Low: Classic or classic?

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.

ha I never said on this thread that 'the curtain hits the cast' is one of my few most favorite albums ever.

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.

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.

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

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.

Maybe the sequel will be even lower

Low & Lowerer, with new bass player Jim Carrey

ultimately characterless and forgettable

lol. Heard Drums and Guns?

it hadn't been released back then

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.

which album do I listen to right now if I've never heard any of them before? quick!

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.

Things We Lost in the Fire is a great introduction. I'd also recommend Secret Name, which was my intro, also very good.

Things We Lost in the Fire, definitely. Worked for me at least, from the first chord change.

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.

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.

npr interview with the sparhawks a while ago that touched on his issues

Catch it now, Stephen. It's the "One Week Only" feature on Pitchfork.tv.

That NPR interview is fascinating. Sparhawk dances around his problems some, but this is the first time I've heard he was suicidal.

Thanks Daniel, I'll be sure to check it out Sunday morning when i get up :D

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.

Low have subtley crept, over the course of about ten years, into the position of being my favorite existing band.

"subtly"

Some good discussion on this thread, methinks.

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.

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.

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.

I'll third that. Best band going today.

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.

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!).

"thought" = though

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.

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.

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)

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.

amazing how their sound went from minimalist to maximalist up to The Great Destroyer, and then expanded in other directions from there

Silver Rider is one of my favorite tracks of theirs

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.

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.

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

that sounds amazing

xp

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.

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.

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.

huh I've always considered Secret Name one of their classics

Throw a dart, really.

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.

Most bands would be happy with those three as their peaks.

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

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)

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.

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.