Friday Music Day

FMD — Low

15 Comments

From the Oxford Dictionary:

Low

5. depressed or lacking in energy:
"I was feeling low"

Duluth's second most famous band (behind Trampled by Turtles), Low has been around for 25 years and has generally developed a pretty strong cult following. Although I wouldn't call their music depressing or lacking in energy, it certainly has a certain somberness quality to it. It's great for more a chilled listening experience. I've seen them at First Avenue, where I had to stand up, and it seemed uncomfortable at times, I had to spend to too much energy standing to really let the music wash over me. (That's a compliment btw). I've also seem them at music halls, seated, which seemed much more appropriate. Also their Drone not Drones shows at the Cedar are famous for letting you just be in the music. Even their noisier records lend themselves to listening more than dancing.

Anyway, Low has a new album out which is just excellent, I encourage you to check it out. Below is a review from the Strib. They play tonight at the Fitzgerald, which I missed out on getting tickets to. Fortunately, The Current is broadcasting the show on the radio and streaming it as well. If you just want to spend some time tonight, chilling out listening to music, I strongly encourage you to check it out.

http://www.startribune.com/in-its-25th-year-duluth-trio-low-goes-even-further-with-bold-new-album/499300311/

Oh and drop your lists.

15 thoughts on “FMD — Low”

  1. That new Low album is something else, I feel it's their first pushing of their boundaries since Guns and Drums (which itself was a continuation of their great leap into The Great Destroyer).
    This is a bunch of songs that have mostly been destroyed, rotted, and reconstructed. It's its own remix album. I've been listening to it a lot.
    I wonder how it will translate live: will they play the songs less-destroyed? Will they destroy the older songs they play?
    Cool to hear it's streaming, do you know if it will be archived? Deer camp isn't going to be a place I can listen to it.

    1. If we're talking about Double Negative, I had checked it out from the library (streaming) but it got returned before I ever gave it a listen.

      This has inspired me to check it out again. I'll have to report back.

  2. 1. Katy B (with MssingNo and Geeneus) “Water Rising” Honey
    2. Meat Puppets “Buckethead” Up On the Sun
    3. Christian Falk feat. Robyn “Remember” Quel Bordel
    4. Iron And Wine “Such Great Heights” Such Great Heights*
    5. Herman's Hermits “There's a Kind of Hush...” There's a Kind of Hush All Over the World

    6. BJörk “Who Is It” Medúlla
    7. Marit Bergman “Come Back and Haunt Me” * Baby Dry Your Eye
    8. Raekwon “Ice Cream” Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
    9. House of Pain “Jump Around (Pete Rock Remix) (Bonus Track)” House of Pain
    T. Palace Songs “Untitled”* Hope

    *Notes:
    4. Cover of the Postal Service, as a B-side for the Postal Service's single. I can only think of one other single with a different band covering the band for a B-side, Pearl Jam's "Immortality" b/w the Frogs covering "Rearviewmirror". I assume this is a bit more widespread of a practice than that, though. Weirder yet is a second B-side was the Shins' cover of "We Will Become Silhouettes", though the Postal Service original was first released on the album Give Up, which came out a month after the single.

    7. Another Bergman song that could have been a Halloween Mix nominee!

    T. I love these lyrics:
    "Did you like the cake?"
    O, some of it was nice.
    I have made a cake like that
    In my own home once or twice.
    Just as fine as that one
    Which we had some of today.
    None of it was wonderful,
    Much more the okay.

    "Then you can make another,
    If you know what is wrong."
    But I am too distracted
    From fighting all day long.
    "But I will help you do it;
    I will come and meet you here."
    When may I then find you
    On this corner of the stair?

      1. Probably?
        "Got no head... It's a bucket with teeth
        It likes to dream... It likes to sleep
        It knows hot... It knows cool
        It know what's what... It's no fool

        Fill up the bucket with whatever you got
        Make sure it's something that the bucket likes a lot"

        When AJR was a toddler, she wrote a freakishly similar song while wearing a bucket on her head. Like "I have no head, just a bucket on top"
        I posted her lyrics to Facebook at the time (and also wrote them in a notebook of cute things our kids say), but I don't recall them exactly.

        The only toddler-written song I remember for certain is CER's "Let's Take a Walk in the Woods Today". Lyrics:
        "Let's take a walk in the woods today, before it gets too hot." (repeat ad infinitum, varying tune, emphasis, maybe some words.
        Definite influences of Einstürzende Neubauten's "The Garden" (1996, off Ende Neu), and Steve Reich, though I don't know if she'd heard either by that age.

    2. That Iron and Wine cover of Such Great Heights runs circles around The Postal Service version. It isn't even close, IMHO.

        1. It actually is pretty decent. They definitely put their spin on it. I like it better than the Cale version, but that's good too.

          Can't really think of any others off the top of my head.

  3. AMR, typically The Current replays their streams and has them up on their website for a week or two.

    Here is a video of their 28 minute performance of Do You know How to Waltz from the 2013 Rock the Garden. A pretty freaking bold performance at a (sorta) rock festival in the middle of a Saturday afternoon.

  4. 01. "Heart Of Chambers" – Beach House – Devotion
    02. "II. Andante moderato (E minor – E major)" – Johannes Brahms – Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
    03. "Rider To The Sea" – Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi
    04. "2 Hip Soul" – Cymbals Eat Guitars – LOSE
    05. "Talk" – P.S. Eliot – Sadie
    06. "All My Friends" – Franz Ferdinand – All My Friends
    07. "Animals" – Oneohtrix Point Never – Garden Of Delete
    08 "I Won't Lie" – Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again
    09. "The Big U" – The Blow – Paper Television
    10. "Sound And Vision" – David Bowie – Low

  5. DG, have you listened to the new mewithoutYou?

    I actually bought it on vinyl -- my first new vinyl purchase. Now I need to look into a record player setup.

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