Too LOW: ILM Artist Poll #111 - Low - RESULTS

Fridmann is so associated with pushing things into the red I can't imagine the last couple without those albums.

They code really differently to me - Fridmann is modeled on Neil Young, Burton on DAW-noise.

Not being a Frid-fan though I may have that all wrong.

I know it's all subjective, and you're right, Karl. I think it's just that many tracks from the early records literally send me into profound states of listening ecstasy and/or emotional presence. Only two or three tracks from each of the past three records have a similar effect.

This is a good summation:

1: low born as a fully complete and perfect idea. ICLIH - Curtain.
2: Albini albums. Secret Name - Trust.
3: Fridmann albums. Great Destroyer - Drums and Guns
4: The "honestly I thought they were on their way out" era. C'mon - The Invisible Way
5: BJ albums. Ones & Sixes - HEY WHAT

I am there for all of 1 and 2, elements of 3, none of 4 (excepting one or two tracks), and sizable portions of 5. I truly do think that one of the reasons why I have problems the newer records is that I'm a little unsure of their lyrics— tracks like "Always Trying to Work it Out" can be taken in a few ways, but rather than its lyrical ambiguity being its strength (like on many notable tracks from earlier records), its ambiguity feels evasive.

I think Hey What is >> Double Neg and Ones & Sixes

I truly do think that one of the reasons why I have problems the newer records is that I'm a little unsure of their lyrics— tracks like "Always Trying to Work it Out" can be taken in a few ways, but rather than its lyrical ambiguity being its strength (like on many notable tracks from earlier records), its ambiguity feels evasive.

this is interesting to me because (and yes i know this is subjective) i find '...work it out' one of the most moving songs on the album from a purely lyrics standpoint - like a lot of that album generally it mirrored a lot of what i was thinking/feeling in 2018 (malaise, frustrated connections w/others, even political anguish w/ that "everybody says the war is over" line)

haha, honestly table i think we have pretty similar takes on low, in the glass half-full / half-empty kind of way. like this:

Only two or three tracks from each of the past three records have a similar effect.

i think that's still impressive! there are very few albums that have any tracks at all that can move me in the same way, so their adding of a few more songs to their god-tier canon every couple years like a clock is pretty unusual and commendable imo.

61. Nightingale - 176 points, 5 voters
61. I Remember - 176 points, 5 voters
60. Gentle - 177 points, 6 voters
58. Spanish Translation - 186 points, 7 voters, 1 #1 vote
58. Like a Forest - 186 points, 6 voters
57. Days Like These - 202 points, 7 voters
55. John Prine - 206 points, 7 voters
55. Belarus - 206 points, 6 voters
54. Soon - 216 points, 8 voters, 1 #1 vote
53. Sleep at the Bottom - 233 points, 8 voters, 1 #1 vote
52. Dancing and Blood - 237 points, 7 voters
50. More - 238 points, 10 voters, 1 #1 vote
50. Especially Me - 238 points, 9 voters, 1 #1 vote
49. Immune - 250 points, 5 voters, 1 #1 vote
48. Anon - 257 points, 7 voters
47. Just Like Christmas - 266 points, 7 voters
46. Venus - 270 points, 11 voters
45. Always Up - 271 points, 6 voters
44. Lies - 273 points, 9 voters
43. July - 274 points, 10 voters
42. California - 276 points, 9 voters
41. The Price You Pay (It Must Be Wearing Off) - 277 points, 9 voters

40. Tempest - 278 points, 7 voters
39. Last Snowstorm of the Year - 279 points, 8 voters
37. Whitetail - 285 points, 8 voters
37. Landslide - 285 points, 11 voters
35. Weight of Water - 291 points, 9 voters, 1 #1 vote
35. No Comprende - 291 points, 11 voters
34. Broadway (So Many People) - 302 points, 7 voters
33. The Lamb - 303 points, 7 voters, 1 #1 vote
31. Will the Night - 310 points, 11 voters, 1 #1 vote
31. Violent Past - 310 points, 10 voters, 1 #1 vote
30. White Horses - 331 points, 10 voters
29. Shots & Ladders - 352 points, 14 voters
28. Breaker - 370 points, 13 voters
27. Shame - 394 points, 13 voters
26. In The Drugs - 397 points, 14 voters

25. Always Trying to Work It Out - 400 points, 12 voters
24. Monkey - 405 points, 13 voters
23. The Plan - 417 points, 12 voters
22. Coattails - 424 points, 13 voters
21. Starfire - 428 points, 15 voters, 1 #1 vote
20. Fly - 433 points, 12 voters, 1 #1 vote
19. Quorum - 438 points, 14 voters
18. Dinosaur Act - 440 points, 14 voters, 1 #1 vote
17. Hey - 461 points, 15 voters
16. Pissing - 479 points, 16 voters

https://i.imgur.com/KSvhwjC.png
15. Silver Rider
Released on the Murderer EP (2003) & The Great Destroyer (2005)
495 points, 13 voters, 3 #1 votes
56 points for the Murderer EP version
The Great Destroyer version
Murderer EP version

wow, the best song ever

amazingly i forgot to vote for it

I was a murderer version voter and I think my feelings are well documented.

i love both renditions. album version is slower iirc? it was the first i encountered and maybe that’s why i don’t prefer one

6 of my top ten haven't placed yet and I suspect two of them won't.

think i somewhat prefer the murderer version these days but either way, beautiful song

interestingly we won't see more #1 votes for a track than that

https://i.imgur.com/wVuj72c.png
14. Nothing But Heart
Released on C'mon (2011)
506 points, 13 voters
Studio version

alan's most arena-rock guitar heroics? it rules

Murderer version is sparser and more harmonically ambiguous whereas the album version has a more conventional chord structure iirc. I think they played it even slower when they did it live.

wow, figured this one would be top ten

(it was my #2)

https://i.imgur.com/f9kLt6w.png
13. Lazy
Released on I Could Live In Hope (1994)
507 points, 15 voters
Studio version

How these are not top 5?! So many of Low's best songs feel like naming and giving catharsis to microcosms of human behavioural experiences - ugly, violent, beautiful - and nothing but heart just feels to me like sarcasm and narcissism and I'm so very into it.

my first low song!!! i didn’t vote for it but it’s still incredible

LAZY!!! my early era gateway. I could live in that guitar sound.

https://i.imgur.com/Lb2CP2q.png
12. Canada
Released on Trust (2002)
522 points, 14 voters
Music video
Studio version

this is one i didn't at all expect to see this high. it's fine but there are at least two or three songs on the great destroyer that improve on its general vibe

no in fact this song is incredibly dope

i love the drums soooo much

I really love “Nothing But Heart” but that was my #30 for the longest time but it eventually got pushed out for something that needed a better chance of placing.

I was one of the #1 voters for Silver Rider. Love the sense of dread and the overwhelming la-la-las on the chorus with Mimi’s voice riding over the waves of sound.

Nothing but heart was amazing during the DN tour with the weird light show behind the stage.

I think Hey What is >> Double Neg and Ones & Sixes

― licorice in the front, pizza in the rear (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, November 26, 2021 1:56 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Seconded! Unless there’s some wonderful cabal of you out there, I think it’s safe to assume my favorite from HW won’t be placing.

Nearly half of mine placed under 25 and then it dried up, I'm now expecting my #1 not to place.

https://i.imgur.com/EBmZwDV.png
11. Lullaby
Released on I Could Live In Hope (1994)
565 points, 17 voters, 1 #1 vote
Studio version
Demo

i’m v surprised my no. 1 is gonna place in the top ten

https://i.imgur.com/C1sUAZn.png
10. Laser Beam
Released on Things We Lost In The Fire (2001)
587 points, 15 voters, 1 #1 vote
Music video

this is another i had no idea would be such a favourite at all

it’s going to be weird if the better Mimi-led song from that album doesn’t place.

More than any other song, Laser Beam made me a Low fan for life, no joke. I had ever heard an "indie" (for lack of a better word) song do so much with so little.

this is another i had no idea would be such a favourite at all

― ufo, Friday, November 26, 2021 2:27 PM (eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

it’s going to be weird if the better Mimi-led song from that album doesn’t place.

― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Friday, November 26, 2021 2:29 PM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

wtf y’all

no more singular unit of beauty in their catalog than

“i need your grace”

it's good, just never felt like a standout to me? "slide"'s sibling

how dare you undervalue this perfect jewel of a song

j/k

https://i.imgur.com/b7vnyd6.png
9. Violence
Released on Long Division (1995)
614 points, 17 voters, 2 #1 votes
Studio version

Hell yes to Laser Beam in the top 10.

I think about 'Violence' whenever I lend someone a book.

Ah there it is, phew! The unassailable distillation of what makes Low - perfect economical sound, those themes of violence, trust - feels like the grandfather of everything ever they've done, in a way. Never any question.

https://i.imgur.com/41Qfodd.png
8. In Metal
Released on Things We Lost In The Fire (2001)
699 points, 18 voters, 3 #1 votes
Music video