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

"Wrong to say I ask in bad faith..." that is.

Low has some of the best lyrics-in-the-interrogative imo. At one point a few years ago I tried to make a playlist of them all (naturally titled "What Part of Me") but I'm sure I missed some.

Always Trying To Work It Out, Quorum, and Dinosaur Act were in my top ten.

Always ... is an oasis of relative calm and basic human emotion among the chaos of DN, although it's the queasy, drunk vocal effects that make the track what it is.

I meant to vote for Pissing, I discovered I'd left it off my ballot after submitting it, totally inexcusable.

It's their best song about pissing!

― cwkiii, Friday, November 26, 2021 bookmarkflaglink

I actually prefer “Plastic Cup”!

I have to be honest, I've never really gelled with Starfire.

it's not at all bad but it's pretty far from my favourite side of theirs

Coattails and The Plan are top five, often number ones for me depending on my mood. When I write that it blows my mind that people like songs like "Always" better than "The Plan," it's because it does. Almost every single person I know irl agrees with me, it's only on this board that people slobber over "Low with cool effects," which is honestly the way that I think of the later records.

The early stuff is better.

imagine writing a song about your mate who runs a pirate radio station out the back of an ambulance. it doesn't get better.

xp I kinda feel like a Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical) is a form of slobbering, so it's definitely not just this board!

table, you like techno. Dismissing something as "Low with cool effects" is kinda beneath you?

Low *is* a cool effect, and has been from the start.

Cool effects is all there is from top to bottom

Who is saying "Always" is better than "The Plan"? Certainly not the poll results. And it seems like there will be plenty of early Low in the top 15, maybe even an early fan favorite that's basically all "cool effects."

I don't see "Low with cool effects" as a negative! (and I had "Always..." higher than "The Plan" on my ballot)

I don’t expect it to place at this point, but I love the simplicity of “What Part of Me.” It’s like they dusted off an old Elvis number and made it their own.

“what part of me” is the best song ever. cut from my ballot at the last minute

all i want to say about this early v. late low business is that if these guys had made 13 albums that all sounded like “curtain” (which was my #1 album vote tho it was truly neck and neck with DN), i’d have lost interest in them years ago

Indeed!

Btw I don't know if this has been talked about but all the lockdown instagram concerts have been compiled here: http://itsfridayiminlow.com/ Pretty cool!

"all i want to say about this early v. late low business is that if these guys had made 13 albums that all sounded like “curtain” (which was my #1 album vote tho it was truly neck and neck with DN), i’d have lost interest in them years ago"

Not only that, but whichever hardcore fans were left caring after 13 albums and 25 years of the same thing would *still* be favouring the "early stuff", and stacking their ballots with songs from the first five albums, making for a fairly boring and predictable poll.

In 1969, shortly after In A Silent Way’s release, Davis was relaxing on the patio of his New York brownstone when an elderly man called the trumpeter over. “Miles Davis, I love that music of yours” he said, “but I don’t like that new shit you’re into.” Miles turned to him, and tersely replied, “Well shall I wait for you, motherfucker?”

Feels appropriate for Low.

Do strings count as "cool effects"? Because I love "Closer" and I hope to see it place in the top 15 today

In 1969, shortly after In A Silent Way’s release, Davis was relaxing on the patio of his New York brownstone when an elderly man called the trumpeter over. “Miles Davis, I love that music of yours” he said, “but I don’t like that new shit you’re into.” Miles turned to him, and tersely replied, “Well shall I wait for you, motherfucker?”

Feels appropriate for Low.

― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Friday, November 26, 2021 9:18 AM (seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

How about "I'm not totally impressed by a band using tools that electronic musicians and others have been using for years"

Some of the songs are great, some of them are embarrassing (imho), and framing it as some sort of Ludditism is wrong-headed.

I have a deep emotional attachment to the early records, and that bias isn't really going to be shaken by the new ones, despite my appreciation for them.

i love both eras (very early and very recent), and some of the others in between. in the same way that table has a deep emotional attachment to the old ones, a new listener could very well have an even deeper emotional attachment to the new ones, while never quite feeling what's so special about the old ones.

i don't know, funny to think to say on a board full of paid and unpaid critics, on a thread about ranking inherently subjective things in an objective fashion, but it makes no sense to me to ever try to objectively rank things that are inherently subjective. it's a fun exercise to see where it all lands though

it's like ranking colors and then disagreeing about what someone picked

I like the early colors better.

; )

To me it's a testament to the strength of the 2nd and 4th phases of Low that I love the music so much *given* I have a deep emotional attachment to the early work. Musically I love the 2nd and 4th phase as much or more, when played together with the 1st phase. I love that I feel like the band grew and changed, like a person would--like I hope I have--over all these years.

There are many acts--maybe most?--where one would say "the early stuff is better" and most people would agree.

I find it fascinating that Low is one of the rare acts beloved for a singular early vision who *hasn't* been "early stuffed" in most estimations.

xposts I can totally see someone throwing down over a recently-named Crayola or Pantone shade ranking higher than, say, yellow (Soundslike beat me to it lol).

xp

i'm not sure what your phases of low are, but are they kind of like this?

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

that’s how i divide it up lol

though trust isn’t an albini album. it’s just kinda hanging out there in the center of things

"I'm not totally impressed by a band using tools that electronic musicians and others have been using for years"

But when they were just using guitars/drums/vocals in 1994, yeah others had been doing that for years, but they were doing something new and special with old tools. And the same can be applied to how they are using the tools employed on Double Negative and HEY WHAT.

Also, as KM said, this is all subjective!

the trust era, when they made the greatest album of all time trust

Shoot, albini didn’t produce trust?! Not sure why I always thought he did.

i forgot Fridmann did The Great Destroyer as well. Could definitely see people not liking those few because of his involvement. His name seems to spark immediate hatred for some people.

The early stuff is my favorite too. I think it could be argued that the early stuff captures the essence of Low the best. However, like a lot of indie, it's insular and staunchly limited in a way that the newer stuff isn't, which is why fans who got into them with TWLITF or later might have trouble connecting with.

Anyway, nothing about the poll results suggest to me that the early stuff is being neglected in favor of the hip new material.

I am most invested in the gambit of the "fully complete and perfect idea" that then starts to spool into abstraction and electronics - i.e. Dead Pilot and Bombscare, the remix album (the latter is not great in retrospect but just the idea of it). So I disagree w/ toneburst that they were insular/limited in that era. I liked Secret Name OK when it came out, but in retrospect it felt to me like Low's normalization into a more rock/indie idiom, as signaled by Albini then Fridmann. I usually checked out what they were doing, and sometimes found things to like, but I was no so longer invested in them. I "returned" as it were with Double Negative, though listening through to everything I did worry that it's Burton's production that I'm into, or Burton/Low. I do usually turn off when things start to sound too rock or too angelic, and prefer them when things get more fragged out.

*no longer so invested

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