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Ben

By Ben,
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Ben

Ben

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Any other fans here? I had a raging headache earlier and their songs are the perfect soother, so delicate and precise. As it's all so minimal, there's not a note wasted - the slightest change becomes revelatory. I can't really think of anyone who does this style of music better.

For a band that has been around for about 15 years, to have never released a bad (or even average) album is pretty special. Curtain Hits The Cast is a good starting point I guess, although you can't go wrong with any of their catalogue: Low - The Curtain Hits The Cast

They're on a UK Tour from tomorrow, I'm seeing them at the 250 capacity Arts Centre which as an ex-church should be an ideal venue for them. I'd imagine that these are long sold out though:

12 Apr 2008 Norwich Arts Centre

14 Apr 2008 Bristol Thekla Social

15 Apr 2008 Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms

16 Apr 2008 Brighton St. George’s Church

17 Apr 2008 Leeds City Varieties

18 Apr 2008 Gateshead Sage

19 Apr 2008 London Union Chapel

Anyone else heading to see them? I can't think there will be many better shows happening this year.

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Rsdio

Rsdio

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I love them, was going to go to the City Varieties show but it sold out quite fast and just happened to come around in a period where there's so many other things I want to get to. I'll never forgive myself for missing them at the Holy Trinity church a few years back.

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Ben

Ben

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They were great last night, mesmerising. Sparhawk's voice really comes through live, as do the harmonies. They played a pretty good mix of their stuff over 90 minutes, highlights from memory were Murderer, Sandanista (which I never really liked on record but was excellent, it switched over into a really recognisable looped riff midway through which I just can't place) and Canada. Beautiful stuff.

Louder than I expected too. They weren't Sunn O))) or anything but several of the (newer) tracks were pretty amped up, although it was all perfectly controlled and switched from silence to noisy(ish) immediately at times.

They seemed to be having a good time and there was a fair bit of entertaining banter. It was also a pleasant change to go to a gig where I was one of the youngest there. Good times!

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RJames

RJames

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YEP! Union Chapel + Low = potential gig of the year.

This!

I seem to be too slow these days though. Sold out when I first found out about it. Bugger.

Might buy on ebay though-

Question: I've not been to the Union Chapel myself - are standing or seated tickets better? I would normally assume the former, but don't know in this case...

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Ibzo

Ibzo

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This!

I seem to be too slow these days though. Sold out when I first found out about it. Bugger.

Might buy on ebay though-

Question: I've not been to the Union Chapel myself - are standing or seated tickets better? I would normally assume the former, but don't know in this case...

To be honest every time I've been there I've been sat down...I didn't even know you could stand up actually. There's just rows of pews and anywhere you sit you get lovely sound and a lovely view.

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Warszawa

Warszawa

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Low are wonderful. I have all of their albums but have yet to see them live....the timing is always off....

I almost bought the Retribution Gospel Choir album the other week...though seeing Mark Kozelek listed as producer jogged my memory that a new Sun Kil Moon album was due and I bought that instead. Thankfully, I wasn't punished by going against my initial choice as the worst thing I can say about it is that it's sublime.

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RJames

RJames

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To be honest every time I've been there I've been sat down...I didn't even know you could stand up actually. There's just rows of pews and anywhere you sit you get lovely sound and a lovely view.

Thanks!

Bought from eBay... can't wait :lol:

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  • 7 years later...
  • 2 years later...
Liamness

Liamness

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Actually, they are fiddling a bit still. New record "Double Negative" is out in September, they've released three singles (I really like one, linked below, I think one is pretty good, and I think the other is kind of trash but hey). It seems like quite a studio-led sound that will be hard to reproduce live. This track is the closest to their "traditional" sound, with prominent (and predictably great) vocals from Mimi:

 

 

Looks like a lot of the footage they're using for the videos might be from home videos of theirs. Maybe there is some sort of dual meaning in the "negative" of the title? Possibly there's some kind of concept album business going on here.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Vimster

Vimster

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I'd lost touch with Low until quite recently. Things We Lost In The Fire is the sort of album I like to put on when it's cold and dark, the minimal, spacious simplicity of it. So it was a pleasant surprise the other day when I listened to Ones And Sixes for the first time - what a fantastic album that is. It has the trademark Low spaciousness and immediacy mixed with some subtle electronics. Genuinely beautiful. I listened to it at work and caught myself just sitting there listening, the sign of a good record.

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  • 2 months later...
milko

milko

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New album’s pretty wild huh? Haven’t made my mind up yet, I’m generally up for experiments and departures from habit but some of this feels like they took a nice song and then fucked it with so much distortion there’s almost nothing else to hear. Either more listening will tease it out or I’ll get sick of it, I suspect. Hopefully the former, and I do like the less-demolished tracks. 

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  • 4 years later...
ChewMagma

ChewMagma

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People will talk about her voice, but I think she is incredibly underrated as a percussionist. As someone who has played in various bands, finding drummers who can show even a modicum of restraint is next to impossible. Their minimalist approach is so, so tough to pull off as well, you have to be so brave and trusting.

1
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Ste_S

Ste_S

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Picked up Hey What today, after my local record shop had it playing and liked it. Haven't listened to their music previously, I suspect it's going to be one of those bands I'm going to regret missing out on. Any recommendations for what to listen to next?

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ChewMagma

ChewMagma

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All of it really, just start from the beginning because it is fascinating how they evolved over 3 decades. The first three records are very sparse and stripped down, but are my personal favourites. Then they did 3 records with Steve Albini on Kranky which had more traditional song-writing I guess and of which Things We Lost in the Fire is the classic.

 

Then they were on Sub Pop for a long time but I'm a bit less familiar with those records personally. They totally reinvented their sound for Double Negative, which is an incredible, incredible record. Ditto Hey What which you are already familiar.

 

One reason why Mimi's death was so sad was because they were really at the peak of their powers.

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