Low: Classic or classic?

Yeah I really like the second half - pushes them further in the ambient electronic direction, but lighter than the ambient moments on Double Negative. first half is a very different song, it's alright

i like how they're kinda doing a quiet/loud thing with their immense digital distortion now

i imagine the studio versions will be pretty different if "days like these" is any indication bc they're not even doing the double negative tour levels of walls of distortion in those streamed performances, let alone what they've managed in the studio

looking through tracklists for the friday i'm in low performances and they've at least played eight tracks from the album, and another five new ones that aren't on it (or were renamed etc.)

"days like these" demo here: https://clcaudioclub.bandcamp.com/track/days-like-these-demo-by-low

& apparently steve is no longer in the band, sounds like this record is just them as a duo?

according to alan, steve left before they made this album because he had "very understandable personal reasons" that meant he would no longer be able to tour

this track is awesome, and yes it's all about the multi stage ambient second half

I love "Days Like These," and I extra love that I totally hear how it could have been a left-field "hit" if they got rid of the distortion and gave it a peppy drum beat, but no, this is Low.

They are becoming quite fond of big choruses/hooks of late (see also "disarray")

is Cyrus officially the new bassist?

they don't seem to have announced an official new bassist yet, don't know if it's going to be cyrus or someone else

the shop i work at (LUNA in Indianapolis, IN) is doing an exclusive/ltd pressing of this (w/ Electric Fetus) if that's yr thing: https://shop.lunamusic.net/LOW-HEY-WHAT-LUNA-music-EXCLUSIVE-VINYL-LP-p/098787143553.htm

re: new bassist

https://pitchfork.com/news/low-announce-new-album-hey-what-and-2022-tour-share-new-song-listen/

"Sparhawk and Parker may work with other musicians in the future, according to a band representative."

not nearly as face-meltingly stunning as the double negative reveal but still really great. love that guitar tone obvs

shout out bj burton

I think I love "Days Like These". that distortion and then the like ambient bliss out. wooo

just occurred to me that they've never stuck with the same producer this long, I don't think? without actually looking this up I think Albini, Fridmann and Kramer all did two apiece?

Hope - Kramer
Long Division - Kramer
Transmission EP - Kramer & Albini (two songs each)

Curtain - Steve Fisk

Dead Pilot - self-produced

Secret Name - Albini
Things We Lost - Albini

Trust - Tchad Blake (or was it self-produced and he only mixed it?)

Great Destroyer - Fridmann
Drums & Guns - Fridmann

C'mon - self-produced w/ Matt Beckley

Invisible Way - Tweedy

Ones & Sixes- Burton
Double Negative - Burton
Hey What - Burton

lambchop and low album titles in conversation:

aw c'mon
c'mon
no you c'mon
hey what

next album will be a collab with Jon Wurster called, WAIT, WHUUUT?

Adore “days like these”. It feels like it weaves together some of the sonic ideas of the last two albums in a really satisfying way.

Agreed w/ the praise for the second half of the new track

the first half reminds me of how i felt upon first listening to The Great Destroyer when it came out

really wish they'd put out a live album of the double negative tour, the alternate live takes of those tracks are very cool

There's quite a few shows from that tour on archive.org.

just realised now that what "fly" has been reminding me of all this time is... u2's "moment of surrender"

same vocal hook

How do people rate this band and their releases, I'm curious. Essential for me are "Long Division" and "Double Negative"

Ask 10 Low fans and you'll get 10 different answers. Personally I rate Secret Name, Things We Lost in the Fire and C'mon the highest. I don't go a bundle on the discordant stuff, I like my Low soft and melodic. Others will rep for the discordant stuff as being their best work.

I've loved everything up until Drums & Guns - ever since that one I still love the live versions of the newer tracks but have been struggling with the albums. I'm into all kinds of loud and harsh stuff but Low = slow and their two voices together, for me, still. Loved the sessions during the last year & I hope having heard the songs live first is going to prepare me better for the hopefully not too antagonistic mixing this time.

i only got into them with double negative and only dug really deep into their entire discography earlier this year (& am doing so again now in anticipation of the new one) & it's pretty much all good to great. the only thing that people seem to generally agree on is that the invisible way is one of their least essential releases, but even then it's not bad or anything.

double negative is certainly a masterpiece and still my favourite but it's obviously at one radical end of their sound. i really like ones and sixes too, the increased focus on sound design compared to a lot of what came before does a lot for me. drums and guns has some of their very best work ("murderer" is maybe their absolute best song?) but is unusually inconsistent for them, i'd really love to hear them explore that sound further though, just without the experiments in panning. i really have yet to fully differentiate the strengths and weaknesses of all their earlier stuff yet though.

drums and guns has some of their very best work ("murderer" is maybe their absolute best song?) but is unusually inconsistent for them

otm. I just happened to listen to this album yesterday. I've always struggled with this record. Really hated it when it first came out, and probably didn't come around on it until 5 or 6 years later. Some truly magnificent songs, and the overall mood of the record is really gripping. Yet to this day I sort of muscle through the first two or three tracks before I finally start to enjoy it.

I guess I need to revisit. With Low I've tended to listen once instead of twice. Trust was my first album of theirs and I loved it. ...Live In Hope was the second and it lacked the hymnal qualities of their latter-day stuff and so I prob didn't give it a fair shake. I found the Albini albums too theatrical with my cursory listen, I do not enjoy the song "Dinosaur Act". I purchased Destroyer and Drums on vinyl when I found them used and disliked them and sold them again-- not a Fridmann fan. Can't figure out why I adore Division and Double Negative unreservedly and have mixed feelings about the rest of it. I usually think of Mimi when I think about how I always want drums to sound

I always say this but Drums & Guns is the pinnacle for me, desert island record.

my first low album was the curtain hits the cast, i just really liked the title so i asked my parents to get it for me for christmas, not knowing exactly what low sounded like but having an idea? anyway the reality was far grander and deeper than whatever impression it was i had at the time. i still love that album to death

my favorites have ranged all over the catalog, loved drums & guns the most for a few years, but these days i find myself returning to trust and ones and sixes the most

secret name/things we lost in the fire for me

"sunflower" is my favorite low song

I listened to "Murderer" at ufo's suggestion earlier and it rules

I think I gotta do a proper survey now that streaming has made it possible

'Breaker' introduced me to sus chords

Also love that lo-fi, low-passed drum machine with the gorgeous roomy handclaps, that left a deep impression.

I always liked Glenn McDonald’s take (in a review of Secret Name or Things We Lost) where he focuses on the sense of gradual narrative created by following the albums in chronological order and hearing their sound slowly open up like a flower turning to the sun.

Obviously they have covered a lot more ground over the subsequent two decades, and it doesn’t really make sense to talk about say Ones and Sixes as more open than The Great Destroyer, but I still get a very strong sense of searching and striving that comes through most strongly by following the arc of their career chronologically.

That said, like Brad, Trust and Ones and Sixes are probably the two I play the most now. Maybe because they both strike really nice balances between a purposeful approach and really lovely songs? IDK.

Murderer EP is your goal as imo the versions of Murderer and especially Silver Rider are superior on it to lp versions

both versions of "murderer" are perfect and i don't think i could choose between them

except that panning though lol

these days i just listen to drums & guns in mono when i'm listening with headphones (99% of the time)

oh man i always thought i was the only one who liked Trust the most but ofc Brad and Tim also like that one the most

MY PEOPLE!!!

love to see that some people rate Trust as high as I do. it always seemed under appreciated among the fan base.

Trust is also my favorite.

I think it has a lot to do with when it came out / where I was in my Low fandom, definitely egged on by the kinda meh/indifferent reception it got at the time