Low: Classic or classic?

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 had only heard about teh one show. Is it definitely shows plural?

yeh, manchester ('uni' i think, which i guess is hop & grape/academy three?) and oran mor glasgow. there's a churchy bit to oran mor, although i guess it's more likely they'll be downstairs.

I'm going to the London one - it's at Koko.

So I've just heard something bizarre about how Alan S. threw a guitar at his audience at a Saturday show in the UK?

Drowned in Sound thread with details:

http://drownedinsound.com/articles/4020122

^^ shit's wack

and yeah, classic. particularly the very early stuff, which stylistically i prefer a whole lot to the recent stuff, which tends to be a little too comfortable and prosaic for my liking

Buncha fuckin Helen Lovejoys on that DiS thread non-shocker

this is all very sad. that's not the first thing i've read about onstage trouble in the last few months, either.

weird. I know alan was talking publicly about going on medication a couple of years ago so my assumption would be that it has something to do with that.

but it is a bit funny to think you'd get HURT at a low show

Buncha fuckin Helen Lovejoys on that DiS thread non-shocker

it was a seriously dangerous and fucking stupid thing to do. also, that festival was awash with kids. sparhawk is very lucky that he isn't facing manslaughter charges, and i am not being remotely hysterical here.

i mean, i was there, and the whole thing was *horrific, actually properly upsetting. sorry that the DiS readers aren't chuckling it off with sub-Chunklet ironic machismo, dude.

I primarily meant the hectoring pseudo-concern for the mental problems of someone they've never met, and directives of what he should and shouldn't do with his life. I know people care about the band (as do I) and the guy's problems sound horrible, but it rubbed me up the wrong way is all

no worries dude, i was totally over-vociferous up there. apols.

Would anyone out there be willing to ysi me a copy of "Prisoner"? It's on the Lifetime of Temporary Relief box set (also originally appeared in the limited Finally... EP). I'm desperate to find it but the songs from the box set aren't available on emusic, amazon, or itunes. I'd be very grateful...

unless someone beats me to it i'll up it later on today for you

Someone beat you to it - got an email with the link. Thanks though! I'm writing about Low all week starting tomorrow (here) and really wanted to include mention of this song. I only have it on cassette, of all things.

LOW played a unique (one time only) 2 and a half hour, 25 song concert in Eindhoven, the Netherlands (Catharina church) on January 22nd of 2009. (Crosslinx festival)

It was a collaboration with David Dramm and these were the players: (I just copy/pasted/translated this from concertzender.nl )

Low: Alan Sparhawk, voice, guitar. Mimi Parker: voice, percussion. Steve Garrington: bass guitar.
VocalLab: Bauwien van der Meer, Elsbeth Gerritsen, Fanny Alofs, Christian Damsgaard, Job Hubatka
Margarita Kourtparadisou, Marcel Andriessen: percussion.
Dominik Blum (Steamboat Switzerland) : church organ, Hammond B3, piano, Korg.
David Dramm: arrangements.

recorded at the Catharinakerk Eindhoven, 22-1-2009.
recording technician: Kees van de Wiel

The whole concert was broadcast in two parts on the Dutch (online?) radio station Concertzender on May 18th and yesterday and the streams are still available on demand.
All in 128 kbps, unfortunately, but still, not to be missed. (I don't know how long the station's on demand content remains online, by the way, don't think they delete anything, but I'm not sure at all)

PART ONE:

http://audio.omroep.nl/cz/cz/thema/20090518-20.mp3 (LOW = first 78 minutes of the 2-hour mp3)

David Dramm.
1. The wheel of Catherina.

Low.
2. Amazing Grace.
3. Sunflower.
4. In metal.
5. Candy Girl.
6. Dinosaur act.
7. Kind of girl.
8. Point of disgust.
9. Whitetail.
10. Canada.
11. Belarus.
12. Breaker.
13. Silver Rider.
14. Shots and ladders.

PART TWO:

http://audio.omroep.nl/cz/cz/thema/20090615-20.mp3 (LOW = first 77 minutes of the 2-hour mp3)

Low.
1. July.
2. Pretty People.
3. Take your Time.
4. Monkey.
5. Evertbody's Song.
6. The Lamb / Blood of the Lamb.
7. Violent Past.
8. Laser Beam.
9. In Silence.
10. Always Fade.
11. Dragonfly.
12. Murderer.
13. &20 (My Love (is for Free))
14. Sandinista.
15. When I go Deaf. (with David Dramm joining in on electric guitar)

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.