Low: Classic or classic?

someone recently uploaded this 2004 documentary about the band to youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6BkD5ivYww

i think most of it was shot while they were touring 'trust'. there's a sweet clip of alan singing 'little surfer girl' to baby hollis in the SPIN offices. also, an unexpected but delightful celebrity cameo at the 29-minute mark!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXxBE1qi_24

also, an unexpected but delightful celebrity cameo at the 29-minute mark!

I sent this to my wife and asked her to guess who it would be and she somehow guessed immediately before watching it lol.

Re: Trust. I only listened to it for the first time a couple weeks ago but it struck me as “countryish”. I’ve been going through the catalog chronologically after writing them off as slowcore way back in the 90s and then idly checking out Double Negative a couple years ago and being blown away.

Has any band had such a subtle stylistic evolution over as long a period as these guys? Like album by album over almost 30 years they slowly morph into something else, like watching day by day a tree change colors in the fall.

That's pretty apt. Though with Low, I want to say the ingredients were all there from the start; famously, Alan supposedly heard both Joy Division and the Velvet Underground for the first time the same night in college, which adds up. The country element that you cite, I think that's maybe the Neil Young influence, which does start to creep in more prominently a few albums in.

Looks like Alan is returning to (local to him) live performance. He also posted a link to this 2021 music store set he did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DaU8X7yBt0

I have tickets for tonight's show, will be very interested to see what happens.

How was the show?

From last night. Thank you all for the joy. Most of our set is original instrumentals but this is such a fun song to play and sing. Have a great weekend everyone. ❤️🥁❤️ https://t.co/J2JatYhfLv

— LOW (@lowtheband) December 2, 2022

over almost 30 years they slowly morph into something else, like watching day by day a tree change colors in the fall.

I like this :)

ha that's my friend i went with, our table was front and center

fun show, no acknowledgment of anything that's been going on which i suspected. did some cool covers - roy ayers, funkadelic, gambino, curtis mayfield, sparhawk really got out there channeling eddie hazel on the funkadelic song

overall i like the vibe of it, definitely feels like they are still figuring out what they are, sometimes it could feel a little underbaked on certain jams. sparhawk was using an envelope filter, a pedal i have mixed feelings about. other jams were fantastic. sometimes reminded me of the budos band.

his son is a really great bassist! funky and clever lines. drummer and percussionist were great as well.

there was one song i should have recorded that felt like it took aspects of low and turned it into something totally different, was by far the most "song" song and less jammy.

overall, fun and very promising band but feel like they need to figure a few things out.

Funny you say that Trust feels "country-ish"— I think it's one of their most aggressive and noisy records, but with a few country songs on it.

As an avid poster collectors I was kicking myself for not having a Low poster. Then I saw on the Chairkickers site a limited edition foil tour print from this year designed by Zak Sally and I immediately remedied the oversight.

I am a rare ilx poster but sadly not sought after. It's a pathetic contradiction.

Limited edition of one, don't undervalue yourself.

We're getting that framed as I type, actually— we got one on the tour.

The Low in Europe documentary has popped up recently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBkdLGqNKlo

This is a worthwhile recommendation. I rewatched it on YouTube a few weeks ago after Mimi passed away.

Also worth checking out is Low: You May Need a Murderer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WjuOc0Mhc0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6BkD5ivYww

the moment at 22:50 where their daughter recognized they were playing "little surfer girl" hit hard

With Al's blessing, Silversun Pickups have recorded a cover of "Just Like Christmas," Butch Vig produced, as a charity fundraiser:

https://silversunpickups.bandcamp.com/track/just-like-christmas

^nice cover

Per another post on Mastodon: "Alan is hosting a listening party tribute to Mimi on 12/21 of the low xmas album. live (if you live in duluth) and streaming"

Yeah, here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CmFQlABsWs1/?hl=en

❤️🥁❤️ https://t.co/SkT72mUZEY

— LOW (@lowtheband) December 21, 2022

that got me. Really would love one for my house.

All I want to contribute today is that I'm listening to Ones and Sixes and enjoying the hell out of "The Innocents" and "No Comprende."

Christmas on the stereo right now. Of course I burst into tears during the first minute of "Just Like Christmas."

There's a lot of a really beautiful church music around this time of year, imho, but nothing compares to Low's version of "Little Drummer Boy." It's massive and just astonishingly gorgeous.

:(

When you hear of someone falling off or becoming homeless or a hoarder after someone close to them dies, it’s not the grief that put them there - it’s the mountain of cold bullshit they have to cut through just to function and go on with life. The crowning gift of capitalism.

— LOW (@lowtheband) January 13, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUBp4EWieEc

xpost - that is indeed a depressing sentiment, one that hits really hard after having suddenly lost my father-in-law recently. the amount of red tape and bullshit that my wife has been through already is enough to stress anyone's system and she's just barely hit the tip of the iceberg

Narayama seeming like a more humane option these days

I haven't been able to listen to Low much since Mimi passed, but I put on an old playlist the other day that included "Whore" and it feels like that particular song got about 20% slower while I wasn't looking/listening.

Today it was "Dancing and Fire" that caught me off guard with the lines, It's more "Let it out" than "Let it go" / It's not the end, it's just the end of hope.

O stands for overrated (indie darlings along with yo la tengo or swans)

troll

Wtf, does CC ever talk about something they like or do they just pop in to shit on threads? Have they been around under a different name before this?

What would bring a troll here to waste their time? It doesn’t seem like there’s enough traffic to be satisfying.

Well and to counter CCs trolling a bit, call Low whatever you want but I do not know really any other band that I am a fan of that seems to cross the lines across people I know and other musician's tastes in regards to being admired as much as they do. A very very broad cross-section of people love Low, which is cool. Can't imagine finding this band to be lacking personally, but hey that's just me.

O stands for overrated (indie darlings along with yo la tengo or swans)

― CerebralCaustic, Saturday, February 18, 2023 6:00 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Imagine being this cloth-eared, heartless, and uninspired. I feel pity, and then I flag post.

all caustic no cerebral

Alan is doing some sort of minimal funk/r&b band with his son on bass, and buried in there is that he's going to do something with the Bad Plus, which is some serious worlds-colliding shit for me.

https://mndaily.com/275811/arts-entertainment/qa-alan-sparhawk-of-low-on-new-band-derecho/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP0rP5oWNR8

ngl i find that depressing. I really dislike the whole schtick of tbp

Bad Plus rip

I get that, but the new sax/guitar version of TBP doesn't really have a shtick, just a style (no more covers for one).

In fact I'd say they're aggressively anti-schtick now (possibly a corrective measure).

okay, sorry for not paying attention since the schtick years turned me off in high school— bands should be good from the start.

anyway, i am no longer depressed about it because both of you vouching actually means something to me, if i’m being real

In an ironic turn, Alan is playing bass in Zak Sally's band the Hand, who are opening up for Unwound tonight.

I'm just glad he's out playing, seems healthy.

bands should be good from the start.

Haha, this is a terrifying opinion to me, I'd like to believe there's always a chance for reinvention & redemption.

I've seen Derecho, I think I posted about it upthread, but was fun, a lot of potential but still felt like they were working out the kinks

I would love that, too. We need to write some hits and get a few more people to show up before we can leave home but we’re working on it. Recording is in process. https://t.co/b2zmQoqd7O

— LOW (@lowtheband) March 7, 2023

The Getting-Better Plus

Alan's in the Ween cover band playing at Turf Club tonight, wish I could go