Thursday, March 21, 2013

Low "The Invisible Way"

 
I first heard this band on a Joy Division tribute album way back in the mid-90's and liked their version of "Transmission."  I had a brief love affair with the slowcore/sadcore genre that rose up against grunge, enjoying bands like Codeine and Red House Painters, but by the time I heard Low I had broken up with the movement, pretty much like everyone else.  So it was with great surprise that I learned of this new album some eighteen years later.  Plus, I read they went to Jeff Tweedy's house and studio and got him to produce the album.  Ah, what the hell...I love Wilco but I never owned anything Low had done, but I picked up the import a few weeks ago anyway (it released here in the US this past Tuesday), and you know what?  I think I'll keep the whole album.  But there's a catch...
 
First, let me show you this from LAST NIGHT!



A wonderful song and a neat setting.  I was view #19.  Not the greatest audio quality and the guy finally puts the camera down after a few seconds.  The following video is much better quality and more typical of their music...



Man, I can hear Emmylou and Vince Gill doing that song right now...

I had hoped for some of Tweedy's noise to work its way into the music and I wasn't disappointed.  There could have been a little more for my tastes.  He can also be very sparse in his settings, and with Low's style, it melds beautifully.  Not that I've heard much of Low's music over the last fifteen years, but apparently it's new that the drummer, Mimi Parker, has more lead vocals than before.  It's a formula that should continue.

The catch?  I lumped this 41-minute album onto the same disc with Jim James' 38-minute record for economy's sake.  Turns out it was a fortuitous decision...   

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