S/D: Low (the band)

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There may have been a thread on these guys earlier, but good luck using the search feature on an artist with so generic a name...

I recall hearing these folks for the first and last instance around ten years ago; didn't do it for me then but tastes change. What's the best of their material to hear in order to give them a fair shake, and what should I avoid, if anything, from their output?

Thanks in advance.

― Nom De Plume (Nom De Plume), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 00:24 (twenty-two years ago)

my favourite albums of theirs are Long Division and The Curtain Hits The Cast. they've put out some excellent records since but those remain the strongest for me. that said, i'd recommend any of their records EXCEPTING their debut ("Words" being its only real saving grace) and Songs for a Dead Pilot which I found really dull.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 00:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Everything I have by Low is pretty fantastic, which is "Secret Name", "The Curtain Hits the Cast", "Things We Lost In the Fire", and the "Songs for a Dead Pilot" and "In the Fishtank" EPs.

"Things We Lost..." seems to be a good starting point, but I haven't heard everything...

― ham on rye (ham on rye), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 00:36 (twenty-two years ago)

a particular gem that not all Low fans may be aware of is their collaboration with Transient Waves & Piano Magic, "sleep at the bottom" (released as a 7" on rocket girl), which is just gorgeous..

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 00:39 (twenty-two years ago)

i think either "secret name" or "trust" are the best to start with. the albums from "secret name" onwards have slightly more varation - in arrangements and instrumentation, rather than in terms of pace - so are a better starting point. "trust" actually rocks out on a couple of tracks - so if you find the snail pace a problem, it's your best bet. "things we lost in the fire" is not quite as good, but worth checking out for "sunflower" alone.

if you really dig the "secret name"-and-onwards albums, pretty much everything else is worth your money. there's some really gorgeous stuff on the first few albums - "throw out the line", "streetlight", "over the ocean".

"secret name" is close to being my favourite record of all time. i'm a sucker for their sound - so i'd enjoy pretty much anything they'd do - but they really excelled themselves with that one. Pure, sad beauty from start to finish.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 00:42 (twenty-two years ago)

kilian Murphy is so completely right.

― Emilymv (Emilymv), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 00:44 (twenty-two years ago)

oh, and go and see them live. especially if they play in a cathedral, like they did in dublin. just gorgeous!

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 00:47 (twenty-two years ago)

i only like the christmas album. the rest is dull. dont' see them live, tedious! i'd probably agree with anyone who said they were better than american analog set but then that's hardly solid praise.

― keith (keithmcl), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 00:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I've only heard their later albums, from "Secret Name" (on which the tracks 'two step' and 'starfire' are sublime) onwards, but i'd suggest "Things we Lost in the Fire". It remains my favourite and is the only one i always go back to and listen to throughout. I like dull.

― Dr_Robotnik, Tuesday, 26 August 2003 00:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Search everything. Destroy only the Owl remix record.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 01:51 (twenty-two years ago)

oh yes. destroy that wretched remix record. horrible, horrible, horrible, and completely unsanctioned by the band

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 02:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Search: "I started a joke"

― Leee (Leee), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 02:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Everything I have by Low is really fantastic, which everything except the first album.

If you are new to them, I would start with the most recent album (trust) and work your way back in time.

― A Nairn (moretap), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 04:01 (twenty-two years ago)

oh yeah, I havn't heard the owl remixes at all.

― A Nairn (moretap), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 04:01 (twenty-two years ago)

I love the last two albums, but don't listen to them enough. Live, they were fully impressive, especially in use of dynamics and harmony.

Right now, I'm listening to ACDC, 'Back In Black', which is making it very difficult to recall any particular Low songs at all, but I do know I like them.

― derrick (derrick), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 05:13 (twenty-two years ago)

The best starting places would be Things We Lost In The Fire or the Christmas ep. After you've been "acclimatised" by those, Trust and Secret Name are essential.

Curtain Hits The Cast is really nice, as is the Bombscare collabaration with Springheel Jack which contains Hand So Small, one of their loveliest songs.

Live, they are magnificent- truly world class.

― Officer Pupp, Tuesday, 26 August 2003 06:02 (twenty-two years ago)

I wasn't all that interested in them based on the few tracks I'd heard, but I went to see them and I completely got into it. I only have the last couple albums, plus the Christmas album, which I love. Lovely is an overused adjective, I use it too much myself, but Low is lovely.

― JesseFox (JesseFox), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 06:03 (twenty-two years ago)

i think their weak link is their lyrics (especially in their later work), but they're rarely *bad* or cringeworthy so it's not much of an issue.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 06:04 (twenty-two years ago)

I discovered them late, but that's great -- lots to dig up, and I agree that later stuff is probably better. Just. I keep gravitating toward the word "lovely" too. Sometimes, listening to Low, you can forget to breathe. Search: most of their stuff (haven't heard the remixes, though, so I bow to other ILMers there).

― David A. (Davant), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 06:43 (twenty-two years ago)

From Alan Sparhawk's European tour diary of their recent stint opening for Radiohead:

I'm always debating it in my head: Stick to the unique thing we've developed over all these years or let ourselves go wherever we want - whatever seems right. Freedom is nice and all, but some of the best things come out of restraint.

That pretty much sums them up, I think. It's that Mormon thing (or maybe just Midwestern thing,) the desire tempered by the restraint, etc. It's what gives the music tension.

― JesseFox (JesseFox), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 07:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Might Johnny Cash be prevailed upon to record "Will the Night Last Forever"?

― Neil Willett (Neil Willett), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 07:19 (twenty-two years ago)

kilian is very OTM. secret name is perfect for me, and trust is probably second favorite after that, and the rest is mostly very high quality stuff too (excluding the remix record which didnt really do much for me). my favorite ep is the "in the fishtank" one with the dirty three, the cover of neil young's "down by the river" is particularly incredible. out of their early stuff (pre albini) i like long division the most. im actually quite a big fan of their lyrics too (especially the "secret name" and "trust" ones), sometimes they're just like a few lines long and repeated, but they get good value out of their words and they add considerably to the effect.

seen them 4 times live, all of them great great gigs, especially the shows i saw at the union chapel, their sound really works in there.

all in all, low are close to being my favorite band (although there are other competitors), as soulful music as i can imagine.

― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 12:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I think i would second A Nairn's suggestion that you start with Trust and work back. but the i havent heard "secret Name" so i will definatley be seeking that. I just downloaded "Do you know how to waltz?" - a version player with Godspeed! you black emperor - i dont know if this is even commercially available so i dont feel bad suggesting you download it if you can find it.

The thing about Low that is unique, i think, is that they make music that is slow and sad without it ever being self pitying, bombastic or "tragic". I cant think of a single other band that fits that description. And live they are sublime - it seems somehow something to do with the fact that they look so dull and normal and yet produce such a pure and beautiful sound.

― jed_e_3 (jed_e_3), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 13:07 (twenty-two years ago)

''but good luck using the search feature on an artist with so generic a name...''

you could have tried putting in one of the alb titles in the search.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 13:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Low: Classic or classic?
Low "Trust" - Classic or Dud?
Low "Trust" - Classic or Dud?

Was found using "Things lost fire" in our little search engine.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 13:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Low: classic or dud?
Meant this for the third thread.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 13:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey Neil- spot on re Johnny Cash! i'd never thought of it but now i can hear him doing several low tracks, the two seem to fit somehow.

Also worth downloading (or buying obviously, but it's out of print)is their version of Long Long Long, which sounds exactly as you'd imagine it would.

― Officer Pupp, Tuesday, 26 August 2003 16:41 (twenty-two years ago)

yes indeed - id love to hear johnny cash do some Low!

― jed_e_3 (jed_e_3), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 16:56 (twenty-two years ago)

three years pass...

So I'm listening to Drums And Guns and midway though I suddenly blurt out

"UGH... THIS IS CRAP!"

What the hell is going on here? Am I just not getting it? I was mixed on The Great Destroyer and love love love Trust.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Friday, 5 January 2007 23:19 (nineteen years ago)

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