Favorite Records of 2013 - Number 9

Minnesota is a cold place in the winter. As I write this it is 1 degree in Duluth, MN, which is where Low is from. That is cold. In terms of misery, I prefer cold weather to hot weather because I can do something about cold. I can keep putting layers on. When it's hot, you can only strip down so far, and then you have to worry about getting sunburned. When it's cold you can put on a tee shirt and a button-down shirt and sweater and a coat and a couple pairs of socks and trudge around in the snow.

Low makes music for cold days, for staying inside with a warm beverage and a nice fire and a hi-fi and maybe a book. Especially their latest record, and my #9 favorite record of 2013, The Invisible Way. I like this record for that very reason. It is an open record; it has open spaces between the notes that make every note you hear stand out. It is not a busy album. It does not fuss or complicate things. Every instrument, every voice begs to be heard. Jeff Tweedy, of Wilco and Uncle Tupelo fame, does an excellent job producing in that he does not get in the way. It takes a deft hand to make an open record sound as good as this one.

Low is Mimi Parker, Alan Sparhawk, and Steve Garrington. Ms Parker and Mr. Sparhawk are married. The former does most of the singing and those songs I like better. But the latter's are no slouch either. When they sing together it works well. It is tricky to sing together; maybe not so much when you are a professional, at least then you are more firmly aware of whom you can and whom you cannot sing with. In my band, as it meager as it is compared to the real deal here, harmonies sometimes work and sometimes they...do not. But we do not pretend to be pros at this; we do try our best and sometimes it does not always work.

Though I like Ms Parker's sung songs better, I choose to provide the album opener "Plastic Cup". It is a perfect example of the record and if you like this I strongly recommend checking out the rest. I like this one because I like the lyrics. The plastic cup in question is a piss cup and at one point in the song the cup is found buried thousands of years later and thought to be the chalice of some forgotten king. The fact that lyrics like that can work in an acoustic trio show you the quality of the material.

This is the second one for today because I did not have a chance yesterday and I want to be done by New Years Day. Tomorrow we go from mellow to very very noisy.

More With Less

Low is Mimi Parker, Alan Sparhawk and Steve Garrington. They are a very simply put together band: guitar, bass and drum. Occasional keyboard. Parker and hubby Sparhawk trading on vocals. They might be the prototypical indie rock band. Their records are sparse in theory but full in delivery. Take "Just Make It Stop" from their latest record, The Invisible Way:

On a record full of pretty songs this is probably my favorite. The record was produced by the great Jeff Tweedy. An interesting choice because he isn't known, at least to me, as a producer. But the vibe established here shows a deft touch. The well written material is given plenty of room. I said it was full in delivery. Though the parts are relatively small, there isn't much overdubbing or overdoing that I can hear, each part has a weight, has an impact. Each part has a personality; each part stands together with the rest to create a well constructed whole. The crunchiest song is "On My Own" with a frightening guitar squall lurching through the midsection. But it doesn't overwhelm the piano lilt moving underneath or the vocals soaring above. Here's a record that is really well written and really well made.

Sparhawk and Parker's voices work well together. It's the work of singers who are well acquainted with one another, who know where the other's voice belongs, who know how to integrate the uniqueness. One comparison was what Gram Parsons and Emmy Lou Harris did together; I don't necessarily agree with that. The point was the country flavor but the way the voices worked together so well. My disagreement is that with Gram and Emmy Lou you always get the feeling that Emmy Lou was second fiddle to Gram; less a partner and more a supporting act to Gram's svengali-act. That isn't the case here, not even close. If anything Parker has the upper hand; her songs are the more affecting. That is no knock on the other tracks, especially the great opener "Plastic Cup," just a tribute to the high quality of the songs, both lyrically and arrangement-wise.

I had never really given Low a chance before. I knew of them but had never listened. Earlier in the year I got into Sparhawk's noisier side gig Retribution Gospel Choir (whose latest features Wilco sideman Nels Cline), so when the new Low record dropped I felt compelled to take a closer look. I am glad I did. Exposed to them now is a better-late-than-never kind of deal. An outstanding record, one that has a good chance of making my top 10 favorites of the year.

This Will Take A While

Alan Sparhawk is part of the indie band Low. They take a minimalist approach to music, with slow tempos and and a delicate sense but not in an indie-for-the-masses kind of way that Mumford & Sons do. When he wants to make a bit of a ruckus, he gets going with his band Retribution Gospel Choir. Their first couple records had a more power pop kind of feel, but their latest record, simply titled 3, contains only 2 songs, both of which clock in at nearly 20 minutes. Side A is titled "Can't Walk Out"and Side B is titled "Seven." Both tracks are modern guitar epics, especially "Seven" which features the great Nels Cline from the current incarnation of Wilco. The leads in that song are traded off between Sparhawk and Cline and even casual familiarity with Wilco's latest records one will easily tell which lead is who. Sparhawk's playing is more straight-forward and thick toned; Cline is much more angular, operating in the highs. It's a nice mix, both guitarists work well together, and it makes for a big change from the poppy-ness of the last EP. They are playing DC9 and I would totally go but it's Valentine's Day. Ugh. Stupid tour manager; who books that night!?!

Here's the creepy ass video (though also kind of howlingly funny) for "Seven." I don't know if anything really weird or odd or whatever happens because I only watch for a minute or so.

Speaking of long tracks, Neil Young reunited with Crazy Horse in 2012 for the enormous Psychedelic Pill.  I saw enormous because it has two tracks that run over 16 minutes, "Ramada Inn" and "Walk Like A Giant," and one, "Driftin' Back," that runs nearly half an hour.  It's these three songs that are obviously central to the record and show the band in great form musically. There isn't much sophisticated about it. The opener "Driftin' Back" has the feel of a studio jam that just goes on and on and on. Lyrically it is kind of terrible, Neil singing about getting a hip hop hairdo and wanting his mp3s or some kind of nonsense. But the classic Neil sound is there, soloing with gusto between the silliness. He's old, sure, and he isn't going to be writing any more songs like "Old Man" or "Cinnamon Girl" but he can still make the Earth shake.

Here's the album closer, "Walk Like A Giant." Check it out for a few minutes and you'll get the idea!