link
I noticed that too - the quiet parts are *actually* quiet and not just in comparison to the walls of noise
― Simon H., Monday, 9 July 2018 21:42 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7088HRmhNaE
wasted good silverware on ya.
― meaulnes, Tuesday, 10 July 2018 12:14 (four years ago) link
"Disarray" is now officially available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXaLOVeWOdU
Awesome.
― Jeff W, Sunday, 19 August 2018 19:44 (four years ago) link
Needs a remix EP imho
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Sunday, 19 August 2018 19:54 (four years ago) link
How I love that Transmission cover - 2nd song - from the 1996 show. By playing it slower they make it better as it lasts longer. That simple trick works like a charm here.
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Wednesday, 22 August 2018 21:13 (four years ago) link
For you polite non-leak-listeners, now streaming at NPR:
https://www.npr.org/2018/09/06/644584017/first-listen-low-double-negative
This seriously has to be one of their 2 or 3 best albums ever.
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Thursday, 6 September 2018 12:09 (four years ago) link
i'm not polite, but i was kind of just waiting until i could stream it somewhere, thanks!
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 6 September 2018 14:40 (four years ago) link
holy shit this album
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Thursday, 6 September 2018 15:31 (four years ago) link
otm
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Thursday, 6 September 2018 16:30 (four years ago) link
heavier than a death in the family
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Thursday, 6 September 2018 17:09 (four years ago) link
"tempest" is like falling between two vibrating pixels
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Thursday, 6 September 2018 17:21 (four years ago) link
effect of the whole album is like listening in on someone's nightmare
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Thursday, 6 September 2018 17:34 (four years ago) link
yeah it has such a profound cumulative effect that in retrospect I wish they hadn't released any advance tracks at all (though releasing the opening trio was a smart compromise)
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Thursday, 6 September 2018 17:37 (four years ago) link
this makes at least two dark & (spatially) deep albums w a song titled "tempest" this decade
― lowercase (eric), Thursday, 6 September 2018 18:59 (four years ago) link
the other being koi no yokan hell yeah
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Thursday, 6 September 2018 19:00 (four years ago) link
yesterday i saw 'first reformed' and 'double negative' came to my mind all the time. after week listening to it i'm still speechless.
― Nourry, Thursday, 6 September 2018 20:15 (four years ago) link
Crushing.
― lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 7 September 2018 09:47 (four years ago) link
Wow, this is not starting out like I expected it to.
― The nexus of the crisis (Sund4r), Friday, 7 September 2018 11:48 (four years ago) link
Yeah, I listened to it yesterday and loved it. Looking forward to my first cold sad winter night listen, it’ll be absolutely perfect then.
― Karl Malone, Friday, 7 September 2018 15:02 (four years ago) link
Completely blown away by this. Who does this twelve albums into their career?
― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 10 September 2018 03:17 (four years ago) link
neil young released "hawks and doves" for album 12
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Monday, 10 September 2018 05:25 (four years ago) link
That's quite a good album!
Others:Joni Mitchell - Dog Eat Dog (oh dear)Bob Dylan - Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (never listened to it)Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street (!)
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Monday, 10 September 2018 05:52 (four years ago) link
I see more UK & European dates have been added to the tour for the new year, including a Glasgow gig in January. Yay!
― brain (krakow), Monday, 10 September 2018 08:53 (four years ago) link
This is amazing. The way they alter abrasive, sound sculpture pieces with their spiritual, harmonic tunes is absolutely breathtaking. There is a lot to bite on here.
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Monday, 10 September 2018 21:30 (four years ago) link
longtime Low-ambivalent human here to say: what the FUCK
― alpine static, Monday, 10 September 2018 22:47 (four years ago) link
what the FUCK
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Monday, 10 September 2018 22:48 (four years ago) link
I don't know why people are so surprised by this, since they've experimented with drone/noise/electronic elements plenty before. Not always on their albums, I suppose.
I really want to love the album but it hasn't really clicked for me yet, hoping I just need to hear it in the right context. Mimi does sound amazing on the ones where she's singing lead.
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 10 September 2018 23:03 (four years ago) link
Yeah, I also feel like this album is a logical extension of some of the ideas they were pursuing on Ones and Sixes, which I also thought was a super-strong album.
I'm surprised by the notion that people who have long been ambivalent about Low would suddenly be won over by this album - it strikes me as standing in relation to their prior work in much the same way as the new Jon Hassell album does to his (Hassell is also a good answer for "who pulls this kind of trick some 12 albums or more into his career?") - an invigorating incorporation of new elements to expand the existing blueprint rather than replace it wholesale.
― Tim F, Monday, 10 September 2018 23:37 (four years ago) link
fwiw, i'm not saying i'm won over, although being ambivalent and then maybe not ambivalent might imply as much.
i'm not even sure i'm won over yet. this is more my experience:
i know the last album i heard from low was ten years ago, but i wasn't expecting this at all. i'm mesmerized.― Nourry, Thursday, July 5, 2018 2:31 AM (two months ago)
― Nourry, Thursday, July 5, 2018 2:31 AM (two months ago)
basically i'm saying: "I listened to Curtain and Lost in the Fire and Great Destroyer several times each and thought I knew what Low was but this album is not what I thought Low was"
― alpine static, Monday, 10 September 2018 23:48 (four years ago) link
The only thing I don't like about this album is that it makes Ones and Sixes retroactively sound like a tentative, tame attempt at what this album is up to.
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Monday, 10 September 2018 23:53 (four years ago) link
― alpine static, Monday, September 10, 2018 11:48 PM (eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
yeah that's fair - this album makes more sense in the context of Drums and Guns and Ones and Sixes and some stuff they put on EPs over the years.
― Tim F, Monday, 10 September 2018 23:58 (four years ago) link
i only heard 'ones and sixes' after 'double negative' and now i get where this is coming from. but i'm still mesmerized. and it is possibly my favourite record of the year so far (with the new jon hassell and opn's age of). i'm kinda of ashamed that in the last years i stopped paying much attention to their records. such a stupid "decision".in the end of the month i plan seeing them live (the last time I saw them was in 2007!).
― Nourry, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 00:12 (four years ago) link
Best thing they've done since 'Drums & Guns' and the 'Bombscare' EP 18 (!) years ago.
― Soundslike, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 00:33 (four years ago) link
I'm surprised by the notion that people who have long been ambivalent about Low would suddenly be won over by this album - it strikes me as standing in relation to their prior work in much the same way as the new Jon Hassell album does to his (Hassell is also a good answer for "who pulls this kind of trick some 12 albums or more into his career?")
Since I made that comment, I'll answer. I was a consistent listener up to The Great Destroyer, but outside of the occasional "Drone Not Drones" show I've been one of the ambivalent - dutifully listening to each new album since, but never making a deep enough connection to keep coming back. Maybe I wanted them to go further?
― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 02:58 (four years ago) link
Forgotten but great track - "Half Light" from the Mothman Prophecies soundtrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY-LaFHAfQc
― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 02:59 (four years ago) link
I'll be the first to admit I didn't pay close attention to the last two, but this new one is so incredible it makes me think either a) I should have listened closer or b) they were indeed forgettable, because I doubt they were as memorable/amazing as this one. Getting ... Depeche Mode vibes here?
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 13:46 (four years ago) link
ones and sixes is an awesome record
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 13:48 (four years ago) link
Other vibes I'm getting from the new one is ... Fennesz? I also suspect this might be the best, prettiest album my family might make me turn off.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 13:52 (four years ago) link
Or, like, Wolfgang Voigt?
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 13:56 (four years ago) link
The new record, and especially the way it starts off, reminds me of Microphones' Mt. Eerie record. Crawling from out of the rubble and noise to find a pitch-perfect, pastoral and awe-inspiring beauty in quietness and precision. It's everything and more you could want from Low.
― lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 13:57 (four years ago) link
xxp you should've been listening closer imo. what's so remarkable to me about this album is that it manages to be top 3 in a band with consistently excellent output
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 15:43 (four years ago) link
I was a consistent listener up to The Great Destroyer, but outside of the occasional "Drone Not Drones" show I've been one of the ambivalent - dutifully listening to each new album since, but never making a deep enough connection to keep coming back. Maybe I wanted them to go further?
I admit this is kinda where I've been at, and ever since the leak earlier this year the sheer avalanche of praise has kicked in my...I will never call it 'contrarian,' but simply my 'okay, I'm sure it's great so that actually means I can wait to get around to this' reflex. (Which has kept my sanity more than once over the years -- rather than rushing into something which I'm sure I'll like I'd rather get to it when the impulse strikes.) That said everyone mentioning about how it suits the current sociopolitical situation has left me even more guarded; I specifically avoided ANOHNI's album the other year for that reason, but unlike ANOHNI I geniunely like Low's music and have from the get-go so I'll approach this a little more warmly. Still, though.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 15:49 (four years ago) link
enh I think the "this is the Low album about Our Moment!!" or whatever argument doesn't hold up at all
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 15:57 (four years ago) link
the sonics are more blwon-out but it's no more emotionally fraught than say Trust
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 15:59 (four years ago) link
That said everyone mentioning about how it suits the current sociopolitical situation has left me even more guarded
these people are wrong
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 15:59 (four years ago) link
Good to know!
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 16:00 (four years ago) link
i compared it to twin peaks season 3 the other day (a stupid comparison but one i can't get out of my head) which can either be read as "of the moment" or not, but the former is prob the least interesting lens through which to view it
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 16:01 (four years ago) link
i guess one could make the argument that the sonics reflect the sociopolitical feeling of the moment. but that could really be said about most music
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 16:06 (four years ago) link
I think the "this is the Low album about Our Moment!!" or whatever argument doesn't hold up at all
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 16:08 (four years ago) link
actually thinking about it now, drums & guns was an 'of the moment' album too in the wake of 9/11. that's also their best album
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 16:15 (four years ago) link
i compared it to twin peaks season 3 the other day (a stupid comparison but one i can't get out of my head) which can either be read as "of the moment" or not, but the former is prob the least interesting lens through which to view it― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, September 11, 2018 5:01 PM (twenty-seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, September 11, 2018 5:01 PM (twenty-seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i guess 'the tempest' would be episode 8?stupidly, when i hear the album i can only think about paul schrader's first reformed.
― Nourry, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 16:33 (four years ago) link
the oppressive atmosphere this album transmits is one which seems to me be very much of the moment
I guess cause sonics aside it's so much of a piece with every Low album since the debut? Idk I find their music has such a timeless, totemic quality that I hesitate to forge associations like that. (Then again I'm also hesitant to see the current political moment as being totally distinct from what came before, so...)
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 16:44 (four years ago) link
(Then again I'm also hesitant to see the current political moment as being totally distinct from what came before, so...)
yeah this is mostly it in general
― lowercase (eric), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 16:49 (four years ago) link
Then again I'm also hesitant to see the current political moment as being totally distinct from what came before, so...
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 17:28 (four years ago) link
not really, maybe, yes, sure. but these are all things that built up over decades anyway
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 17:40 (four years ago) link
and don't seem to have much to do with the new low album unless you're projecting hard onto it
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 17:41 (four years ago) link
which is honestly fine
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 17:42 (four years ago) link
what brad said
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 18:50 (four years ago) link
Can the Low experts talk about other precursors to this album in their discography that more casual fans might've missed (hinted at by a couple of people earlier)?
― Jouster, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 19:24 (four years ago) link
ones and sixes, drums and guns, bombscare
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 19:25 (four years ago) link
btw thanks elvis for posting "half light" upthread, a version of low i had never heard before
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 19:26 (four years ago) link
it reminds me of "down by the water" kinda
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 19:28 (four years ago) link
they have so many great odds and ends, I hope one day they make a worthy rarities/loosies comp (too much of A Lifetime of Temporary Relief is inessential)
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 19:35 (four years ago) link
Also the Drones Not Drones thing people have mentioned: https://drone-not-drones.bandcamp.com/track/low-2
And some of the Retribution Gospel Choir stuff (esp. earlier on).
xp
― change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 19:57 (four years ago) link
wow this is gorgeous. i'm feeling them after not listening for a long time.
― macropuente (map), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 20:50 (four years ago) link
is this thing even out or are all you hosers just listening to the low bitrate NPR stream
― ||||||||, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 20:54 (four years ago) link
i'm just listening to a few tracks on bandcamp
― macropuente (map), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 20:56 (four years ago) link
low bitrate NPR stream here
― alpine static, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 21:19 (four years ago) link
out on friday. will be buying.
― Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 21:24 (four years ago) link
NPR stream. I haven't listened to their albums since Trust but this seems markedly different from what they were doing before then? There were some noise/drone elements at times but they always struck me as somewhat peripheral to the sound of what was a m/l soft pop/rock band.
― The nexus of the crisis (Sund4r), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 21:42 (four years ago) link
yeah it's not like it's really that abrasive, it has a very soft sound imo, richly produced classic rock vibes, harmonies more slick than i remembered
― macropuente (map), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 21:47 (four years ago) link
i didn't really catch all that many of the lyrics but i still got this feeling that they somehow seem more honest and less portentous, idk.
― macropuente (map), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 21:49 (four years ago) link
It was always there even when it wasn't there
― change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 21:51 (four years ago) link
portentousness is sort of their backbone but they seem to have aged well around it
― macropuente (map), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 21:51 (four years ago) link
It's not about the abrasive noise/drone you play, it's the abrasive noise/drone you don't play
― change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 21:52 (four years ago) link
I'm not saying it's a Merzbow album but it's still pretty surprising to me.
― The nexus of the crisis (Sund4r), Tuesday, 11 September 2018 22:22 (four years ago) link
I wouldn't deny that the sound is quite different here (though again it was suggested by some of the tracks on Ones and Sixes), but I feel that the way the band use keyboards and static and processed sounds here (a lot of the arrangements seem to be built on distorted samples of their own vocals) is strongly consistent with their prior general songwriting/arranging approach: especially the way that some of the tracks seem to be almost a grim caricature of sidechain compression with the melodies being obliterated by a regular but slow overwhelming kick like they're constantly disappearing into and re-emerging from a black hole. It's very much a digital counterpart to their original trick of focusing the listener's attention on stark, very slow, endlessly repeated guitar chords.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 22:49 (four years ago) link
It's also interesting to me that the band has complicated their close-harmony vocal attack by writing (or arranging) these songs where it's like neither singer can "complete" the song by themselves but also there's a certain fragmented feel to the way their vocals overlap: these songs feel born of structural conflict in a way that their darkest and most comparable prior work (e.g. much of Trust and Drums and Guns) do not.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 22:52 (four years ago) link
another release that foreshadows this one a little bit is their EP for the Travels in Constants series, The Exit Papers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TMgOwP8M_8
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Wednesday, 12 September 2018 04:42 (four years ago) link
Is the thing on the cover of Double Negative supposed to be something?
― StanM, Thursday, 13 September 2018 17:58 (four years ago) link
i have somehow never listened to this band before but the new album is very cool, like if Fennesz made a pop album
i know this one isn't supposed to be particularly representative for them, but where do i go from here? what are the essential low albums?
― ufo, Friday, 14 September 2018 01:34 (four years ago) link
i imagine that like a lot of bands, the first one you hear (and play on repeat) is the one that sticks with you the longest. for me, that was Things We Lost in the Fire.
― Karl Malone, Friday, 14 September 2018 01:36 (four years ago) link
first LP I got and listened to extensively was Long Division, which is fantastic and contains my favorite Low song "Shame", but it was Secret Name that just pwned me and made them one of my very favorite acts
― rip van wanko, Friday, 14 September 2018 01:52 (four years ago) link
my parents bought me the curtain hits the cast for christmas when i was in high school. it blew my mind but i also found it kinda hard to listen to. what really sealed the deal was hearing the great destroyer when it came out
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Friday, 14 September 2018 01:59 (four years ago) link
curtain was my first & still my favorite, it's such a good depression album
― lowercase (eric), Friday, 14 September 2018 02:11 (four years ago) link
i had secret name early on but didn't really get it. saw an all-ages show they did at a tiny comedy club in provo, was electrified. fell in love with things we lost in the fire. lost track of them after that because my bf at the time did not like them. he thought they weren't ex-mormon enough or something. i think he was snooty about them because he had been part of a troupe of folk/indie/psych musicians and coil worshippers from provo who probably thought they were more interesting than low. anyway, now i'm like hey i like this band and they made a bunch of albums since 2001, cool.
― macropuente (map), Friday, 14 September 2018 02:12 (four years ago) link
my parents bought me the curtain hits the cast for christmas when i was in high school
wow your parents rule
Things We Lost.... was my gateway
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Friday, 14 September 2018 02:19 (four years ago) link
they bought it bc it was on my christmas list! i was a hip, pfork-reading kid
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Friday, 14 September 2018 02:21 (four years ago) link
I think seeing them live on the Trust tour really sold me on them. It was in a venue that held maybe 150. Their performance of In Metal from TWLITF was especially awe-inspiring. Mimi Parker, eight months pregnant, playing the drums and singing lead on that one: a song about their first child growing up and Mimi wishing she could keep her body in metal because she doesn’t want her to grow anymore...anyway Low is dark and awesome.
― omar little, Friday, 14 September 2018 02:24 (four years ago) link
For me it was a small show at UC Irvine, about a month before their debut appeared. They were a last minute replacement and it was just a small dimly lit conference room without chairs or tables in mid-December. Aside from one or two people, nobody had ever heard of them or heard anything by them. And in front of forty people, they started playing “Words” and I was sold.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 14 September 2018 02:31 (four years ago) link
I like all their albums and you can’t really go wrong with any of them. If you want the albums most like this (in relative terms) try ‘Ones and Sixes’ or ‘Drums and Guns’. If you want an album that is more ‘representative’ of their overall approach across their career than probably ‘Things We Lost In the Fire’ or ‘Trust’ .
― Tim F, Friday, 14 September 2018 02:34 (four years ago) link
if you want a bunch of kickass melodies and guitar tones then try the great destroyer
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Friday, 14 September 2018 02:41 (four years ago) link
sorry i really love that record even though it's kind of an anomaly (trust sets it up though)
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Friday, 14 September 2018 02:42 (four years ago) link
Yeah The Great Destroyer is awesome! But it’s sort of at the far end of one of their aesthetic poles.
― Tim F, Friday, 14 September 2018 02:46 (four years ago) link
If you want an album that is more ‘representative’ of their overall approach across their career than probably ‘Things We Lost In the Fire’ or ‘Trust’ .
― Tim F, Thursday, September 13, 2018 7:34 PM (twelve minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i also think c'mon might fit in here
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Friday, 14 September 2018 02:48 (four years ago) link
Probably yes, it’s not as happy as it’s made out to be.
― Tim F, Friday, 14 September 2018 02:49 (four years ago) link
i made this mix for a some friends: https://i.imgur.com/AetN9eV.pngbut really they're the greatest band on earth so you can't go wrong with anything
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Friday, 14 September 2018 02:49 (four years ago) link
lol now i'm relistening to the curtain hits the cast this album breaks my heart
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Friday, 14 September 2018 02:51 (four years ago) link
Wish they’d release ICLIH/Long Division/Curtain on proper vinyl and cancel out the Plain Recordings pressings, they’re basically a bootleg label.
― omar little, Friday, 14 September 2018 03:00 (four years ago) link
I knew and loved the Kranky stuff, they were never as one-dimensional as they were made out to be, but I remember hearing the Great Destroyer and being blown away. That When I Go Deaf/Broadway pairing in particular.
― campreverb, Friday, 14 September 2018 03:02 (four years ago) link
we're gonna have to repoll the albums after the new one has been out a while
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Friday, 14 September 2018 03:25 (four years ago) link
lmao, multiple xxxxxp with the brad's parents story (yr parents rule!). that would make a great thread about albums parents bought their children.
ufo, thinking "drums and guns" is a good followup based on this album, but it's the outlier. might recommend "things we lost..." and "the great destroyer" for flavors of the band with glossier production and then go back to "i could live in hope," but that's slightly because i think "lazy" is the greatest low song and gives you an idea of the slowcore label they got tagged with.
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Friday, 14 September 2018 03:36 (four years ago) link
I've said it before but I didn't get hooked until Drums & Guns, and don't have much attachment to the earlier records. That and C'Mon are my favorites by a long shot.
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 14 September 2018 04:10 (four years ago) link
If you're really loving 'Double Negative,' then 'Drums & Guns' and the 'Bombscare' EP are the place to go next (which are both in my top four all-time, along with 'Double Negative' and 'Secret Name').
In addition, my favorites are 'Trust,' 'In the Fishtank EP,' 'Curtain Hits the Cast,' 'Things We Lost In the Fire' and 'Long Division'. Honestly, though, the only ones I don't love (and merely like) are 'C'mon,' 'The Great Destroyer,' 'Ones and Sixes,' and 'The Invisible Way'. But there are winners on every album, and the b-sides/rarities box set has tons of winners. Been listening for 22 years, and they've far and away stick with me far more than any other "indie rock" band from my youth.
― Soundslike, Friday, 14 September 2018 04:35 (four years ago) link
btw, there are dozens of great and early live recordings on archive.org - 12 minute long versions of Lullaby etc
― StanM, Friday, 14 September 2018 05:17 (four years ago) link
The back to back of “mom says” and “coattails” is devastating.
― Tim F, Friday, 14 September 2018 05:19 (four years ago) link
Obviously made clear already in this thread but all of Low’s albums are great though some much better than others. No true duds in the bunch, and probably at least a third of their output is transcendant. That much I think most fans would agree on, though the disagreements come when you try to say which albums fall into which categories.
A good pathway into their discography is by braking it into the eras of the labels they’ve been on.
Vernon Yard years: I Could Live in Hope, Long Division, Transmission EP, Curtain Hits the CastThese are the years when Kramer was their producer and everything had a beautiful, pristine sheen. Curtain is the the fullest and best realization of their sound in this era; if you like that then you’ll like all of these albums. They are all incredible.
Kranky years: Songs for a Dead Pilot, Secret Name, Things We Lost in the Fire, TrustThe band starts to sand off some of the prettiness. Alan and Mimi both show a little strain or imperfections in their vocals - less reverb, less multitracking. Songs for a Dwad Pilot is positively jarring following the previous albums. Multiple moments on that EP are, for Low, almost alienating (the muffled “Will the Night”, the ten minutes of a strummed chord on “Born by the Wires”. It sets the stage for the next series of albums that sees the band explore a rawer sound, not afraid to get louder, moodier, poppier. They just feel more free to explore what they really want to be. Secret Name is fantastic and that’s followed by Things We Lost in the Fire, which is easily one of their best and definitely the best of the Kranky era. (Obviously there are a lot of Trust fans out there but personally I think it falls off from TWLITF; too many long dirges that feel a little limp to me. It’s one of my least favorites by them.)
Sub Pop era, part 1: Great Destroyer and Drums & GunsTo my ears there is before Drums & Guns, and after Drums & Guns. Great Destroyer is another one that I like but don’t love. It seems a reaction to Trust - much more upbeat and shorter songs. But the overall mood, for me, isn’t there. Definitely has some great songs but a few clunkers too. In any case it doesn’t prepare you for Drums & Guns, which is their nerviest, most agitated album. It feels very connected to the anxiety of the 00s (post 9/11, Iraq war, etc). And it coincides with Alan’s breakdown—watch the documentary from this period. It’s not my favorite Low album but I totally get and appreciate those who feel it’s their best.
Sub Pop era, part 2: everything elseI feel like expectations for Low changed after Drums & Guns, like people did not think they’d ever top that album, and I think as a result a lot of people underrate the Low albums of the last 8 years. But they remain phenomenal. C’mon, in my mind, is like the morning after Drums & Guns. It’s a beautiful record and Mimi in particular has a bunch of stealer moments. The Invisible Way is solid but is probably the most rote Low record. And then Ones & Sixes comes alon and elevates their game again.
Which finally brings us to the new one, which, yeah, is the reason a bunch of people in this thread are wondering about past Low albums because it feels like the band hit on something new while still being “Low”—which is why they have one of the best discographies of any band of the last 25 years.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, 14 September 2018 06:18 (four years ago) link
loving the low love-in
new record is amazing
― ||||||||, Friday, 14 September 2018 06:55 (four years ago) link
we're gonna have to repoll the albums after the new one has been out a while― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Friday, 14 September 2018 03:25
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Friday, 14 September 2018 03:25
They're only a few away on the artists polls, which I know because I'm down to do it.
Because of this album I think it's worth deferring for a few months so it sinks in properly (despite me suggesting it three years ago or something).
Of course now it's come round I'm not actually sure I've got time to run it ...
― Bimlo Horsewagon became Wheelbarrow Horseflesh (aldo), Friday, 14 September 2018 07:21 (four years ago) link
re "getting into Low" I bought I Could Live In Hope second hand sometime around 99ish having never heard anything by them, liked it OK (esp Words) but wasn't blown away. Then I briefly went out with someone in 2000 who was a big fan and used to play Long Division when I was round hers, I downloaded Things We Lost In The Fire off Audiogalaxy then 2003 got together with my wife who was also a big Low fan and our first proper date was a Low gig in London. We've seen them a few times since then but tbh we kinda lost interest with C'mon. I only v recently listened to the albums after that. Ones and Sixes is really good so I told my wife we need to listen to the new one because everyone is raving about it.
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 14 September 2018 08:49 (four years ago) link
Great post pgwp, thanks.
The Kranky era was when I first discovered them (I think I was led to them by Mogwai/Stuart Braithwaite championing them very heavily in interviews) and Things We Lost In The Fire is probably my long running personal favourite. I remember getting Alan to sign my CD of it after a gig a good few years ago and he was so gracious and lovely about my typically dorky exaltations.
― brain (krakow), Friday, 14 September 2018 10:20 (four years ago) link
I am a terminal dilettante and so only have a spotty knowledge of their catalogue. I do find a little Low goes a long way but, fwiw, Secret Name is 'the one' for me. I find it devastating. I've seen them live once - at Green Man on a humid, overcast afternoon with a massive storm brewing over the black hills, a storm that never quite arrived. They were mesmerising.
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Friday, 14 September 2018 11:10 (four years ago) link
This album kills.
― emil.y, Friday, 14 September 2018 12:56 (four years ago) link
kind of annoyed that the P-fork review leans hard on the "timely" angle
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Friday, 14 September 2018 12:59 (four years ago) link
^ kind of inevitable given the band's own rhetoric around the album?
I've been slowly seduced by the singles leading up to this and love the fragmented nature of it. Is there something vaguely unsettling about the 'feed this into the Burton studio and seeing what comes out' narrative (as spun in the P4K review, but they're hardly going to be the only ones)?
Always Trying to Work it Out is fantastic.
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Friday, 14 September 2018 13:35 (four years ago) link
wasn't aware of the rhetoric, is there a relevant interview kicking around?
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Friday, 14 September 2018 13:36 (four years ago) link
That recent Wire interview is pretty explicit in that regard (anti-Trump despair) - albeit, from memory, I don't know that the link is quite as direct as implied in the P4K review.
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Friday, 14 September 2018 13:41 (four years ago) link
The Guardian review (which is a rave 5*****, "album of the year" one) heavily features the timeliness/state of the world angle as well.
― brain (krakow), Friday, 14 September 2018 13:43 (four years ago) link
At any rate, I'm pleased that it's being so well-received.
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Friday, 14 September 2018 13:56 (four years ago) link
When I saw them live in Leeds over the summer Alan made clear his frustrations with the current political situation in the US.
― michaellambert, Friday, 14 September 2018 14:21 (four years ago) link
Drums & Guns cycle was similarly “political,” insofar as Low gets political. Both albums do a good job of capturing a certain mental instability as a result of the awfulness perpetrated in the name of the US, without being strident or framed as protest songs.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, 14 September 2018 15:02 (four years ago) link
good album, "tempest" and "always trying to work it out" are amazing; honestly though a lot of the "crazy production" sounds like kid a/amnesiac
― na (NA), Friday, 14 September 2018 15:26 (four years ago) link
if every track were "like spinning plates" sure
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Friday, 14 September 2018 15:35 (four years ago) link
Well, anyway, got my ticket their show here in March, that'll do.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 14 September 2018 17:15 (four years ago) link
a propos of nothing, the only explicit reference to Low in popular music that I know of is still from the song Minneapolis by that dog.
― rip van wanko, Friday, 14 September 2018 17:36 (four years ago) link
How about getting covered multiple times by Robert Plant!
Not to get all Low-nerdy, but when did Alan switch to tuning (iirc) almost exclusively to open G? I could have sworn that was a thing, and that it affected the direction of his songs.
Listening to Ones and Sixes right now and yeah, don't know why I didn't listen to this one more the first time around!
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 14 September 2018 17:43 (four years ago) link
Hmm, maybe he's been using open g all along? If that's true that's super cool.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 14 September 2018 18:09 (four years ago) link
I believe so
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Friday, 14 September 2018 18:16 (four years ago) link
This felt timely to me more in the sense that the sonic approach felt like a brilliantly contemporary advancement on their characteristic themes and methods. Low have a long-standing interest in noise and quietness (not silence, quietness; more ambiguous, no neat gesture towards the abstract). Pgwp’s breakdown upthread describes those Kranky albums exactly (muffled edges, vocals veering off-harmony, that nagging feeling....). When they turned up the volume on Drums and Guns it had the same effect, still that same sense of straining to hear, voices on the edge of hearing. This album feels like a push forward and and brilliant resolution of that paradox. The way voices are obliterated by absent noises and drums; noise and silence are resolved into one thing. That first harmony you hear on Quorum, where the empty space of that characteristic snare instead gouges hollows out of their voice. Like that air-raid sheet of guitar that blares out over the vocals on Breaker it sets a similar precedent for how noise is now a strategy for effecting that same shellshocked ("giant Xs on yr eyes") shattered sense of their voices as human, vulnerable, receding, only this time the noise is strangely a kind of silence. They sound like they're gasping for air.
― plax (ico), Friday, 14 September 2018 18:20 (four years ago) link
this album has REALLY resonated with me.
― plax (ico), Friday, 14 September 2018 18:23 (four years ago) link
Their songwriting feels drone-based and minimal and sort of electronic or uncanny even when they're playing acoustic. Which I think is why my partner doesn't connect with them, when I was like "hey, here's an indie song-based band that I like!" and she's like "but they're not, really". And also why this new one doesn't feel like a radical re-invention to me, just another version of Low.
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 14 September 2018 18:28 (four years ago) link
yeah, i think that's what people are generally saying here
― plax (ico), Friday, 14 September 2018 18:30 (four years ago) link
Just listened today. This album is absolute bonkers
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, 14 September 2018 23:05 (four years ago) link
It does sound like Fennesz to me... I assume most of the drones are actually guitars being sent to digital hell so it’s not a bad comparison.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, 14 September 2018 23:20 (four years ago) link
a lot of Oval too.
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Saturday, 15 September 2018 00:02 (four years ago) link
also Ekkehard Ehlers, I guess (whatever happened to him?)
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Saturday, 15 September 2018 00:03 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8RRy8AIuGk
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Saturday, 15 September 2018 00:04 (four years ago) link
OwL remix Low from 1998 should get a mention too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8IHnd_KF9o
― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 15 September 2018 01:21 (four years ago) link
Pretty sure Sparhawk plays open G. Or at least learning reading chord progressions of their songs introduced me to it.
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Saturday, 15 September 2018 01:23 (four years ago) link
Their covers of "I Started A Joke" and "Lord Can You Hear Me" both feel like guilty pleasures but I've worn them both out
― rip van wanko, Saturday, 15 September 2018 01:25 (four years ago) link
I'll just keep posting this because I have the feeling lots of people loving 'Double Negative' won't have heard a fairly obscure (UK-only?) EP from 2000. But it's definitely the work that firmly cemented my love of Low back at the time, and made me hope for (but not be surprised by) an album like this one:
― Soundslike, Saturday, 15 September 2018 01:33 (four years ago) link
Definitely not UK only. When it came out I just thought of that EP as a novelty, since Low collaborating with Spring Heel Jack was, at least on paper, as random as them touring with Soul Coughing, even if the SHJ collar worked out.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 15 September 2018 02:10 (four years ago) link
I would've thought it a novelty, too, based on Spring Heel Jack's work to that point. But the marriage works so perfectly, and it suggested more fully than anything else to that point that Alan and Mimi's melodic and lyrical sensibilities could be served wonderfully by music that wasn't just guitar/bass/tiny drum kit (much as I loved that formula for them, too).
― Soundslike, Saturday, 15 September 2018 02:27 (four years ago) link
Y'all made me listen to Low for the first time since, I think, Things We Lost in the Fire. This seems way more promising than I would have guessed!
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Saturday, 15 September 2018 04:38 (four years ago) link
Best Low collab of all time is this one:
https://youtu.be/YlU8hY_xOYs
Feat transient waves and piano magic. ImI
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Saturday, 15 September 2018 06:32 (four years ago) link
^^yeah that's a beaut
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Saturday, 15 September 2018 14:48 (four years ago) link
Anyone who hasn’t heard Low in a long time should check out the pair of Low covers Robert Plant included on his Band of Joy album, they’re extremely good.
― omar little, Saturday, 15 September 2018 14:52 (four years ago) link
listened to Drums and Guns and I like it a lot, I love the sound palette of drones & shambolic drum loops layered over each other, except for when the vocals are hard-panned which is something I really dislike. all the other panning is very cool but having vocals or other leads hard-panned just makes it feel very unbalanced listening on headphones
― ufo, Saturday, 15 September 2018 15:27 (four years ago) link
yeah, to this day i have never had the opportunity to listen to drums and guns through speakers at a loud volume, as i'm sure was intended. listening to it on headphones is uncomfortable because of the panning. it sounds good at a moderate volume but i'd love to just crank it the way you can with headphones.
― https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcZZlQ4Tmrc (Karl Malone), Saturday, 15 September 2018 15:55 (four years ago) link
The more I listen to it the more I think that maybe I never listened to "Ones and Sixes?" Because I've been listening to it a lot the last few days, more than the new one (for now), and I love everything about it.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 15 September 2018 16:36 (four years ago) link
When did low become a £30 concert ticket band? I'm sure the last time they were here it was around half that.
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Saturday, 15 September 2018 21:48 (four years ago) link
Demand? My ticket over here was only $20, plus $7 for service charges.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 16 September 2018 00:01 (four years ago) link
of course, demand-pull inflation but I'm not entirely sure that justifies the sharp hike. I want them to be paid well, of course (musicians get little enough recompense these days) and I can afford it but i do balk at it a little. it's entirely possible that they are doing something that makes this a particularly expensive thing to get on the road but i was surprised at the cost.
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Sunday, 16 September 2018 00:20 (four years ago) link
let's just blame brexit and go see Low.
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Sunday, 16 September 2018 00:22 (four years ago) link
That's a great LCD Soundsystem remix.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 16 September 2018 00:34 (four years ago) link
:)
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Sunday, 16 September 2018 00:47 (four years ago) link
i am really loving Double Negative, it's evoking very strongly imagery for me of tides drifting in and out on a remote beach, with the occasional wave crashing
feels more like a drone album that happens to contain fragments of songs in it rather than the other way around - with the way the tracks flow into each other it really feels like one continuous piece
― ufo, Sunday, 16 September 2018 11:35 (four years ago) link
just listened to it. bits were nice but it didn't leave much impression. might give it another go, maybe it's like a magic eye painting
― imago, Sunday, 16 September 2018 12:16 (four years ago) link
got philly tix last night. STOKED
― reggie (qualmsley), Sunday, 16 September 2018 12:32 (four years ago) link
it's entirely possible that they are doing something that makes this a particularly expensive thing to get on the road but i was surprised at the cost.
Pretty sure it's a standard Low trio tour? But I'm looking forward to hearing these songs in that format.
― change display name (Jordan), Sunday, 16 September 2018 14:39 (four years ago) link
Just bought Double Negative but have decided to replay the album/EP catalogue in its entirety, in chronological order, before listening to it.
Currently on Long Division, which is new to me.
― Jeff W, Sunday, 16 September 2018 14:55 (four years ago) link
One of my happiest memories in my brief music career was getting to share a bill with Low (and Soul Coughing, lol) at the Black Cat in DC way back in the mid 90s. Had never heard of them at that point, and was utterly blown away by their performance. Felt bad that they had to go on and perform in front of a loud and rowdy audience after my own goofy rock band antics.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Sunday, 16 September 2018 15:00 (four years ago) link
my friend played the guitar on that low/piano magic collab. still in my top five low tracks ever.
― akm, Sunday, 16 September 2018 15:12 (four years ago) link
Giving a listen on this Sunday morning. The praise is accurate.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 16 September 2018 16:34 (four years ago) link
(Referring to Double Negative, but akm's comment is also correct.)
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 16 September 2018 16:35 (four years ago) link
One of the very few remaining bands whose albums I will buy on release day, every single time. I’ve still only seen them live once, amazingly.
― omar little, Sunday, 16 September 2018 16:38 (four years ago) link
I've seen them a shamefully few times all told. The upcoming March show will be my fifth, if you count the radio session they played on my show back in 1994.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 16 September 2018 16:42 (four years ago) link
their live show is not to be missed and i try to see them live any time they come to town. their finest, most transcendent artistic achievement imo is silver rider as performed live
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Sunday, 16 September 2018 16:50 (four years ago) link
I'd almost wonder how a show for this album will work. I just said elsewhere that I would be fine with the March show simply being them performing the album straight through, no encore and no other songs.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 16 September 2018 17:02 (four years ago) link
They played a little over half the album at their show in Nashville last spring. They did two 35 minute or so sets sets - one new material and one old.
― EZ Snappin, Sunday, 16 September 2018 19:50 (four years ago) link
I've seen them a bunch, in multiple contexts. Small club, big club, unconventional venues, as an opening act, headliner, on a mismatched bill, perfectly pair bill, Christmas show ... always great. I think the next show here is in a chapel.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 16 September 2018 20:14 (four years ago) link
my favorite show i've seen of theirs is when they did a 28 minute version 'do you know how to waltz' in front of 10,000 89.3-ass NPR The Current craft beer people. I immediately ran down to the front of stage in glee once I realized what was going on. people were infuriated
― global tetrahedron, Sunday, 16 September 2018 21:36 (four years ago) link
They *opened* their show the time I saw them in Portland, OR in 2007 or so ('Drums & Guns' tour) with a 20+ minute, wicked loud take on 'Do You Know How to Waltz,' and honestly played the whole show kind of angry. While I hope some day to see a lots-of-silence show in a church-type setting--it was kind of amazing to see them play that way.
― Soundslike, Sunday, 16 September 2018 21:56 (four years ago) link
i saw them once, at the metro sometime in the mid-2000s, and the crowd talked the entire time and i wanted to scream
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 16 September 2018 22:04 (four years ago) link
Does anyone have information about the bonus track on the Japan edition - https://www.discogs.com/Low-Double-Negative/release/12528289 ?
I'm kinda hoping it's some epically lengthy track, given it's on a second CD.
― (I Just) Died In Your Asshat Tonight, Sunday, 16 September 2018 22:17 (four years ago) link
I love this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI5-MuV5NSo
― Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 16 September 2018 23:01 (four years ago) link
oh hell yeah
i've never seen low live but i've always wanted to see the extended "waltz"
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Sunday, 16 September 2018 23:04 (four years ago) link
the crowd talked the entire time and i wanted to scream
The Low live experience in a nutshell.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Sunday, 16 September 2018 23:12 (four years ago) link
holy shit this is heavy
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Sunday, 16 September 2018 23:29 (four years ago) link
That rules so muchAlso anyone who hasn't heard Alan's solo guitar album or the third RGC album...get on that
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Sunday, 16 September 2018 23:40 (four years ago) link
lmao this is the greatest performance i've ever seen
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Sunday, 16 September 2018 23:40 (four years ago) link
Last time I saw them was in a small barn, very intimate. Alan seemed a little uncomfortable with that actually, which I thought was weird since they must have done a million small shows like that.
― change display name (Jordan), Sunday, 16 September 2018 23:48 (four years ago) link
I love that there is only one recording of them doing "Waltz" with GY!BE, and the quality is horrible. (You can find it on YT.)
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Monday, 17 September 2018 00:54 (four years ago) link
all the RGC albums are really good, even the overly compressed poorly produced second one (or third one, depending on whether you count the self-released first thing). Alan's brought a fair amount of that energy into live Low sets in recent years. Maybe because they share a bass player now.
― akm, Monday, 17 September 2018 01:56 (four years ago) link
Does anyone have information about the bonus track on the Japan edition
I for one am stoked for this Barenaked Ladies cover
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Monday, 17 September 2018 14:56 (four years ago) link
Haven't heard any new stuff in years, i guess i'll redress that. I bet i coulda won Brooklyn tix on the radio in the wee hours the other night.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Monday, 17 September 2018 15:00 (four years ago) link
even the overly compressed poorly produced second one
"hide it away" is one of my favorite songs he's ever written. the production on that record is inexplicable but i kinda love it
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Monday, 17 September 2018 15:36 (four years ago) link
Agreed on both the greatness of “Hide It Away” and the poorness of the production.
― michaellambert, Monday, 17 September 2018 15:41 (four years ago) link
I mentioned on some other Low thread that Sparhawk and the bass player also form half of a Velvet Underground tribute band. No-one on that thread was interested at the time, although personally I thought it was quite interesting, so I'm trying my luck again here.
― the word dog doesn't bark (anagram), Monday, 17 September 2018 15:42 (four years ago) link
it's true too: https://www.facebook.com/VelvetsBand/
― StanM, Monday, 17 September 2018 16:04 (four years ago) link
Holy fuck that version of "Cast".
― Have the Rams stopped screaming yet, Lloris? (Chinaski), Monday, 17 September 2018 18:40 (four years ago) link
I meant Waltz! My kids came in and found me blubbering.
― Have the Rams stopped screaming yet, Lloris? (Chinaski), Monday, 17 September 2018 18:59 (four years ago) link
The seemingly official "unofficial" film for "Disarray" is a curious thing.
― djh, Monday, 17 September 2018 21:21 (four years ago) link
without really trying to or thinking about it too hard, i've seen Low more than any other band, at least a dozen times, and seen alan's side projects half as many times.
years ago i saw them at an all-night event at orchestra hall in minneapolis. it must have been around the Trust release. if i recall, their profile outside of local scenester and muso scenes was for the christmas EP! and, again if i remember right, this was when bars here closed at 1am, and they were on later in the wee hours, so it was kind of a novelty to be out in public that late. they looked pretty tiny, just the 3 of them on a big concert stage, but by the end of the show they seemed immense, totally commanding the whole hall. i do remember they played "lust," one of my faves, and it was enormous.
i think that's a common theme with a number of the shows of theirs i've seen: they don't really begin with the crowd on their wavelength but by the end of it, totally reverent, can hear a pin drop, the whole bit
just this past summer i saw them at the eaux claires festival (which was kind of a bust honestly). they played the post-headliner slot, after midnight, on a tiny stage in a clearing in the woods. the first song was intro'd by the Iron Boys, a native men's singing group from wisconsin; kicking myself i can't remember which song. it was incredible. could have been the circumstances but i'd never seen them play as well or as intensely, and i got to hear some more straightfoward, guitar-y versions of the Double Negative material. it was all really stunning. i walked away thinking, ok, this is the greatest band on earth and i'm a superfan
― goole, Monday, 17 September 2018 21:24 (four years ago) link
you know what is a really good album? trust
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Monday, 17 September 2018 23:29 (four years ago) link
Still my fave probably, great example of an album that feels like a best-of comp
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Monday, 17 September 2018 23:34 (four years ago) link
I love all of Low’s albums and have my personal favorites (which posted here a few days ago). There are certain albums that aren’t my favorite but I totally get why others would call it theirs (usually it’s Drums & Guns or Secret Name). But honestly I’ve never really been able to fathom anyone calling Trust their favorite. For me it’s the album that, on paper, sounds like the best Low album—lots of long moody tracks! They stretch out more than other albums!—but in practice is a bit of a chore.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Tuesday, 18 September 2018 00:47 (four years ago) link
Trust is the album that made me go from liking them to loving them. Easily my favorite.
― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 18 September 2018 00:48 (four years ago) link
Also one of the first times I was incensed by a pitchfork review
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 18 September 2018 00:51 (four years ago) link
I’ve never really been able to fathom anyone calling Trust their favorite
Ha! Trust is my favorite too (generally I prefer the Kranky albums). Great cover of "Fearless" on the Canada EP.
― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 18 September 2018 04:52 (four years ago) link
I was about to belabour the Trust thing but honestly I’m listening to Double Negative again right now and there is just no room in my brain to talk about anything other than than this monster of a record.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Tuesday, 18 September 2018 06:24 (four years ago) link
Been listening to the 19 hours (!) of Low I've bought over the decades on random the last couple days. It's amazing how even the things I didn't think I rated as highly at the time really work for me now. And it reinforces that for me 'Double Negative' isn't a surprise at all, but a record I knew they'd make one day.
Glad to see the 'Trust' love here. I remember it not being as well received at the time by other folks(at least compared to 'Things We Lost,' which I love, but which is overshadowed by 'Bombscare' and 'In the Fishtank' and 'Secret Name' and all the other work immediately before and after). Whereas for me it was what cemented them as a really all-time group.
― Soundslike, Wednesday, 19 September 2018 03:26 (four years ago) link
Anyone else hearing echos of Portishead's Third? Machine Gun specifically.
― that's not my post, Wednesday, 19 September 2018 18:04 (four years ago) link
yes, it was invoked a couple of times when it first leaked!
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Wednesday, 19 September 2018 18:07 (four years ago) link
Trust is great, who doesn't like Trust? Maybe around this point people conditioned by typical band trajectories started to think it was about time to take Low down a notch, because come on, they can't all be great, can they? (Six more albums arrive.) OK, so maybe they can.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 19 September 2018 18:26 (four years ago) link
The Invisible Way is the only Low release I find dull - I choose to blame Tweedy. ("Holy Ghost" is lovely, though.)
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Wednesday, 19 September 2018 18:35 (four years ago) link
I think it's fair to blame Tweedy (as much as I'm sure he meant well) considering it was followed by two of their absolute best.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 19 September 2018 18:40 (four years ago) link
it sounds fine, I don't mean to knock him in that way, but in the same way that some bands are best suited by a hands-off approach, Low seem to do their best work with producers who are willing to act as active collaborators. (How the Albini albums worked out so well, I have no idea, beyond the fact that the songs were all killers.)
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Wednesday, 19 September 2018 18:44 (four years ago) link
Maybe the Albini albums work so well because he allowed them to strip themselves right back to a raw state. Great songs coming through unadorned, connecting directly and without the washy gauze of the Kramer era.
― michaellambert, Wednesday, 19 September 2018 19:11 (four years ago) link
just another casual (at best) Low fan here weighing in to say this new album sounds amazing
― Paul Ponzi, Wednesday, 19 September 2018 19:30 (four years ago) link
"tonight" is my favorite low song
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Friday, 21 September 2018 01:12 (four years ago) link
has there been a low poll, i'd vote in a low poll
There's one coming up apparently!
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Friday, 21 September 2018 01:23 (four years ago) link
Trust is a fantastic headphones listen... I recall listening to it, years ago, sitting up late at night drinking beer and marveling at its subtle details.
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Friday, 21 September 2018 04:08 (four years ago) link
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/sep/21/low-we-want-to-punch-new-holes-in-the-possibilities-of-music
― willem, Friday, 21 September 2018 10:29 (four years ago) link
Big Fennesz - Venice vibes off this now. Absolutely great.
― in twelve parts (lamonti), Friday, 21 September 2018 11:06 (four years ago) link
poor sucker is so good
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Monday, 24 September 2018 21:00 (four years ago) link
I'm so in love with this album, and so happy to see Low--the one "indie rock" band I've continued to enjoy since 1996--do something this great 25 years into their journey. It's a soundspace and an emotional territory I find deeply compelling, and the only way I could respond was with a mix that tries to get to the same spaces. It can't really sound like Low--they're too unique. But I hope it causes some of the same feelings for others as this album gives me.
https://musicophilia.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/musicophilia_00_various_cancels-out-a-tribute-to-double-negative_1958-2018_cover.jpg
Various – ‘Cancels Out‘ (A Tribute to Low’s ‘Double Negative’) | (1958-2018) 01 [00:00] Gottfried Michael Koenig – “Function Blau” (1970) David Bowie – “Neukoln” (1977) Codeine – “Pea” (1990) 02 [05:10] Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man – “Mysteries” (2003) Bernard Parmegiani – “Matieres Induites” (1975) Alan Sparhawk – “1:45” (2006) 03 [09:55] Dead Can Dance – “The Fatal Impact” (1984) Daniel Menche – “Concussions (CD1 Track 2)” (2006) Max Richter – “Laika’s Journey” (2002) 04 [14:45] Monton – “Hz Waltz'” (1982) Flaming Lips – “Turning Violent” (2013) Tod Dockstader – “Wah” (2005) 05 [19:30] Pierre Henry – “Negation” (1988) Radian – “Kinetakt” (2009) 06 [24:10] Tia Blake – “Yellow Hair” (1976) David Toop & Max Eastley – “Hydrophone” (1975) 07 [28:20] Charles Hayward – “Thames Water Authority” (1989) Arthur Russell – “Answers Me” (1986) 08 [33:40] Balmorhea – “On the Weight Of Night” (2010) Heldon – “Bolero” (1979) 09 [38:05] Hilary Woods – “Kith” (2018) Neu – “Elanoizan” (1986) 10 [43:30] Tanakh – “Tells” (2002) Shellyan Orphan – “Host” (2008) Iannis Xenakis – “Concret PH” (1958) 11 [50:20] Susumu Yokota – “Light Of the Sun” (2003) Bark Psychosis – “Dr. Innocuous Ketamoid” (2004) 12 [53:45] Zola Jesus – “Doma” (2017) Earth – “Mirage” (2005) Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, Panaiotis – “Lear” (1989) [Total Time: 60:00]
01 [00:00] Gottfried Michael Koenig – “Function Blau” (1970) David Bowie – “Neukoln” (1977) Codeine – “Pea” (1990)
02 [05:10] Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man – “Mysteries” (2003) Bernard Parmegiani – “Matieres Induites” (1975) Alan Sparhawk – “1:45” (2006)
03 [09:55] Dead Can Dance – “The Fatal Impact” (1984) Daniel Menche – “Concussions (CD1 Track 2)” (2006) Max Richter – “Laika’s Journey” (2002)
04 [14:45] Monton – “Hz Waltz'” (1982) Flaming Lips – “Turning Violent” (2013) Tod Dockstader – “Wah” (2005)
05 [19:30] Pierre Henry – “Negation” (1988) Radian – “Kinetakt” (2009)
06 [24:10] Tia Blake – “Yellow Hair” (1976) David Toop & Max Eastley – “Hydrophone” (1975)
07 [28:20] Charles Hayward – “Thames Water Authority” (1989) Arthur Russell – “Answers Me” (1986)
08 [33:40] Balmorhea – “On the Weight Of Night” (2010) Heldon – “Bolero” (1979)
09 [38:05] Hilary Woods – “Kith” (2018) Neu – “Elanoizan” (1986)
10 [43:30] Tanakh – “Tells” (2002) Shellyan Orphan – “Host” (2008) Iannis Xenakis – “Concret PH” (1958)
11 [50:20] Susumu Yokota – “Light Of the Sun” (2003) Bark Psychosis – “Dr. Innocuous Ketamoid” (2004)
12 [53:45] Zola Jesus – “Doma” (2017) Earth – “Mirage” (2005) Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, Panaiotis – “Lear” (1989)
[Total Time: 60:00]
Give it a listen here: https://musicophilia.wordpress.com/2018/09/24/low-tribute/
― Soundslike, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 00:47 (four years ago) link
inspired! thanks!
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 00:55 (four years ago) link
honestly played the whole show kind of angrysaw one of those at SXSW...it was amazing.
― campreverb, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 00:55 (four years ago) link
This just might be my favorite album ever of Low's. It's everything I loved about 'Drums & Guns' (my previous favorite) but just taken deeper into the wilderness. . .
― Soundslike, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 00:59 (four years ago) link
I'm no expert on Low's catalog, but does anyone else think this one zips by a lot faster than their other albums? Maybe because it flows like one continuous piece?
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Tuesday, 25 September 2018 01:12 (four years ago) link
I'm in for a Low poll
― rip van wanko, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 02:25 (four years ago) link
This album is gonna mess with my head in a tracks poll cause I think of it as one long song still
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 25 September 2018 02:27 (four years ago) link
Soundslike, thanks for that! Can I just say how much I've been enjoying your mixtapes since discovering your blog? <3 Can't wait to listen to this one.
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 20:11 (four years ago) link
Some cool photos here: http://www.brooklynvegan.com/low-celebrated-double-negative-with-3-national-sawdust-shows-pics-setlists/#photogallery-1=1
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 27 September 2018 02:13 (four years ago) link
this new LP is fucking seminal. it's so immediate, direct, arresting. seeing them in manchester cathedral next week -- really excited to hear how these songs will work live. also if they play anything from the first three LPs i'll probably cry. hahaha
― meaulnes, Saturday, 6 October 2018 16:53 (four years ago) link
I saw them in Leeds over the summer. They played six songs from the album in a more band-style, worked well. No idea if they’ve changed the arrangements since.
― michaellambert, Saturday, 6 October 2018 17:04 (four years ago) link
Haven't been able to stop listening to 'Double Negative' and thinking about what Low has meant to me for 22 years. I'm so happy for them that it's been so well received, as it certainly wasn't the most "sure thing" move they could've made at this point. The only thing I quibble with is the notion I perceive in a lot of (positive) response to the album that it's somehow a major shirt, stylistically and emotionally; whereas to me it seems like nothing so much as a culmination of exactly the experimentation and emotional complexity that has been present in Low's music since the very beginning.
With all that in mind, I ended up putting together two mixes that explore the fundamental duality/dichotomy of Low, between their beauty and their unease, their hopefulness and their uncertainty. They are for me a band of light and dark, bleeding into one another, a battle between both but also a balance. So the "rules" were: (1) track maximum from any LP/EP/single, and sequenced in chronological order but chosen for coherence and flow as a mix. So while they have a lot of my personal favorite tracks, they're neither a "best of" nor a "personal favorites" in the traditional sense.
https://musicophilia.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/low_a-light-in-darkness_1994-2018_cover.jpg?w=1024
https://musicophilia.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/low_a-light-in-darkness_1994-2018_tracklist.jpg?w=1024p
― Soundslike, Sunday, 7 October 2018 03:53 (four years ago) link
^this. Great idea and interpretation. I was going to say yes to including Drag and Down By The River and Belarus and... then I realized I would be saying yes to pretty much all the songs you picked.
― that's not my post, Sunday, 7 October 2018 06:01 (four years ago) link
xpost: very interested & would like to hear the mixes! Are you going to put them on Musicophilia?
― StanM, Sunday, 7 October 2018 06:42 (four years ago) link
It was surprisingly quick to come together--probably because the parameters I set up were more specific than "my favorite Low tracks". Something structureless like that would be impossible because there are at least four or five tracks from everything up through 2007 or so (and the newest album) that would qualify as a "favorite".
I don't think I'll put it up on the blog, because as a single-artist thing it feels a bit unethical. But if folks swear they own tons of Low already, or promise to go buy the new albums, I'll share it with anyone interested if they message me. Or who knows, maybe all these tracks are on Spotify and could "playlist" it? I did some segues/edits on my personal version, but nothing too intense.
― Soundslike, Sunday, 7 October 2018 13:18 (four years ago) link
Very interesting read here--Alan Sparhawk "ranking" Low's albums, not by his favorites per se but in terms of how much they challenged them, progressed their sounds, etc.:
https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/9k7z9d/rank-your-records-low-alan-sparhawk
Noticing 'Double Negative' wasn't included, I asked Low via Twitter where it would rank--Alan said they hadn't been allowed to include it for some reason, but would rank it #1.
― Soundslike, Monday, 8 October 2018 19:54 (four years ago) link
they never let them rank the new record in that series
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Monday, 8 October 2018 20:09 (four years ago) link
I am going to see them tomorrow night in Berlin. Very much looking forward to the concert. Big question: How will the new songs work live, are they going to use the same effects as on record?
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Monday, 8 October 2018 20:31 (four years ago) link
They've said in various things I've seen that no, they don't try to recreate the recorded versions live; rather, they approach them live as distinctive versions, produced with more or less the components they have always used. Which I think is valid--and I'm very eager to hear them live next month. Curious what you find tomorrow night!
― Soundslike, Monday, 8 October 2018 20:40 (four years ago) link
Enjoyed that piece, really glad that Drums & Guns is his favorite too
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 8 October 2018 21:23 (four years ago) link
The show was excellent as has always been the case when I have seen them. The three concerts (touring "Things We Lost in the Fire", "C'mon" and "The Invisible Way") I had attended before had all been in quite small, almost cosy places, this time it was a bigger venue. So the atmosphere was different, more like in a usual rock concert, less spiritual and quiet than the other times. People did not hold their breath. Everyone was not spell bound and mute like when the pastor gives the sermon in a church like it had been the other times. Still the audience was silent when they played but expressive - applause, whistling and shouts - in between songs. My favourite ones were "The Innocents" and the phantastic "Fly" from the new album. Just to listen to Mimi intonating that one syllable is incredibly uplifting. There was a boring instrumental in the middle of the set (I don't know the name) where they played the same chord for at least ten minutes. It was kind of noisy but not very loud, so it was ok. In general I liked Alan's guitar work with quite some distortion which reminded me a lot of Neil Young especially on the "Dead Man" soundtrack. Somehow Low tmake me think of My Bloody Valentine, especially the way they marry noisy parts - where they are fortunately by far not as loud as MBV - and simple, otherworldly beautiful melodies and vocal harmonies. They could not escape the encore, they finished off the concert with "Murderer". According to the setlist 9 out of 20 songs were from "Double Negative", somehow I would have guessed only three or four would have been new. "Double Negative" for me is already a classic. With Low this kind of thing happens to me every time they tour a new album. Btw they did some electronic trickery with some new songs but no voice treatments which was fine with me. As always in Low concerst I was amazed that people hardly moved, ok they do not really make dance music but there are still beats. Something else I was thinking during the show is the fact that I really have a soft spot for bands which are trios. Others being Yo La Tengo, Dinosaur Jr., Galaxie 500, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Meat Puppets, Nada Surf, Nirvana, The Police (at the time), Wipers, ZZ Top, 16 Horsepower etc.
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Wednesday, 10 October 2018 16:11 (four years ago) link
I can see why they might hate C'Mon given where they were in their lives at the time, but wow that album is top three for me.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 10 October 2018 16:15 (four years ago) link
yeah at the time i was disappointed with it as a follow-up to D&G but now i consider it one of their best
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Wednesday, 10 October 2018 16:44 (four years ago) link
Of the albums I know I consider C'mon the second best after the new one. I like Drums and Guns fine but besides Breaker and Take Your Time I do not find any really outstanding songs on it.
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Wednesday, 10 October 2018 18:59 (four years ago) link
Dust on the Window is my fave on D&G, I love Murderer too but I slightly prefer the EP version.
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Wednesday, 10 October 2018 19:19 (four years ago) link
“Murderer” is one of my favourite Low songs, if not one of my favourite songs full stop, but I’ve never really taken to ‘Drums and Guns’ as a whole.
― michaellambert, Wednesday, 10 October 2018 19:19 (four years ago) link
Knowing they're not atheists gives their sinister or doubting songs about religion and God (see also "Little Argument With Myself") an extra kick for sure
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Wednesday, 10 October 2018 19:26 (four years ago) link
Both ep songs that are on 'proper' records are superior on the ep imo.
― Bimlo Horsewagon became Wheelbarrow Horseflesh (aldo), Wednesday, 10 October 2018 19:28 (four years ago) link
I think I know why Murderer is their standard encore these days.
The Book of Mormon: "It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief."
In 2003 when they wrote the song they were thinking about another POTUS, I suppose.
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 11 October 2018 12:25 (four years ago) link
Murderer is absolutely one of Low's best songs IMO. The single version they put out before Drums and Guns is good too.
― akm, Thursday, 11 October 2018 12:59 (four years ago) link
I think it is a nice song but firstly I don't think it is transcendental like for example "In the Drugs", "Monkey" or "Fly" and secondly its half-life is quite short. The diminishing returns by repeated listening are immense.
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 11 October 2018 13:14 (four years ago) link
The Murderer EP is one of their best releases def. Didn't mind paying the relatively high price to own that
C'mon is probably my least favourite Low album tho?!? After The Great Destroyer and Drums and Guns it just seemed like by-the-numbers. I've never gone back to it to give it another chance tho.
― Colonel Poo, Thursday, 11 October 2018 14:04 (four years ago) link
murderer is absolutely transcendental in my experience—hearing this song and mark hollis yelling "take my freedom" are the two times i've ever questioned my atheism
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Thursday, 11 October 2018 14:24 (four years ago) link
re: c'mon Especially Me is one of my favorite mimi songs ever. also Nothing But Heart is just incredible
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Thursday, 11 October 2018 14:26 (four years ago) link
Nothing But Heart unaccountably makes me think of The Lost Boys. Sparhawk's descending guitar line recalls Cry Little Sister, I think.
― Have the Rams stopped screaming yet, Lloris? (Chinaski), Thursday, 11 October 2018 16:35 (four years ago) link
Especially Me is amazing. I like C'Mon far more than I like Invisible Wilco
― akm, Thursday, 11 October 2018 16:39 (four years ago) link
Personally I rate C'mon very high, but I can understand if it's not someone's favorite. I can't see how it could be ranked lower than Invisible Way. Which I don't mean as a major dis to IW, only that if your complaint is that C'mon is "by the numbers," then IW is more by the numbers.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Thursday, 11 October 2018 17:21 (four years ago) link
Breaker and Nothing But Heart are probably my favorite Low songs (and favorite use of Nels Cline on the latter).
Sparhawk's descending guitar line recalls Cry Little Sister, I think.
Oh god, you're right, I think that's been nagging at me for years
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 11 October 2018 18:58 (four years ago) link
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Friday, 14 September 2018 02:41 (one month ago) Permalink
^^^^ the guitar on this album is amazing
― Tim F, Thursday, 18 October 2018 11:53 (four years ago) link
spellbinding in manchester cathedral the other night. the new songs sounded almost just like on record, sans distortion. steve doesn't get enough love, either. his playing on the last two records has been rock solid. the whole fifteen minutes of 'do you know how to waltz', medley'd into 'lazy'...!
― meaulnes, Thursday, 18 October 2018 23:04 (four years ago) link
seeing them soon in TO, v much looking forward to it. only seen them once before, on the TGD tour I believe?
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Thursday, 18 October 2018 23:34 (four years ago) link
Just occurred to me that the cover of Double Negative looks a lot like the youtube dead link placeholder.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 12:57 (four years ago) link
Heads up...
Watch Low perform their 'Double Negative' tour live from the historic and majestic Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul, Minn. on November 2, 2018. The show is expected to begin around 9:00 p.m. CDT.
https://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2018/10/19/watch-low-live-in-concert-at-the-fitzgerald-theater-double-negative
― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 2 November 2018 00:23 (four years ago) link
Going to be there in person, very excited!
― Greta Van Fleek (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 2 November 2018 00:36 (four years ago) link
I hope some folks here watched. Terrific show!
― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 3 November 2018 08:35 (four years ago) link
several audio issues :(
― StanM, Saturday, 3 November 2018 09:00 (four years ago) link
This was far-and-away my favourite Low album on first listen and now it might be one of my favourite albums, period
― fgti is for (flamboyant goon tie included), Sunday, 11 November 2018 20:02 (four years ago) link
Sounded great last night in Philly, even if I had to endure the odor of someone’s vomit through the entire show. I think they may have been at an all Frito-Lay buffet earlier in the evening?
― spastic heritage, Sunday, 11 November 2018 20:29 (four years ago) link
Someone in the audience, umprompted, announced the Minnesota election results to them at the Toronto gig
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Sunday, 11 November 2018 20:42 (four years ago) link
They were fantastic in Boston a couple nights ago. They've developed an effect that seems to remove all initial attack and sustains/loops notes until new ones are played, and simultaneously give a jittery, digital-decomposition sound with some octave/chorus sounds, which they use on most of the 'Double Negative' tracks (and retroactively apply to some of the earlier songs) and I found it entrancing and really effective. In particular, parts from the record I would've assumed were guitar if not some non-string instrument turned out actually to be Steven's bass, played very high on the frets. Really beautiful. Overall I'd say it was the most impassioned I've ever seen them (saw them play aggressively and angrily on the 'Drums & Guns' tour, which was interesting, but lacked the tension and restraint and impact of how they're playing now). They seem to know their new work is among their best, almost seem proud of it--deservedly so.
― Soundslike, Sunday, 11 November 2018 22:45 (four years ago) link
― meaulnes, Monday, 12 November 2018 03:53 (four years ago) link
fgti if you have more thoughts about the album I think I speak for everyone when I say we'd all love to hear 'em
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Monday, 12 November 2018 11:49 (four years ago) link
that vomiting was right by the chair i was standing on. when i saw them open for slowdive at union transfer a few years back, the lead singer of nothing puked in a garbage can right by me, too. i have that effect on people i guess
― reggie (qualmsley), Monday, 12 November 2018 13:11 (four years ago) link
i'm nothing but heart
― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 16 November 2018 01:31 (four years ago) link
Perfect pairing of band and venue tonight, just utterly gorgeous on both counts. As Alan said, it was so pretty he didn't want to mess it up by saying anything. Looks like the setlists have been pretty similar this tour. They have a million songs but don't seem like the sort of group that can just pull something out.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 17 November 2018 05:07 (four years ago) link
IDK how the other shows turned out, but hearing people flip out at the opening notes of "Do You Know..." was hilarious to me. Like, here comes the hit!
Also, a couple of the recent songs were almost funky/groovy live thanks to Steven
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Saturday, 17 November 2018 05:30 (four years ago) link
(sold out) crowd here was dead silent during each song.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 17 November 2018 05:36 (four years ago) link
Occurred to me that as moody as the band is I really have no idea what any of their songs are about.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 17 November 2018 14:22 (four years ago) link
simply, politics/existential anxiety/faith/hope. the material on double negative mostly concerns current political climate - theyve expressed that frustration fairly directly across other records (drums and guns). sure some of its cryptic. issues with the church of LDS too ('quorum'). they occasionally divulge in interviews - 'no comprende' was about alans/mimi's domesticity and endurance in their relationship. as for older stuff, 'starfire' is about their friend who had a pirate radio station... dunno!
― meaulnes, Saturday, 17 November 2018 16:41 (four years ago) link
Lots of Secret Name is about the LDS I believe.
― Bimlo Horsewagon became Wheelbarrow Horseflesh (aldo), Saturday, 17 November 2018 17:48 (four years ago) link
Yeah Sparhawk's Mormonism coupled with his, um, quite un-Mormon lifestyle has always fascinated me
― The Poppy Bush AutoZone (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 17 November 2018 18:08 (four years ago) link
I guess I can see how “No Comprende” could be about their relationship but wow what a dark framing for it.
― Tim F, Saturday, 17 November 2018 23:32 (four years ago) link
xxp oh, I have to listen again to really think about it, but the way that the songs are at the service of larger production theses is a big one, they found ways to subvert the blunt appeal of Mimi+Alan=pretty bedrock of their vocal approach while still keeping it as the bedrock. It's really a marvellous trick when a band/artist keeps the same thing that makes their music appealing but finds ways to obscure and withhold it, and make that appealing feature essentially more valuable as a result
I need to actually listen to the lyrics I guess, never a high point with this band in the past ime but I hope they're good
― fgti is for (flamboyant goon tie included), Saturday, 17 November 2018 23:42 (four years ago) link
lol there is only one Low lyric (just a single line) that I really can't stand, and it happens to be in my favorite song -- "man in the box wants to burn my soul"
― rip van wanko, Sunday, 18 November 2018 00:20 (four years ago) link
In Metal is about having a baby
― The Poppy Bush AutoZone (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, 18 November 2018 00:32 (four years ago) link
xp some of the lyrics on the first LP are a little cringy - 'rope', 'fear'... but i return to it again and again many nights just for the atmosphere. i must have played 'down' a hundred times this year.
wonderful live set from the era here: https://archive.org/details/low1994-03-29.flac
― meaulnes, Sunday, 18 November 2018 00:51 (four years ago) link
"you can't trust violence" is one of the great economical phrases of rock tbh
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Sunday, 18 November 2018 00:57 (four years ago) link
Was nice to hear Lazy last night sort of float out of the noise of Waltz.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 18 November 2018 02:11 (four years ago) link
Speaking of which, "Lazy" sounds remarkably like Labradford, distantly presaging their switch to Kranky.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 18 November 2018 13:47 (four years ago) link
xpost "Words" - love that song as well ... curious why you find that "man in the box" line so bothersome?
― that's not my post, Sunday, 18 November 2018 18:46 (four years ago) link
it's "burn my soul" in particular, feels both very arch and quite vague. I assume the narrator is troubled by something he sees on TV but "burns my soul" just doesn't point anywhere to me
― rip van wanko, Sunday, 18 November 2018 22:55 (four years ago) link
I always assumed it was a reference to a televangelist hectoring sinners with threats of eternal damnation.
― Tim F, Sunday, 18 November 2018 23:10 (four years ago) link
that first album still sounds like faith / pornography - era cure to me
― reggie (qualmsley), Sunday, 18 November 2018 23:10 (four years ago) link
i'm enjoying this introspect! kramer's production, honestly. he had it down. those first two LPs, and Galaxie 500...
― meaulnes, Sunday, 18 November 2018 23:12 (four years ago) link
I hadn't listened to the first album in years, but this morning it sounded like it could have been released this year. Faith era Cure otm.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 18 November 2018 23:55 (four years ago) link
I always assumed it was a reference to a televangelist hectoring sinners with threats of eternal damnation.― Tim F, Sunday, November 18, 2018 3:10 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Tim F, Sunday, November 18, 2018 3:10 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
This is my interpretation as well. It's a US-specific reference so maybe it doesn't travel too well.
― that's not my post, Monday, 19 November 2018 02:29 (four years ago) link
i've been thinking about "always up" ever since i saw it performed at the chicago show. i never appreciated its subdued power until hearing it in that church
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Tuesday, 27 November 2018 20:47 (four years ago) link
I like the new record, I'm not quite as head over heels in love with it as a lot of folks seem, though I am sort of chalking it up to seeing it live and hearing the songs in that setting and kind of falling in love with them vs the record.
I hadn't see them play a regular non-noise/drone show in a long time & they were fantastic, one of the best shows I have ever seen, every song was like the best song ever played.
Secret Name & Things We Lost In the Fire are still my go to lps,
― chr1sb3singer, Tuesday, 27 November 2018 20:54 (four years ago) link
i am completely head over heels in love with it
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Tuesday, 27 November 2018 21:06 (four years ago) link
i think it even leveled-up after the 200th listen
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Tuesday, 27 November 2018 21:07 (four years ago) link
I've finally got hold of Double Negative, yes this is a good lp. I would like it even more if they could keep the style of the first four tracks going through the rest of it, but understand that it might try people's patience a bit.
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, 6 December 2018 22:59 (four years ago) link
This is the first Low album I've purchased in years, and it really holds up. The blown-out / distortion effects don't wear thin, as it's pared back nicely during some understated parts. It's well-nuanced, compared to something like Embryonic by The Flaming Lips
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Friday, 7 December 2018 00:40 (four years ago) link
It sounds as if they're using really heavy compression. "Always Trying to Work it Out" is fascinating - it has the same kind of aggressive compression as a lot of dance music. Whenever the kick drum comes in the entire rest of the mix gets out of the way, but they've made the kick drum quiet so that it sounds as if distant artillery is going off. Or some infernal factory. The album sounds like a more experimental, gloomier Slowdive.
I've generally been sceptical of Low - no-one can be that anguished for that long, they came across as fakers - but Double Negative is subtler. The sound is much more in-your-face but the lyrics and general atmosphere are subtler.
― Ashley Pomeroy, Friday, 7 December 2018 23:12 (four years ago) link
no-one can be that anguished for that long
actually,
― lowercase (eric), Friday, 7 December 2018 23:19 (four years ago) link
I've generally been sceptical of Low - no-one can be that anguished for that long, they came across as fakers
This is a really weird opinion
― The Poppy Bush AutoZone (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 8 December 2018 03:30 (four years ago) link
Always Trying To Work It Out is my favorite track on here, and that sidechain kick is definitely a big part of that. Don't know that I've really heard that before on a nominally non-electronic recording.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Saturday, 8 December 2018 03:59 (four years ago) link
They used that effect on the last LP as well, notably on the opener "Gentle"
― resident hack (Simon H.), Saturday, 8 December 2018 05:53 (four years ago) link
I've generally been sceptical of Low - no-one can be that anguished for that long, they came across as fakersThis is a really weird opinion
― gbx, Thursday, 13 December 2018 02:14 (four years ago) link
re the sidechain kicks:
― Tim F, Tuesday, 11 September 2018 22:49 (three months ago) Permalink
Perhaps worth emphasising that the kick itself does not sound "loud" - almost like they wanted to concoct a heavily sidechained arrangement but then remove the most of the sound that the sidechaining is designed to emphasise, so it's as if the arrangements are being overwhelemed by silence or numbness, like you're going straight from sensation to a kind of post-explosion deafness, but skipping the sound of the explosion that put you there.
I can't think of a more allusive sonic trick in music this year.
― Tim F, Thursday, 13 December 2018 03:22 (four years ago) link
Purity Ring did that a lot on Shrines, having extreme sidechain effects, but muting out the kick half the time so it sounds like everything is fading in and out.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Thursday, 13 December 2018 03:46 (four years ago) link
I'd characterize the music of Low as downtempo, reflective, somber at times, but not "anguished"
― rip van wanko, Thursday, 13 December 2018 04:34 (four years ago) link
Yeah, they exert a level of control I tend not to associate with anguish. Angst, sure.
― resident hack (Simon H.), Thursday, 13 December 2018 04:39 (four years ago) link
The missing link here is the weird kick Sparhawk used on the first Retribution Gospel Choir album, not the same but it was definitely some weird compression (I've heard of side chain but I don't know enough to say if it's the same thing)
― No Smockin' (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 13 December 2018 13:09 (four years ago) link
Are the drums on "No Comprende" from the last albums programmed or massively compressed or both?
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 13 December 2018 13:26 (four years ago) link
I used to use that trick a lot, you sidechain the kick to the other track and send it 'pre-fader'.
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 13 December 2018 16:29 (four years ago) link
V good piece
https://daily.bandcamp.com/2018/12/19/artist-reflections-alan-sparhawk-of-low-on-taking-chances-in-2018/
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 19 December 2018 19:16 (four years ago) link
all the bandcamp daily pieces ive read have been neat - theyre more in touch than a lot of music mags
― meaulnes, Wednesday, 19 December 2018 20:19 (four years ago) link
X-postReally? I find that quite vague and quite blah. He doesn't really say anything specific about any song. And even when he tells the story about his skiing accident the influence on the album does not become clear. I was waiting that he'd write that Fly was inspired by the accident and the long period of immobility. Maybe the reader is supposed to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Luckily his profession is to make music and not to write.
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Wednesday, 19 December 2018 21:06 (four years ago) link
Thank you, anonymous US Post Office employee: Reflections on the debut by the band and Kramer
― willem, Wednesday, 13 February 2019 15:11 (three years ago) link
are the "Lullaby" and "Cut" demos from the boxset taken from that demo tape?
― bhad bundy (Simon H.), Wednesday, 13 February 2019 15:25 (three years ago) link
Box set liner notes confirm that, yes.
― willem, Wednesday, 13 February 2019 15:52 (three years ago) link
From the liner notes:
-lullaby (demo) – Mimi’s first song-cut (demo) – This song was possibly the first song we wrote. These first 2 demos were recorded in our apartment by a friend with a 4-track cassette machine after our first show in Duluth. We sent out a half dozen copies to some indie labels, got a nice note from Dischord, and an invitation to record with Kramer…
― willem, Wednesday, 13 February 2019 15:56 (three years ago) link
thanks! I can definitely imagine just being floored by these recordings.
― bhad bundy (Simon H.), Wednesday, 13 February 2019 15:57 (three years ago) link
For some reason, the album version of "Lullaby" is really popular in Turkey. Like, 15 million (yes, million) views on YouTube popular: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaSVkb_XLt4Read the comments...half of them are in Turkish.
― ernestp, Sunday, 17 February 2019 01:48 (three years ago) link
its their biggest song on spotify too
always been in my top 3 Low songs
― Friedrich B. Neechy (Oor Neechy), Sunday, 17 February 2019 14:24 (three years ago) link
I figured it must be a soundtrack appearance? but I don't see any placements for "Lullaby" on Tunefind or anything more recent than an obscure 1998 movie on IMDb. They have had more TV appearances than I'd expected, though.
https://www.tunefind.com/artist/low
― bhad bundy (Simon H.), Sunday, 17 February 2019 15:42 (three years ago) link
i had assumed it mustve been on a soundtrack too. Its as big a mystery as that Dinosaur Jr track that exploded
― Friedrich B. Neechy (Oor Neechy), Sunday, 17 February 2019 20:49 (three years ago) link
Maybe it's some fluke of the Youtube algorithm? I don't know if it gives different recommendations by country.
― jmm, Sunday, 17 February 2019 20:53 (three years ago) link
Also people (parents?) probably just search “lullaby” and streaming / video services count plays even if you don’t listen to the whole song.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Sunday, 17 February 2019 20:55 (three years ago) link
but.....why Turkey?!
― bhad bundy (Simon H.), Monday, 18 February 2019 05:12 (three years ago) link
Simon you should ask them.
― macropuente (map), Monday, 18 February 2019 06:27 (three years ago) link
tried to put some of those Turkish comments through google translate and it's like this track has become some sort of anthem for the depressed/suicidal somehow (with a bit of 4llah sprinkled in amongst them as well)
― StanM, Monday, 18 February 2019 08:30 (three years ago) link
found no clues as to how/why Turkey though
probably similar to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luM6oeCM7Yw
― Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Monday, 18 February 2019 09:32 (three years ago) link
view count: 77 million
― Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Monday, 18 February 2019 09:33 (three years ago) link
damn there's like a whole suicidal ideation support group formed in the comments on that one
― bhad bundy (Simon H.), Monday, 18 February 2019 17:46 (three years ago) link
Very excited to see the show in SF tomorrow
― that's not my post, Saturday, 16 March 2019 05:06 (three years ago) link
well that was something else
― akm, Sunday, 17 March 2019 15:07 (three years ago) link
xpost, yeah, it was something else. awesome ambient noise & light show. crystalline vocals from mimi and beautiful harmonies as usual. and yet, i didn't love it as much as some of their other shows. it was a difficult list which may have been the point.
― that's not my post, Monday, 18 March 2019 02:45 (three years ago) link
yeah almost everything from the last two albums and the state set up definitely put them at a remove from the audience where previously I've found Low shows to feel quite intimate. It got really late and we had to jet before the encore, to my dismay I'm guessing they did Over the Ocean and Sunflowers? No Murderer which is my favorite Low song of all time. But it was still pretty great. If you'd told me 20 years ago that Low would have a midset freakout that rivaled You Made Me Realize I'd have looked at you askance.
― akm, Monday, 18 March 2019 03:07 (three years ago) link
OTM. The show here back-when was more ... theatrical than I'd come to expect from them. OK, maybe not theatrical, maybe more transcendent? Something more ineffable, but that may just be projection on my part. I always liked that they were the sort of band to just casually walk on stage, set up their own stuff, plug in and start playing, like a punk band. Not that this was that different, and in fact Alan's banter (as such) was as chill and funny and approachable as ever. But watching them fill a packed gorgeous cathedral with perfect oppressively gorgeous and at times ugly sound was something else.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 18 March 2019 12:07 (three years ago) link
relistening to Double Negative today and I just need to say: ILM otm
― Simon H., Sunday, 7 April 2019 16:53 (three years ago) link
ILM not wrong
― StanM, Sunday, 7 April 2019 18:14 (three years ago) link
afaik I've never listened to a Low song in my life before today but decided to try Double Negative since it won the yearly poll here. holy shit is it good. need to make my second listen a proper one, feel like there's so much detail in these tracks
― Vinnie, Friday, 17 May 2019 15:00 (three years ago) link
If you like this one there is lots of Low you'll likely also like, though no other Low is quite like this.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 17 May 2019 15:05 (three years ago) link
heh, yeah i had a similar post in the works
Low: Recommended if you like: Low
― these are not all of the possible side effects (Karl Malone), Friday, 17 May 2019 15:09 (three years ago) link
they're a fun band to get into at this stage, i imagine, because they've been consistently good and their catalog is large
― these are not all of the possible side effects (Karl Malone), Friday, 17 May 2019 15:10 (three years ago) link
Actually, the number of albums they have was sort of preventing me from even starting, but after hearing this, I'll definitely dive into more
― Vinnie, Friday, 17 May 2019 15:52 (three years ago) link
idk that I'd ever describe getting into Low as "fun" but there's really no bad points of entry, other than The Invisible Way (and even that one has some gems)
― Simon H., Friday, 17 May 2019 15:56 (three years ago) link
It''s a good question, though. If you are a fan of the most recent album, which is probably their most challenging album, which album do you go to next? Ones and Sixes? Drums and Guns? Things We Lost in the Fire?
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 17 May 2019 15:59 (three years ago) link
D&G seems the most logical to me. I consider O&S mostly just a lesser, dry run for Double Negative now
― Simon H., Friday, 17 May 2019 16:00 (three years ago) link
I'll try Drums and Guns next, but I think I'll want to listen to Double Negative many more times first!
― Vinnie, Friday, 17 May 2019 16:11 (three years ago) link
no ones and sixes is almost equally amazing!!!
― american bradass (BradNelson), Friday, 17 May 2019 16:15 (three years ago) link
It has some great songs but some filler too ("Kid in the Corner")
― Simon H., Friday, 17 May 2019 16:23 (three years ago) link
Considering Double Negative is a fairly big departure for the group, I recommend you go to "Things We Lost in the Fire" next - one of the best versions of more typical Low. Just prepare yourself that it's not going to be all distorted and fragmented the way DN is. But assuming you dig that too, then you know you can move freely about their discography and let them surprise you. They have albums that are softer, and albums that are edgier.
I think if your departure point is the new album and you dig into their discography in search of something similar, you're setting yourself up for disappointment--which would be very sad because there are very few disappointing moments in their 25 years' worth of albums! But even a more anxious/dark album like Drums & Guns is not like Double Negative.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, 17 May 2019 19:53 (three years ago) link
Yeah I definitely want to check out Things We Lost, I know everyone loves that one. The distorted production on DN is definitely part of what's appealing to me, but I think the way the sounds are applied, the song construction, is also quite unique, so I'm interested to hear whatever people like from this band (which sounds like most of their work)
― Vinnie, Saturday, 18 May 2019 00:39 (three years ago) link
There's very, very little from this band that isn't that great, and what little there is that isn't that great is only not that great compared to all their great stuff. Which is most of it. I mean, honestly, you can probably start with the first album and see what you think, since I can't imagine someone disliking that album but liking the rest.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 18 May 2019 01:19 (three years ago) link
amazing how their sound went from minimalist to maximalist up to The Great Destroyer, and then expanded in other directions from there
― Dan S, Saturday, 18 May 2019 01:31 (three years ago) link
Silver Rider is one of my favorite tracks of theirs
― Dan S, Saturday, 18 May 2019 01:35 (three years ago) link
Longtime fan of Low, also a huge fan of the new record. My ranking of their records certainly finds one era of theirs at the bottom (don't have much use for TIW, Cmon, or TGD, though love D&G), but I love tracks from each other those records, too. Low are easily my favorite "band" of all time.
Re: records that folks new to them should check out if they like DN, I actually think that 'Trust' is the record from another era that is most similar to DN in terms of feel, its brilliant mixture of minimalism and threateningly ominous production (claustrophobic, almost) really making it and D&G the obvious predecessors to Double Negative.
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Saturday, 18 May 2019 01:50 (three years ago) link
The show in late November that I went to was pretty good, but nothing beats my first Low concert:
it was my 18th birthday and I saw them support 'Trust' (which might explain why it is my 2nd favorite Low record) in the basement of Oberlin College's student union. At one point, Alan asked the audience not to yell out curse words because their kids were with them on tour.
Mark Eitzel opened, supporting 'The Invisible Man.'
Both put on an incredible show, but I still can remember Alan and Mimi harmonizing on 'Sunflower' and just losing it. No 'popular' music had ever made me cry up until then.
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Saturday, 18 May 2019 01:57 (three years ago) link
They have so many great great covers, but I think about this one a lot, given how far it departs from the original, but also because of that nice warm drone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FHBxseoXvc
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Saturday, 18 May 2019 01:58 (three years ago) link
that sounds amazing
― Dan S, Saturday, 18 May 2019 01:59 (three years ago) link
xp. It really was. Eitzel was also in top form that night. He did a very wild acoustic guitar version of "The Boy With The Hammer in the Paper Bag" that was like 8 or 9 minutes long? Really great.
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Saturday, 18 May 2019 02:02 (three years ago) link
There aren't any bad Low records, really - some stand as front-to-back complete works that are genuinely hard to pick apart (Double Negative, Things We Lost in the Fire, Trust), and those (Invisible Way, Ones & Sixes, Secret Name) with some highs and some less-than-highs. The band seem to have a self-awareness of this too which makes their concerts never fail to deliver.
I always felt Invisible Way got its reputation unfairly at the time from not pushing too many boundaries - return to more often than I do C'mon.
― matt h, Saturday, 18 May 2019 13:44 (three years ago) link
Agree that IW is maybe too maligned but I really love C’mon.
If you listen to Drums & Guns, then watch the documentary, then listen to C’mon... the documentary is so raw and you see Alan at such a low point. In the wake of that, I feel like C’mon is this beautiful attempt to return to the light. Mimi’s songs are so strong, Alan’s still raw but more hopeful.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Saturday, 18 May 2019 16:08 (three years ago) link
huh I've always considered Secret Name one of their classics
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 18 May 2019 17:20 (three years ago) link
Throw a dart, really.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 18 May 2019 17:33 (three years ago) link
you can’t go wrong with any Low album imo. Lost a bit in the discussion is how much of a classic their debut remains, and Long Division + The Curtain Hits the Cast are both absurdly good too.
― omar little, Saturday, 18 May 2019 17:52 (three years ago) link
Most bands would be happy with those three as their peaks.
― omar little, Saturday, 18 May 2019 17:53 (three years ago) link
C'mon was the one I was least impressed with when it came out but I listened to it the other day and I don't know what my problem was really
― Colonel Poo, Saturday, 18 May 2019 19:44 (three years ago) link
I think The Curtain Hits the Cast is my favorite. It's the one that I return to the most.
but except for IW, any album is fine imo. (IW sounds like a Wilco record, other than a track or two is kind of useless to me tbh)
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Sunday, 19 May 2019 21:28 (three years ago) link
one interesting thing is that i was obsessed with Low when I was around 19/20, had Lifetime and all the records, etc.... but then TGD came out and i HATED it. like couldn't believe how bad it was.
almost ten years passed by until i listened to it again, and i think that i was more than a little too attached to what i'd come to expect from them. now i think it rates higher than the rest of the records from that time period except D&G.
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Sunday, 19 May 2019 21:31 (three years ago) link
I started listening to them with Secret Name, an incredible album, but thought Things We Lost in the Fire was their peak. Then I was unexpectedly floored by The Great Destroyer. Now think Double Negative is their real peak
― Dan S, Sunday, 19 May 2019 23:49 (three years ago) link
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Sunday, May 19, 2019 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I had a similar experience. I went from being total obsessive completist--every 7", every comp appearance--to being lukewarm on Trust and really not into TGD. Wasn't swayed by D&G at first but came around to it. But altogether probably 8 years went by where I didn't listen to very much Low, they became relegated to a past version of myself. And somewhere between D&G and C'mon I dove back into the early stuff and gave the later albums a new try... now I'm back to being obsessive fan again.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Monday, 20 May 2019 16:37 (three years ago) link
the first time i saw them live was in 2002 and the opener tom liwa who used to be my favourite german songwriter announced them as the best band in the world and i thought he was exaggerating a little but finally i have come to the conclusion that he was probably right, for the last couple of years they have been my fave live band in the world. they have got the capability to create a spiritual atmosphere of total silence and attentiveness like few other bands. i have seen them four times but they never played the song which made me discover them though i asked for it once. their awesome cover of transmission.
― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Monday, 20 May 2019 21:35 (three years ago) link
For the curious, here's the Japanese bonus track for Double Negative, "It's All Been Done" (not a BNL cover)
https://wetransfer.com/downloads/a54e5fdcb22da36762c6f2a7fd37ce5020190619124804/5f6be5594d1d83bd92aa4a5f4ec28ba720190619124804/e23590
― Simon H., Wednesday, 19 June 2019 12:50 (three years ago) link
Listened to Drums and Guns next after the recommendations here, and wow. It's compelling in a very different way from Double Negative. Last three tracks in particular are stunning. At this point, I'm gonna eventually listen to all their albums but next up is Ones and Sixes because a) Spotify has it (some of the other Low albums are missing) and b) Brad's taste rarely steers wrong
― Vinnie, Sunday, 30 June 2019 15:30 (three years ago) link
yesterdays glastonbury set for those who can access it:https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p07df5f6/glastonbury-low-live-at-glastonbury
― Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Sunday, 30 June 2019 17:25 (three years ago) link
shivers. low are extraordinary. amazing footage!
― meaulnes, Monday, 1 July 2019 10:06 (three years ago) link
Alan, Mimi and Steve Garrington doing a Velvet Underground tribute show on the 50th anniversary of the Velvets only Minneapolis show, October 12, 1969 at the Labor Temple:
http://thehookmpls.com/event/the-velvets-50/
― by the light of the burning Citroën, Thursday, 15 August 2019 20:50 (three years ago) link
that sounds great. i wish i could go but 5000 miles or something like that seems a bit too much.
― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 15 August 2019 20:57 (three years ago) link
I might actually go to this! I'll be in Chicago around that time.
― octobeard, Friday, 16 August 2019 06:07 (three years ago) link
got my ticket!
― goole, Thursday, 5 September 2019 17:03 (three years ago) link
Should have linked this earlier -- very good podcast episode/radio documentary on them from a month back:
https://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2019/08/07/the-current-rewind-low-duluth-sparhawk-parker
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 5 September 2019 18:21 (three years ago) link
Cool
― fremmes with neppavenettes (rip van wanko), Thursday, 5 September 2019 18:49 (three years ago) link
haha the mentions of starfire in that podcast. that's neat. it put me back onto 'secret name'. low give me so much hope.
― meaulnes, Friday, 6 September 2019 21:25 (three years ago) link
how have i not heard the bombscare EP until now! what!
― meaulnes, Monday, 9 September 2019 10:50 (three years ago) link
JUST IN: 'Bombscare EP' by Low & Spring Heel Jack Low have just reissued their collaborative EP with left-field group Spring Heel Jack!An underrated little record from the acclaimed slowcore group and their musical mates:@lowthebandhttps://t.co/ssGZJ2O6iD— Norman Records (@normanrecords) October 3, 2019
― Jeff W, Thursday, 3 October 2019 08:53 (three years ago) link
haha, i must have summoned that. i'd better put the lottery on.
― meaulnes, Thursday, 3 October 2019 09:56 (three years ago) link
I believe soundslike summoned that one
― It is my great honor to post on this messageboard! (Karl Malone), Thursday, 3 October 2019 14:14 (three years ago) link
The version of "Disarray" they played last night was like the best 10 minutes of live music I've ever heard.
― geoffreyess, Sunday, 24 November 2019 17:17 (three years ago) link
I normally couldn't care about live recordings of non-improvised music. But I'd really love a high-quality recording of a show on the tours since 'Double Negative,' because they've applied the same magic decaying angel choir sounds to older songs and they all sound amazing and genuinely distinct from earlier incarnations.
Also--so glad to see 'Bombscare' is back and has a chance to be recognized. That was what shifted my sense of Low from "lovely band who soothe my soul" to "this band can and will do anything, going forward" and cemented them as my favorite "rock" band going.
― Soundslike, Monday, 25 November 2019 02:03 (three years ago) link
There are a couple high quality concert videos of this material on YouTube.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Monday, 25 November 2019 02:09 (three years ago) link
I listened to Secret Name for the first time a coupla months ago... think this might be the year I finally become a fanatical Low completist
― handsome boy modelling software (bernard snowy), Monday, 25 November 2019 02:26 (three years ago) link
I'm basically there too. I've listened to four of their albums now - The Great Destroyer and Ones and Sixes since my last post - and I feel like I'm 16 again: at that age, once I decided I loved a band, I listened to every second of every album attentively and obsessively. This decade, I've only given that level of attention to the 1975 and Low. To that end, I'm trying to go through their catalog slowly, but the urge is just to burn through everything. Crazy to think that I spent years seeing their name mentioned on ILM without bothering to listen
― Vinnie, Monday, 25 November 2019 04:40 (three years ago) link
when i saw them this summer they made a mind-blowing version of 'do you know how to waltz'. a live recording of this tour would be amazing, indeed.
― Nourry, Monday, 25 November 2019 14:37 (three years ago) link
nothing from the last couple of Months here yet https://archive.org/search.php?query=collection%3ALowMusic&sort=-publicdate
― StanM, Monday, 25 November 2019 15:14 (three years ago) link
someone on this thread once challenged me for not playing low LPs all the way through, since i said i felt like some of their records wane a bit in the second half. but i came round. they were right. giving patience and open ears to low really lets you feel their full power. i think god speaks through their music quite a bit.
― meaulnes, Wednesday, 27 November 2019 14:17 (three years ago) link
nice of god to speak somewhere for once
has anyone ever tried to listen to drums and guns from a set of speakers that mirrors the mix, with one speaker on the far left of the room, the other on the far right? that's the one i've always been unable to get through. it sounds awful on headphones (to me at least), and the stereo separation on my normal set up just comes out sounding weird. i can imagine it sounding really good if the speakers were far enough apart that it was possible to walk around a bit in the combined sound field.
― Peaceful Warrior I Poser (Karl Malone), Wednesday, 27 November 2019 16:16 (three years ago) link
It sounds great in the car
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 27 November 2019 16:51 (three years ago) link
'Drums & Guns' is top 3 Low for me, and I love the hard panning for its unsettling effect that suits the music.
― Soundslike, Wednesday, 27 November 2019 21:32 (three years ago) link
^agree.
― that's not my post, Thursday, 28 November 2019 02:21 (three years ago) link
enjoying this cover
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa8Ky20UYaU&
― that's not my post, Wednesday, 11 March 2020 05:14 (two years ago) link
As per normal, we are coming in late like a northern Minnesota farmer. Mimi and Alan are probably doing an INSTAGRAM LIVE set for you tomorrow at around 1 or 2 central standard US. That should be evening for UK/Europe and middle of the night for Tokyo. More details to come. 💜— LOW (@lowtheband) April 2, 2020
― Non, je ned raggette rien (onimo), Thursday, 2 April 2020 18:16 (two years ago) link
Oh my, yes. This, I need.
― Soundslike, Friday, 3 April 2020 00:25 (two years ago) link
Confirmed time - and weekly performances!
(21:00 in UK today) pic.twitter.com/IeArsUQIlk— LOW (@lowtheband) April 3, 2020
― Non, je ned raggette rien (onimo), Friday, 3 April 2020 07:52 (two years ago) link
I wonder if they will change things up at all, tonally. I love Low, but don't know if I want to love Low right now, necessarily.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 3 April 2020 12:48 (two years ago) link
it would be extremely funny if they chose this occasion to pivot to baggy funtime jams
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Friday, 3 April 2020 12:56 (two years ago) link
Well, I assume they will sound like Low. But I dunno, maybe different covers? And their banter is usually funny. Just wondering if it will be the usual hour of "we're all going to die."
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 3 April 2020 13:30 (two years ago) link
if it's going to be weekly then there's plenty of scope
― koogs, Friday, 3 April 2020 15:31 (two years ago) link
That was a lot of fun, really. New song, impromptu "Star Spangled Banner," "Murderer". Just good people.
― Soundslike, Friday, 3 April 2020 21:29 (two years ago) link
Tuned in just before they started “When I Go Deaf”. Actually lifted me to hear and see them play that and “Murderer” this evening, two songs I really love, and the new song sounded really good too.
― michaellambert, Friday, 3 April 2020 23:30 (two years ago) link
did they post a link to the show?
― that's not my post, Saturday, 4 April 2020 01:37 (two years ago) link
If you go to their Instagram profile and click on the profile picture then select “watch live video” you’ll be able to watch it back.
― michaellambert, Saturday, 4 April 2020 10:14 (two years ago) link
“When I Go Deaf” into “The Star Spangled Banner” got me misty-eyed.
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Saturday, 4 April 2020 17:07 (two years ago) link
Could anyone please share "It's All Been Done"? Someone posted a link here but it's expired now. It's such a shame the song wasn't made available for download. It's only featured in the Japanese release of Double Negative. Many thanks in advance.
― johngreen74, Thursday, 23 April 2020 21:43 (two years ago) link
over on twitter lowtheband joined tim's listening party to talk about their first album. pics, memories, etc
― that's not my post, Thursday, 7 May 2020 21:51 (two years ago) link
they played their IG live set today with no talking in honor of george floyd, which ended with an absolutely blistering performance of 'breaker.' totally wrecked me.
― donna rouge, Friday, 29 May 2020 20:45 (two years ago) link
They couldn't but end with "Breaker".
― Soundslike, Friday, 29 May 2020 22:57 (two years ago) link
Time to put on the Christmas album.
― that's not my post, Sunday, 13 December 2020 17:59 (two years ago) link
One of the first things I played when December hit. Worth noting as well that I think all the originals have been covered in studio by others one way or another at this point.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 13 December 2020 18:01 (two years ago) link
they're still doing those great weekly Instagram sessions, started in April...check out itsfridayiminlow.com for archives and tracklists
― StanM, Sunday, 13 December 2020 18:41 (two years ago) link
it's been such a joy watching them play all these super-deep cuts on the IG live concerts. has there been a low artist poll here yet?
― donna rouge, Sunday, 13 December 2020 19:05 (two years ago) link
Omg, I would go absolutely nuts
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Sunday, 13 December 2020 23:10 (two years ago) link
Looked at the archives, was like "Man, I really want to see them perform "Laugh," and sure enough, they did it on Friday!"
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Sunday, 13 December 2020 23:15 (two years ago) link
I was only the rota to do it and then that list kind of died? I think I sort of volunteered to do it again but it was too close to Double Negative so it got kicked into the grass again.
Short answer, I start a new job at the beginning February so time is pretty much against me now. Happy for anyone else to take over.
― pedantly admonishment (aldo), Sunday, 13 December 2020 23:18 (two years ago) link
This band.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 13 December 2020 23:39 (two years ago) link
I've been steadily listening through their albums since last year, and would def participate in an artist poll now. I've mostly been listening to the newer stuff since a lot of the older stuff isn't on Spotify, but they have the debut, which has some great music. Overall though, I think I prefer the energy of Great Destroyer and after. C'mon is incredible especially
A bit surprising that Things We Lost is the only album of theirs I haven't liked all that much, not sure why. But I find it a bit hard to explain why I love this band so much to begin with!
― Vinnie, Monday, 14 December 2020 00:12 (two years ago) link
I tend to think Things We Lost is the least good album pre-Great Destroyer, but I also think that Great Destroyer and everything that came after is of less good quality across the board. Early Low is incredible, each album amazing.
Whereas there are superfluous tracks on each album after and including The Great Destroyer. There are even superfluous albums, imho— despite two good songs, The Invisible Way is almost entirely embarrassing.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 00:32 (two years ago) link
My own post confused me: I like everything pre-TGD, but thing TWLITF is the least good, while still being really amazing. Everything after that is more spotty to me.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 00:34 (two years ago) link
'Double Negative' may be the best record ever made 25 years into a group's continuous career. They were clearly rejuvinated by it, after their first couple 'merely OK' albums.
― Soundslike, Monday, 14 December 2020 01:52 (two years ago) link
I've been mostly listening to live shows on archive.org (LowMusic) to be honest. Looking for the longest/slowest version of Lullaby etc (14 minutes?)
― StanM, Monday, 14 December 2020 02:03 (two years ago) link
Low might be the unusual band with 3 relatively distinct phases each of which has their ILX stans. "Relatively" since one could also see their discography as a continuum with I Could Live in Hope at one end and Double Negative at the other. FWIW I love the stretch between Secret Name and Guns & Drums.
― that's not my post, Monday, 14 December 2020 03:21 (two years ago) link
^including both Secret Name and Guns & Drums...
― that's not my post, Monday, 14 December 2020 03:22 (two years ago) link
I think Ones and Sixes is a really great album that somewhat understandably now gets overshadowed by its successor.
― Tim F, Monday, 14 December 2020 03:26 (two years ago) link
I kind of think for Low what we think of as 'merely okay' might be their way of experimenting or trying something different. If all of your albums are interesting or adventurous, then relatively conventional becomes your own version of adventurous.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 14 December 2020 03:26 (two years ago) link
Arggh, stupid, I should say all the way back to I Could Live in Hope, what was I thinking?
― that's not my post, Monday, 14 December 2020 03:30 (two years ago) link
I kind of fit in with table's take - thought TWILITF was kind of weak when it came out but they peaked again with Trust. Then I felt TGD wasn't all it could have been, basically because of the inferior version of Silver Rider (a trick they pulled again with the inferior version of Murderer on D&G) and I just sort of lost interest. Saw them touring C'Mon in a room full of people who talked through every moment that wasn't loud and I guess I just lost interest.
Watched the Glastonbury set for Double Negative and it was great though, maybe because of DYKHTW.
― pedantly admonishment (aldo), Monday, 14 December 2020 09:31 (two years ago) link
I also always forget that TWLITF came before Trust....but basically, The Great Destroyer just put me off them for five or six years. I still don't like that album very much!
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 12:54 (two years ago) link
At the same time, The Great Destroyer has "Silver Rider," one of their all time prettiest songs.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 14 December 2020 13:24 (two years ago) link
That's the one I meant, the version on the Murderer ep was far superior imo
― pedantly admonishment (aldo), Monday, 14 December 2020 13:38 (two years ago) link
Which I see I said. Put down the keyboard aldo
Hmm, I think I prefer the album version. They're both great, though, and pretty distinct.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 14 December 2020 13:41 (two years ago) link
They uploaded this for the annual Duluth Kamikaze festival:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5ug9-alFfQ
― StanM, Monday, 14 December 2020 14:02 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxFy-7DywdE
The Lice Song is still my favourite oddity, I got it originally a tape via the Low List of some mid-afternoon set at an outdoor thing Secret Name era.
― pedantly admonishment (aldo), Monday, 14 December 2020 14:06 (two years ago) link
! I had never heard that, thanks :-)
― StanM, Monday, 14 December 2020 14:15 (two years ago) link
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/low/1999/loring-park-minneapolis-mn-33ee14cd.html
http://www.trustlow.com/archive/photos/990802.php
Found the show listing. Low also have some photos of it.
― pedantly admonishment (aldo), Monday, 14 December 2020 14:29 (two years ago) link
My favorite Low oddity is their cover of Soul Coughing's "Blue Eyed Devil," which I find just perfect.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 15:15 (two years ago) link
the great destroyer is great imo but i have a more even view of low’s discog. agreed the invisible way is a misstep, but the only one
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 14 December 2020 15:17 (two years ago) link
i just love the guitar sounds on the great destroyer and the way it makes every song feel like it’s going to end your world with melody
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 14 December 2020 15:18 (two years ago) link
Things We Lost in the Fire is absolutely classic wtf
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 14 December 2020 15:24 (two years ago) link
I came around more TGD after taking some time away from the band, but because I so disliked it on my first listens when it was first released, there's a residue that I haven't been able to shake.
I think it's because the sound is so much fuller— what I had previously enjoyed most about Low was the way they played with juxtapositions of these more spare songs with relatively spare production with more maximal, overwhelming sounds, so that a very spare, gorgeous album like Curtain ends with this absolutely crushing wall of ambient noise. TGD was, to me, Low's entry into more typical "rock" songwriting with the more maximal production to match, and it felt like a betrayal at the time it was released. I still enjoy the earlier entries in Low's catalog more than TGD and those that came after, but I think they're all pretty genius records at this point, with The Invisible Way being ever the exception.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 15:31 (two years ago) link
UMS, just for the record, I do love TWLITF, I just don't think it's as good as some of the earlier records. I don't really understand how anyone can not think Curtain is the best Low album, tbph
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 15:32 (two years ago) link
^^^^^ this
― pedantly admonishment (aldo), Monday, 14 December 2020 15:34 (two years ago) link
From memory, I recall dinosaur act being the first time I thought they sounded like a more conventional rock band, in the best way.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 14 December 2020 15:38 (two years ago) link
Curtain is great. Honestly I don't think there's a Low album I consider less than Good+ probably, most VG+ to Mint imo
For me, TWLITF is the perfect mid ground between the early stuff and the later stuff, feels like a "hinge" album to me
Though I don't know it depends on which one I'm listening to
great band, best Minnesota band of all time
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 14 December 2020 15:39 (two years ago) link
But that was a blip on a record that included songs like Whitetail and Like a Forest. TGD was the first record where nearly all the songs sounded more like "rock" songs.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 15:41 (two years ago) link
I feel all over the place with them.
Favorite album: I Could Live In HopeFavorite song: CaliforniaHonorary Mention (aka album I love a whole ton that everyone forgot or does not like as much as I do): C'mon
― Evan, Monday, 14 December 2020 15:51 (two years ago) link
C'mon is really high in my rankings, as is "California"!
― Vinnie, Monday, 14 December 2020 16:01 (two years ago) link
Feel like Secret Name is slept on
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 14 December 2020 16:04 (two years ago) link
Agreed. For me it's:
Curtain>Secret Name>I Could Live in Hope>Trust>Songs for a Dead Pilot>Things We Lost, at least for the early records. I'd need to go back and listen to some of the newer stuff again, because at a certain point, there are songs that get mixed up for me. For example, I always think that Whitetail is on Curtain, when it's really the best song from TWLITF.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 16:09 (two years ago) link
i got into them around the time ‘secret name’ came out, loved all the albums before that, but then i couldn’t really cotton onto ‘trust’ and kinda stopped caring about them until ‘c’mon’ came out, and then i sorta left them alone again until ‘double negative’ which jolted me in such a way that i immediately proceeded to fill in all the gaps in my listening. (ftr i like ‘trust’ now, i think it just wasn’t the kind of thing i wanted to listen to at the time. i like all their albums to varying extents, tho ‘invisible way’ is somewhat leaden, agreed.)
― donna rouge, Monday, 14 December 2020 16:10 (two years ago) link
Trust is still my overall fave, though Double Negative gives it a strong challenge
― stylish but illegal (Simon H.), Monday, 14 December 2020 16:10 (two years ago) link
Trust was the first album I got, and I saw them on that tour, and it holds a special place for me. I remember bicycling around the cornfields near my college town, blasting "Amazing Grace" on repeat. That track has healing powers.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 16:15 (two years ago) link
I know it pops up on threads all the time, but they are definitely in the running for largest catalog with fewest if any clunkers.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 14 December 2020 16:15 (two years ago) link
certainly no album I would remotely call bad
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 14 December 2020 16:17 (two years ago) link
eeeeehhhhhh..... I mean, I like "Plastic Cup" and "So Blue" and "Just Make it Stop," but The Invisible Way is pretty unlistenable to me. The songs themselves when played live really work, but Tweedy's production gives me the heebie-jeebies.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 16:20 (two years ago) link
oh yeah I don’t get Soul Coughing at all but that cover of “Blue Eyed Devil” is fantastic.
― JoeStork, Monday, 14 December 2020 16:21 (two years ago) link
Otherwise, agreed.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 16:21 (two years ago) link
(xpost yes! and the original is...really difficult to listen to lol)
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 16:22 (two years ago) link
Feel like I never checked out that album but it's hard to imagine it being that bad as apposed to just forgettable at worst.
― Evan, Monday, 14 December 2020 16:23 (two years ago) link
Let's just say that the highlight when I saw them that year was when they did the Rihanna cover.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 16:24 (two years ago) link
There just aren't many notable songs, seems rote and uninspired, which I don't feel about any of their other records.
gotcha
― Evan, Monday, 14 December 2020 16:27 (two years ago) link
"Holy Ghost" is the one that stands out to me from TIW but I agree Tweedy's production is the pits
― stylish but illegal (Simon H.), Monday, 14 December 2020 16:30 (two years ago) link
I think for a Low album to really sing it has to adopt an extreme of some kind (extreme reverb, hard panning, super specific sonic palate, blown out distortion, etc) and Tweedy seems to go out of his way to not do that
― stylish but illegal (Simon H.), Monday, 14 December 2020 16:33 (two years ago) link
let's just say I would LOOOOVE to be able to do an experiment where people heard again for the first time Invisible Way without knowledge that it was Jeff Tweedy in particular who did the album and get reactions to the production
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 14 December 2020 16:35 (two years ago) link
I could have sworn I've seen an interview or two with Alan who has been kind of apologetic about that, saying none of it was Tweedy's fault, that Tweedy did exactly what they wanted him to do and they feel bad for him taking any sort of blame for something he should not be responsible for.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 14 December 2020 16:40 (two years ago) link
I'm listening to this and not sure what they are apologizing for?
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 14 December 2020 16:41 (two years ago) link
maybe for being kind of boring, by the bands standard?
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 14 December 2020 16:47 (two years ago) link
That album is BOOOOORING.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 16:59 (two years ago) link
is that production though? Or just the songs? I feel like Plastic Cup, Amethyst, Clarence White and a few others stick out as being really good
but like I dunno, now I'm on "Just Make it Stop" and I'm not sure throwing like a bunch of digital degradation effects makes this a super amazing song
I just feel like Tweedy is a loaded term so to speak and people come into it with a certain view
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 14 December 2020 17:01 (two years ago) link
I feel like it's a bit of both— the production doesn't help many of the songs.
If one has spent any time with Tweedy's work, one can immediately hear his imprint all over TIW whether they knew about his production credit or not. I do agree that if one knew beforehand, it would influence one's listening. But I don't really see how that somehow makes these songs any less lackluster as a whole.
I'm also listening to "C'mon" right now and actually saying to myself, "c'mon, let's get to a different Low album." TIW and C'mon are clearly the worst albums in their discography, imho, but again, that's coming from someone who worships Curtain, Long Division, and Trust.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 17:26 (two years ago) link
I don't think the songs on C'mon are much better than the ones on TIW but the production is like a big warm blanket by comparison
― stylish but illegal (Simon H.), Monday, 14 December 2020 17:28 (two years ago) link
Aw, 'Just Make It Stop' is a highlight for me. It's kinda nice to have a Low album with regular-ass unadorned production.
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 14 December 2020 17:29 (two years ago) link
Agreed, Simon H. That's why I like C'mon a bit better.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 17:29 (two years ago) link
C'Mon has some of my fave Low songs ever. And while I thought I liked heavily produced Low (Drums & Guns is the all-time classic for me), tbh the production on Ones & Sixes and Double Negative buries the songs to some extent for me. I wish I could get into them since they're apparently universally loved, but it's never clicked for me.
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 14 December 2020 17:31 (two years ago) link
c'mon is fucking amazing
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 14 December 2020 17:35 (two years ago) link
all of the songs are really excellent imo and yeah it's like a warm blanket of low sounds
Compared to the early records, it's not very good at all.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 17:36 (two years ago) link
I really love a lot of the tunes on C'mon. Witches sounds so huge.
― Evan, Monday, 14 December 2020 17:39 (two years ago) link
I guess this is just an irreconcilable sort of difference in Low fans' preferences. To me, it's perhaps beyond obvious that albums like Long Division or Secret Name or Curtain are masterpieces, whereas I rarely enjoy listening to C'mon, and don't think I've listened to anything from TIW in years...until this thread got bumped.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 17:44 (two years ago) link
I guess I knew Tweedy was the producer but in all these years I have never let that color my impression of The Invisible Way. I agree it is among their weakest efforts, if not their very weakest. But I think it's the band and not the producer. For a band who has constantly been skirting around the criticism of having a "by the numbers" sound, this was their most by the numbers album. As much as there are good songs on it (all Low albums are, at minimum, good Low albums), Invisible Way seems to suffer from a lack of vision.
Also, it's great to see the love for C'mon. I think it's terrific.
I may have said this upthread, but I think there is so much love and warmth in C'mon. You can listen to it on its own terms and just think of it as a solid Low album. But if you listen to Drums & Guns, and then watch the documentary detailing how Alan basically fell apart at that time, and then listen to C'mon - I think that makes C'mon a very powerful album. So much of that album feels, to me, like Mimi helping Alan out of the darkness.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Monday, 14 December 2020 17:45 (two years ago) link
Meh, I still think it can't begin to touch their better records.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 17:50 (two years ago) link
The longer I spend listening today, I'm also convinced that some of my distaste has to do with lyrical content. TGD marks a move toward a different sort of sound, yes, but also is perhaps the first record where so many of the lyrics are legible. The ambiguity, implications, and creepiness of the lyrics of records pre-TGD (with notable exceptions such as "Canada" etc) is one of the elements that I find most potent about the band. Some of that obliquity returned a bit in Ones and Sixes and Double Negative, which is why I tend to like them a bit better than TIW or Cmon.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 18:06 (two years ago) link
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, December 14, 2020 bookmarkflaglink
It's possible for everything I said to be true and also for there to be a number of other Low albums that are better. No need to dismiss.
By the way I agree that the lyrics are weak spots for both TGD and TIW.
Low are like R.E.M. to me - a band with such a deep and rewarding discography that even True Fans can't agree on a proper ranking. There are defenders of every era and no consensus view.
Personally I think they've made three distinct masterpieces (Curtain, Things We Lost, Double Negative), three good-not-great (Trust, Great Destroyer, Invisible Way), and everything else is in between, occupying a still-rarefied tier of edging right up to pure excellence.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Monday, 14 December 2020 18:21 (two years ago) link
i would recommend going back to trust pgwp but you're def right that low are so consistent its impossible to reach consensus on their catalog
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 14 December 2020 18:23 (two years ago) link
i feel like a weirdo when i say that trust and ones and sixes are my favorite low records but they are
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 14 December 2020 18:24 (two years ago) link
I know there are a lot of Trust champions out there. I like it... I listen to it every so often (as I do with everything in their catalog). I don't know, I just think it's the only Low album that I have to trudge through. I've never really figured out what unlocks it for other people.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Monday, 14 December 2020 18:36 (two years ago) link
'Nothing But Heart' is the big C'mon cut for me, my favorite of that particular genre of Low song (one line repeated over & over into infinity).
Nels Cline is a huge part of it but Alan has really done it justice when I've seen them do it live.
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 14 December 2020 18:39 (two years ago) link
Sorry, wasn't trying to be a jerk earlier, pgwp, and I think you're right in your analogy to REM.
Re: Trust, this is saying something, but I think it's their most *menacing* record. "John Prine," "The Lamb," and "Shots & Ladders" are all kind of scary songs! There's something about its darkness that I find deeply relatable.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 20:21 (two years ago) link
The "Nightingale" -> "Something's Turning Over" stretch at the end of C'mon is beautiful. Maybe the only album I can think of that ends with my three favorite tracks
― Vinnie, Tuesday, 15 December 2020 00:17 (two years ago) link
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Monday, 14 December 2020 20:21 (yesterday) link
Yeah I think Trust really locks into the heavy murder ballads vibe (also has some of their best close harmonising IMO), which it seems people either find to be a kind of culmination of Low's attractions or verging on self-parody (or, possibly, a bit of both).
Whichever view you take (it's one of my favourites), it makes sense that every album thereafter has felt, to varying degrees, like the band were keen to establish some pre-articulated distance from any notion of an archetypal Low sound.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 15 December 2020 00:44 (two years ago) link
That Pitchfork review really got to them.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Tuesday, 15 December 2020 01:04 (two years ago) link
They're doing Christmas songs on Friday!
― StanM, Wednesday, 16 December 2020 20:51 (two years ago) link
they've done Christmas shows at First Avenue, went to one was so beautiful, they had the stage filled with Christmas trees and had a church choir from a Lutheran church in Duluth with them.... finished with Merry Christmas (War is Over) by Lennon with the choirone of my fav shows I've seenthe Double Negative tour was also amazing, best I've seen them and tbh almost diminished the album for me those songs sounded so great, also had great Pink Floyd style trippy video screen stuff which....ruled
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 16 December 2020 20:57 (two years ago) link
last time I saw them was opening for the controversial Jeff Tweedy and Wilco, real chill fun vibe, friends hanging out, Low joined Wilco for Cinnamon Girl in the encore
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 16 December 2020 20:58 (two years ago) link
I got to see them do a Christmas set here some years back, was pretty great (of course). Last two times I saw them was headlining in a chapel behind Double Negative, which was incredible, and opening for Slowdive, which was also incredible.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 16 December 2020 21:01 (two years ago) link
oh man Slowdive/Low what a bill
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 16 December 2020 22:00 (two years ago) link
I've told the story elsewhere, but my first experience with Low was seeing them live on the Trust tour, and Mark Eitzel opened. It was pretty amazing, and blew my mind at 18. I'd also just seen GBV live for the first time a few months prior. What a world.
― "Bi" Dong A Ban He Try (the table is the table), Wednesday, 16 December 2020 22:42 (two years ago) link
another dream bill
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 16 December 2020 22:50 (two years ago) link
https://clcaudioclub.bandcamp.com/track/days-like-these-demo-by-low
― StanM, Friday, 18 December 2020 13:22 (two years ago) link
Christmas songs were with the whole family! http://www.instagram.com/lowtheband <3
― StanM, Friday, 18 December 2020 21:57 (two years ago) link
so good!
― donna rouge, Friday, 18 December 2020 22:04 (two years ago) link
Remember having to miss that -- a damn shame, but at least I've seen them both numerous times.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 19 December 2020 00:56 (two years ago) link
It was fun, because I took a good buddy who I think had never heard either band (possible even never heard of Low), and left a lifer for both.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 19 December 2020 03:14 (two years ago) link
Beautiful show broadcast by John Peel in 2000.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhtSVVQEA_A
― that's not my post, Thursday, 24 December 2020 15:59 (two years ago) link
^ great!
(btw, there's no "It's Friday I'm In Low" tonight, it's Christmas)
― StanM, Friday, 25 December 2020 09:36 (two years ago) link
xpost that show includes a classic Low moment. The music was so quiet for so long they triggered the BBC's emergency tape to fill the air with upbeat pop music for 2 minutes in the middle of the live broadcast.
― that's not my post, Friday, 25 December 2020 15:49 (two years ago) link
frustratingly, this emergency tape thing was never part of the peel sessions I had found online before (like on archive.org etc) so having missed this all this time is meh
― StanM, Saturday, 26 December 2020 15:48 (two years ago) link
Oh my yes. Saw them in Leeds, 1998/9 (?) Above the Firkin pub, supported by Vibracathedral or some other A Band thing. The sound of glasses being moved and cleaned throughout. Everyone was entranced.
― kraudive, Sunday, 3 January 2021 23:51 (two years ago) link
Another session in 90 minutes (with their son and other guests, but without Mimi who has been away on family business)https://www.twitter.com/lowtheband/status/1349988370001367040
― StanM, Friday, 15 January 2021 19:25 (two years ago) link
https://www.stereogum.com/2113431/low-things-we-lost-in-the-fire/reviews/the-anniversary/
perhaps low's finest hour. it's my most played, now. other recordings feel more intimate and subdued, but the songwriting hit a peak, here. 'laser beam' there are some incredible bootlegs of performances from this era on archive.org... one including a cover of 'lord, can you hear me?'
― maelin, Friday, 22 January 2021 21:38 (two years ago) link
I'm personally a much bigger fan of 'Curtain' and 'Trust,' but that was a lovely tribute. "White Tail" and "Laser Beam" are two of my favorite Low tracks.
― The return of our beloved potatoes (the table is the table), Sunday, 24 January 2021 00:45 (two years ago) link
Has Low been polled? Surely after 27+ years of good-to-amazing recording, they warrant it...
― Soundslike, Sunday, 24 January 2021 02:55 (two years ago) link
did a search, no polls. lots of threads going back to early days of ilm including a POO thread with no consensus. a poll would be very cool
― that's not my post, Sunday, 24 January 2021 03:22 (two years ago) link
There's almost no point, because it's all good. Maaaybe we could come to a genera; consensus on "least good album," but I bet that's about it.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 24 January 2021 03:46 (two years ago) link
I would love a Low poll now that I've heard more than half their albums. actually think the artist polls are way more interesting when there's so much good stuff. e.g. XTC is one of those bands with distinct periods, and not a lot of consensus about what's best, and I was very surprised by the winners during our artist poll
― Vinnie, Sunday, 24 January 2021 03:56 (two years ago) link
Wish I could volunteer to run a Low poll, but realistically I know I probably won't have time...
Maybe if someone who's run a previous poll could provide a spreadsheet template and we emulate rules established in other polls?
― Soundslike, Sunday, 24 January 2021 04:49 (two years ago) link
Things We Lost... was my gateway album (I was 13/14 when it came out and I'd never heard anything like it). It's not the one I listen to most often now, but the Albini production is sublime and it has 4 or 5 of their very best songs.
― stylish but illegal (Simon H.), Sunday, 24 January 2021 05:09 (two years ago) link
my gateway as well, and it seems like, for people around my age (upper 30s), theirs too.
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 24 January 2021 07:00 (two years ago) link
i am listening now, and love it as much now (and maybe even more) than i did back then, which is hard to believe. it's just always there
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 24 January 2021 07:01 (two years ago) link
I thought in one of these threads we came to consensus that The Invisible Way was the weakest, because it is.
― The return of our beloved potatoes (the table is the table), Sunday, 24 January 2021 12:33 (two years ago) link
Yeah, exactly, though it's not *bad* per se.
I've been a fan of the band since when the first album came out, and my only clue back then was "produced by Kramer," which immediately brought to mind Galaxie 500. Yet if you listen to that first album it's amazing how well it holds up as, well, a Low album, and a very good one at that. The last time I saw them live "Lazy" was a total highlight, as strong as the stuff from the most recent album. They really hit the ground running (however slowly).
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 24 January 2021 14:57 (two years ago) link
I will honestly say that I just don't listen to TIW or C'mon very much. They're not bad, but the songs just don't grab me at all, a couple standouts aside.
― The return of our beloved potatoes (the table is the table), Sunday, 24 January 2021 15:04 (two years ago) link
C'mon has Nothing But Heart - so good live for Alan guitar freakout. Especially Me and Witches are excellent as well. Rest of C'mon maybe not so much by Low standards. I didn't buy The Invisible Way.
― that's not my post, Monday, 25 January 2021 00:03 (two years ago) link
kind of amazed there hasn't been a low ballot poll yet!
i'm listening to "Don't Understand Now"...so many songs, not enough top 3 spaces
― Karl Malone, Monday, 25 January 2021 05:45 (two years ago) link
I'm listening to "Don't Understand" NOW, i mean. but by the time you read this, probably not. though maybe!
― Karl Malone, Monday, 25 January 2021 05:46 (two years ago) link
beautiful cover
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4OqOxgb5uM
― that's not my post, Saturday, 13 February 2021 05:57 (one year ago) link
Wish I could volunteer to run a Low poll, but realistically I know I probably won't have time...― Soundslike, Sunday, January 24, 2021
I'd happily collate the ballots if you wanted to take care of the rollout. I was totally off the wagon between Secret Name and Double Negative, so could do with an incentive to catch up!
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Saturday, 13 February 2021 06:23 (one year ago) link
Actually, aldo has been on the list to do a Low poll for many years!
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Saturday, 13 February 2021 06:33 (one year ago) link
As I said ^^^^ I started a new job two weeks ago and am super busy so more than happy for anybody else that wants to do it to do it
― Well *I* know who he is (aldo), Saturday, 13 February 2021 10:10 (one year ago) link
A-ha! Didn't scroll up *that* far! :) I'll mention it in the polls thread and see if it can be slotted in for coming months, regardless of whether I end up involved myself.
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Saturday, 13 February 2021 10:39 (one year ago) link
maybe wait for this year's album? vv curious about that one
― StanM, Saturday, 13 February 2021 10:43 (one year ago) link
There was a flurry of asking around the time Double Negative came out (when, weirdly, I had the time to do it) and I asked for a bit of time for that record to settle in so it didn't dominate nominations. Then the world went to shit.
― Well *I* know who he is (aldo), Saturday, 13 February 2021 11:06 (one year ago) link
xp is there supposed to be an album this year? I'm dying to know how they follow up Double Negative
― Vinnie, Saturday, 13 February 2021 11:47 (one year ago) link
Hopefully in the Fall. It still takes a long time to set up a release. I wish you could hear it NOW. Finishing a record and then having to wait 3-6 months before it is in stores is an unavoidable drag, but a good lesson in patience and reflection. Thank you for asking! https://t.co/FMs9sKwdCg— LOW (@lowtheband) February 12, 2021
― treefell, Saturday, 13 February 2021 12:42 (one year ago) link
omg. they never let you down. seeing them on IG live every friday has been a modern miracle... feels like you're having a personal skype concert with them or something.
― maelin, Saturday, 13 February 2021 13:18 (one year ago) link
Wow.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 13 February 2021 14:18 (one year ago) link
I'm dying to know how they follow up Double Negative
my guess based on the relatively quick turnaround and heir career trajectory thus far: probably not another Double Negative level stylistic leap into newer/harsher sounds. but who knows!
― stimmy stimmy yah (Simon H.), Saturday, 13 February 2021 14:34 (one year ago) link
Looks like BJ Burton is producing again so I'm guessing more of the same
new Low album will be first time you’ve heard a guitar— BJ Burton (@beejburton) February 8, 2021
― change display name (Jordan), Saturday, 13 February 2021 14:52 (one year ago) link
that's the kind of tweet i wanna see
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Saturday, 13 February 2021 14:54 (one year ago) link
That's a clever tweet that can be read several different ways.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 13 February 2021 15:07 (one year ago) link
In a cave under a river in NE Minneapolis. https://t.co/NTGeaZJXar— LOW (@lowtheband) February 12, 2021
― global tetrahedron, Saturday, 13 February 2021 16:25 (one year ago) link
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Saturday, 13 February 2021 16:32 (one year ago) link
yeah sign me up lol
― stimmy stimmy yah (Simon H.), Saturday, 13 February 2021 16:36 (one year ago) link
oh shit
― The return of our beloved potatoes (the table is the table), Sunday, 14 February 2021 14:41 (one year ago) link
Gotta say I'm hoping for the 'actually sounds like a guitar' meaning rather than 'you've never heard a guitar sound like this meaning. My uncool conservative opinion is that his production obscures too much of their actual playing & touch, and it's not what I want from a Low album.
― change display name (Jordan), Sunday, 14 February 2021 18:05 (one year ago) link
I'm into the idea of their records morphing into unrecognizable abstraction while their live band arrangement stays intact
― stimmy stimmy yah (Simon H.), Sunday, 14 February 2021 18:46 (one year ago) link
"you've never heard a guitar before this" has me drooling over the concept that this could be like a bj burton'd-up take on a great destroyer style rawk record
― stimmy stimmy yah (Simon H.), Sunday, 14 February 2021 18:50 (one year ago) link
I share Jordan's uncool conservative opinion.
I want a new Low album that doesn't sound like someone couldn't stop wondering what that button does.
― Major D in QAnon (onimo), Sunday, 14 February 2021 18:52 (one year ago) link
I already have like 12 hours of studio recordings that sounds like the band low playing as three humans in a room. I'm perfectly happy with more records of an entity called "Low" seemingly transmitting sad nightmares from the void
― stimmy stimmy yah (Simon H.), Sunday, 14 February 2021 18:54 (one year ago) link
saw them on the Double Negative tour, was amazing. they had some Pink Floyd style video/light panels behind them, staging really worked (ruled even)I loved the show so much it somewhat diminished the album for me, they definitely weren't doing a straight live sound, there was some of the effect that's all over DN but it was different, a little less extreme but really melded the record's sound with the live sound in a (imo) better less intrusive way
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, 14 February 2021 18:59 (one year ago) link
Weirder Low >>>>>> Staid Low, especially at this point, for me. Came onboard in '96 and love nearly every record (still have little reaction to 'C'mon' and 'Ones and Sixes'). But give me the 'Bombscare,' the 'Trust,' the 'Drums & Guns,' the 'Double Negative'.
There are many, many people who can make lovely, plaintive, simple music. There are not many people who can make those records I mentioned. They seemed hugely rejuvinated by their expanding sound palette and experimentation on the last tour--searching seems to suit them better than "being home" at this point.
― Soundslike, Sunday, 14 February 2021 20:02 (one year ago) link
The exception: if they did an album of all chamber orchestra and found/made acoustic instruments, then they could do something amazing with a limited "production". Their own 'Mark Hollis' record...
― Soundslike, Sunday, 14 February 2021 20:04 (one year ago) link
I'm happy with any Low album, tbh, but lean more toward the Soundslike view— we've heard what Low can do with more "normal" instrumentation and production, and while I love those records, I'm also hoping it continues in the weird vein.
I will also just say, as I've said before, that "C'Mon" is just not a very good record.
― The return of our beloved potatoes (the table is the table), Monday, 15 February 2021 00:22 (one year ago) link
I've said it before but Drums & Guns is my favorite, I wish Alan would get back to making beats or getting hands-on with the production like that (at least that's my understanding of how it was made). It just feels more personal.
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 15 February 2021 01:09 (one year ago) link
I keep thinking someone like Vladislav Delay would be a good producer for them though, he can create elemental noise but also did an amazing job staying out of the way on that Mirel Wagner album.
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 15 February 2021 01:11 (one year ago) link
double negative was so cool and singular, i'm really excited to hear where they push things next
my understanding from interviews is they were all very hands-on with the production on it though, it wasn't just they played the songs and then got bj burton to fuck around with them. it sounded like they came to the sessions with fragments of songs written, and then they spent a lot of time all experimenting with sounds along with bj to flesh those out.
― ufo, Monday, 15 February 2021 10:57 (one year ago) link
Yeah, it sounds like they would give him some raw material, he would mess around with it and turn it into something, and then they would come back and write/record over that? From the unfortunately named board:https://www.gearslutz.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-and-electronic-music-production/1261587-lows-double-negative-sound-awesome-production-info.html
"arrangement and structure of the songs shifted as I unlocked the musical elements...as far as words and the melodies, that’s Low. they are from another world."
It's the role of a producer, it's cool, but also more control shaping the records than anyone else has had on a Low record to my knowledge. Normally I'd be fine with it but Low is such an insular, intimate world that I find it distracting, idk. I certainly don't want them to just repeat what they've done before though.
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 15 February 2021 16:26 (one year ago) link
@soundslike: ones and sixes is weirder low
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 15 February 2021 17:17 (one year ago) link
Yeah--there are a couple tracks on 'Ones & Sixes' that sound like a trial run for 'Double Negative,' but overall it just never hit me (though more than 'C'mon').
― Soundslike, Monday, 15 February 2021 17:45 (one year ago) link
In case there's anybody that didn't hear the 'Bombscare' EP (wasn't compiled in the rarities box)-- it's just astonishing:
'Secret Name' had been my favorite of theirs, but circa 2000 is when I feel like they started to really unlock the breadth of their potential (while still keeping the fundamental core of Low-ness). 'Bombscare' really is the precursor to 'Drums & Guns' and 'Double Negative,' hasn't aged a day.
― Soundslike, Monday, 15 February 2021 17:50 (one year ago) link
I would place it at Songs for a Dead Pilot. That EP was a massive jolt - the first substantial thing they did without Kramer.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Monday, 15 February 2021 19:52 (one year ago) link
The track list on that YouTube video for Bombscare includes "4-Way Behind." I was disappointed when I realized that "4" was the track number.
― Hideous Lump, Monday, 15 February 2021 21:04 (one year ago) link
https://www.kexp.org/read/2018/10/18/always-trying-work-it-out-conversation-lows-alan-sparhawk/
this interview has more about the double negative sessions, it's a great read
― ufo, Tuesday, 16 February 2021 02:01 (one year ago) link
looks like we're getting a new album this fall:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CM2wBG0jIgr/
― donna rouge, Thursday, 25 March 2021 21:00 (one year ago) link
Eh, looks pretty generic. Disappointing.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 25 March 2021 21:08 (one year ago) link
a "disappointing descent to banality", says early review
― Zach_TBD (Karl Malone), Thursday, 25 March 2021 21:27 (one year ago) link
Harmony Magazine: "poorly executed harmonies...grating" 2.5/5
Polyvinyl Chloride insists "becoming Low album" when pressed for details
― Evan, Thursday, 25 March 2021 21:40 (one year ago) link
― Zach_TBD (Karl Malone), Thursday, 25 March 2021 21:47 (one year ago) link
these rock stars with their rock star lives, man
Taking the week off from live Instagram show. Drummers all busy and bass player has drivers ed. Happy birthday, @DotsAndLoopsMcr See you all next week. Get them shots. Breathe.— LOW (@lowtheband) March 26, 2021
― StanM, Friday, 26 March 2021 19:53 (one year ago) link
Leatherclad Icon Alan Sparhawk Arrested After 3AM Fistfight with Anthony Kiedis in Strip Club Parking Lot
― Zach_TBD (Karl Malone), Friday, 26 March 2021 20:14 (one year ago) link
SCOOP : the new album is called Hey What
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AulwhP5Zec
― StanM, Saturday, 10 April 2021 17:54 (one year ago) link
(they reveal arount 23m10s)
― StanM, Saturday, 10 April 2021 17:55 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QDb9dMhVN8
― StanM, Thursday, 15 April 2021 15:12 (one year ago) link
^beautiful just as one would imagine it would be
― that's not my post, Thursday, 15 April 2021 15:14 (one year ago) link
one of the only bands capable of making an actually worthwhile version of this song in 2021
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Thursday, 15 April 2021 19:38 (one year ago) link
https://archive.org/details/Low1998-10-26.flac16
i revisit this set time and time again... immaculate soundboard recording. the spiritualized cover, the "you can't use words like that, saint louise is listening" at the beginning of 'lazy'...
― maelin, Thursday, 15 April 2021 19:41 (one year ago) link
wow that set is great! dunno why i never thought to seek out live low before
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Thursday, 15 April 2021 20:38 (one year ago) link
I know why I haven't, and that's probably because anything I find would be so awesome that is all I would listen to.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 15 April 2021 20:39 (one year ago) link
yeah there's a bunch of really good and really different sets floating around
"don't walk away" (from that earlier live video) is quite nice, can't wait to hear what mutant form these songs take
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Thursday, 15 April 2021 20:43 (one year ago) link
can someone post the site that archived all the Friday I'm in Lows they've been doing over the past year? i thought I'd bookmarked it but no.
I am listening to the version of "Coattails" from the set that maelin posted, it might be one of my favorite Low songs, and of course it's just unspeakably beautiful.
― it's like edging for your mind (the table is the table), Thursday, 15 April 2021 21:37 (one year ago) link
tabes: bit.ly/fridayiminlow
― donna rouge, Thursday, 15 April 2021 23:56 (one year ago) link
wait that didn't work, it's https://moppycouk.wixsite.com/fridayiminlow
― donna rouge, Thursday, 15 April 2021 23:57 (one year ago) link
Thanking you dr
― it's like edging for your mind (the table is the table), Friday, 16 April 2021 00:17 (one year ago) link
nice podcast where al and mim talk about ‘things we lost in the fire’: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/life-of-the-record/id1487396757?i=1000517855626
and there is a ‘visual album’ of twlitf out tomorrow on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DHIXQ8ZBDA
both for its 20th anniversary
― This Is Not An ILX Username (LaMonte), Wednesday, 21 April 2021 23:37 (one year ago) link
Spotify pushed their new singlehttps://open.spotify.com/album/1zi0lhW47mDcDe4cyncrcv?si=--58m7-aQMKjfgGSOAircAlol
― willem, Monday, 31 May 2021 05:41 (one year ago) link
Mimi sounds different
― StanM, Monday, 31 May 2021 08:28 (one year ago) link
feel like that actual album announcement should be pretty danged soon
― intern at pelican brief consulting (Simon H.), Monday, 31 May 2021 12:27 (one year ago) link
goddamnit you had me. same font and everything
― maelin, Monday, 31 May 2021 22:18 (one year ago) link
Been workin on that one all winter. Big world, generic one-word band name... https://t.co/JciPU4YZuL— LOW (@lowtheband) June 1, 2021
― StanM, Thursday, 3 June 2021 20:26 (one year ago) link
It's too bad all that $$$$ they spent on Rogan meant they can't afford to hire people to clean up data errors like this.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 3 June 2021 20:35 (one year ago) link
? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8QiSZRX8dA
― StanM, Sunday, 20 June 2021 16:15 (one year ago) link
LET'S GO. low always mean business.
― maelin, Sunday, 20 June 2021 16:57 (one year ago) link
i can't wait to finally hear the electric guitar for the first time
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Sunday, 20 June 2021 23:42 (one year ago) link
hell yes
― intern at pelican brief consulting (Simon H.), Sunday, 20 June 2021 23:54 (one year ago) link
should I sign into YouTube and be the first to comment in the chat
― self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Monday, 21 June 2021 00:49 (one year ago) link
ah i was unaware my bad
― ufo, Monday, 21 June 2021 01:15 (one year ago) link
oh i definitely meant to say that in a different thread
anyway here's "days like these"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgAQmQl-C9k
album Hey What out 9 september
― ufo, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 02:02 (one year ago) link
oh sorry it's HEY WHAT
White HorsesI Can WaitAll NightDisappearingHeyDays Like TheseThere's a Comma After StillDon't Walk AwayMoreThe Price You Pay (It Must Be Wearing off)
― ufo, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 02:10 (one year ago) link
second half that's all ambient synth noodling is sublime
― ufo, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 02:12 (one year ago) link
Is anybody else getting "this video is unavailable" for the Days Like These link?
― yeah but how, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 02:32 (one year ago) link
probably a regional thing, i'm in australia
will be available in the rest of the world tomorrow
― ufo, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 02:32 (one year ago) link
the more i listen to it the more i love it!
― ufo, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 04:19 (one year ago) link
they really did play most/all of the album during the It's Friday I'm In Low sessions over the last year, looking at the titles - stoked to hear what the studio versions are going to be like.(Don't Archive have a track called "Again" that ends with a long section where that was the only word that kept being repeated? Haven't heard it in a while, could be wrong)
― StanM, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 05:05 (one year ago) link
Yeah I really like the second half - pushes them further in the ambient electronic direction, but lighter than the ambient moments on Double Negative. first half is a very different song, it's alright
― Vinnie, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 05:07 (one year ago) link
i like how they're kinda doing a quiet/loud thing with their immense digital distortion now
― ufo, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 05:12 (one year ago) link
i imagine the studio versions will be pretty different if "days like these" is any indication bc they're not even doing the double negative tour levels of walls of distortion in those streamed performances, let alone what they've managed in the studio
― ufo, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 05:21 (one year ago) link
looking through tracklists for the friday i'm in low performances and they've at least played eight tracks from the album, and another five new ones that aren't on it (or were renamed etc.)
― ufo, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 05:23 (one year ago) link
"days like these" demo here: https://clcaudioclub.bandcamp.com/track/days-like-these-demo-by-low
― ufo, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 11:36 (one year ago) link
& apparently steve is no longer in the band, sounds like this record is just them as a duo?
― ufo, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 11:37 (one year ago) link
according to alan, steve left before they made this album because he had "very understandable personal reasons" that meant he would no longer be able to tour
― ufo, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 11:56 (one year ago) link
this track is awesome, and yes it's all about the multi stage ambient second half
― intern at pelican brief consulting (Simon H.), Tuesday, 22 June 2021 12:34 (one year ago) link
I love "Days Like These," and I extra love that I totally hear how it could have been a left-field "hit" if they got rid of the distortion and gave it a peppy drum beat, but no, this is Low.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 12:49 (one year ago) link
They are becoming quite fond of big choruses/hooks of late (see also "disarray")
― intern at pelican brief consulting (Simon H.), Tuesday, 22 June 2021 13:21 (one year ago) link
is Cyrus officially the new bassist?
― StanM, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 13:53 (one year ago) link
they don't seem to have announced an official new bassist yet, don't know if it's going to be cyrus or someone else
― ufo, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 14:11 (one year ago) link
the shop i work at (LUNA in Indianapolis, IN) is doing an exclusive/ltd pressing of this (w/ Electric Fetus) if that's yr thing: https://shop.lunamusic.net/LOW-HEY-WHAT-LUNA-music-EXCLUSIVE-VINYL-LP-p/098787143553.htm
― dronestreet, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 14:17 (one year ago) link
re: new bassist
https://pitchfork.com/news/low-announce-new-album-hey-what-and-2022-tour-share-new-song-listen/
"Sparhawk and Parker may work with other musicians in the future, according to a band representative."
― ufo, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 15:01 (one year ago) link
not nearly as face-meltingly stunning as the double negative reveal but still really great. love that guitar tone obvs
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Tuesday, 22 June 2021 15:47 (one year ago) link
shout out bj burton
― maelin, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 17:14 (one year ago) link
I think I love "Days Like These". that distortion and then the like ambient bliss out. wooo
― gman59, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 18:20 (one year ago) link
just occurred to me that they've never stuck with the same producer this long, I don't think? without actually looking this up I think Albini, Fridmann and Kramer all did two apiece?
― intern at pelican brief consulting (Simon H.), Tuesday, 22 June 2021 18:27 (one year ago) link
Hope - KramerLong Division - KramerTransmission EP - Kramer & Albini (two songs each)
Curtain - Steve Fisk
Dead Pilot - self-produced
Secret Name - AlbiniThings We Lost - Albini
Trust - Tchad Blake (or was it self-produced and he only mixed it?)
Great Destroyer - FridmannDrums & Guns - Fridmann
C'mon - self-produced w/ Matt Beckley
Invisible Way - Tweedy
Ones & Sixes- BurtonDouble Negative - BurtonHey What - Burton
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Tuesday, 22 June 2021 19:41 (one year ago) link
lambchop and low album titles in conversation:
aw c'monc'monno you c'monhey what
― na (NA), Tuesday, 22 June 2021 19:45 (one year ago) link
next album will be a collab with Jon Wurster called, WAIT, WHUUUT?
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 22 June 2021 19:48 (one year ago) link
Adore “days like these”. It feels like it weaves together some of the sonic ideas of the last two albums in a really satisfying way.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 20:16 (one year ago) link
Agreed w/ the praise for the second half of the new track
― self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Tuesday, 22 June 2021 23:35 (one year ago) link
the first half reminds me of how i felt upon first listening to The Great Destroyer when it came out
― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 00:03 (one year ago) link
really wish they'd put out a live album of the double negative tour, the alternate live takes of those tracks are very cool
― ufo, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 02:51 (one year ago) link
There's quite a few shows from that tour on archive.org.
― joni mitchell jarre (anagram), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 04:32 (one year ago) link
just realised now that what "fly" has been reminding me of all this time is... u2's "moment of surrender"
same vocal hook
― ufo, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 06:17 (one year ago) link
How do people rate this band and their releases, I'm curious. Essential for me are "Long Division" and "Double Negative"
― what's fgti up to these days? nothing. she's fake (flamboyant goon tie included), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 12:14 (one year ago) link
Ask 10 Low fans and you'll get 10 different answers. Personally I rate Secret Name, Things We Lost in the Fire and C'mon the highest. I don't go a bundle on the discordant stuff, I like my Low soft and melodic. Others will rep for the discordant stuff as being their best work.
― joni mitchell jarre (anagram), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 12:17 (one year ago) link
I've loved everything up until Drums & Guns - ever since that one I still love the live versions of the newer tracks but have been struggling with the albums. I'm into all kinds of loud and harsh stuff but Low = slow and their two voices together, for me, still. Loved the sessions during the last year & I hope having heard the songs live first is going to prepare me better for the hopefully not too antagonistic mixing this time.
― StanM, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 12:53 (one year ago) link
i only got into them with double negative and only dug really deep into their entire discography earlier this year (& am doing so again now in anticipation of the new one) & it's pretty much all good to great. the only thing that people seem to generally agree on is that the invisible way is one of their least essential releases, but even then it's not bad or anything.
double negative is certainly a masterpiece and still my favourite but it's obviously at one radical end of their sound. i really like ones and sixes too, the increased focus on sound design compared to a lot of what came before does a lot for me. drums and guns has some of their very best work ("murderer" is maybe their absolute best song?) but is unusually inconsistent for them, i'd really love to hear them explore that sound further though, just without the experiments in panning. i really have yet to fully differentiate the strengths and weaknesses of all their earlier stuff yet though.
― ufo, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 13:18 (one year ago) link
drums and guns has some of their very best work ("murderer" is maybe their absolute best song?) but is unusually inconsistent for them
otm. I just happened to listen to this album yesterday. I've always struggled with this record. Really hated it when it first came out, and probably didn't come around on it until 5 or 6 years later. Some truly magnificent songs, and the overall mood of the record is really gripping. Yet to this day I sort of muscle through the first two or three tracks before I finally start to enjoy it.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 18:12 (one year ago) link
I guess I need to revisit. With Low I've tended to listen once instead of twice. Trust was my first album of theirs and I loved it. ...Live In Hope was the second and it lacked the hymnal qualities of their latter-day stuff and so I prob didn't give it a fair shake. I found the Albini albums too theatrical with my cursory listen, I do not enjoy the song "Dinosaur Act". I purchased Destroyer and Drums on vinyl when I found them used and disliked them and sold them again-- not a Fridmann fan. Can't figure out why I adore Division and Double Negative unreservedly and have mixed feelings about the rest of it. I usually think of Mimi when I think about how I always want drums to sound
― what's fgti up to these days? nothing. she's fake (flamboyant goon tie included), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 18:13 (one year ago) link
I always say this but Drums & Guns is the pinnacle for me, desert island record.
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 18:49 (one year ago) link
my first low album was the curtain hits the cast, i just really liked the title so i asked my parents to get it for me for christmas, not knowing exactly what low sounded like but having an idea? anyway the reality was far grander and deeper than whatever impression it was i had at the time. i still love that album to death
my favorites have ranged all over the catalog, loved drums & guns the most for a few years, but these days i find myself returning to trust and ones and sixes the most
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 19:08 (one year ago) link
secret name/things we lost in the fire for me
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 19:27 (one year ago) link
"sunflower" is my favorite low song
I listened to "Murderer" at ufo's suggestion earlier and it rules
I think I gotta do a proper survey now that streaming has made it possible
― what's fgti up to these days? nothing. she's fake (flamboyant goon tie included), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 19:50 (one year ago) link
'Breaker' introduced me to sus chords
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 20:01 (one year ago) link
Also love that lo-fi, low-passed drum machine with the gorgeous roomy handclaps, that left a deep impression.
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 20:02 (one year ago) link
I always liked Glenn McDonald’s take (in a review of Secret Name or Things We Lost) where he focuses on the sense of gradual narrative created by following the albums in chronological order and hearing their sound slowly open up like a flower turning to the sun.
Obviously they have covered a lot more ground over the subsequent two decades, and it doesn’t really make sense to talk about say Ones and Sixes as more open than The Great Destroyer, but I still get a very strong sense of searching and striving that comes through most strongly by following the arc of their career chronologically.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 20:04 (one year ago) link
That said, like Brad, Trust and Ones and Sixes are probably the two I play the most now. Maybe because they both strike really nice balances between a purposeful approach and really lovely songs? IDK.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 20:05 (one year ago) link
Murderer EP is your goal as imo the versions of Murderer and especially Silver Rider are superior on it to lp versions
― Well *I* know who he is (aldo), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 20:53 (one year ago) link
both versions of "murderer" are perfect and i don't think i could choose between them
― ufo, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 21:01 (one year ago) link
except that panning though lol
― ufo, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 21:04 (one year ago) link
these days i just listen to drums & guns in mono when i'm listening with headphones (99% of the time)
― ufo, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 21:08 (one year ago) link
oh man i always thought i was the only one who liked Trust the most but ofc Brad and Tim also like that one the most
MY PEOPLE!!!
― self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 21:16 (one year ago) link
love to see that some people rate Trust as high as I do. it always seemed under appreciated among the fan base.
― This Is Not An ILX Username (LaMonte), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 21:21 (one year ago) link
Trust is also my favorite.
― intern at pelican brief consulting (Simon H.), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 21:31 (one year ago) link
I think it has a lot to do with when it came out / where I was in my Low fandom, definitely egged on by the kinda meh/indifferent reception it got at the time
― intern at pelican brief consulting (Simon H.), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 21:32 (one year ago) link
fine, you two are also my people
Trust is the first Low LP i bought so yeah, sentimental fave
― self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 21:38 (one year ago) link
The sequence from In The Drugs to La La Song is one of the strongest 5 song runs in pretty much any band's career.
― Well *I* know who he is (aldo), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 21:44 (one year ago) link
^ the next one after La La Song is Point of Disgust - so I'd bump that run up to 6 songs.
― that's not my post, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 21:57 (one year ago) link
Anyway, Christmas.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 22:00 (one year ago) link
all of my people get paid up to $0.50 per post. i'm just throwing that out there
― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 22:00 (one year ago) link
and i'll create the union for me so you can fire me and give a generous severance package
― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 22:01 (one year ago) link
we are called the Secret Namers
the pitchfork sunday Flash from the Past review often trails sustained ilm thread revivals by a few weeks, so i'll just say this: Secret Namers can earn up to $0.50 per post
― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 23 June 2021 22:07 (one year ago) link
I spent the early part of the pandemic filling in some gaps in my Low collection, still need to get the debut, Christmas and A Lifetime of Temporary Relief as the main ones I'm missing.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 23 June 2021 22:22 (one year ago) link
revisited their first three records this morning
i could live in hope is really such a wonderful fully-formed debut, everything's there already. i love sparhawk's guitar, obviously very influenced by the cure at their best, but stripped down.long division has a very similar sound to the debut of course, but it's even quieter and slower, and doesn't have the same atmosphere to it, solid but not quite as compelling overall.the curtain hits the cast feels a little warmer than their first two? i've seen people say it's their darkest but it doesn't quite feel it to me. really good record, continues on from long division with its sparseness but successfully brings back the atmosphere & expansive track lengths of i could live in hope & adds a little more intensity? "do you know how to waltz" is so immense!
― ufo, Thursday, 24 June 2021 01:35 (one year ago) link
got into Low because Things We Lost in the Fire and Trust showed up on an ILM poll years and years ago. they are still my two favorites. I love mostly all of em though
― gman59, Thursday, 24 June 2021 01:39 (one year ago) link
Again it seems it's time to do a full Low albums/tracks poll... Again I'd love to run it but don't realistically have time : (
― Soundslike, Thursday, 24 June 2021 12:15 (one year ago) link
I could probably do tabulation if others could help with images and rollout. About time I pulled my weight on here
BUT
at this point, I think the poll should wait a few months after the new album
― Vinnie, Thursday, 24 June 2021 12:28 (one year ago) link
I'd feel weird about doing a Low poll before they actually pack it in
― intern at pelican brief consulting (Simon H.), Thursday, 24 June 2021 12:40 (one year ago) link
Is there any consensus about top 5 tracks so far? Feels like there might be as many #1 selections as there are poll voters.
― that's not my post, Thursday, 24 June 2021 14:40 (one year ago) link
there could be a series of low polls by decades, followed by low-showdowns, followed by sweet merciful death
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 24 June 2021 15:53 (one year ago) link
xp and yeah that's not my post, i agree! on the non-consensus, i mean. :) i think a couple of them would probably be consensus faves (particularly Things We Lost in the Fire songs...I might be wrong and jinxing it now), but in general, it would be pretty unpredictable
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 24 June 2021 15:54 (one year ago) link
Wow, I felt it would be hard to follow up Double Negative. This single hints that they are going to do so with gusto.
― octobeard, Thursday, 24 June 2021 19:22 (one year ago) link
yeah wait for a few months after the new album before doing a poll but i'd love to see it & there's clearly plenty of interest. aldo is still listed as having dibs on running it iirc
― ufo, Thursday, 24 June 2021 20:46 (one year ago) link
As I've said various times ^^^ I don't have the time these days so happy for anyone that wants to do it to do it.
― Well *I* know who he is (aldo), Thursday, 24 June 2021 21:04 (one year ago) link
ah i didn't realise
i guess november would be the earliest time it'd make sense to run one after the new album, or first thing next year after EOY stuff is done?
― ufo, Thursday, 24 June 2021 21:25 (one year ago) link
Don't know if this will work formatting-wise, but nice use of the meme
When @lowtheband heads into the studio during a pandemic. pic.twitter.com/HjV48e7zKJ— Tim Unsell (@devotiondoubt) June 24, 2021
― that's not my post, Friday, 25 June 2021 00:22 (one year ago) link
after listening to their whole discography a lot this week i have a vague ranking of their major releases. would say those top 6 are all pretty essential & the rest are solid at the very least
Double NegativeThe Curtain Hits the CastI Could Live In HopeC'monThings We Lost in the FireOnes and SixesDrums and GunsThe Great DestroyerTrustLong DivisionSecret NameSongs for a Dead PilotThe Invisible Way
― ufo, Sunday, 27 June 2021 04:23 (one year ago) link
Which direction do those go--lowest to highest? Highest to lowest?
― Soundslike, Sunday, 27 June 2021 13:14 (one year ago) link
highest to lowest
but it's not like any of them are bad & the only one i'd be surprised to see as someone's favourite is probably the invisible way
― ufo, Sunday, 27 June 2021 13:21 (one year ago) link
Top of my head (lowest to highest):
17. The Invisible Way16. C'mon15. Ones and Sixes14. Transmission EP13. The Great Destroyer12. Long Division11. Songs For A Dead Pilot10. Christmas EP09. In The Fishtank EP08. Things We Lost In the Fire07. Curtain Hits the Cast06. I Could Live In Hope05. Trust04. Bombscare EP03. Secret Name02. Drums & Guns01. Double Negative
Been a fan since 1996, and love everything except for what feels like a little fallow period right before they burned the fields for 'Double Negative'. I first loved them for their purity--but I loved their thawing and expanding (and in some ways, darkening) that they underwent, first culminating in 'Drums & Guns'.
I love that they easily could've semi-retired into safely profitable middle-aged folksy sweetness, putting out pretty, pleasant records and aging up their audience--but instead (while being clearly deeply kind and giving people) they've pushed into the chaos of the world and made work that is risky, starkly honest, beautiful but not "pretty".
― Soundslike, Sunday, 27 June 2021 14:22 (one year ago) link
1 things we lost in the fire2 curtain hits the cast3 i could live in hope 4 secret name5 double negative6 long division7 trust8 c'mon9 christmas10 ones and sixes
not fussed about the others...
― maelin, Sunday, 27 June 2021 14:40 (one year ago) link
c'mon is great, a return to the rich arrangements of things we lost in the fire except bigger & more expansive, with the second half shifting towards their slower side
and ones and sixes isn't quite as consistent as their very best work but i really love the sound design on it, playing around with distorted synths & drum machines, it vaguely bridges drums and guns and double negative
― ufo, Sunday, 27 June 2021 14:53 (one year ago) link
I'll have to give that period another shot. After the thrill of 'Drums & Guns' they just felt like a regression to me, didn't make an impact at the time...
― Soundslike, Sunday, 27 June 2021 15:02 (one year ago) link
I think I’ve said this before but if you do this in order—listen to Drums & Guns, then watch the documentary, then listen to C’mon—I think that’s where the beauty of C’mon comes through. It’s Alan trying to come back, and Mimi not letting go. I think it’s an absolute stunner of a record if you think of it in context of the truly low point they were coming from (no pun intended).
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Sunday, 27 June 2021 15:23 (one year ago) link
I hated that their greatest work seemed to come from their time of most personal struggle... Makes me hapoy that Alan instrad seemed invigorated and happy and talkative, when touring 'Double Negative'...
Might as well share this here, in case anyone is interested:
https://www.twitter.com/musicophiliamix/status/1409177021876408320
― Soundslike, Sunday, 27 June 2021 15:54 (one year ago) link
CurtainTrustLost in the FireLive in HopeSecret NameDouble NegativeLong DivisionOnes and Sixes
The only record rated highly by some fans that I just can't get into is 'Cmon,' which will always be second to last (before Invisible Way) for me.
― heyy nineteen, that's john belushi (the table is the table), Monday, 28 June 2021 11:12 (one year ago) link
play it on a morning as soon as you get up. its a perfect morning record
― maelin, Wednesday, 30 June 2021 17:21 (one year ago) link
it sounds like new life after a long proverbial nightmare to me
Or just play Nothing But Heart and Witches
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 30 June 2021 17:23 (one year ago) link
The first album I got at the time was "Long Division" and I found it quite dull. Then I heard their version of "Transmission" (on the Joy Division cover album "A Means to an End") and was stunned. Just by slowing it down, they added something to the song. Listening to their cover was like watching a flower open up to the sun in the morning in real-time. I also loved that making a song slower also usually makes it longer which is perfect if you love the song. Yesterday I listened to their first album "I Could Live in Hope" for the first time and was totally overwhelmed. A perfect album for last night when the storm and rain hit hard outside. So warm and cosy, like a warm blanket to cover yourself with and hide from the tough world around.
― walking towards the sun since 2007 (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 1 July 2021 13:44 (one year ago) link
Low has done some beautiful covers with Transmission near or at the top of the list. Great description Alex. Starting with a very different song I also love their cover of the Bee Gee's I Started A Joke. Has some of Mimi's best vocals.
― that's not my post, Thursday, 1 July 2021 14:36 (one year ago) link
Agreed that their covers are often sublime, my favorite is this one, which just absolutely transforms a sort of frenetic, post-punk Soul Coughing track into something that sends shivers up my spine. They have a way of bringing out the most haunting and strange parts of a song's lyrics— even the way Alan sings "sluggin' down fruit juice" feels profoundly sad and desperate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZs1ruwPBQs
― heyy nineteen, that's john belushi (the table is the table), Thursday, 1 July 2021 14:52 (one year ago) link
If Low ever hits a writer's block patch--thry *really* need to do a full-on covers record. Few modern acts make a cove their own like Low.
Another fall-back option that would surely pay dividends: an all-string-quartet or small chamber ensemble type album.
Or they could do like The Knife did and re-record older songs in their current style--hearing old songs filtered through the fuzz/glitching angels sound of 'Double Negative' was awesome on the 2019 tour.
― Soundslike, Thursday, 1 July 2021 21:16 (one year ago) link
Yeah, Low and Afghan Whigs are pretty much the best bands for covers.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 1 July 2021 21:31 (one year ago) link
That is a great cover, ttitt. I don't know the original but I am sure that it will disappoint me. Maybe that is the lackmus test for a great cover. That song really sounds so much like a Low original that it hurts. What Soundslike said.
― walking towards the sun since 2007 (alex in mainhattan), Friday, 2 July 2021 15:20 (one year ago) link
Haha the original will certainly disappoint you but you ought to hear it just to see what Low did with it.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, 2 July 2021 15:40 (one year ago) link
i didn't expect it but i really liked the original. post-punk a decade later. vibrant, melodic & a little dissonant at the same time, great stuff.
― walking towards the sun since 2007 (alex in mainhattan), Monday, 5 July 2021 19:54 (one year ago) link
the album has l34ked but I'm waiting :-)
― StanM, Wednesday, 7 July 2021 08:55 (one year ago) link
i'm less than 2 minutes in and it's sure lived up to bj saying it will be the first time you've heard a guitar
― ufo, Wednesday, 7 July 2021 09:28 (one year ago) link
they sure did it again
― ufo, Wednesday, 7 July 2021 10:20 (one year ago) link
awwww
Love it! Great backup singin’! https://t.co/4qhUEgOvQO— LOW (@lowtheband) July 3, 2021
― StanM, Wednesday, 7 July 2021 16:59 (one year ago) link
Holy shit at this album, like Depeche Mode meets Neil Young meets Autechre. I love it, my family will hate it!
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 8 July 2021 01:15 (one year ago) link
Haven't given in to temptation yet--but very encouraged to hear it sounds like Low is staying at the weirder end of their spectrum. I love weird Low.
― Soundslike, Thursday, 8 July 2021 02:10 (one year ago) link
When the RIAA knock down my door and ask why I did it, I'll point them to Josh in Chicago's last post
― Vinnie, Thursday, 8 July 2021 02:18 (one year ago) link
it's the good sort of sequel, where they're continuing what they were doing on Double Negative but not just repeating themselves
Double Negative was really submerged in a sea of noise but this time they're sailing on top of it more
― ufo, Thursday, 8 July 2021 02:37 (one year ago) link
the opening track is everything I ever wanted from them
― self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Thursday, 8 July 2021 03:55 (one year ago) link
unsurprisingly this is good as hell. "more" is like their "velocity girl" or some shit, wonderful little nugget that adds a lot to the album in two minutes. I have a hard time imagining anyone who liked DN being disappointed with this.
― intern at pelican brief consulting (Simon H.), Thursday, 8 July 2021 16:30 (one year ago) link
I've gotten so much enjoyment out of this band for close to 30 years and rarely had to pay for a thing (legally), but goddammit I just bought a t-shirt.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 8 July 2021 17:29 (one year ago) link
i saw them as part of a festival so it was a one-off (i think) so there wasn't any merch
― self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Thursday, 8 July 2021 17:37 (one year ago) link
I bought a ticket for a Low show in May '22 - these crazy times, still
― StanM, Thursday, 8 July 2021 17:41 (one year ago) link
I followed Josh in Chicago's good example and bought a shirt. This album goes from "pretty dang good!" to "this is unreal" right after Days Like These.
― yeah but how, Thursday, 8 July 2021 17:42 (one year ago) link
I was like, "well I can hold out a few more weeks...." not realizing it's still two more months! Damn, this is going to be a rough wait.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 8 July 2021 17:52 (one year ago) link
double negative was a distant transmission from another planet and on this one it's actually happening there, if that makes any sense
― ufo, Thursday, 8 July 2021 18:03 (one year ago) link
A friend said "they went from disintegrating to evaporating" and I think that's on the same level, ufo. Makes sense to me.
― yeah but how, Thursday, 8 July 2021 18:10 (one year ago) link
Low definitely put out some of the weirdest merch in the past - the fridge magnet lyrics tin is special but why I have a Low pillowcase is anyone's guess...
― Well *I* know who he is (aldo), Thursday, 8 July 2021 18:11 (one year ago) link
is the artwork a 3d/hologram type thing? their site seems to suggest so: https://www.chairkickers.com/
― StanM, Thursday, 8 July 2021 18:13 (one year ago) link
The new one and the last one, without trying to be hyperbolic, they sound like someone waking up one morning and just somehow knowing a new language, and then immediately trying to do something with that new language. Or, I dunno, discovering a new tuning, or finding a new color. Totally in line with everything else they've done but done totally different than everything else they've made. I also love the idea of music (like these last two albums) that are literally impossible to replicate live. Perform, sure, and they were amazing on the last tour. But the music as recorded, however clearly fussed over ... I don't know, I think it's fascinating that they had to write these songs, with lyrics and melodies, then record them, blow them up, bend them out of shape, destroy them and rebuild them in the studio, and then, live, they have to do it all over again, finding their way back to each song's roots and melodies, because the sonic stuff of the recent is exclusively a product of studio experiments.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 8 July 2021 18:27 (one year ago) link
― Well *I* know who he is (aldo), Thursday, July 8, 2021 bookmarkflaglink
I love my Double Negative dishtowel.
Also one of my favorite band t-shirts ever was from a real early Low show - I think it was around the time of Curtain Hits the Cast. It was basically the Jaws movie poster - a blue t-shirt with the shark rising out of the water, teeth bared, and in big bold orange letters, LOW.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Thursday, 8 July 2021 19:12 (one year ago) link
bj burton is a fucking genius and is the sound of RIGHT NOW.
― maelin, Thursday, 8 July 2021 21:21 (one year ago) link
the cover art thing is called spectral decoding. bright eyes did it with cassadaga
― maelin, Thursday, 8 July 2021 21:23 (one year ago) link
cool, thanks!
― StanM, Thursday, 8 July 2021 21:24 (one year ago) link
I don't really know much about Burton and was surprised how pop-oriented much of his production work is. But I did find this crazy accurate interview quote from a couple of years back:
... bands you’re highly motivated to work with because of their back catalogue?“Have you heard of the band Low? They’ve never written a bad song. They put out an acoustic album and I had this vision of pushing them to make the most beautiful, distorted, post-apocalyptic record – the sort of thing you’d find 2,000 years ago if you dug the earth up. We made that record and it’s one of the favourite albums I’ve ever made.”
“Have you heard of the band Low? They’ve never written a bad song. They put out an acoustic album and I had this vision of pushing them to make the most beautiful, distorted, post-apocalyptic record – the sort of thing you’d find 2,000 years ago if you dug the earth up. We made that record and it’s one of the favourite albums I’ve ever made.”
It looks like he posted a bunch to this thread about the making of Double Negative:
https://gearspace.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-and-electronic-music-production/1261587-lows-double-negative-sound-awesome-production-info.html
This is a good summation:
I got a lot of **** from mastering engineers, so I ended up mastering it myself...those guys are so scared. but if it sounds good, and the soul is there, then it will translate. no rules
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 8 July 2021 21:33 (one year ago) link
From that interview I learned that Alan uses a lot of Red Panda's Particle pedal, which, when you hear this ...yeah:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXUfj6y4NO0
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 8 July 2021 21:35 (one year ago) link
I don't really know much about Burton and was surprised how pop-oriented much of his production work is.
apart from his work with Low, he's probably best known for being part of Bon Iver's inner circle, co-writing & playing a ton of stuff on their last two albums & occasionally being a touring member
his work on last year's Charli album was fantastic & full of the noise he's known for with Low. the Japanese House album was also excellent
i wanna hear him work with Lambchop next, he'd be really well aligned with their direction the last few albums
― ufo, Friday, 9 July 2021 03:42 (one year ago) link
This is pretty great, taking some of the strands of Double Negative and running with them. it has a distinctly different mood but with mostly the same toolbox. "Hey" is the big standout to me so far, it's beautiful
― Vinnie, Friday, 9 July 2021 09:57 (one year ago) link
Also yeah, between Charli, Japanese House, and Low, I've loved every Burton production that I've heard
― Vinnie, Friday, 9 July 2021 11:02 (one year ago) link
I'd forgotten all about Charli XCX, I'll have to check that out. Looks like Burton has produced a ton of stuff I've never even heard of. The Empress Of, Kacy Hill, Banks, Francis and the Lights ... I can only imagine that some of these things sound cool, too, but the problem is that they're not Low, so odds are they are nowhere near as good as Low.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 9 July 2021 12:48 (one year ago) link
(burton also produced the upcoming kacey musgraves record)
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Friday, 9 July 2021 12:51 (one year ago) link
!! Now that gets my attention.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 9 July 2021 13:01 (one year ago) link
oooh
I hope the closer on this one portends the sound of the next one the way "disarray" sort of ended up doing. I am ready for an all-doomy-bangers Low album with Burton on board.
― intern at pelican brief consulting (Simon H.), Friday, 9 July 2021 13:04 (one year ago) link
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Friday, 9 July 2021 16:01 (one year ago) link
I'm having a hard time emotionally right now deliberating over whether to just listen to the leak already or not. Just tell me it's okay because I plan on buying the record when it's out, okay?
― octobeard, Friday, 9 July 2021 16:42 (one year ago) link
relistening to double negative to whet my appetite since i'm still undecided on the leak. "always up" might be one of the most beautiful songs of all time
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Friday, 9 July 2021 17:32 (one year ago) link
any of y'all feeling guilty and weird about the leak spotify users by any chance? lmao
just listen to it and then buy it when it comes out!
― maelin, Friday, 9 July 2021 18:06 (one year ago) link
i mean, i already bought the album. for me it's more about wanting to blast my ears out on the hifi with FLACs rather than the dodgy mp3 leak
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Friday, 9 July 2021 18:29 (one year ago) link
I wouldn't worry about that, this album sometimes sounds like your stereo has been pre-busted.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 9 July 2021 18:39 (one year ago) link
paradoxically it's my experience that noize and productions that are made to 'sound like shit' are the ones to suffer most from mp3 encoding. out of curiosity, i took a look at the spectrograms from double negative to see what kind of imperceptible musical info it was throwing away. here's a comparison of flac vs 320 cbr mp3 for tempest.
i don't want to derail the thread into a lossless vs lossy argument, just an interesting observation i wanted to share.
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Friday, 9 July 2021 20:14 (one year ago) link
OMFG at "Hey".
― Tim F, Saturday, 10 July 2021 01:00 (one year ago) link
“Hey” >>> “Days Like These” 🔥🔥🔥🔥 Mind blown!!!
― vinyljunkie, Saturday, 10 July 2021 19:11 (one year ago) link
wow i had no idea burton was working on the kacey musgraves album, that's super exciting
i found an interview where burton said he did some stuff with dj quik in 2019, which he described as his dream collaboration, really hope that sees the light of day
― ufo, Sunday, 11 July 2021 13:44 (one year ago) link
i noticed something kinda weird. everytime i listen to the stuttering outro to white horses, it sounds like its at a different pitch..??? anyone else experiencing this? super fascinating illusion
― maelin, Thursday, 15 July 2021 19:03 (one year ago) link
The notes slowly increase in pitch if that's what you mean. But as a whole the outro sounds the same each time I listen
― Vinnie, Thursday, 15 July 2021 22:10 (one year ago) link
that outro sounds like a Lindstrom mix gearing up or something
― intern at pelican brief consulting (Simon H.), Thursday, 15 July 2021 22:25 (one year ago) link
i just felt like every time i've had the record on they've resolved differently, maybe something to do with the harmonic interval, or maybe just my busted old ears.
― maelin, Thursday, 15 July 2021 22:48 (one year ago) link
is that what variable bitrate means? :-D
― StanM, Friday, 16 July 2021 04:34 (one year ago) link
SOMEWHERE OUT ON THE OCEAN...20.07.217:00 PT | 9:00 CT | 15:00 BST pic.twitter.com/BAQSpG05oP— Sub Pop Records (@subpop) July 19, 2021
― StanM, Monday, 19 July 2021 16:25 (one year ago) link
ok ok - it's maybe not them but they retweeted it and they were going to release some more songs from the album during the Summer
― StanM, Monday, 19 July 2021 16:26 (one year ago) link
so, the new bass player is Liz?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CRZk5cqDxSF/
― StanM, Monday, 19 July 2021 16:32 (one year ago) link
Right. Disappearing is coming out tomorrow and that tweet screenshot IS from the video.
― StanM, Monday, 19 July 2021 16:41 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9JyjipKBJk
― StanM, Tuesday, 20 July 2021 14:29 (one year ago) link
amazing video
i'm so excited for this album
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Tuesday, 20 July 2021 14:42 (one year ago) link
"Disappearing" was not a song that caught me much so far but it works great with those visuals
― Vinnie, Wednesday, 21 July 2021 11:45 (one year ago) link
Did anyone ever buy that Japanese Double Negative for the bonus track? I heard it on a radio show, that bonus track, but I'd love to have a CD rip of it without paying 50 bucks for the one song.
― whisper3978, Monday, 2 August 2021 03:15 (one year ago) link
you should be able to find it, "it's all been done", on soulseek
― ufo, Monday, 2 August 2021 03:44 (one year ago) link
Damn, you weren't messing around. I haven't used Soulseek for 15 years, but right there it was. Appreciate your help, ufo.
― whisper3978, Monday, 2 August 2021 04:13 (one year ago) link
Today is the 25th anniversary of 'The Curtain Hits the Cast.'
― heyy nineteen, that's john belushi (the table is the table), Saturday, 14 August 2021 01:18 (one year ago) link
How they made More (single coming out next week)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CShwo23FMDs/
― StanM, Saturday, 14 August 2021 08:47 (one year ago) link
it's for certain / i never thought i'd last / i never thought the sea would try
― maelin, Saturday, 14 August 2021 11:39 (one year ago) link
That pedal chain is awesome but, phew, probably $1300 of boutique box effects.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 14 August 2021 12:19 (one year ago) link
still can't get over how good the guitar on "white horses" is
― ufo, Sunday, 15 August 2021 04:35 (one year ago) link
have been going through rarities i'd never heard before and wow "half light" sure is unique in their catalogue. kinda reminds me of songs of faith and devotion?
― ufo, Sunday, 15 August 2021 04:42 (one year ago) link
oh yeah, that Mothman Prophecies OST thing, right - hadn't heard that in a long time. you're not wrong!
― StanM, Sunday, 15 August 2021 06:37 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfQQvHvIPHI
― StanM, Tuesday, 17 August 2021 14:09 (one year ago) link
that's an interesting video -- all fake, plastic, manufactured tools and items, but with real human force to drive them to use them, all for nothing
― Karl Malone, Tuesday, 17 August 2021 14:13 (one year ago) link
I had to go look up The Knife's Handyman video to see how similar I remember it being (not very)
― StanM, Tuesday, 17 August 2021 15:45 (one year ago) link
Exploring Peter Rehberg's catalog since I had only heard a few things over the years, this song reminds me too much of Double Negative (specifically the noisy part of "Tempest") not to share here:
https://pitaemego.bandcamp.com/track/get-out-3
― cwkiii, Tuesday, 24 August 2021 17:19 (one year ago) link
classic
― Linda and Jodie Rocco (map), Tuesday, 24 August 2021 19:32 (one year ago) link
https://pitchfork.com/features/interview/low-band-alan-sparhawk-hey-what/
nice interview, alan thinks 100 gecs are great
― ufo, Thursday, 2 September 2021 10:01 (one year ago) link
nice boots
― micah, Thursday, 2 September 2021 12:35 (one year ago) link
Only one more week. I've put off listening to anything form this so far, after Double Negative I want to wait and savor the whole thing.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 2 September 2021 12:36 (one year ago) link
didnt realize theyd lost their bass player? i liked steve!
― maelin, Thursday, 2 September 2021 17:11 (one year ago) link
I want to see technology break as much as it has broken me.
damn
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Thursday, 2 September 2021 23:14 (one year ago) link
yeah that line hit me like a ton of bricks too
― octobeard, Friday, 3 September 2021 23:24 (one year ago) link
The same thing as ever ; great early on and got worse as they progressed.
― ^TwIn*InFiNiTiVeS^, Saturday, 4 September 2021 15:48 (one year ago) link
*AIR HORN*
― Karl Malone, Saturday, 4 September 2021 15:52 (one year ago) link
hhhYYOOOOOoooooooonk
you make a good point i guess i'd never thought of it that way.
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Saturday, 4 September 2021 17:24 (one year ago) link
welp, you've convinced me - I'm no longer a fan. Thanks!
― StanM, Saturday, 4 September 2021 18:22 (one year ago) link
they did start out really well
― Karl Malone, Saturday, 4 September 2021 18:24 (one year ago) link
but an attack is followed by a decay. that's the physics of sound. the decay may be sustained, but in will eventually be released. i think we know what stage of low we're at now
― Karl Malone, Saturday, 4 September 2021 18:25 (one year ago) link
seeing their release show next weekend. intimate affair in the woods (~250 attendees? if that?). stoked
― global tetrahedron, Saturday, 4 September 2021 20:12 (one year ago) link
"the same thing as ever" is really funny to say about a band that has made shifts in their sound as radical as double negative & drums and guns
― ufo, Saturday, 4 September 2021 22:12 (one year ago) link
Always hitting a new LOW
― Evan, Saturday, 4 September 2021 23:32 (one year ago) link
More goes really hard and I love it.
― Van Horn Street, Saturday, 4 September 2021 23:37 (one year ago) link
I haven’t paid attention to them since Long Division, since their sound did nothing for me (I was all about beats n’bass in 1996), and just figured since then it’s been 25 years of the same. Boy was I wrong!!! :(
― Derek and Clive Get the Horn Street (Boring, Maryland), Saturday, 4 September 2021 23:54 (one year ago) link
― ^TwIn*InFiNiTiVeS^, Saturday, September 4, 2021
don't feel this. they are one of the few bands who got better
― Dan S, Sunday, 5 September 2021 02:21 (one year ago) link
their best periods are their early stuff & this current one
― ufo, Sunday, 5 September 2021 02:29 (one year ago) link
Haven't heard the new one yet, but I don't care for their avant stuff. I like them soft & mellow.
― joni mitchell jarre (anagram), Sunday, 5 September 2021 05:15 (one year ago) link
btw the new (touring, at least) bass player is Liz Draper
http://giantstepsmusic.org/liz-draper/https://www.instagram.com/lizdraperbass/
― StanM, Sunday, 5 September 2021 06:25 (one year ago) link
xp you probably won't like the new one then, it's the loudest they've ever been. imo it's one of their very best though
― ufo, Sunday, 5 September 2021 06:59 (one year ago) link
Low have made one of my favorite albums of the decade for every decade they’ve existed. Curtain (90s), Fire (00s), Double Negative (10s).
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Sunday, 5 September 2021 18:20 (one year ago) link
that's because they're the best
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 5 September 2021 20:10 (one year ago) link
https://toneglow.substack.com/p/tone-glow-077-low
good interview in tone glow, really gets into their dynamic as a band
― ufo, Tuesday, 7 September 2021 00:45 (one year ago) link
yes was also coming here to post that, its a great read
― Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Tuesday, 7 September 2021 08:01 (one year ago) link
i've been going back through the early instagram performances of the new material & it's fascinating to see how their ideas evolved from very straight forward arrangements before they got into the studio, to the album's walls of distortion with barely any percussion at all
― ufo, Tuesday, 7 September 2021 11:44 (one year ago) link
i never even realised there's only prominent drums on a single track until i saw it mentioned in an interview recently
― ufo, Tuesday, 7 September 2021 11:52 (one year ago) link
alan thinks 100 gecs are great
― ufo, Thursday, September 2, 2021 6:01 AM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink
does he? I didn't necessarily get that impression from the quote. I think he was referring generally to stuff like the Paul Anka thing that was hyperlinked. Sorry but I'm having a difficult time imagining Alan and Mimi listening to that between like harvesting their beets and praying before bed
― Paul Ponzi, Tuesday, 7 September 2021 13:29 (one year ago) link
it's ambiguous but "That’s what young people should be doing—they should be smashing it and building their own vocabulary" sounds more like 100 gecs etc. than the Paul Anka Playing From Another Room video.
it'd make sense if he's at least a little familiar enough with them to think they're great, he's actually not too far removed from that whole world via the bj burton connection
― ufo, Tuesday, 7 September 2021 13:40 (one year ago) link
― ufo, Tuesday, 7 September 2021 13:41 (one year ago) link
ah whoops
anyway i can totally imagine burton having played them for him & alan going "oh the distortion rules" etc
― ufo, Tuesday, 7 September 2021 13:42 (one year ago) link
Alan and Mimi listening to that between like harvesting their beets and praying before bed
the fact that they do both is kinda what makes them so fascinating
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Tuesday, 7 September 2021 16:56 (one year ago) link
― Dan S, Sunday, September 5, 2021 2:21 AM (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink==============================================================================Dan, I suppose I should have explained that better. As some people here are implying, I don't mean that Low still sound "the same as ever" - more that (for me anyway, and like a LOT of bands I am a fan of), they just stuck around too long, making not-so-great records compared to their first flush. I do like some of "Trust" but "Things we lost in the fire" just sounded tired. From what I heard of subsequent albums, I wasn't enthused - didn't have any of the qualities that drew me to the band in the first place. Particularly disliked "Double negative" - just sounds like someone off WARP remixing Low. Hate that cold, inhuman, non-spiritual sound.
― ^TwIn*InFiNiTiVeS^, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 13:07 (one year ago) link
they just stuck around too long, making not-so-great records compared to their first flush. I do like some of "Trust" but "Things we lost in the fire" just sounded tired.
This is like challop bingo.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 14:20 (one year ago) link
Hate that cold, inhuman, non-spiritual sound.
I have the feeling Low are now what My Bloody Valentine was in 1991. The cutting edge of rock music. Making noise tuneful (and soulful). Truly innovative.
― walking towards the sun since 2007 (alex in mainhattan), Wednesday, 8 September 2021 14:33 (one year ago) link
they just stuck around too long, making not-so-great records compared to their first flush. I do like some of "Trust" but "Things we lost in the fire" just sounded tired.This is like challop bingo.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, September 8, 2021 2:20 PM (twenty-one minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
===================
I am sorry Josh in Chicago, that does not compute.
― ^TwIn*InFiNiTiVeS^, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 14:42 (one year ago) link
seeing as Double Negative was ILM AOTY, you're going to have a hard time getting people to agree with you on here
― Mr. Cacciatore (Moodles), Wednesday, 8 September 2021 14:46 (one year ago) link
xpost Well, to me they do not sound like a band that's stuck around too long, "Things We Lost" is a contender for *best* album, "Trust" came out *before* "Fire," etc. Regardless, the new one and the last one show a band that's been around for decades still capable of surprise, even if said surprise may disappoint or annoy some. There are other (often still good) bands that have clearly stuck around too long, imo, especially compared to Low.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 14:47 (one year ago) link
"they just stuck around too long, making not-so-great records compared to their first flush. "
This is an absurd opinion. You might not like their direction but this description seems totally off the mark.
― husked, tonal wails (irrational), Wednesday, 8 September 2021 14:52 (one year ago) link
I used to write comments like that when a band branched out from a genre style I was overly dedicated to. Sounds like they developed their sound and it wasn’t to Twin’s taste and they’re confusing that with the idea that band itself is floundering.
― Evan, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 14:57 (one year ago) link
https://miro.medium.com/max/1250/1*DfGZPjzlD-bwGMrtTcGVsQ.jpeg
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 15:00 (one year ago) link
― husked, tonal wails (irrational), Wednesday, September 8, 2021 2:52 PM (seventeen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
=======
Sorry Husked - I just checked with the opinion patent office and it's actually registered as a valid one.
― ^TwIn*InFiNiTiVeS^, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 15:14 (one year ago) link
― Evan, Wednesday, September 8, 2021 2:57 PM (sixteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink==================================I'm not confusing a change of tack with an objective drop in quality. To me, what I've heard of their later work just doesn't move me as much as their earlier work - therefore I think it's not so great - it's not an even remotely controversial opinion to hold !
― ^TwIn*InFiNiTiVeS^, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 15:18 (one year ago) link
i do think it's valid!
it's good when people disagree, it stirs up the pot a little too. i generally prefer their earlier stuff, too, though i include Things We Lost in the Fire in that too (maybe since it was the first I heard and got obsessed with). the new albums are very good and fully contemporary, which is a really hard trick for a band going on...carry the 2...65 years now. but if you were obsessed with the (_beautiful_) sounds of their first albums, the absolute quiet and the intensity - that stuff is still there now, but it's balanced by waves of noise and filtering. it's quite different, and - like all music - not objectively "better" or "worse"
― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 15:20 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdH3mTpjq-U
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 September 2021 15:32 (one year ago) link
i never got around to making any sort of point, sorry. instead i did the preamble where i was like "both sides!"
but what i meant to say was i totally get someone who exclusively listens to low's 90s material only and prefers it. i wouldn't put it in terms of "they got worse", but "they got different". sometimes just holding onto the original perfect gemstone is fine
― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 15:37 (one year ago) link
<i>cold, inhuman, non-spiritual </i>
These are not words I would describe Double Negative or the new one. I've been the reverse of Twin - when I discovered the band (late 90's) I thought they were interesting but boring. Hadn't heard anything from them for 20 years and then Double Negative comes out and it clicks. They're peaking right now and making me revisit their old stuff again.
Maybe in time the warmth, humanity and spirituality of these last two records will shine through for you.
― octobeard, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 16:58 (one year ago) link
I'm not confusing a change of tack with an objective drop in quality. To me, what I've heard of their later work just doesn't move me as much as their earlier work - therefore I think it's not so great - it's not an even remotely controversial opinion to hold !
― ^TwIn*InFiNiTiVeS^, Wednesday, September 8, 2021 11:18 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink
You'd originally framed it as the band getting worse, not just that it doesn't move you as much. I was responding to that. I have nothing against you saying the post-90s material is not for you.
― Evan, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 17:14 (one year ago) link
I will come clean and say that I prefer everything up to and including "Trust" to anything they made after, and my preference is pretty strong. But Low are among my favorite bands, so I also love the newer stuff, barring "Cmon" and "The Invisible Way." The latter suffers from Tweedy's production and staid songwriting, and the former just doesn't click with me. I've tried many times, even within the past year because of this thread, and I just don't hear anything in it that grabs me.
The first six records tho? whew.
― Kind regards, Anus (the table is the table), Wednesday, 8 September 2021 19:54 (one year ago) link
If we're talking the NEW new stuff, then I am much more enthusiastic. Everything since "Ones and Sixes" has been great...there were just a few years there where I get a little 'eh'
― Kind regards, Anus (the table is the table), Wednesday, 8 September 2021 19:56 (one year ago) link
Which, yknow, addiction and the aftermath, maybe that has something to do with it.
I swear I will never understand the whole "Tweedy's production" thing on Invisible Way...like I know he's the dad rock boogie man so you gotta distance yourself but seriously it just sounds like an organically, pretty naturalistic record, not even that far from Things we Lost in the Fire....if it were the same exact record done by Jimmy McProducerhead no one would ever mention the production
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvqMfZE41pY
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 September 2021 20:10 (one year ago) link
You're probably right, but a bunch of sub-par songs in his hands is not great.
― Kind regards, Anus (the table is the table), Wednesday, 8 September 2021 20:28 (one year ago) link
It also sounds like he's pushing the Tweed to 11
Oh, did I hear a dustmote? Jeff Tweedy must have produced it.
― Kind regards, Anus (the table is the table), Wednesday, 8 September 2021 20:29 (one year ago) link
they've said the acoustic direction on the invisible way was less about tweedy pushing them in that sort of direction and more just that his studio had lots of great acoustic instrumentation they decided to play around with. the songs are unusually weak for them though yeah
double negative really is a masterpiece on the level of kid a or loveless, etc., finding that real sweet spot between experimentation and accessibility
― ufo, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 20:37 (one year ago) link
"on my own" is the single gem on the invisible way
― ufo, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 20:43 (one year ago) link
i remember liking "amethyst" but its been a while
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 20:50 (one year ago) link
new album gives me "royalty free inspirational youtube music" vibes. still good tho.
― kurt schwitterz, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 20:57 (one year ago) link
C'mon is my favorite of their later period ones, the rest didn't click as much with me. still need to spend more time with double negative though
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 20:57 (one year ago) link
― Kind regards, Anus (the table is the table), Wednesday, September 8, 2021 3:28 PM (thirty-seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
i think it's probably the least of their albums but if, say, they had come to his studio with all the songs off secret name or TWLITF i don't think the conversation would be about tweedy's (to my ears) fairly hands off sounding production it would be about all the great songs
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 September 2021 21:08 (one year ago) link
ums otm. I know there's a kneejerk hatred for Wilco and Tweedy around here but I think he takes a really unfair share of the blame for that record.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 8 September 2021 21:11 (one year ago) link
i'd bet his method isn't real different than albini's - have the band play really good quality instruments and set up really expensive microphones and then record
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 September 2021 21:16 (one year ago) link
I think we're all subject to both good or bad brand perception from time to time despite the actual quality of the product.
― Evan, Wednesday, 8 September 2021 21:29 (one year ago) link
i'm listening to every low album in a row and i'm very depressed
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Thursday, 9 September 2021 20:09 (one year ago) link
Counterbalance it. Watch all the Fast and the Furious movies in a row or something.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 9 September 2021 20:13 (one year ago) link
It's funny, I don't find them depressing, I find them deeply spiritual experiences.
― Kind regards, Anus (the table is the table), Thursday, 9 September 2021 21:10 (one year ago) link
I don't mind the low-key (ha) production on Invisible Way as a change of pace, and the Mimi songs are great (Just Make It Stop is one of their best!).
Also just learned that the guy who produced C'mon (which sounds amazing imo) was Katy Perry's touring guitarist/MD and does vocal production for huge pop records: http://mcdman.com/beckley
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 9 September 2021 21:27 (one year ago) link
first two albums are pretty depressing, to me, it's different after that though
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Thursday, 9 September 2021 21:29 (one year ago) link
secret name has one of their bleakest atmospheres imo
― ufo, Thursday, 9 September 2021 21:36 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sebDnwlEnPs
― StanM, Friday, 10 September 2021 12:44 (one year ago) link
― ufo, Thursday, September 9, 2021 2:36 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
i guess we're all revealing that we have very different ideas about low and certain low records, but i find the atmosphere of secret name overwhelmingly warm. just on the surface the addition of strings and keyboards and albini's recording does so much to make their sound inviting instead of what it was before: awesome but at times forbiddingly minimal, especially in the stretched out silences of the curtain hits the cast (which is not a criticism, curtain is still my favorite early low record). and these new additions are only applied with the subtlest of touches! it's remarkable
if we were talking about long division though, absolutely
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Friday, 10 September 2021 13:38 (one year ago) link
low songs that somehow contain their entire career within them:
do you know how to waltz?don't understand
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Friday, 10 September 2021 13:39 (one year ago) link
Nice review on p4k today, as if I wasn't already excited enough to hear this. I've avoided everything so far and my copy should be awaiting me when I get home from work today.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 10 September 2021 13:40 (one year ago) link
oh yeah long division is the other one i find really bleak, probably their most glacial apart from songs for a dead pilot, which is a real extreme of their sound.
the curtain hits the cast & i can live in hope aren't quite as bleak to me, there's a faint warmth to them, while at times on secret name that warmth goes out completely - "i remember", "don't understand" and "days of" especially.
― ufo, Friday, 10 September 2021 13:49 (one year ago) link
i guess even on the darker parts of i could in hope, like "cut", there's still some sort of catharsis
― ufo, Friday, 10 September 2021 13:54 (one year ago) link
maybe the more appropriate contrast how warm secret name seems to me is songs for a dead pilot, which is slowcore so pushed to its limit that it fragments and goes abstract
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Friday, 10 September 2021 14:06 (one year ago) link
this is btw the best band of all time
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Friday, 10 September 2021 14:07 (one year ago) link
there's definitely moments of real warmth on secret name but when it's bleak it's really bleak, which is what colours it that way for me. i get what you mean
i really can't think of any band with a better overall discography, it's really ridiculous how good they are
― ufo, Friday, 10 September 2021 14:12 (one year ago) link
there's definitely moments of real warmth on ________ but when it's bleak it's really bleak
This is the description of pretty much every Low album. No album is entirely warm nor entirely bleak. What’s interesting to me is that they have been bleak in a dozen different ways, and their warmth is one of the most beautiful things in music.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, 10 September 2021 14:39 (one year ago) link
Hell, there are some individual Low songs that are both warm and bleak. The verses of "(That's How You Sing) Amazing Grace" are spare and glacial-feeling, and the chorus is soaring and warm.
― Kind regards, Anus (the table is the table), Friday, 10 September 2021 15:58 (one year ago) link
I resisted downloading before just now, eugh this record is so good.
― Kind regards, Anus (the table is the table), Friday, 10 September 2021 15:59 (one year ago) link
Ok this rules.
I wanted to love the last two like I'm loving this.
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 10 September 2021 16:02 (one year ago) link
Yes it does. The way White Horses starts is amazing, as is the way it segues into I Can Wait.
― willem, Friday, 10 September 2021 16:17 (one year ago) link
did not know:
Fun fact: the vinyl mix of C’mon is actually different than the digital, as we kept skipping the needle during vinyl mastering, so had to re approach the mix ¯\_(ツ)_/¯— matt Beckley (@teneightEight) September 10, 2021
― StanM, Friday, 10 September 2021 16:39 (one year ago) link
That's pretty common, right? Gotta be increasingly common given how loud records are often mixed/mastered these days.
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 10 September 2021 16:47 (one year ago) link
Esp lots of deep electronic bass, the first record by the band Police is actually mono because they couldn't accommodate the bass in stereo
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 10 September 2021 16:54 (one year ago) link
Nice review on p4k today
lol "8.4," I guess that's where the dart landed. It's shame the band just played the 'Fork fest in 2019, because if ever there were a weekend when Low should be on the bill it's this one.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 10 September 2021 17:07 (one year ago) link
they are playing a really cool outdoor festival called the square lake festival tonight and tomorrow night in mn, hoping to score a way in, but it should be lovely, i would imagine this is more their speed, hoping to get a way in even though it's sold out
https://www.squarelakefestival.com/
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 10 September 2021 17:38 (one year ago) link
The album fucking rules
― a gentle push against my Wonder Bread face (DJP), Friday, 10 September 2021 19:44 (one year ago) link
xposts warm and bleak go together naturally i think. depression/sadness is often like a warm blanket you wrap around yourself; it can become the most comfortable
― "HYYOOOOOOONK!" is the sound I make (Karl Malone), Friday, 10 September 2021 20:42 (one year ago) link
Lol @your dn DJP
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 10 September 2021 21:39 (one year ago) link
Andy Bell & co. singing "HEY WHAT the hell you think you've done" every time I think about this album
― the adventures of pavlo and schrödis (geoffreyess), Friday, 10 September 2021 22:23 (one year ago) link
I thought about going to the Square Lake thing, bet it will be awesome
― the adventures of pavlo and schrödis (geoffreyess), Friday, 10 September 2021 22:25 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et6SgyP7zMU
tons of evidence on this very thread that the invisible way has a reputation of sounding typical and unadventurous for a low record and i think it's like... at least a little undeserved. for one thing, it's got its own sound (ums otm about tweedy's production, which is one of the best parts of it), sorta like they built a country-rock record out of flourishes only, and the result is the gentlest low album (which is still, at an audible depth below the surface, unbearably tense). idk i didn't spend a lot of time with it when it came out but during this run-through i discovered i really like it
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson),