[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by gogologogolo

I have a chance to see them live this summer. Worth it? Do they still play any of their old stuff?

They play all kinds of awesomeness and this should be a non-issue. Buy the damn ticket. Now.

[_tunic_]

the answer to your first question is : YES! YES! YES! YES!
They'll still play a couple of oldies, and probably more when you see them because I don't think a new album will be released any time soon. But I also love the live performances of the songs from their most recent album.
You can listen to some live shows here: https://archive.org/details/LowMusic?sort=-date
Some were recorded by me ;-)

[The Soup Nazi]

Only a terminal masochist would pass on the opportunity to see Low.

[_tunic_]

according to Mono they'll tour the US West Coast together with Low in June and/or July

[Severian]

You absolutely MUST see Low. If you're into them at all. They're one of the best live bands around, and they're still killing it after all these years.

They've become almost like SY for me. So obviously awesome that I don't feel the need to talk about them much anymore. But if you've never seen them, fucking GO!

Especially with a powerhouse like Mono on the bill. Holy shit, I'm tempted to fly to WA and stay with my waspy relatives or hipster friends to get to that Neumo's show. Hot damn.

[candymoan]

they recently opened for pj harvey..
i can understand the atmosphere and the attitude, but in the end - too slow paced for my taste, sorry...

[Severian]

Originally Posted by candymoan

they recently opened for pj harvey..
i can understand the atmosphere and the attitude, but in the end - too slow paced for my taste, sorry...

Hm.

I get it. Low is certainly not for every occasion. You (I, one) can't just throw on their discography on shuffle any old time. It's definitely slow, moody, tends to be more than a little melancholy. But as a band with a "sound" -- as opposed to a band that aspires to have multiple styles -- they are simply one of the best at doing what they do.

I think there's enough variation within Low's formula to make their music reliably interesting. Maybe not an ideal choice if you're all pumped to see someone like PJ Harvey live (strange pairing, sonically speaking), but if what you want is excellent musicianship that blends classic Americana with the cutting edge of punk-informed post-rock, then Low is the long-reigning king of the scene. In the studio, they're really a force of nature. Immense thought goes into their arrangements and productions.

I don't know if you listen to their records, or if catching their live show was your first exposure, but they've been on an excellent run for many years now. My favorite album is C'mon.

I think they might work better in a live setting performing with a band like Wilco. Certainly Mono is an excellent fit. Fucking excellent. Polly Jean works on a completely different energetic wavelength, so I can see how they might disappoint if you saw them opening for her frenetic, glorious ass.

[_tunic_]

support acts can be really deceiving. I've seen Low a whole bunch of times, and once there was this band called Dark Dark Dark as their support. But I was soo anxious to see Low that I didn't really pay attention to what that support band was playing, all I noticed was this strange mix of instruments (including banjo, cello, accordion, piano, horn or trumpet) and the singers had a bit of unusual voices. So I sort of let it all come over me and waited for Low to come on stage, and they played a great set with an especially stunning version of Canada.
But I did record the support act, and while listening to it, I found out that they were quite good, and I listened to it again, and again and then I couldn't stop listening to them any more and wanted to buy all their albums and whenever I listen to those albums I am again amazed of how wonderful their music is. Check out their albums (esp. Wild Go and Who Needs Who) on their bandcamp. Their albums are produced by Low's sound guy btw, who has never produced any Low album as far as I know, but he really should.

Support acts for big bands such as PJ Harvey can be even more deceiving. I hate going to big halls for that reason alone. When I went to see Nick Cave a year or two ago, there was this girl as a support act, who was actually quite good (her name slipped my mind right now). But there was no chance at all that I could get a good listen to her music because the people around me were yelling to her to shut up and booing all throughout her set.

oh and there was also this guy who calls himself Death Vessel, he supported Low during their Great Destroyer tour. He was quite good, but in Amsterdam I couldn't hear anything of what he was playing (acoustic folksongs), because all the people in the nearly sold out hall were chattering all over it.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by _tunic_

oh and there was also this guy who calls himself Death Vessel, he supported Low during their Great Destroyer tour. He was quite good, but in Amsterdam I couldn't hear anything of what he was playing (acoustic folksongs), because all the people in the nearly sold out hall were chattering all over it.

I know Death Vessel. Never seen him live, but I have at least one album, and it's pretty bland, wussy singer-songwriters stuff that tricks you into thinking it might be OK with some interesting arrangements, but ultimately kind of sucks the big one, as far as I can tell.

But yeah, supporting acts are weird. Back before Spoon was huge, I went to a show just yearning for them, and their opening act -- the Natural History -- was really minor and I almost skipped their set. Then lo and behold, they turned out to be fucking awesome in a way similar to Spoon; good old fashioned indie rock with a generous amount of groove. They played a song called "Dance Steps" and it blew me away. Probably was the best performance of the night and I went immediately to the record store downtown the next morning and bought their record, which I rocked all summer.

Similarly, I once went to see a regionally famous tongue-in-cheek hardcore band in a basement. They were a draw, and the place was packed. This little known entity called Susto Amore opened and played THE MOST FUCKING EXQUISITELY BEAUTIFUL spacious angular post-rock/lo-fI hybrid shit -- weird choice for a hardcore show -- and people just talked over them, but I don't even remember a single moment of the headliner's performance, so enraptured was I by this little 3-piece's mesmerizing performance.

They broke up or dissolved or something shortly thereafter.

If anyone knows how to find anything by Susto Amore, a Pacific Northwest band from the early '00s, please tell me. They haunt my dreams.

[hipster_bebop_junkie]

"Slowcore: A Brief Timeline" on Bandcamp, focusing on bands such as LOW, Bedhead, Codeine, Red House Painters, etc...
https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/04/2...rief-timeline/

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by hipster_bebop_junkie

"Slowcore: A Brief Timeline" on Bandcamp, focusing on bands such as LOW, Bedhead, Codeine, Red House Painters, etc...
https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/04/2...rief-timeline/

[...] a Spinal Tap-esque profusion of bass players [...]

I would have gone with "a Roxy Music-esque profusion of bass players", but hey, the guy wanted to make it (cheaply) funny. Thanks for the link!

[hipster_bebop_junkie]

"Solo Guitar", by Alan Sparhawk is now available from Silber Records' official Bandcamp:
https://silbermedia.bandcamp.com/album/solo-guitar

[hipster_bebop_junkie]

Alan Sparhawk crowdsurfing during a recent Black Eyed Snakes show.<3

 

.Gif: http://imgur.com/a/nqGVh

Photo and .gif by Aaron Reichow: https://www.facebook.com/reichowphoto/

A review and another .gif here: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/fea...d-mall-culture

[_tunic_]

lol! Nice to see that he's smiling at the start but no longer towards the end :-)

Here's the current tour schedule for Low. I didn't know yet (I think) that they are playing China next week.


DateVenueLocation Tickets
May 18Douban Music Week at TANGOBeijing, China Tickets
May 20Qian Shui Wan Cultural CentreShanghai, China Tickets
May 23Hidden AgendaHong Kong, China Tickets
Jun 12Globe Theatrew/ MONO (Japan) Los Angeles, CA Tickets
Jun 13The Fillmorew/ MONO (Japan) San Francisco, CA Tickets
Jun 15Wonder Ballroomw/ MONO (Japan) Portland, OR Tickets
Jun 16Neptune Theatrew/ MONO (Japan) Seattle, WA Tickets
Jun 17Imperial w/ MONO (Japan) Vancouver, Canada Tickets
Jun 21Sled Island FestivalCalgary, Canada Tickets
Jun 23Sasktel Saskatchewan Jazz FestivalSaskatoon, Canada Tickets
Jun 24Jazz Winnipeg Festivalw/ Basic Nature Winnipeg, Canada Tickets

Will anyone on this list go to any of the Mono / Low nights?

[hipster_bebop_junkie]

"Gaelynn Lea: Not Afraid to Be", eight episode of the latest season of WDSE's The Playlist, devoted to Gaelynn Lea; featuring footage of recent performances by The Murder of Crows, and interviews with Alan Sparhawk:
http://www.wdse.org/shows/playlist/w...on-8-episode-8

[Severian]

Originally Posted by hipster_bebop_junkie

"Slowcore: A Brief Timeline" on Bandcamp, focusing on bands such as LOW, Bedhead, Codeine, Red House Painters, etc...
https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/04/2...rief-timeline/

Awesome! Thanks! I mean, I already have plenty of this stuff in other formats, but still, there's some stuff I don't have and it's a nice collection of tunes.

I've never really thought of Galaxie 500 as slowcore in the sense that Low and Bedhead are. Always considered them to be more akin to the U.S. incarnations of shoegaze — kind of like a quieter and more subdued (also whiny) Dinosaur jr. But they fit in pretty nicely with these other bands.

Also, look at this write-up!! It's amazing! Rarely do you see apostrophes and hyphens used correctly in these things. And look! A proper em dash instead of just a hyphen or double-hyphen!!! Love it!

... In the beginning there was barely even that, just a handful of young men and women forming rock bands across the US and taking them to some shocking places. From the late-‘80s to the mid-‘90s, they released some of the most quietly revolutionary music around — some of it, improbably, on major labels. At the time, they had no real idea of the fullness of what they were making; other bands, later, would put together the pieces. Instead, we are left with the music as it is, and what thrilling music that happens to be.

[hipster_bebop_junkie]

_tunic_, Black Eyed Snakes will play on July 20th in The Netherlands:
https://www.paradiso.nl/web/Agenda-I...Bitterzoet.htm

[_tunic_]

Jesus christ bloody hell. I will be in the US then on holiday
Thanks for the note though, I wouldn't have imagined that they would ever play outside the US, actually not even outside of the Duluth area.
Strange that I hadn't noticed this myself, I normally spell out those Paradiso newsleters from top to bottom.
Oh, I must have missed an album of them as well, according to the text they released two albums so far, with each got 7+ rated reviews on Pitchfork and a new one will be released this summer

[hipster_bebop_junkie]

Explore Minnesota. Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker reflect about Duluth:
https://youtu.be/xM5XAy86BAI

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by hipster_bebop_junkie

Explore Minnesota. Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker reflect about Duluth:
https://youtu.be/xM5XAy86BAI

Brilliant — a friend of mine who lives in Rochester, MN will get a kick outta this. Thanks for the link.