Do You Know How to POLLtz?: ILM Artist Poll #111 - Low

One of my favourites is:

"Sometimes there's nothing left to save / That's how you sing 'Amazing Grace'"

A ridiculous amount packed into such a simple couplet, and indicative of the wallop of that song in general (capturing so much with so few lyrics).

Also in "Mom Says" - everything mom says is followed by "but I don't know" except the final line, "Mom says / We ruined her body".

Low are pantheon-level for me when it comes to lyrics doing so much with so little.

agreed, that ended up being the difference maker with my album submissions

I was pressed for time so I compiled by ballot mostly on instinct. About half of my songs ballot are locks, the rest could slip in and out of my top 30 depending on my mood.

I kind of regret not going back and listening to more stuff but I have a feeling I'll be doing plenty of that after the results roll out.

I remember the first few times they played Laser Beam and, knowing the title, everyone was sure the lyric was "freeze me in the carbonite".

Ballot sent :)

Songs ballot made (slightly) easier by a strict limit of two per record, no Christmas music and nothing from my #1 album.

Sent! God, that was difficult. :)

S E N T

Getting hyped for the rollout

Also in "Mom Says" - everything mom says is followed by "but I don't know" except the final line, "Mom says / We ruined her body".

Lyrically, Mom Says is one of my favorite Low songs. Each verse is mom’s subtle shutting down of the child over the years—a lost balloon, a request to go out for some fun, a desire to leave for college. Followed by that unquestioned statement at the end. The song is so simple and so brutal.

IN METAL
IN METAL
IN METAL

Done. Fun, and what beautiful music.

Thanks again for doing this, UFO. Results will be fascinating.

― Soundslike, Friday, November 19, 2021 10:28 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

The results seem so unpredictable, I'd really love it if ppl refrained from doing the whole "hmmm, OK 18 more votes lets see what hasn't placed" and then making a list of songs that haven't placed.

idk if this is an essential part of poll rollouts for anyone, but I personally find it annoying

Oh god yes, that's annoying

i have lost my shit about that a few times before, too. i find it annoying and it kind of ruins the surprise for people who aren't meticulously tracking and analyzing and predicting. but i get how that's fun too (i do that with baseball)

I think this thing is gonna be like 90% surprises, so it would be very fun to not have that and just enjoy the jams

that sounds good

Going in confident most of my faves won't place makes it more fun--just curious what others conmect with, how a "concensus" could exist, and being pleasantly surprised if my faves do place. But their whole oeuvre is so strong, I couldn't really be "disappointed" with any results.

Still hope there's *some* love for the 'Bombscare' EP, but not holding my breath : )

I also think Alan himself would probably check out the results--such a low-key and unselfconscious presence on Twitter.

I was so overwhelmed by all of the amazing tracks from their main albums that I didn't even get to their EPs, covers, Christmas records or live albums. I’m sure there’s a lot of great stuff there

If you can, Dan, search 'Bonbscare' out on Youtube. It's 17 minutes, and presents almost an entire other world Low could brilliantly inhabit. I find revisiting it deepens my appreciation of 'Drums & Guns,' 'Double Negative,' and 'Hey What'. It certainly cemented my love for the band, twenty years ago.

'Bombscare' that is.

I will

Would you (soundslike or anyone) recommend Spring Heeled Jack's other music? Bombscare is great, wondering if it extends to them

Xpost, how about the time honored “too LOW” during the rollout ;)

it's just a shame
my hand just kills and kills

but here we sit debating math

(and two glasses of milk)

If You Were Born Today, I think I voted it too low

just hearing it for the first time. a great song

I really love that Low Christmas album cover image too, will have to listen to the whole thing

a rare ILM artist thread where I think everything is up in the air.

The Belarus video is really nice

Lullaby is the most streamed Low song on YT. Around 20 million views. Few of think their other songs even break 100 thousand. Based on the YT comments, Lullaby seems to have become very popular in Turkey - bleakness and beauty.

that is surprising

a lot of tracks on I Could Live in Hope remind me of early 80s The Cure (Seventeen Seconds, Faith)

xposts re: Spring Heel Jack, The Sweetness of the Water is kind of like Bombscare if you replaced Low with a jazz quartet. I've only heard a couple of their records, so I can't say much about their catalog as a whole, but that's probably my favorite right now of the few I'm familiar with.

I was trying to figure out if “Lullaby” was in a movie or something but it’s probably just tired parents googling “lullaby”

since it's specifically turkey that it seems to be particularly popular in it might have been used in a tv show there or something, but i couldn't figure out if that was actually the case

It’s currently their most popular song on Spotify as well. “Words” from the same LP is #2. Nothing else comes close.

less than a day to get ballots in for anyone still wanting to submit

I'm going to predict Amazing Grace as the winner, I think it's the closest we come to consensus.

Did the early Breaker https://archive.org/details/Low2007-02-17.aud.flac/low2007-02-17t04.flac ever got released as a B-side or similar to vote for, or only on the Retribution Gospel Choir lp? As fun as the jaunty Fridmann version was, hearing the live version first was the one that stayed with me - after all those years their anger finally spilling out like that.

only on the retribution gospel choir album, but you can vote for "Breaker (live version)" or anything like that if you want. it'll be counted with the studio version but i'm keeping track of votes for alternate versions of tracks

the retribution gospel choir version is more aggressive than low's live version, it's interesting but ultimately my least favourite version. i really love the studio version, it makes sense that alan was obsessed with arular at the time.

Yeah, it gets a vote regardless. Subsequent performances didn't make as much of an impression as that first time seeing what would become drums and guns. Also the 'Ohio' version of Sandanista, but reckon I was misremembering as it looks like they only started playing that version after the album came out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE_srr4l5xU

test

Oh cool I've been unbanned, I was worried I couldn't participate in the poll when it starts

gtfo tbh

Until we have nicer things to say to each other, I'd be very happy if you stopped addressing me and I will return the favor. I will not accept any more bullying / censorship / childish behavior from you or your team.

v rich to be accused of bullying and censorship(????) for thinking your ideas about coercion are retrograde and dangerous. seems like you learned a lot from being banned. if you're in the results thread, i won't be there!

sorry for ruining the thread like this y'all, i'm just still very mad

palate cleanser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3--uA82cLfg

fitting given that i can't stop listening to everything but the girl this week