Low: Classic or classic?

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

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, 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.

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.

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

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

yesterdays glastonbury set for those who can access it:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p07df5f6/glastonbury-low-live-at-glastonbury

shivers. low are extraordinary. amazing footage!

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/

that sounds great. i wish i could go but 5000 miles or something like that seems a bit too much.

I might actually go to this! I'll be in Chicago around that time.

got my ticket!

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

Cool

haha the mentions of starfire in that podcast. that's neat. it put me back onto 'secret name'. low give me so much hope.

how have i not heard the bombscare EP until now! what!

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

haha, i must have summoned that. i'd better put the lottery on.

I believe soundslike summoned that one

The version of "Disarray" they played last night was like the best 10 minutes of live music I've ever heard.

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.

There are a couple high quality concert videos of this material on YouTube.

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

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

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.

nothing from the last couple of Months here yet https://archive.org/search.php?query=collection%3ALowMusic&sort=-publicdate

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.

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.

It sounds great in the car

'Drums & Guns' is top 3 Low for me, and I love the hard panning for its unsettling effect that suits the music.

^agree.

enjoying this cover

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa8Ky20UYaU&

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

Oh my, yes. This, I need.

Confirmed time - and weekly performances!

(21:00 in UK today) pic.twitter.com/IeArsUQIlk

— LOW (@lowtheband) April 3, 2020

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.

it would be extremely funny if they chose this occasion to pivot to baggy funtime jams

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."

if it's going to be weekly then there's plenty of scope

That was a lot of fun, really. New song, impromptu "Star Spangled Banner," "Murderer". Just good people.

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.

did they post a link to the show?

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.

“When I Go Deaf” into “The Star Spangled Banner” got me misty-eyed.

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.

over on twitter lowtheband joined tim's listening party to talk about their first album. pics, memories, etc

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.

They couldn't but end with "Breaker".

Time to put on the Christmas album.

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.

they're still doing those great weekly Instagram sessions, started in April...

check out itsfridayiminlow.com for archives and tracklists