Oil Can Boyd Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 via Pitchfork Low will celebrate their 20th anniversary as a band with their new album The Invisible Way. Produced by Jeff Tweedy and recorded in Wilco's Chicago studio, the Loft, the album is out March 19 in the U.S. and March 18 in the UK via Sub Pop. Watch a trailer for the album below. In a press release, Alan Sparhawk said that Low visited Wilco's studio while they were in Chicago on tour and decided to record with Tweedy after hearing his work on Mavis Staples' album You Are Not Alone. He also said that the tracks on The Invisible Way are "about intimacy, the drug war, the class war, plain old war war, archaeology and love." Of the album's 11 tracks, drummer/vocalist Mimi Parker sings lead on five. http://pitchfork.com/news/48735-low-announce-new-album-the-invisible-way-produced-by-wilcos-jeff-tweedy/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wendy Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Cool! I always look forward to getting out the Christmas album by Low each holiday season. Mimi's voice is so beautiful especially on this song. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kim Bodnia Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Low are playing The Barbican in April. " LowPresenting their new album on Sub Pop, The Invisible Way30 April 2013 / 19:30Barbican Hall Tickets:£17.50 - 22.50 Delicate and hypnotic as ever, the intimate band from Duluth, Minnesota presents music from The Invisible Way – its upcoming album produced by Wilco frontman, Jeff Tweedy and due for release on 18 Mar (Sub Pop). The Invisible Way finds Low’s majestic melancholy in full bloom yet distinguishes itself with its starker, unadorned soundscapes, layered harmonies and drummer/vocalist extraordinaire Mimi Parker singing lead on five of the 11 songs. The album tackles large issues ('the songs are about intimacy, the drug war, the class war, plain old war war, archaeology and love,' says Sparhawk) in a manner that plays a stunning counterpoint to the sublime hush of the music. http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=14203 " Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chinese Apple Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Here is a track ("Plastic Cup") from the upcoming album http://youtu.be/MHR9o8J5cBg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hwllo Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Here is a track ("Plastic Cup") from the upcoming album http://youtu.be/MHR9o8J5cBg I love everything about that song....except the lyrics unfortunately and that's usually a deal breaker for me. The production sounds perfectly fine and the harmonies and melody is great, but I just can't get into the song lyrically at all Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chinese Apple Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 The production sounds perfectly fine and the harmonies and melody is great, but I just can't get into the song lyrically at allI concur! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stooka Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Did either of you hear the last line of the song?Hahaha Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tweedling Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 No no no, wait....... I'm betting this one is about the "drug war"? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 What's wrong with the lyrics? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lost highway Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 I find it to be a curious song.... which is good. Even if it doesn't work (my mind is not made up), it's better than another song about love sprinkled with nature imagery. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hwllo Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 What's wrong with the lyrics?I don't exactly care for a song with the lines "now they make you piss into a plastic cup" If it's a sillier song maybe, something like "I might" But this is a beautiful song all things considered and I just feel like that line takes me right out of it. Only my opinion of course Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 I don't exactly care for a song with the lines "now they make you piss into a plastic cup" If it's a sillier song maybe, something like "I might" But this is a beautiful song all things considered and I just feel like that line takes me right out of it. Only my opinion of course I don't find anything silly about that line. Different strokes, I guess. I thought the song had some intriguing things to say about this country's view on drugs combined with a more subtle environmental message. I thought it was pretty poignant. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hwllo Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 I don't find anything silly about that line. Different strokes, I guess. I thought the song had some intriguing things to say about this country's view on drugs combined with a more subtle environmental message. I thought it was pretty poignant.Different strokes for sure, but that's the great thing about music. It just seems like a pretty immature song in some aspects. "You can always count on your friends to get you high"/"You can always count on the 'rents to get you by" Just not my cup of tea I suppose! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Heartbreak Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Here's another preview:http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2013/jan/09/low-just-make-it-stop Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wendy Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Love the new-ish sound with addition of keyboards and acoustic guitar. Gotta watch for a tour, it's been a long time since I've seen them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Albert Tatlock Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 STEREOGUM: I guess a good place to start in talking about this new record is to ask how you got Jeff Tweedy to produce it for you. How did that come to be? SPARHAWK: Well, I don’t know. We’ve known Jeff I guess six or seven years now, mostly via our even longer-ago friendship with Nels Cline, who now plays in Wilco but we knew back from his days playing in the Geraldine Fibbers. STEREOGUM: Oh yeah? SPARHAWK: I don’t know … we toured with him and Carla Bozulich and so when he joined Wilco we, I guess he more or less put us on their radar and we did a few shows with them, some tours, and it went well, and Jeff’s a very nice guy. He and I have gone jogging together and stuff like that over the years and … yeah, he’s a nice guy. We get along and there was always this sort of this vague invitation there — always every time at the end of a tour, “Hey man, we’ll see you guys later. Hope it goes well.” Or, “Hey man, you should come to our studio sometime when you’re in Chicago. You guys can record there, do something cool.” You know, that kind of talk, which, you never know if it ever comes together unless you actually do it, you know? So I don’t know, we stopped in I guess earlier last year on our way through town and Jeff was there working on some tracks with Mavis Staples. We got to tour the studio and it seemed like Jeff was, I don’t know, he seemed to kind of be in the right frame of mind for producing, so I guess I just kind of asked him if he’d be interested in thinking about it and give us a call. So, yeah. Sorry I’m rambling. It was pretty simple. We asked. He said OK. STEREOGUM: How did he function with you guys as a producer? I mean, I know the role of producer-band can be so wildly different from band to band and person to person. SPARHAWK: Yeah it’s always very different. Different people, different experiences, different hands-on or hands-off ways of working. I mean, we’ve kind of worked with a lot of different people and choosing the producer who we’re working with while recording is sort of an important part of the process … and it’s something that I think we thrive under. It’s inspiring working with different people. It kind of gives us maybe some subconscious confidence to do new things while knowing that there’s someone that we trust who’s going to be those second vital set of ears. I really value that. We’ve counted on that through the years. With Jeff it was interesting. I mean, first of all. they have that studio really dialed in. They know how to get a good sound there right away and that was really helpful cause a lot of times the first day or two in the studio is sometimes spent kind of feeling like, “Oh crap, are we going to get anything to sound decent here?” You know? Trying to find the right combination of mics and preamps and instruments and get the right vibe — it can be a struggle sometimes just to get started and that can really stifle your creativity or confidence and really sap all the energy. You’re going in like, “I’m ready to put this down!” and then you spend all this time fumbling around. With Jeff it was nice because right away we were able to just go and the sounds were good. Jeff spent a little time with me trying different guitars — he has a huge collection and he knows his stuff really well — and we ended up kind of settling on one or two options that seemed to really just be the perfect thing for the sounds that we were trying to get. I think getting good takes — its helpful to have someone there to say, “That was good.” Or, “Why don’t you try a couple more?” and you can actually trust their judgment. I don’t know, it’s nice to be able to just concentrate on doing a good take without having to be the one who goes back and listens to all of them over and over and then second guessing everything. Specifically with vocals … I think it was pretty vital. It became even more special and specific with doing vocal takes because he’s a singer as well. So … yeah. Essentially that was his part. I mean, there were maybe two or three little scatterings of things that he played that were, that you could say were, “I have an idea for this.” Or, “How about this bell part on this song?” and that kind of thing, but the rest of it was just — I don’t know, just kind of helping us get good sounds and pushing us along. Kind of navigating us and pushing us through the process of getting the best. The best it could be. More w/o any JT references here. http://stereogum.com/1255121/lows-alan-sparhawk-on-the-invisible-way-the-bands-20th-anniversary-and-the-general-weirdness-of-getting-older/interview/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kim Bodnia Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Streaming on NPR right now: http://www.npr.org/series/98679384/first-listen Must admit I'd never heard of the band until Tweedy's involvement. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Low is a great band! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kim Bodnia Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Currently enjoying the piano in "So Blue" and the voice of the singer, I think I prefer the songs with the female vocalist. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lost highway Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 This is my favorite Low record since "The Great Destroyer". I like that they're having Mimi sing lead more. I love the way it sounds. Great, warm, lush sounds but minimal layers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 I still haven't listened to the new one yet. The Great Destroyer is my favorite of theirs. But I thought C'mon was excellent. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Inside of Outside Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 I am listening to it for the first time now. Mellow. Sounds good. I saw them open for Wilco several years ago (2007, in VT. I think). They were mellow. Sounded good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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