Low: Classic or classic?

I think they're alright, I think their obvious dedication to their sound and art is fairly admirable, but the resulting records don't move me (the Christmas one is quite nice).

In some of the praise of them there's an undertow of virtues-of- simplicity stuff, and I can see why - when I listen to Low the word that often comes to mind is 'quaint'. You feel a little better for owning a Low record, I suppose, like a piece of handmade furniture or something. They're not classic.

ha I never said on this thread that 'the curtain hits the cast' is one of my few most favorite albums ever.

i watched that low documentary on cable last nite. maaaaaaaan, was that boring. not even two members of napalm death could pep things up. HOW IRONIC LOW DUDE THEY ARE IN NAPALM DEATH AND YOU ARE IN LOW AND YOU ARE IN THE SAME BUILDING WHAT ARE THE ODDS. on the other hand, it made me want to listen to low records. i do like low. and watching low live from my couch is, if you ask me, the best friggin' place on earth to watch low live.

hahah, interesting post. a boring documentary that made you wanna listen to the records. i can see that. good documentary i guess, rather slow, i own it but have only watched it once, so far.

the live footage is indeed superb.

that's the Low In Europe thing, right? I've got that DVD too, should really watch it again too

they should have set up the most boring people alive premise even more than they did. they sould have called the doc: HOW LOW CAN YOU GO:THE DIRTY DULUTH 3 LAY WASTE TO EUROPE! with girls gone wild cover art.

Maybe the sequel will be even lower

Low & Lowerer, with new bass player Jim Carrey

ultimately characterless and forgettable

lol. Heard Drums and Guns?

it hadn't been released back then

i have "low in europe" and only got halfway through it. hmm. and as you all know, i adore them.

vvv tickled to see the original post -- it was alex who got me into low, some ... fucking hell, 12 years ago now. christ.

which album do I listen to right now if I've never heard any of them before? quick!

I think The Great Destroyer is very accessible, so that may be a good entry point. But I guess Things We Lost In The Fire might be a more representative disc.

A handful of songs on the new disc (called Drums and Guns) are also an excellent introduction to the band. Try, for example, this killer (no pun intended) version of Murderer, from a live, in-studio performance last year.

Things We Lost in the Fire is a great introduction. I'd also recommend Secret Name, which was my intro, also very good.

Things We Lost in the Fire, definitely. Worked for me at least, from the first chord change.

Anyone see that film about Low that's now showing on Pitchfork.tv? It's called You Might Need A Murderer. I didn't know how troubled Alan Spearhawk was. Semi-boring film, but a totally compelling band.

Oh it's on Pitchfork.tv? Sweet, I saw it in the local record store today and passed on it ($20 brand new) but i'll totally watch it for free. One of my all time favorite bands, love these guys.

npr interview with the sparhawks a while ago that touched on his issues

Catch it now, Stephen. It's the "One Week Only" feature on Pitchfork.tv.

That NPR interview is fascinating. Sparhawk dances around his problems some, but this is the first time I've heard he was suicidal.

Thanks Daniel, I'll be sure to check it out Sunday morning when i get up :D

Retribution Gospel Choir (Alan's new, catchier, LOUD, rock band) played a sparsely attended show in Montreal on Friday that was fucking amazing. PLayed their hearts out for we seated folk, left my ears so happily ringing. Was sad to see him loading up the van alone in the street afterward (last time I saw Low it was at ATP with another 1000 people). If Retribution Gospel Choir come to chez toi, go go go. terrific.

Low have subtley crept, over the course of about ten years, into the position of being my favorite existing band.

"subtly"

Some good discussion on this thread, methinks.

Retribution Gospel Choir (Alan's new, catchier, LOUD, rock band) played a sparsely attended show in Montreal on Friday that was fucking amazing.

ARGH I was on the list for this but couldn't go, damn you, job.

I've seen them 7-8 times since 1997 and have observed as the venue/audience size has grown in tandem with the expanse of the band's dynamic (louder choruses, distortion pedals and such). The songs from their last few records are perfectly suited to the mid-size theatres they play these days. But my favorite gigs were one in the mid-to-late 90's, when they would come through the Ann Arbor/Detroit area quite regularly and play at little hole-in-the-wall spots: The (small) audience would generally sit on the floor and remain dead silent until the band finished playing (save for the occasional applause). There was a communal reverence, churchlike almost, unlike anything else I've experienced at rock gigs (even a "seated" Yo La Tengo show from their And Then Nothing.. tour, in which the band/venue provided the audience with folding chairs, didn't come close). It was a beautiful thing to be a part of, really.

I totally get that. I'm sure you'd agree, though, that they deserve all the additional attention -- and higher audience attendance at shows -- that they now get. I'm with you: Low has become one of my favorite, if not my absolute favorite, band of the moment.

I'll third that. Best band going today.

i saw RGC a few years back with Kozelek and they were alright but the drummer was really stiff; if it's the same guy I'm sure they've loosened up a bit. I'm assuming Kozelek isn't on this tour.

the best thing they played though was a crazy ass cover of "the carpet crawlers"

I'm sure you'd agree, though, that they deserve all the additional attention -- and higher audience attendance at shows

Yeah, it has actually been very rewarding to watch a humble little band like Low build and expand their aesthetic over the years, and at the same time gain popularity because of the sheer quality of their art. Even thought I have those fond memories of tiny quiet shows, I have no problem sharing Low with The World.

Strictly in terms of popularity, though, I know Low is bigger in Europe than The States, at least circa early-2000s. Was it that way in the mid-to-late 90's too? I'd been used to Low concerts being generally as described above. But then, in 2000, I moved to Dublin for college and twice saw Low in sold-out concerts at The Olympia, a fairly large theatre (fantastic shows both, one with cello!).

"thought" = though

stop all the clocks, quieten all the whisperings about low's republican tendencies:

low are playing an obama benefit somewhere.

they're also doing christmas shows in the uk, in november.

I like this, reminds me of La Düsseldorf. As far as the autotune vocals go I'd rather hear him do a Trans than an Everybody's Rockin', if you know what I'm saying.

everybody's rockin' would actually be a much more interesting move in 2024

Eh I'm much more excited about this approach than coming back with another Retribution Gospel Choir record

I will always take another RGC record, but I get this being a distinct thing. I like the second single much better though. Reminds me a bit of Kim Gordon's recent records.

i feel like this "oh we're an indie artist but we've discovered SYNTHs and AUTOTUNE and BEATS!!" is just as much of a cliche as "back to basics" at this point, even Decemberists did it

I mean, that's not wrong, but this also feels like a somewhat natural evolution of where the Low albums had been heading.

That's how I feel about the KG record and most other stuff (KG or John Cale with trap beats, no thanks I'm good). But this feels different to me, like a catharsis and a way for him to make music without sounding like Low minus Mimi. Hard to know what I would think if I didn't know the context though.

xp

xpost

that's true

i love the last couple but also the most revolutionary music they made was the early stuff

listen i don't begrudge him anything at all...i saw the first derecho show and the first alan sparhawk band show, i enjoyed them okay but in both there was a nagging thing like do i really *like* this or just wish him well?

actually the more i think about it an alan sparhawk weird rockabilly record could rule

Yeah, I mean I don't think this is the best music he's ever made and who knows how it will feel in a few years, but this seems like a necessary transitional phase if there ever was one. I'm glad there's a record for it.

xp maybe that will be the Trampled by Turtles record, lol

I have at least one song recorded from the live set I saw with the band he has with the Trampled by Turtles guy in it - sounded way more trad obv but different than Low, I'll try to find it and post

my frustration is that "get still" is decent but him making a synths & autotune album and not getting bj burton involved just feels like a waste of potential

here's tracks that are probably going to be on the album with tbt:

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

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

okay found some stuff, first up Tired Eyes, Alan playing guitar in the world's greatest Neil Young cover band

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl821lPCQbc

Speaking of, I could absolutely see Sparhawk having a Youngian approach to his latter career, tossing off different ideas in different modes.

We've probably done this before but how did their songwriting partnership work? I seem to recall reading somewhere that whoever did the lead vocals, the song was theirs, Lennon/McCartney style. If that's the case then he should certainly have it within him to write more Low-type stuff. Which, for the avoidance of doubt, is what I'd like to see him doing.

There was an interview I saw where he talked about how Mimi was often the person who would tell him when to stop - that she would give his ideas some direction and could figure out what the song needed, while left to his own devices he would want to push every idea as far as possible.

https://thegreatnorthernfestival.com/tgn-blog/low-interview

they talk about it in this interview a little bit - typically the one who wrote it is the one who sings lead, but there are exceptions - mimi mentions that there's songs where she ended up singing lead even though that wasn't the original intention, just because it worked better, and there's plenty of songs they sing together

Metal

Aha, that is the comment box on this Zing app, not the search box. An error I will make exactly once.

Alan has a new noise rock thing w/a friend of mine called Feast of Lanterns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4BZto7Gf0M

that sounds cool, hard to keep track of all his bands

first up Tired Eyes, Alan playing guitar in the world's greatest Neil Young cover band

back at Turf Club in October!

Metal

Which Low album was it that had "There Will Never Be an Edit Button on ILM"? Trust, probably.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2qukBhLLIc

That whole episode of the Life of the Record podcast is excellent. RIP Mimi

boggles my mind that i'd never heard of their springsteen cover until today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy_bQq2sAoA

same

the only reason i knew about it because i collect different versions of that track lol

Oh that's nice.

I like the Electrelane version a lot. What other good versions are out there, Table?

Listening party (i.e. preview stream) happening on Bandcamp right now. Only just tuned in but the album seems to be pretty short, just 34 minutes.

Another new single. Sadly I’m to the point where I find it all pretty unlistenable. Will wait for the next thing he does.

I saw one of his other new projects, Feast of Lanterns, just this past weekend, an excellent noise-rock trio and let me just say...the 90s are back baby!

mild apologies, but my store (LUNA music) did (alongside Electric Fetus) our own variant of the new LP...that are signed by Alan. Not too many copies left. https://shop.lunamusic.net/ALAN-SPARHAWK-WHITE-ROSES-MY-GOD-LUNA-music-El-p/098787165531.htm

Lovely feature

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/23/arts/music/low-alan-sparkhawk-white-roses-my-god.html?unlocked_article_code=1.NU4.X1pz._XYArhaQL9LR&smid=url-share

thank you for that link, Ned

meanwhile, heard the album but I could only handle half of it in one go - it's not *bad*, the vocoder vocals are just not very accessible.

I saw him and his band play last spring or so. It was about 1/3 vocoder stuff, 1/3 soul-jazz (like Roy Ayers covers) and 1/3 heavier Neil Young-inspired stuff. The Neil Young stuff was best, the soul-jazz surprisingly solid and the vocoder stuff kind of not fully formed. I haven't heard the new album, but speaking of Neil Young, I did get to see Tired Eyes twice this summer, once here and once up in Milwaukee, and boy was it a blast.

album's ultimately just a curiosity - it's interesting to hear him work in such a different mode and some of it's decent enough but it's just not up with his best work overall

I've had "always trying to work it out" stuck in my head for days. must be ruminating about something plus the song is an earworm

Wouldn't the vocoder stuff just be his Neil Young "Trans" tribute?

My LP came today and I regret buying it. Its dreadful. Might need to start listening to pre-release songs in future to avoid it happening again.

Surprised at how much I like it. Minimalistic beats and weird vocoder effects, what's not to like? It's sorta like Brat, only very different.

Much worse than most Low albums, though.

Album is very much a curiosity, better in parts than I expected and far, far worse in other parts ("I Made This Beat" has to be the absolute worst Sparhawk associated song ever), but I can't begrudge him for chasing down this likely necessary detour to process things. I'm not sure I'll be returning to this very often though.

On the positive side, "Feel Something" is kinda heartbreaking.

I thought "I Made This Beat" was literally a joke when he played it live.

I do think this has some good ideas, some avenues he hasn't yet explored with Low, but ultimately it's pretty simplistic. feels like it was more for him than us

The back half of the record is a lot better than the front half, imho. Feel like the run from "Black Water" to "Somebody Else's Room" would have made a perfect EP.