― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― gareth, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Julio Desouza, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― dan, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ron, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Gage-o, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Barnaby, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
By warm do you mean you were too hot 'cos I certainly was. Do you reckon it was some kind of Steve Albini thing that all the best and most popular bands were on the second stage? Certainly it was a major cause of the queus to get in and out of the second stage, and for those of you that don't know there was no toilet inside the second stage room, meaning you either missed 3 or 4 songs every time you went to the toilet or lived in fear of explo
― Chewshabadoo, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― MICHELINE, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― A Nairn, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― geeta, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dan I., Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
Couldn't agree more. Low's albums do sound washy on the first listen or two, and even on the listens following this, only one or two tracks will seep into your brain. However, each track will eventually burrow its way into your head, and the whole mood of the album becomes engrossing. Very addictive and repeatable.
Im not gonna kick your ass, Geeta. The fact that you have no Low in your life is punishment enough.
dud, i say.
― fields of salmon, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
I liked Galaxie 500 better.
― Vic Funk, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
side note: i had tickets to see them four years running but never went because they were always playing in a club where i'd have to stand and where it would be smoky. my patience paid off with the opportunity to see them two years ago at the coolidge corner theater in boston, with ida. it was a great performance and i'm never going to see them again so that i can hold on ever-so-tightly to that memory.
― quiet, Thursday, 25 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― dan, Friday, 26 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
And since they're all short records, all 3 of 'em should be cheaper than a full-length LP.
― Jeff W, Friday, 26 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Andrew L, Friday, 26 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ron, Friday, 26 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
i'm not being perverse, i just don't get it, seems too obvious, too serious, too slow ..
do they ever do anything remotely fast ? that's fast in any way, just some way, just if it was fast in some way, please ?
how serious is this band name "low" anyway ? are they just serious ? slightly ironic ? slightly acerbic ? any surprises ?
should i hang around ?
― George Gosset, Saturday, 27 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Josh, Friday, 3 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― bob snoom, Friday, 3 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
i saw them play in boston last night and was underwhelmed for the most part, and i'm wondering if i'm about to go from thinking them near-classic in the same way that gareth does (ie a few too many dud songs per album) to coming round to geeta's opinion above. certainly the new album has maybe three songs that i love and half a dozen that i never want to hear again (unfortunately the concert kicked off with four or five of these); against that i think that josh said somewhere on his blog that he only properly "got" each of their albums when the next one came out, and i've found something similar with the last couple.
mostly i'm beginning to think that they're just empty; "it's in the drugs" made me feel like i should be feeling sad but just didn't connect. not that this is necessarily a problem but with low it feels like it should be the point and isn't.
against that "lent you my favourite dictionary" is prob my fave first line of an album ever; certainly when i was sixteen the idea that there were ppl with favourite dictionaries was u+k.
(against all the above i have had maybe 5 hrs sleep in the last 3 days, and the gig + this post were all in a caffeine haze; but i'm going to listen to "things we lost in the fire" on the walk home + see if i can pin this down more tomorrow).
― toby (tsg20), Wednesday, 9 October 2002 23:50 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Wednesday, 9 October 2002 23:56 (twenty-one years ago) link
Fair enough.
Besides which: they covered "little drummer boy" and are Mormons = I Would Hate Them Even If I Never Heard Their Very Boring Music.
I'm going to have to call "fuck you" on this one, though. I'm not a hardcore Low fan, nor am I Mormon, but this kneejerk reaction of "they're Mormons so their music must suck" has always annoyed me. In every Low interview I've read, neither Alan nor Mimi have ever come off as preachy or obnoxious/uptight about their religion. The only people who seem to make a federal case about their Mormonism are hack rock journalists.
Don't like their music? Fine. Don't like them because they're Mormon? That's pretty stupid.
― Nick Mirov (nick), Thursday, 10 October 2002 00:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Melissa W (Melissa W), Thursday, 10 October 2002 01:05 (twenty-one years ago) link
Buy this:
http://www.fakejazz.com/images/covers/low.jpg
cos it's frickin' amazing and IMHO the best thing either band (Low or Spring Heel Jack) has touched.
― Charlie (Charlie), Thursday, 10 October 2002 02:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
Quite a bit of galaxie 500 'la la la'ing on Trust (and a song about a snowstorm!) as well but that isn't a fault. The urgent buzzy bass on Canada reminds me a bit of Ultra Vivid Scene.
― Eamonn Maher, Thursday, 10 October 2002 09:41 (twenty-one years ago) link
― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 10 October 2002 10:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
I just wanted to say that Al and Mim are about the coolest people you'd ever want to meet. I drove up to something called the Geek Prom in Duluth with my girlfriend this spring, and there they were, wearing the most hideous colors, dancing like spazzes.
They're smart and generous, too. Al lends out equipment, produces bands in his basement for cheap (free?), volunteers time to the community. The bassist, Zak, lives in Minneapolis and is a gifted comic book artist and writer (he reviewed the new Cometbus book in City Pages). Al and Zak play in Black-Eyed Snakes, who sound something like the Fall backing Bo Diddley.
None of this has anything to do with Low's classic or dud status (I happen to think TWLITF is classic and the new one is a dud) but context helps understand them. Here's something I wrote about them and the church where they ended up recording the new album: http://www.citypages.com/databank/22/1053/article9340.asp
As it happens, Duluth is currently home to a ton of noisy, female-fronted punk bands. But even people who hate Low credit them with helping out the wider scene...
― Pete Scholtes, Thursday, 10 October 2002 16:46 (twenty-one years ago) link
Also, I just wanted to point out Anthony Carew's review of Trust on Neumu. The review isn't great, but Carew is one of my favorite writers these days. And I really like these two sentences in particular:
"Sparhawk and Parker, husband and wife, have spent the last decade singing together, holding notes for so long that anyone trying to sing along turns blue in the face, singing in some kind of harmony not heard since, like, The Carpenters, or Simon & Garfunkel, or something. And, just as pets and owners begin to look alike, over all these years, over six albums and so many scattered singles that it's hard to keep up, their voices have started to sound more and more like each other, blending together in a pop-song craft so pure and spiritual and free from fashion that you still don't know how to describe it."
That describes Low beautifully, I think.
― Yancey (ystrickler), Friday, 11 October 2002 20:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
oh god please tell me you're joking. The guy is a sub-literate hack of the worst possible kid.
― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Saturday, 12 October 2002 06:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dave M. (rotten03), Saturday, 12 October 2002 06:58 (twenty-one years ago) link
Come on, they're touring approximately now-ish so someone must have a new opinion.
― mei (mei), Friday, 14 February 2003 19:24 (twenty-one years ago) link
― A Nairn (moretap), Friday, 14 February 2003 20:23 (twenty-one years ago) link
― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Friday, 14 February 2003 23:12 (twenty-one years ago) link
And they're not really that quiet live. They can be, but they're also fucking loud. They have the best dynamic control of any band I've ever seen, barring maybe Cowboy Junkies. Low are great.
― derrick (derrick), Saturday, 15 February 2003 08:44 (twenty-one years ago) link
oh, and all the new songs are great (particularly "violent past", which is beautiful), and we met them afterwards and they really are lovely people. so, classic.
― toby (tsg20), Thursday, 13 April 2006 12:30 (eighteen years ago) link
I second the awesomeness of "Pissing" live. It really has to be seen/heard to be believed, especially the way that killer bassline just cuts right through it all like gunshots. "Murderer" and "Amazing Grace" were stnadouts as well.
― Simon H. (Simon H.), Thursday, 13 April 2006 13:48 (eighteen years ago) link
― toby (tsg20), Thursday, 13 April 2006 13:53 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 13 April 2006 13:54 (eighteen years ago) link
― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 13 April 2006 14:02 (eighteen years ago) link
― steal compass, drive north, disappear (tissp), Thursday, 13 April 2006 14:23 (eighteen years ago) link
Haven't dug too far into the back catalog--or into all of the hidden posts within this thread, so my apologies if somebody's already brought this up--but the Low version of Jason Spaceman's "Lord Can You Hear Me?" is first-rate! Nearly as good as the original Spacemen 3 iteration and definitely as good as the Spiritualized re-do. The story, according to Wikipedia:
The final song, Lord Can You Hear Me, was originally written for and recorded by Spacemen 3 by Jason in 1989 and initially released on the album Playing With Fire. However, inspired by a cover of the song by the band Low, Jason started playing the song live and subsequently re-recorded it as a gospel ballad. Mimi Parker of Low appears on several tracks of the album as a backing vocalist, and is clearly audible duetting with Jason during Lord Can You Hear Me.
In retrospect, I'm certain someone has already brought this up. Just a reminder, I suppose.
― Bowf teemz play har, my man. (AlexPh), Tuesday, 7 September 2010 21:10 (thirteen years ago) link
Low is one of a handful of bands that is always great at doing cover versions. Also search their Smiths and Joy Division covers, for starters.
― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Tuesday, 7 September 2010 21:23 (thirteen years ago) link
They did a Soul Coughing cover a while back that I wasn't too fond of, but basically otm.
Also, the Lifetime of Temporary Relief has some real dregs toward the end, including a Journey cover which is excruciating to listen to.
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Tuesday, 7 September 2010 22:03 (thirteen years ago) link
I love that Journey cover; it's hilarious.
― krakow, Tuesday, 7 September 2010 22:08 (thirteen years ago) link
Low have always been an A+ cover band imo. My POV:
Lord, Can You Hear Me?Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved MeFearlessTransmissionBlue Christmas
― Baluchistan of Landscape Avocado (Pillbox), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 00:47 (thirteen years ago) link
Can we make it a POVII and add "I Started a Joke" and "Sunshine"?
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 03:24 (thirteen years ago) link
Might as well extend to POVIII and add "Nowhere Man." Some great harmonies even by Low's high standards.
― that's not my post, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 04:20 (thirteen years ago) link
http://blogs.myspace.com/low
Wilco's Nels Cline plays on the new album
― StanM, Sunday, 17 October 2010 18:33 (thirteen years ago) link
ooh that is great news!
― swvl, Sunday, 17 October 2010 19:06 (thirteen years ago) link
awesome. hope there are some more drums & guns-esque beats & programming, but it doesn't sound like it.
― bows don't kill people, arrows do (Jordan), Sunday, 17 October 2010 20:02 (thirteen years ago) link
whoa! would never have expected that pairing.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 17 October 2010 20:03 (thirteen years ago) link
drums & guns-esque beats & programming
exactly the worst elements of late-period Low
― margana (anagram), Sunday, 17 October 2010 20:22 (thirteen years ago) link
today is mim singing and more percussion.i think my favorite moments in the studio are when mim adds vocals/harmonies - it's like she's breathing life into corpses.mim is singing lead on at least 2 songs so far - "especially me" and "you see everything."
Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
― silence is a rhythm too (Turangalila), Sunday, 17 October 2010 20:39 (thirteen years ago) link
Anyone know who's producing/engineering? I'm pretty glad they're not working with Fridmann again, even tho I loved the last two records.
― lol @ dog w/ sunglasses (Pillbox), Sunday, 17 October 2010 21:40 (thirteen years ago) link
Echoing ^^
I like Fridmann *occasionally* but he's certainly one of those fellas who leaves a giant stamp on everything he does... for better or for worse.
― ilxor is awesome what the fuck are you guys on about (ilxor), Sunday, 17 October 2010 21:56 (thirteen years ago) link
gtfo
― drive this seven inch cheese steak through my philadelphia heart (diamonddave85), Sunday, 17 October 2010 22:14 (thirteen years ago) link
oops doublepost
So stoked that they're finally recording again! I was getting worried.
― Simon H., Sunday, 17 October 2010 22:15 (thirteen years ago) link
whew, i was getting worried no one was getting worried
― I love you girls but that music is for radical faeries (Matt P), Sunday, 17 October 2010 22:23 (thirteen years ago) link
jk just a bit of fun. i like low,
― I love you girls but that music is for radical faeries (Matt P), Sunday, 17 October 2010 22:24 (thirteen years ago) link
Inspired by Lambchop? New album to be called C'mon (is that the final title though?)
― StanM, Monday, 15 November 2010 16:25 (thirteen years ago) link
it's very good, but that's the only time i'm going to say it. we should have a release date soon.
love this band
― Daniel, Esq., Monday, 15 November 2010 17:14 (thirteen years ago) link
Due to an unforeseen circumstance, we have two very good spare seats for tonight's show in London (at the Barbican) - they're on stage in an hour, happy to give them to someone for free if they can make it.
― toby, Tuesday, 30 April 2013 18:36 (ten years ago) link
New record.
"We're excited to announce our new album Ones and Sixes will be available worldwide on September 11th. You can pre-order the album on iTunes and get an instant download of "No Comprende." It's also available on Spotify and all other streaming services. The "Loser Edition" of the vinyl is available at SubPop.com, and all pre-orders via Sub Pop will grant access to an early stream of the entire record."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZfjysllZyg
We're also glad to announce that we will be back on the road in September in Europe and North America starting in September. Tickets and more information available on our website. We look forward to seeing all of you this fall.
-Low HQ
Ones and Sixes Tour Dates
Jun. 30 - Guang Zhou, CN - TU Space
Jul. 01 - Shenzen, CN - B10 Live House
Jul. 03 - Beijing, CN - YuGong Yishan
Jul. 04 - Shanghai, CN - Qian Shui Wan Cultural Centre
Jul. 17-18 - Eau Claire, WI - Eaux Claires Festival
Sep. 03 - Bergen, NO - Perfect Sounds Forever Fest @ Landmark
Sep. 04 - 06 - Wiltshire, UK - End of the Road Festival
Sep. 04 - 06 - Stradbally, IE - Electric Picnic
Sep. 18 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon*
Sep. 19 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall*
Sep. 21 - Toronto, ON - The Mod Club*
Sep. 22 - Montreal, QC - Bar Le Ritz PDB*
Sep. 23 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall*
Sep. 24 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
Sep. 25 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s*
Sep. 26 - Washington, DC - Black Cat*
Oct. 07 - Manchester, UK - Cathedral ^
Oct. 08 - Glasgow, UK - Art School
Oct. 10 - London, UK - Roundhouse ^
Oct. 12 - Koln, DE - Gebaude 9
Oct. 13 - Hamburg, DE - Knust
Oct. 14 - Copenhagen, DK - Vega
Oct. 15 - Stockholm, SE - Kagelbanan
Oct. 17 - Berlin, DE - Lido
Oct. 19 - Munich, DE - Ampere
Oct. 20 - Bologna, IT - Teatro Antoniano
Oct. 22 - Zaragoza, ES - Las Armas
Oct. 23 - Barcelona, ES - Bikini
Oct. 24 - Valencia, ES - Deleste Festival @ Centro Cultural La Rambleta
Oct. 26 - Madrid, ES - Teatro Lara
Oct. 27 - Santander, ES - Escenario
Oct. 29 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso ^
Oct. 31 - Brussels, BE - AB
Nov. 11 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue*
Nov. 13 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge*
Nov. 14 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex*
Nov. 16 - Los Angeles, CA - The Troubadour*
Nov. 18 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall*
Nov. 20 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir*
Nov. 21 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile*
* w/ Andy Shauf
^ w/ Two Gallants
― MaresNest, Tuesday, 23 June 2015 22:05 (eight years ago) link
Man, the Roundhouse is a potentially disastrous place to see 'em too.
― MaresNest, Tuesday, 23 June 2015 22:06 (eight years ago) link
L..loser edition??
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Tuesday, 23 June 2015 22:08 (eight years ago) link
that's what they call all their "limited ed." type releases
The single sounds promising, nice muscular production and classic Low harmonies. The Invisible Way was the first Low album to bore me so I'm glad Tweedy's not involved this time
― fuck me, archipelago (Simon H.), Wednesday, 24 June 2015 13:12 (eight years ago) link
i'm glad they're going a different direction too, but there's something about the production on a lot of records done at Apr1l B@se that bothers me. it's definitely muscular and hi-fi, but also kinda featureless and too upfront (maybe not enough room sound?).
i'm always happy about a new Low album though, and will go see them again for sure.
― lil urbane (Jordan), Wednesday, 24 June 2015 13:50 (eight years ago) link
Another new song, much breezier
https://soundcloud.com/subpop/low_what-part-of-me
― the naive cockney chorus (Simon H.), Monday, 3 August 2015 14:54 (eight years ago) link
Feeling like this album is going to be better than the last.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Monday, 3 August 2015 23:14 (eight years ago) link
Streaming on NPR: http://www.npr.org/2015/09/02/435276845/first-listen-low-ones-and-sixes
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, 4 September 2015 17:02 (eight years ago) link
really feelin' what part of me this morning
― dynamicinterface, Tuesday, 10 May 2016 13:29 (seven years ago) link
Haven't really been paying attention this decade. What's worth hearing?
― djh, Monday, 5 December 2016 22:34 (seven years ago) link
Well, there's a new Christmas song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv_XqW005-w
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 5 December 2016 22:34 (seven years ago) link
And the rest, Ned?
― djh, Monday, 5 December 2016 23:11 (seven years ago) link
i just got home from seeing them at the union chapel tonight. still great.
― sktsh, Monday, 5 December 2016 23:18 (seven years ago) link
All of the albums except The Invisible Way are pretty damn great, and even that one has "Holy Ghost."
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 5 December 2016 23:19 (seven years ago) link
I remember 'Just Make It Stop' standing out too (so the Mimi songs basically), but yeah, that's my least favorite too. I'm a huge fan of Drums & Guns and C'mon. This reminds me I still need to go back and give the newest one some good listens.
― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Monday, 5 December 2016 23:42 (seven years ago) link
I was at that Union Chapel gig as well, and despite missing the first 15mins due to a bewilderingly early start, it was fantastic. I last saw them there 15 years ago and really can't imagine Low in any other venue.
― Matt DC, Monday, 5 December 2016 23:44 (seven years ago) link
haha i missed the start too!
― sktsh, Tuesday, 6 December 2016 00:11 (seven years ago) link
'ones and sixes' is seriously great
― nomar, Tuesday, 6 December 2016 01:32 (seven years ago) link
C'mon and Ones & Sixes are both terrific. Nothing in them will surprise you exactly but the quality is still high - both better than Great Destroyer and Drums & Guns. Invisible Way is not bad, just not special.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Tuesday, 6 December 2016 03:08 (seven years ago) link
Thanks y'all.
― djh, Wednesday, 7 December 2016 22:11 (seven years ago) link
saw them last night in a huge minister in yorkshire. still so strong after all these years.
― meaulnes, Saturday, 10 December 2016 14:52 (seven years ago) link
Just your periodic reminder that Double Negative is an amazing album
― brigadier pudding (DJP), Wednesday, 21 August 2019 13:04 (four years ago) link
After I caught their set at Pitchfork (always fun to see them play at a festival) I looked up a couple of online reactions, and I saw so many "I've never seen/heard of Low before, but holy shit!" I think that's great.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 21 August 2019 14:31 (four years ago) link
Bruce Adams, Kranky co-founder who wrote the book You're With Stupid on 90s indie rock and Chicago, has announced he's contracted with UNC Press to write an oral history of Low. I look forward to it already.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 29 November 2023 02:58 (four months ago) link
Per him, working title is I Sang the Words I Meant: A Book about Low.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 29 November 2023 03:01 (four months ago) link
Sounds awesome, keen to read
― H.P, Wednesday, 29 November 2023 03:35 (four months ago) link