Low: Classic or classic?

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

Gotta say, when I'm feeling like shit, I love locking myself in my home office and blasting my favorite Low tracks

Here’s something I found today that Mim wrote down not long ago. Maybe it’s notes from something she heard or read, but it’s the way she saw things, for sure. pic.twitter.com/Fk80G72DpY

— LOW (@lowtheband) April 29, 2023

Apparently Alan has resumed doing It's Friday I'm in Low?

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr35sj6pLK_/

Alan's djing on The Current rn. Anyone go to the Bad Plus/Marc Ribot show at First Ave that he opened? I'm very curious what he did.

Alan is starting to look like a younger version of Robert Plant

Maybe they'll start a band together.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Takiaya Reed of Divide and Dissolve for a Quietus Baker's Dozen the other week; I've seen them before, had dinner with them once, a good bunch (this was when they were a duo, but Takiaya is now the sole core member). They had done various shows with Low coming out of the pandemic and indeed were scheduled to open for them for what would have been their SF show here for Hey What, which, since I missed the Double Negative tour due to circumstances beyond my control, would have been the first time I'd had a chance to see them since the Christmas tour back in 2010. That she picked Hey What for her list didn't surprise, and neither did the fact that she was a little overcome by talking and thinking about them, and so was I, honestly:

https://thequietus.com/articles/33145-takiaya-reed-divide-and-dissolve-bakers-dozen?page=11

Takiaya is an old friend— thanks for sharing

It's a very small thing, but I included a drone/ambient cover of "Laser Beam" on my newest album:

https://ianmanire.bandcamp.com/track/laser-beam

I'm donating all sales (CD or digital) to the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance in memory of Mimi.

I tried to record this in the days after she passed, hoping it would pull me out of the depths. I just couldn't do it at the time, but was able to revisit it on her birthday recently and finish it.

this is lovely

Thank you! Low has meant so much to me for 26 years, I hope this stands up as a small tribute.

Did you send a link to Alan? ( lowtheband on X )

A few days back I reached out to Alan to make sure he was OK with covers on DIY small-scale, and he said he was, and asked thet I share. So I tagged him in the release announcement, and he shared that, which is a huge honor to me : )

https://www.twitter.com/musicophiliamix/status/1706784425663779192

Nice!

tc psa: Tired Eyes at Turf Club tomorrow night. the one they played two years ago honestly one of my favorite shows ever.

I wish he would tour the Neil Young tribute. I don't think I've ever seen an act fail covering Neil Young, more should do it.

Alan is doing a tour I think; and he did a Friday I'm in Low on Instagram the other week, so it's good to see him active.

it's fantastic, best Neil Young covers I've ever seen. A lot of credit should go to longtime Mpls stalwart Rich Mattson from the Glentrustles, it's as much if not more his thing than Alan's

even more interesting:

Low's twitter said that tonight with be the debut of the Alan Sparhawk Solo Band, apparently a warm up for some European dates. This sounds like it will be different than Derecho

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

this is a recording of the single solo show he played earlier this year. new material is very heavy on the vocoder

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/nov/12/alan-sparhawk-review-le-guess-who-festival-utrecht

glad to have this review of his latest show, sounds similar to that opening set at Turf Club. he definitely played the ones identified as JCMF, Get High and Don't Take Your Light, along with some Derecho-y stuff. this captures a lot of what he played, esp. those last two, both very beautiful: "Others are piercingly direct in their desperate evocations of loss, raw and shellshocked, and often repeating single phrases that get heavier with each iteration."

looks like some of the tracks he played were derecho songs? "get high" and "want it back" were released a few months ago

Tired Eyes Live at Hook & Ladder Minneapolis MN on 2022-02-26 https://t.co/7BWxNesy8a via @internetarchive

Re-upping and thank you as always @lowtheband @richmattson @TheHookMpls

— John Oxley (@jeoxley1) November 18, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZwriY0HEaE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCu0uLb8AkY

'i could live in hope' came out 30 years ago today

Really great "it's Friday I'm in low" last week. Cyrus on bass

Well, "Lullaby" still makes me cry, so there's that.

Got tix to see Sparhawk play in Chicago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7i-wjCZhXw

professional footage of some of alan's new songs

Wow, his son looks so much like him.

There's a local band here called L0veblaster that is doing the exact classic Low instrumentation and approach. It's pretty good actually, but begs for comparison in a way I find distracting.

don't love that band name

i'm friends with them (the local band)! they're so good. what's hilarious is that they don't even listen to low and were kind of unaware of them, last time i played with them, lol! but i think people mention it to them all the time

really great to see alan playing shows again - i'll have to give that video a deeper listen later today

Oh huh, I read an interview with them where they said Low was one of their two favorite bands and that they wanted to try out the format. It's a nice record though.

(lol I agree about the name though)

haha, whoa! yeah i just found that interview! okeydokey then, no comment :) anyway they definitely fall into the non-musical low tradition of being incredibly sweet and supportive people in addition to talented musicians.

denying your most obvious influence is a grand rock tradition