"What Part of Me" from the upcoming album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exxRz-iVBlc
― passive aggressive DN (onimo), Monday, 3 August 2015 17:55 (eight years ago) link
Amazon blurb:
Ones and Sixes is the new album from the Duluth-based trio of Alan Sparhawk, Mimi Parker and Steve Garrington, collectively known as Low. Ones and Sixes was co-produced by Low and BJ Burton at Justin Vernon’s April Base Studios in Eau Claire, WI. “In our 20+ years of writing songs, I’ve learned that no matter how escapist, divergent, or even transcendent the creative process feels, the result is more beholden to what is going on at the moment. It’s hard to admit that one is so influenced by what is in front of us. Doesn’t it come from something magical and far away? No, it comes from here. It comes from now. I’m not going to tell you what this record is about because I have too much respect for that moment when you come to know it for yourself.” — Alan Sparhawk, Low.
I spent much of 2002 in Germany, studying literature, collecting new experiences and attempting to process the existential crises so typical of your early 20s. Low – especially their album Things We Lost in the Fire, which I listened to for countless hours – was one of the few bands who helped me along with this. Their slow-growing, minimal, yet expansive songs just beg for introspection. Demand it, even. They cultivate a sense of grandeur and inquiry with their melancholic tone, which, if you’re anything like me, sets you right down in front of the mirror for some much-neglected self-assessment. Is Low somehow The Velvet Undergound’s song “I’ll Be Your Mirror” transubstantiated into band form? As Alan said above, the meanings of the songs are transitory. Even if there was a specific impetus, nothing needs explaining beyond what the song itself reveals. It’s an exercise on Low’s end and, when the music is released, it becomes one for us. Ones and Sixes takes everything Low excels at and dips it in a heavy gold plating of industrial-leaning electronics. This catapults to new and extreme heights the innate beauty their music has always had. It’s a series of contrasts: stunning and menacing, gorgeous and frightening, giving and desperate, and, ultimately, unbearably heavy and unbearably light. From one to six and back again. —Dee Dee Penny (Dum Dum Girls), NYC, June 2015
Track Listing1. Gentle2. No Comprende3. Spanish Translation4. Congregation5. No End6. Into You7. What Part of Me8. The Innocents9. Kid in the Corner10. Lies11. Landslide12. DJ
― passive aggressive DN (onimo), Monday, 3 August 2015 17:58 (eight years ago) link
I've never had any strong feelings about Low one way or the other, but it's impressive how long they've actually lasted. Good for them!
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 3 August 2015 18:00 (eight years ago) link
No Comprende:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZfjysllZyg
― passive aggressive DN (onimo), Monday, 3 August 2015 18:01 (eight years ago) link
some discussion on the Low C/D thread. Both advance tracks are strong, and an obvious reaction against the milquetoast Tweedyfied sound of the last album
― the naive cockney chorus (Simon H.), Monday, 3 August 2015 18:05 (eight years ago) link
ahhh this is so good
way more Drums and Guns than anything i think(which is good w me!)
― sean gramophone, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 15:02 (eight years ago) link
yeah I'm really digging it, nice mix of maximal and minimal
― the naive cockney chorus (Simon H.), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 15:05 (eight years ago) link
another track, lies, now up on spotify - is lovely. Can't wait to hear the whole thing.
― sktsh, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 18:52 (eight years ago) link
out today
https://open.spotify.com/album/6UO15kRxOCuNTpA7v98CNI
― passive aggressive DN (onimo), Friday, 11 September 2015 15:00 (eight years ago) link
thx for the subliminal message spotify URL
― Hector Ringtone (DJ Mencap), Friday, 11 September 2015 15:53 (eight years ago) link
this is a good album but I'd expect the production and/or reliance on programmed drums to be a dealbreaker for at least part of Low's fanbase
― Hector Ringtone (DJ Mencap), Friday, 11 September 2015 15:54 (eight years ago) link
it was already there on Drums & Guns, my favorite Low album. it feels less personal here, but maybe that's just because i've read about how one of the April Base dudes handled it largely on his own.
― lil urbane (Jordan), Friday, 11 September 2015 15:58 (eight years ago) link
liking this a lot
― moans and feedback (Dinsdale), Saturday, 12 September 2015 09:29 (eight years ago) link
The drum machine/programming is precisely the aspect that's keeping me interested in this album.
― Jeff W, Saturday, 12 September 2015 12:46 (eight years ago) link
Excited by this album. I liked them in the mid/late 90s, and then from the 'Songs for a Dead Pilot' EP on they just got better and better, culminating with 'Drums and Guns'. The last couple albums I found I enjoyed just fine when they were on, but they didn't leave a lasting impression. So while I worry about Alan Sparhawks happiness a little whenever they veer back into this darker territory, at least he wrangles his best art out of it.
Kind of reminds me of their 'Bombscare' EP with Spring Heel Jack from 2000, which for some reason rarely gets mentioned but is what really convinced me they were only getting better, after 'Secret Name,' which is probably their most beautiful album but could've become well-work territory if they'd just stayed there.
― Soundslike, Saturday, 12 September 2015 18:01 (eight years ago) link
Don't know where I'd rank it in the overall discography but I really appreciate the boldness of the sound. Alan's voice has barely changed over the last while, but Mimi seems to get subtly stronger with every album. I wonder if we'll ever get the solo album from her that Alan teased a while back.
― the naive cockney chorus (Simon H.), Saturday, 12 September 2015 18:05 (eight years ago) link
alan's voice has changed plenty, i think; he's more often in that strong, kinda resounding voice, or otherwise his rad metal voice, cf landslide, compared to the high whisper of the first however many records
― crime breeze (schlump), Sunday, 13 September 2015 01:21 (eight years ago) link
i am enjoying this lp btw+ yes bombscare ep is the bomb
― crime breeze (schlump), Sunday, 13 September 2015 01:22 (eight years ago) link
Yah really enjoying this so far. Mimi always sounds amazing over stark rhythms.
― Tim F, Sunday, 13 September 2015 02:25 (eight years ago) link
They played a bunch of the new songs at the record store across the street yesterday. I haven't heard the album so don't know how the production alters the songs, but hearing them played in the usual electric guitar/bass/live drums format, they sounded like really good Low songs, nothing too surprising.
― Ys Man a.k.a. Have One on G (geoffreyess), Sunday, 13 September 2015 18:24 (eight years ago) link
I just got around to this and I'm loving it - they're working/recording with someone new on this?
― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 9 November 2015 08:29 (eight years ago) link
BJ Burton. He's worked with a lot of the artists in the Bon Iver circle: Aero Flynn, Sylvan Esso, Marijuana Deathsquads, Lizzo, The Staves, etc.
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 9 November 2015 14:22 (eight years ago) link
This album is beautiful
― you're breaking the NAP (DJP), Friday, 11 December 2015 17:18 (eight years ago) link
just got a subwoofer for my nice system and holy fuck there is some crazy deep bass on this i'd never heard before, for ex."Gentle" has these suuuuper deep like EDM type bass hits
― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 18:12 (eight years ago) link
also I think after this long and generally pretty much stellar catalog (i think the worst you can say about a low album is that it's not as excellent as their best but i don't think anything they've done has been less than solidly good) you have to start really considering them one of the great rock bands of all time
― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 18:13 (eight years ago) link
those bass hits are magic
― Very selfish, and very ironic (DJP), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 18:16 (eight years ago) link
you have to start really considering them one of the great rock bands of all time
yeah really only The Invisible Way is notably sub-par and even that has a few gorgeous songs
― the naive cockney chorus (Simon H.), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 18:31 (eight years ago) link
it's really stupid that I've only just now started paying attention to Low after years of friends raving about how great they are
― Very selfish, and very ironic (DJP), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 18:39 (eight years ago) link
you gotta hear Trust, it's their gothiest
― the naive cockney chorus (Simon H.), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 18:43 (eight years ago) link
currently in the middle of The Great Destroyer, will cue that one up next
― Very selfish, and very ironic (DJP), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 18:45 (eight years ago) link
whoa, just decided to put this on and this thread happened to pop up. great minds think alike UMS
― global tetrahedron, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 18:52 (eight years ago) link
yeah this record owns
― adam, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 19:09 (eight years ago) link
on another thread someone posted that if there were ever an intergalactic battle of the bands, that Low should be the representative for planet earth. that always stuck with me
― ﷽ (diamonddave85), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 19:15 (eight years ago) link
Does that mean something deeper than "Low rules" though?
― Evan, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 19:22 (eight years ago) link
in our darkest hourwhen earth will be destroyed for not rocking enoughit will take the unlikeliest of heroes to save us all
― nomar, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 19:24 (eight years ago) link
they'd be a great choice for emissaries to Kolob for sure
― Mr. Snroombes (mattresslessness), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 19:25 (eight years ago) link
whole catalog is great but I'm a "Things We Lost in the Fire" boi 4 lyfe
#dinosauract
― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:17 (eight years ago) link
'in metal' in my jam
― nomar, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:18 (eight years ago) link
is my jam
― Very selfish, and very ironic (DJP), Wednesday, January 13, 2016 12:39 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
yeah i've never really dug into them either
― jason waterfalls (gbx), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:25 (eight years ago) link
i don't listen to 'the invisible way' much either but this is great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfNLtUUEiGI
― nomar, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:28 (eight years ago) link
also you know youtube is a tough neighborhood when comments on a LOW song devolve quickly like this
James Aubrey 1 year agoVoice like Damon Aluburn, not a bad thing EnosEverything 5 months ago +James Aubrey Jesus Christ... How long would it have taken to Google BLUR to actually find out that DAMON ALBARN is spelt DAMON ALBARN... You lazy dumb twat. oldUmanUshea 4 months ago +EnosEverything lol your dumb EnosEverything 4 months ago +oldUmanUshea And you must be a totally ignorant cunt as well you braindead sack of camel shit... . James Aubrey 3 months ago Enoseverythin ass hole n did yo notice I misplele tings 👂 as well u knob jockey n I put my cash that u got a tiny tiny thing n Havre no reel pals dudums yours James Robert Aubrey ps I pps don't ppps care!!!!😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃✌✌✌✌✌✌out u up tight twat James Aubrey 3 months ago You got hit by a tree branch n complained for knot gettin seen quick enough. Spell in n grammar wrong again!!# enos everththin 😂😂😂😂😂 do u dream of Eno as well u doch!!oldUmanUshea 3 months ago +EnosEverything you suck at insulting. EnosEverything 3 months ago +oldUmanUshea Another useless gonad sucking son of a slag....Go and piss in a plastic cup
oldUmanUshea 3 months ago +EnosEverything you suck at insulting. EnosEverything 3 months ago +oldUmanUshea Another useless gonad sucking son of a slag....Go and piss in a plastic cup
― nomar, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:30 (eight years ago) link
heard 'Broadway (So Many People)' a few weeks ago and literally stopped what I was doing, sat down, and decided this was the year I was going to work through their catalog.saw them once live, it was a troubled performance but oddly compelling.
― campreverb, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:31 (eight years ago) link
weirdly I started wanting to explore more Low stuff due to "Girl Loves Me" on Blackstar sounding like it came from a universe adjacent to Low
― Very selfish, and very ironic (DJP), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:32 (eight years ago) link
i voted for 'no comprende' in the tracks poll this year
― nomar, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:33 (eight years ago) link
is low a listen-to-in-order type band or is it better to start with the universally acknowledged as better albums
― jason waterfalls (gbx), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:35 (eight years ago) link
saw them once live, it was a troubled performance but oddly compelling.― campreverb, Wednesday, January 13, 2016 2:31 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― campreverb, Wednesday, January 13, 2016 2:31 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I haven't seen them for a few yrs now, but they are without a doubt the prickliest live band I've ever seen, esp in the Zak Sally era when he'd just face his amp.
So good.
― chr1sb3singer, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:37 (eight years ago) link
you can kinda dive in wherever imo. like my first was the curtain hits the cast followed by the great destroyer
xpost
― HYPERLINK TO RAP GENIUS (BradNelson), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:37 (eight years ago) link
hadn't seen the "Plastic Cup" video before, Mimi looks awesome but wtf is Alan doing with his head
― the naive cockney chorus (Simon H.), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:37 (eight years ago) link
with low i think you can kinda just jump in anywhere you want, there's not a single less-than-good album in their discography. i think people were generally not excited abt C'Mon or The Invisible Way but i don't necessarily think they're markedly worse.
― nomar, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:39 (eight years ago) link
yeah there's no bad place to start with them really, though some are sonic outliers to some degree (Drums and Guns, Great Destroyer)
― the naive cockney chorus (Simon H.), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:39 (eight years ago) link
my first low was 'things we lost in the fire' and then 'secret name'. both are great but they grabbed me for good with 'trust', which is where they started to rock out a bit more.
― nomar, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:40 (eight years ago) link
TWLITF is my fave like i said. but idk, they're like neil young in there's no "wrong" version of low.
― nomar, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:41 (eight years ago) link
Trust is a good one for newbies not only because it rules but because it touches on everything they'd done up to that point as well as signposting their noisier stuff to come
― the naive cockney chorus (Simon H.), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:41 (eight years ago) link
at one point a friend had made a compilation of all their super slowcore stuff, which I loved, and of course, lost. But that Broadway song convinced me to start digging into the Sub Pop material.their Springsteen cover is breathtaking imo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWIorQ_Fgxk
― campreverb, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:44 (eight years ago) link
Drums & Guns still my favorite. C'mon is underrated.
I still haven't properly listened to everything pre-D&G, but it's nice knowing that it's there.
― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:44 (eight years ago) link
they're one of the few artists where i've got to run to the store and grab up the new one the day its released.
i got this version of Ones and Sixes on vine, with the owl outer sleevel:
https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xaf1/t51.2885-15/s320x320/e35/11934693_1702640856621882_286175196_n.jpg
― nomar, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:45 (eight years ago) link
*vinyl
their Rihanna cover is great too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lchC5sQepqE
― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:46 (eight years ago) link
their version of "Lord Can You Hear Me" might be the definitive one. They're a great covers band.
― the naive cockney chorus (Simon H.), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:48 (eight years ago) link
Low 4ever
― Ys Man a.k.a. Have One on G (geoffreyess), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:51 (eight years ago) link
thanks guys!
― jason waterfalls (gbx), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 20:58 (eight years ago) link
i haven't heard c'mon but i want to at some point bc "try to sleep" is one of their best ever songs. forever getting around to exploring this discography totally bc i'm pretty sure i'd have a nervous breakdown somewhere in the middle
― HYPERLINK TO RAP GENIUS (BradNelson), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 21:03 (eight years ago) link
oh fuck this means you've never heard "Especially Me" which is maybe my favorite Mimi song
― the naive cockney chorus (Simon H.), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 21:06 (eight years ago) link
as it happens, c'mon is the only one i've got, though i haven't really listened much --- i think i used to have TWLITF and songs for a dead pilot but they both got lost in the fire the purchase of a new computer
― jason waterfalls (gbx), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 21:08 (eight years ago) link
love this one
― moans and feedback (Dinsdale), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 21:17 (eight years ago) link
joining in on the Low rulez chorus, they're basically the only band that i will see any time they come to town. 7 or 8 shows and not a single dud, highlights include an acoustic set in a beautiful church
― ﷽ (diamonddave85), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 21:30 (eight years ago) link
someone help me out with this - they did a guest vocal on an ambient electronic track a year or two ago and I've been itching to hear it again but I forget who the principal artist was.
― the naive cockney chorus (Simon H.), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 21:32 (eight years ago) link
C'mon is incredible! I think it's my favorite Low record.
― Evan, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 21:36 (eight years ago) link
Trentemøller - the dream? Xpost
― I am using your worlds, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 21:38 (eight years ago) link
that's the one! thanks.
― the naive cockney chorus (Simon H.), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 21:47 (eight years ago) link
it's really hard to write a song about parenthood that's beautiful and touching and grim and maybe a bit macabre at the same time but they really did it on "In Metal"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdH3mTpjq-U
― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 22:44 (eight years ago) link
wait i HAVE heard "especially me"! i don't remember when, but i remember thinking at the time that emmylou harris should cover it
― HYPERLINK TO RAP GENIUS (BradNelson), Thursday, 14 January 2016 00:45 (eight years ago) link
some days Mimi is one of my fave vocalists.
― that's not my post, Thursday, 14 January 2016 06:41 (eight years ago) link
i love how their first song from their first album is so perfect
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ako3beDuaO0
― that's not my post, Thursday, 14 January 2016 06:45 (eight years ago) link
^and drummer, esp. live
― willem, Thursday, 14 January 2016 06:47 (eight years ago) link
everyone otm in this lovely revive. what a great band!
― sktsh, Thursday, 14 January 2016 20:39 (eight years ago) link
a few things:
1. low is the best band on earth2. this is their best album since drums & guns3. this album has the deepest bass i've heard in indie rock4. the tree on the front and back of the LP are different
― scoff walker (diamonddave85), Sunday, 18 February 2018 20:41 (six years ago) link
I'm a Secret Name dude
― trife's rich padgett (rip van wanko), Monday, 19 February 2018 00:38 (six years ago) link
3. this album has the deepest bass i've heard in indie rock
― bernard snowy, Tuesday, 20 February 2018 12:33 (six years ago) link
the Mimi-sung cover of "Let's Stay Together" they put out for valentine's day rules
https://open.spotify.com/track/01O62ifzWuVGhZbVnQWSKU?si=5XzBzZFERAe5k2OjQ9sD0g
― Simon H., Tuesday, 20 February 2018 13:48 (six years ago) link
Thx for reminding me to go back to this. 'Landslide' is my fav this time around, it's the 10 min vamp-to-infinity track a la 'Nothing But Heart'.
― change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, 20 February 2018 22:09 (six years ago) link
omg the bass in "lets say together" lol
― scoff walker (diamonddave85), Tuesday, 20 February 2018 22:29 (six years ago) link
Time for a new album, maybe? They're touring next month so maybe something's in the works. Would be great to hear some new stuff. I've been playing their recent albums a lot lately and while I still can't really get behind Ones and Sixes I think C'mon is a masterpiece.
In other news, Sparhawk is playing in a Velvet Underground tribute band. That would be something to see.
― the word dog doesn't bark (anagram), Tuesday, 22 May 2018 09:00 (five years ago) link
I think C'mon is a masterpiece.
― Ich bin kein Berliner (alex in mainhattan), Tuesday, 22 May 2018 10:31 (five years ago) link
They played here a few months ago with a half dozen new tunes. Album out later this year.
― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 22 May 2018 14:13 (five years ago) link
C’mon is absolutely the high-watermark of their current era.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, 25 May 2018 01:49 (five years ago) link
"spanish translation" is all-time
― reggie (qualmsley), Sunday, 19 August 2018 16:14 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbSazRxrflw
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 23 August 2018 17:03 (five years ago) link
A splendid winter album, this is.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 22 December 2022 14:05 (one year ago) link
A splendid winter album, this just about every Low album is.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 22 December 2022 14:55 (one year ago) link