boston area shows of note: friday, july 25th comedian joel mchale (from the soup) @ the wilbur theatre saturday, july 26th bon iver bowerbirds @ the museum of fine arts sunday, july 27th the new collisions (debut) red quiet melt @ tt the bears sunday, july 27th sunfold antiques @ the middle east upstairs wednesday, july 30th we are scientists @ the middle east downstairs wednesday, july 30th earlimart @ the middle east upstairs wednesday, july 30th spiritualized the dirtbombs @ the wilbur theatre thursday, july 31st the police elvis costello & the impersonators @ the tweeter center friday & saturday august 1st & 2nd eddie vedder liam finn solo @ the opera house saturday, august 2nd wolf parade @ the paradise monday, august 4th coldplay @ the garden tuesday, august 5th (and every tuesday this month) neil cleary's 'doozy' a guest-packed 4-show residency @ the lizard lounge wednesday, august 6th neil halstead (slowdive/mojave 3) rogue wave jack johnson @ the tweeter center saturday, august 9th margot & the nuclear so and so's @ the middle east saturday, august 9th melvins @ the paradise sunday, august 10th ho-ag six finger satellite the in-out certainly, sir @ great scott tuesday, august 12th thao nguyen with the get down stay down david schultz & the skyline pepi ginsberg @ tt the bears tuesday, august 12th (and every tuesday this month) neil cleary's 'doozy' a guest-packed 4-show residency @ the lizard lounge wednesday, august 13th radiohead grizzly bear @ the tweeter center thursday, august 14th grizzly bear violens outside in the courtyard @ the museum of fine arts friday, august 15th the ex getachew mekuria debo band @ the middle east downstairs saturday, august 16th +/- (plus minus) broken river prophet (cd release!) animal hospital ba-na-nas free kickass cupcakes from 9-10pm! @ the middle east upstairs tuesday, august 19th (and every tuesday this month) neil cleary's 'doozy' a guest-packed 4-show residency @ the lizard lounge wednesday, august 20th human league, belinda carlisle, abc, flock of seagulls, naked eyes @ the bank of america pavilion thursday, august 21st yndi halda caspian irepress @ tt the bears friday, august 22nd obits (ex-hot snakes/rftc) @ the middle east saturday, august 23rd amo joy! franklin bruno (from nothing painted blue) one happy island (ep release!) @ the lily pad saturday, august 23rd newbury comics / unnatural axe 30th anniversary bash the meatmen, queers, nasties, unnatural axe, sleazies @ the middle east down tuesday, august 26th the final installment of... neil cleary's 'doozy' a guest-packed august residency @ the lizard lounge wednesday, august 27th liz phair performing 'exile in guyville' @ the paradise wednesday, august 27th xiu xiu prurient @ the paradise monday, september 1st the juan maclean @ the middle east downstairs friday, september 5th silver jews @ the middle east downstairs saturday, september 6th my morning jacket @ the bank of america pavilion sunday, september 7th ryan adams & the cardinals @ the bank of america pavilion tuesday, september 9th paul weller @ the berklee performance center saturday, september 13th wfnx disorientation 2008 the kooks, flogging molly, alkaline trio, rogue wave, and more to be announced @ bank of america pavilion monday, september 15th james @ the paradise tuesday, september 16th a place to bury strangers @ the paradise thursday, september 18th the walkmen @ the middle east downstairs friday, september 19th sigur ros @ the bank of america pavilion friday, september 19th to sunday, september 21st all tomorrow's parties with my bloody valentine, low built to spill, mogwai, shellac, polvo, yo la tengo, lilys, autolux dinosaur jr, mercury rev, & more @ the catskills in nyc monday, september 22nd mogwai fuck buttons @ the wilbur theatre tuesday, september 23rd writer dennis lehane (release day for 'the given day') @ the coolidge corner theatre wednesday, september 24th low @ the museum of fine arts boston saturday, september 27th built to spill performing 'perfect from now on' dinosaur jr. meat puppets @ the orpheum sunday, september 28th the bird and the bee willoughby @ great scott thursday, september 30th boston spaceships (gbv's robert pollard) big dipper @ the paradise sunday, october 5th pinback @ the paradise monday, october 6th the wedding present @ the middle east downstairs monday, october 6th stereolab monade @ the paradise wednesday, october 8th wire @ the middle east downstairs sunday, october 12th the residents @ showcase live, foxboro sunday, october 12th the notwist @ the roxy tuesday, october 14th cold war kids @ the paradise friday, october 17th jonathan richman with drummer tommy larkin @ the somerville theatre saturday, october 18th ra ra riot walter meego the morning benders @ the middle east tuesday & wednesday october 21st & 22nd billy bragg @ the somerville theatre wednesday, october 22nd lyle lovett & john hiatt (acoustic, on stage together) @ the orpheum thursday, october 30th of montreal @ the orpheum saturday, november 1st henry rollins (spoken word) @ the orpheum monday, november 3rd coldplay @ the td banknorth garden visit tourfilter for more shows |
Wednesday, June 20, 2007 Mp3s: Low - Live Drums And Guns Low has meant so much to me over the years that I have a tough time saying anything even slightly negative about 'em. Never so quickly has a band entered my all-time top ten than after my first full listen through 1996's "The Curtain Hits The Cast", and I've eagerly awaited every album since. I've found many things to love about each of their releases, and was never-less-than deeply moved every single time I saw them live. There are just certain artists that you know instantly: As long as they're a band, I'm a fan. So I was surprised to find myself, for the first time in 10 years, slightly disappointed by a live Low set in 2005, when I caught them at the Somerville Theatre with Pedro the Lion. I noted it at the time, but what I failed to mention was the disquieting stage presence of Alan Sparhawk, who occasionally twitched and jerked awkwardly during the set. I wondered at the time if something was wrong, and realized months later that it was likely due to the self-described difficult time he was going through, and which caused Low to cancel the rest of their 2005 tour dates. I'd never read such a candid message to fans from an artist I so respected. It made me admire him all the more, and wonder if, when, and how Low would return to the studio or stage. Return they did, with tour dates in early 2006, and new member Matt Livingston replacing longtime bassist Zak Sally (who left to be a more-present dad, and to run his excellent La Mano 21 comics publishing imprint). A new Low album was bound to follow, and sure enough, word came that their second release for Sub Pop ,"Drums And Guns", would arrive in March this year. For any band with the longevity and unique identity of Low, it's gotta be a struggle to strike that balance between consistency and sonic evolution. But they've walked that line so well over the years, stretching from the delicate tension of the early songs to incorporate more hooks, even straightforward catchiness at times, without giving up what makes them Low. Even the upped guitars of 2005's "The Great Destroyer" worked in doses, juxtaposed with the fragile beauty that remained. And no matter what bed of music they make, they're anchored by those voices, the married Mimi & Alan either switching off or blending together so perfectly... there's no male/female vocal pairing that sounds remotely like them. But even though "The Great Destroyer" marked somewhat of a departure for Low, it was nothing compared to what "Drums And Guns" would do to tweak their formula. Gone were the guitar chords, replaced with loops and sonic samples. In some songs, even Mimi's sparse drumming took a backseat to programmed beats. For better or worse, much of the humanness was siphoned away, bringing the music to a whole new level of eerie sterility, leaving the vocals alone to carry the emotion, or lack of it. It was a daring experiment, and as much as I wanted it to work for me, it just didn't. And it saddens me to admit I haven't listened to it once since that first week. Which, at last, brings me to the point of this here post. I didn't know what to expect from Low's live show this time around, and after hearing the new album I wondered if their studio experimentation would bleed onto the stage, with samplers and backing tracks either replacing parts or accenting the new songs. But when another show at the Somerville Theater was announced, I couldn't not be there. Because it's Low. And it was f'in beautiful. Everything I didn't get out of the new songs on record, I got from the band that night. With the studio filter removed, it was just three people making music; a backing track appeared for a song or two, a harmonium (I think) on another. Otherwise, it was the Low I knew and loved. "Breaker" was a revelation, fired up with a guitar that rivaled the loudest parts of "The Great Destroyer". "Belarus" was chilling, "Murderer" mesmerizing. Not to mention the old stuff, which felt better than ever. So to offset my disappointment with "Drums And Guns", I've pulled together a disc of live versions of the songs off the album, with most coming from my recording of that show, three others from around the 'net, and two missing that I don't believe they've yet played live (if I'm wrong about this, leave a comment, and better yet, let me know where they can be found). This moderately-mastered collection is shared below in Mp3 form, along with the entire Somerville set. Enjoy. ![]() Low "Live Drums And Guns" 01. Pretty People (Colorado Springs 2006-10-28) 02. Belarus (Somerville 2007-04-07) 03. Breaker (Somerville 2007-04-07) 04. Dragonfly (Somerville 2007-04-07) 05. Sandinista (Somerville 2007-04-07) 06. Always Fade (missing) 07. Dust On The Window (missing) 08. Hatchet (Amsterdam 2007-05-07) 09. Your Poison (Philadelphia 2006-02-07) 10. Take Your Time (Somerville 2007-04-07) 11. In Silence (Somerville 2007-04-07) 12. Murderer (Somerville 2007-04-07) 13. Violent Past (Somerville 2007-04-07) Bonus: Retribution Gospel Choir - "Hatchet" (from the out-of-print 2005 RGC Summer Tour EP) ![]() ![]() Low Live at the Somerville Theater in Somerville, Massachusetts on Saturday, April 7th, 2007 01. Cue the Strings 02. Sandinista 03. In Silence 04. Dragonfly 05. Belarus 06. Breaker 07. Point of Disgust 08. Lion / Lamb 09. Take Your Time 10. July 11. The Plan 12. Like A Forest 13. Pissing 14. Violent Past 15. Murderer encore... 16. encore banter 17. Silver Rider 18. fire alarm banter 19. Last Snowstorm of the Year 20. Lust A little Low linkage...
![]() the post's post-script... If anyone has an issue with these Mp3s being made available, just let me know (my contact info in the 'nac faq). Live sets recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps Mp3s. Files are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed. Labels: livemp3s $blog_id=1461904630347222751; $blog_mail="bsearles@gmail.com"; $file_name=$PHP_SELF; global $blog_id, $blog_mail, $file_name; include ("blogkomm/module/blogkomm_show_link.php"); ?> |
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