Sonic Youth Gossip - LOW - "Ones and Sixes"

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LOW - "Ones and Sixes"

New Low record to keep you warm: "Ones and Sixes", will be released on September 11th, by Sub Pop Records. :)

hurray, new thread!

below's the newsletter, or whatever was posted on the chairkickers mailing list. Probably will see them twice on the Europe tour, Amsterdam, Cologne and/or Brussels. If work permits it's been too busy the last couple of months. Paradiso will be a bit too big for them though I'm afraid. Let's hope it fills up better than for SMZ last year.... It's the best venue of the Netherlands, but not when it's just half full.

Very curious about the new album for two reasons. First reason is the curiously good feeling: The new songs they played live so far were very strong, usually I have to listen to new tunes a couple of times before they grab me, not this time. Second reason is the oh dead curious feeling: I read/heard somewhere Alan say that they've been more playyful with the production on this album. So god knows where that leads to. Never liked Drums&Guns so much, even though I loved those songs in their live performances

Quote:

https://www.subpop.com/news/2015/06/23/lows_ones_and_sixes_out_september_11th_2015_hear_n ew_track_no_comprende_now

Low’s Ones and Sixes will be available on CD / LP / DL September 11th from Sub Pop. You can now listen to the lead single, “No Comprende” on Sub Pop’s YouTube, Soundcloud and streaming services like Spotify, Rdio and TuneIn.

The albumwas co-produced by Low and engineer BJ Burton at Justin Vernon’s April Base Studios in Eau Claire, WI, Ones and Sixes is the new (and, so far, the best) album from the Duluth-based trio of Alan Sparhawk, Mimi Parker and Steve Garrington.

Pre-orders of Ones and Sixes are available through Sub Pop Mega Mart, iTunes, Amazon and Bandcamp. Fans who purchase the album from megamart.subpop.com will receive the Loser Edition (while supplies last).

More about Low’s Ones and Sixes:
“In our 20+ years of writing songs, I’ve learned that no matter how escapist, divergent, or even transcendent the creative process feels, the result is more beholden to what is going on at the moment. It’s hard to admit that one is so influenced by what is in front of us. Doesn’t it come from something magical and far away? No, it comes from here. It comes from now. I’m not going to tell you what this record is about because I have too much respect for that moment when you come to know it for yourself.”
— Alan Sparhawk, Low

——————
I have Napster to thank for my love of Low. Kind of. It was 1998 and a friend showed it to me and installed it on my father’s desktop computer. Having grown up with my parents’ well-curated record collection and their conspicuous, infectious love of music, plus then-current radio and various stages of age-appropriate pop culture fandom (see NKOTB, Madonna and TLC), it wasn’t as though I knew nothing. This mysterious, immediate, and seemingly limitless catalogue of unknown sounds, though—it was manna from heaven.
Cue my high school obsession with Brian Eno and the original Nuggets boxset.
Fast forward to 2002; now studying literature in Germany, a neighbor clues me in to some random music library accessible on our shared server.
Immediately cue Low and their album Things We Lost in the Fire playing on repeat for hours.
I spent much of that year abroad collecting new experiences and attempting to process a lot of the classic existential crises so typical of your early 20s. Low was one of the few bands who helped me along with this. Their often slow-growing, minimal and yet expansive songs just beg for introspection. Demand it, even. They cultivate a sense of grandeur and inquiry with their predominantly melancholic tone, which if you’re anything like me, sets you right down in front of the mirror for some much-neglected self-assessment.
Is Low somehow The Velvet Undergound’s song “I’ll Be Your Mirror” transubstantiated into band form?
As Alan Sparhawk said above, the meanings of the songs are transitory. Even if there was a specific impetus, nothing needs explaining beyond what the song itself reveals. It’s an exercise on Low’s end and when the music is released, it becomes one for us.
So how do I talk about an album without entering specific lyrical territory? What’s left are the feelings evoked; the open-ended melodic stories —which is precisely what Low’s music has always been about: the experience. Touché, Alan.
Ones and Sixes opens with “Gentle,” its list of words building in tandem with the instrumentation. There’s a new element introduced immediately: a hypnotic digital static that grounds the whole thing, reigning in the dynamic swells. Alan and Mimi Parker’s voices come in quickly with that unnerving, fragile and beautiful harmony they’ve perfected, and it all hits me at once. It’s a loaded conversation between ex-lovers. There’s a serious pulsing, blown-out bass and it’s jarring and sad. The intimacy is haunting. It has the same effect as Kate Bush’s “Watching You Without Me” and forces a roll call of all the doomed communication in my life. The song ends as obscured as it begins, unravelling piece by piece. The distorted bass drops out from under you, leaving an almost-punishing monotone, and then only a few guitar chords.
The second song “No Comprende” continues that heaviness in a loaded low end. I get Bad Seeds vibes. Melodically, it’s a call and response between Alan and Mimi, with her ethereal voice floating on top, and I think of gravity at work on a tiny insect on water. There’s more rolling, staticky bass, huge kick drum rumbles, and some slow, almost-Morricone leads over a chugging guitar. The reinvention of Low’s arrangement is staggering. This is headphone music; this is surround sound music.
“Spanish Translation” starts out with a sort of restrained, minimal progression (reminiscent of Galaxie 500) that quickly explodes and just as quickly retreats. The line “everything once within reason” grabs my attention as the echoes swell into white noise and then again cut out abruptly. It forces a slow head-bang and reminds me of my first favorite song of theirs, “Dinosaur Act,” in its simultaneous intensity and restraint. There’s a lot of electronic tones left to decay over the analog sound of simple piano chords. “Everything, always confusion,” indeed.
“No End” starts off with a bang of Baroque pop, its descending melody calling up the Beach Boys, but again, the melody hovers over multiple sources of distortion that continue to root Low in a way I’ve not heard before. The arrangement is uncomplicated, with a blown out driving bass groove, effective stops and starts, and Velvets-esque guitar strumming.
“Into You” is a Mimi solo song, and her voice enters over a simple, overdriven beat, like contemporary R&B with its subdued (though crackling) bassline, and what sounds like a Wurlitzer manipulated through a very digitized-sounding Leslie effect. It’s self-referencing as she sings about what veins carry and what it is that “flows right into you” and the varying speeds of tremolo pulse much the same.
“What Part of Me” reminds me of Lesser Matters Radio Department with the minimal but driving distorted baseline (think a lighter “Why Wont’ You Talk About it?”). It’s groovy and it’s poppy, with a preset drum machine beat, the kind I used to play along to on my uncle’s organ. It’s one of the two upbeat songs on the record, in stark contrast to its central question, “What part of me don’t you own?”
Ones and Sixes takes everything Low excels at and dips it in a heavy gold plating of industrial-leaning electronics. This somehow catapults to new and extreme heights the innate beauty their music has always had. It’s a series of contrasts: stunning and menacing, gorgeous and frightening, giving and desperate, and ultimately, unbearably heavy and unbearably light. From one to six and back again.

—Dee Dee Penny (Dum Dum Girls), NYC, June 2015

Tour dates (from Pitchfork):

Low:
06-30 Guangzhou, China - TU Space
07-01 Shenzen, China - B10 Live House
07-03 Beijing, China - YuGong Yishan
07-04 Shanghai, China - Qian Shui Wan Cultural Centre
07-17 Eau Claire, WI - Eaux Claires Festival
09-03 Bergen, Norway - Perfect Sounds Forever Fest
09-04-06 Wiltshire, England - End of the Road Festival
09-04-06 Stradbally, Ireland - Electric Picnic
09-18 Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon *
09-19 Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall *
09-21 Toronto, Ontario - The Mod Club *
09-22 Montreal, Quebec - Bar Le Ritz PDB *
09-23 Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall *
09-24 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
09-25 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s *
09-26 Washington, DC - Black Cat *
10-07 Manchester, England - Cathedral ^
10-08 Glasgow, Scotland - Art School
10-10 London, England - Roundhouse ^
10-12 Köln, Germany - Gebaude 9
10-13 Hamburg, Germany - Knust
10-14 Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega
10-15 Stockholm, Sweden - Kagelbanan
10-17 Berlin, Germany - Lido
10-19 Munich, Germany - Ampere
10-20 Bologna, Italy - Teatro Antoniano
10-22 Zaragoza, Spain - Las Armas
10-23 Barcelona, Spain - Bikini
10-24 Valencia, Spain - Deleste Festival
10-26 Madrid, Spain - Teatro Lara
10-27 Santander, Spain - Escenario
10-29 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso ^
10-31 Brussels, Belgium - AB
11-11 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue *
11-13 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge *
11-14 Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex *
11-16 Los Angeles, CA - The Troubadour *
11-18 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall *
11-20 Portland, OR - Doug Fir *
11-21 Seattle, WA - The Crocodile *

* with Andy Shauf
^ with Two Gallants

PRE-ORDER DETAILS

All customers who pre-order the LP version of Ones and Sixes will receive the album on Loser edition Yellow-colored vinyl, while supplies last (available until you read right here that it’s no longer in stock!).
All pre-orders will also receive any and all pre-release track downloadsin advance of the album release as they are made public, which will be available from your SubPop.com account as they become available.

Confirmed by Alan in a tweet to me, Texas and other dates along the South will be scheduled in 2016.

No Comprende (not the official video)

Great news!

I know one of the opening acts. Two Gallants... used to know them rather well actually. They played a few shows with an old band of mine back when their first album came out.

Never got into them on record, but in the old days they were a mighty live band.

Should be a good fit for Low in that respect.

Ah, this is exciting!

I think Two Gallants is not really the support, it will be a double bill, both doing full sets apparently. And they'll be doing more of those on this tour. In Brussels it will be with Chelsea Wolfe. I don't know either of those bands, so not sure which of those is supposed to be more well known these days compared to Low. But I'll do my homework and spend some quality time listening to them :-)

By the by, as hipster_bebop_junkie and a few more on this board know, "no comprende" means:

(he/she/it) "doesn't understand"

OR

(you [in the formal "usted", singular]) "don't understand"

So when you hear gringos saying "no comprende" as "I don't understand", they're mauling the Spanish language and I want to punch them in the face. Just sayin'.

:mad:

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

Wait, I thought to understand, in reference to another person's words or actions was entender

I would say "no le entiendo" if I was addressing someone.

It's been a while since I've spoken any of the rudimentary Spanish that I learned in high school and in preparation for a stay in Madrid several years ago.

Maybe I need to attend a night class or something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by _tunic_

Considering the fact that Two Gallants crashed on our couches when they played with us, and only played last because we were trying to be respectful of the distance they drove to be at our show, I'm fucking astonished that there's even a question about who's more popular. :)

I was already into Low at the time, and had been since at least 98/99. They were covered by Robert freaking Plant, so I guess I assume they're at least somewhat well known.

Chelsea Wolfe has reached a broad audience of late, and might be more recognizable than Low, but for my money Low better be headlining.

Though like I said, Two Gallants circa 2003/2004 were (in their live show anyway) similar to Lonesome Crowded West era Modest Mouse. Angular guitars and spastic drums mingling with downtempo country/folk melodies and sort of a traditional vibe. They were impressive, though I haven't followed them on record.

I need to clarify what I said on my, um, language meanie post: I haven't heard the Low song (don't think I will until the album is out, that's pretty much my general policy), I don't know how the phrase is used on it, and I don't want to punch anyone from Low in the face anyway. Wouldn't punch Alan - I love him. Well, maybe I would to steal Mimi away from him, but I don't think that'd fly. By the way, I relatively kinda sorta half-forgot Low already has a song called "Don't Understand" (pummelling amazing track from Secret Name, of course)...

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

I haven't heard the Low song (don't think I will until the album is out, that's pretty much my general policy)

This is a great policy and one I've tried to live by when it comes to groups I know. When it comes to groups / music I'm not all that familiar with, I've appreciated the "sneak peaks" provided by many here over the years.

I was hesitant to address your "No Comprende" post as I didn't want this thread to turn into the "back-and-forth" rant where SYG members come with knives out (like in a few other SYG threads).

My best friend is married to a wonderful women who speaks spanish, split time between Mexico/Cuba until 1st Grade when her family legally moved to Texas. Over the years we've had several discussions on the topic and I'm not sure if I'll fully grasp the frustration. This has also been a discussion with people I work with and I shared this Hispanic vs. Latino vs. Spanish video......curious to your thoughts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bytor Peltor

Over the years we've had several discussions on the topic and I'm not sure if I'll fully grasp the frustration. This has also been a discussion with people I work with and I shared this Hispanic vs. Latino vs. Spanish video......curious to your thoughts.

Uhhh... These distinctions are fairly obvious, just like Jewish vs Hebrew vs Israeli. You guys need charts and shit to understand the differences? Dude...

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

Uhhh... These distinctions are fairly obvious, just like Jewish vs Hebrew vs Israeli. You guys need charts and shit to understand the differences? Dude...

No sir, don't believe I do. The differences are are more than fairly obvious, they're totally freaking obvious. But this doesn't seem to be the case with many of the people I come I come into contact with. I had a HELL of a time explaining Sephardi VS. Ashkenazi just recently. I don't think I was even successful in the end... "A Portuguese Jew? Come on man, you are fucking with me!"

Still don't speak Spanish very well though.

Anyone else think these 2 songs sound way too overproduced?

The drum machines especially? Like come on, Mimi don't need any of that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

You guys need charts and shit to understand the differences? Dude...

OK, I may have come across as a ding-dong here - if that was the case I apoogize, Mr. Bytor-to-the-Peltor. I don't consider myself a language purist, but the willy-nilly use of certain words can really piss the crap (heh) out of me. Some are lost battles, though: what everybody calls "the Spanish language" is more precisely Castilian; people in Spain also speak Catalan, Galician, Basque (which is one weird-ass tongue), etc., but no school or media in the States is gonna start calling it Castilian anytime soon.

Was I owed an apology? I truly don't know?? No hard feelings or grudge on my end......like someone said, "ignorance is bliss." As I stated above, I don't fully grasp your frustration and for that, I apologize!

When you consider that the average person walking down the street couldn't tell you the name of our Vice President, nor could they list the seven continents of the world......I highly doubt they could locate Brazil using maps and charts, much less understand the origin of language or when it's being misused.

Low performing, No Comprende (7.24.2015)

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

Low will be answering questions on Reddit, on August 18th, at 3:00 PM EDT.

A third tune revealed. Again, I don't want to listen to anything from Ones And Sixes until I have the physical album in my hands. But you cats may.

Please forgive my ignorance (and the fact that this concerns a different Low album): what's the story behind the lines "Wasting all our days/With Gillian and Dave" on "Candy Girl"? As a Gillian Welch & David Rawlings fan, I gotta know...

you should have asked that on the reddit session last week (which I missed unfortunately...)
I could ask it on the Low mailing list if you want

I missed out on the Reddit session as well. I'm just getting around to checking out how it went:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comme...om_low_ask_us/

I concur that would have been a great question to ask them. There are references to Marvin Gaye, and John Prine on "Trust" as well (a very enigmatic record, for sure).

In other (sort of) related news, someone crashed his truck against Sacred Heart Music Center:
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/new...t-music-center

Found out on that Reddit thing that "Walk Into The Sea" was a song for/about Elliott Smith. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

we got an answer:

Quote:

It was speculated upon at the time and then Alan discussed it himself.

http://www.beermelodies.com/interviews/low-gain-minions-‘trust’/

He mentions Gillian Welch earlier in the interview but specifies that the lyric reference is to her in the question about John Prine.

that's a damn shame about the Sacred Heart, especially those lead glass windows, that's irreplaceable

Quote:

Originally Posted by _tunic_

Quote:

It was speculated upon at the time and then Alan discussed it himself.

http://www.beermelodies.com/intervie...;trust’/

He mentions Gillian Welch earlier in the interview but specifies that the lyric reference is to her in the question about John Prine.

Gillian is "Candy Girl"? Whaddayaknow. Incidentally, she's also the "creeped out American girl" in Robyn Hitchcock's Spooked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hipster_bebop_junkie

In other (sort of) related news, someone crashed his truck against Sacred Heart Music Center:
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/new...t-music-center

The inner sleeve of the new LP

I finally need to buy some Low.

The Current writes about "Ones and Sixes", and interviews Alan Sparhawk:
http://blog.thecurrent.org/2015/08/a...-feet-forward/

new new new news news letter including album stream!:
(not sure if the stream will work for all of you as it states "all across Europe")

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

Friends,
We're glad to share Ones and Sixes with you. The entire album is now available to stream across Europe via The Guardian, and you will be able to purchase Ones and Sixes on CD, LP, and mp3 on 11 September. Pre-order the album on SubPop MegaMart, iTunes, or Amazon.com.

We will be returning to Europe this weekend to perform at Perfect Sounds Forever Fest, End of The Road Festival, and Electric Picnic. If you miss this weekends performances, we will be back in Europe in October. Tickets are available now on our website and you can view the full list of European dates below. We will be joined by Two Gallants, Mike Noga (The Drones), and Chelsea Wolfe.
See you on the road.
-Team Low

Ones and Sixes 2015 European Tour

Sep. 03 - Bergen, NO - Perfect Sounds Forever Fest @ Landmark

Sep. 04 - Wiltshire, UK - End of the Road Festival

Sep. 05- Stradbally, IE - Electric Picnic

Oct. 07 - Manchester, UK - Cathedral ^

Oct. 08 - Glasgow, UK - Art School =

Oct. 10 - London, UK - Roundhouse ^

Oct. 12 - Koln, DE - Gebaude 9 =

Oct. 13 - Hamburg, DE – Knust =

Oct. 14 - Copenhagen, DK – Vega =

Oct. 15 - Stockholm, SE – Kagelbanan =

Oct. 17 - Berlin, DE – Lido =

Oct. 19 - Munich, DE – Ampere =

Oct. 20 - Bologna, IT - Teatro Antoniano =

Oct. 22 - Zaragoza, ES - Las Armas =

Oct. 23 - Barcelona, ES – Bikini =

Oct. 24 - Valencia, ES - Deleste Festival

Oct. 26 - Madrid, ES - Teatro Lara =

Oct. 27 - Santander, ES – Escenario =

Oct. 29 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso ^

Oct. 30 – Tourcoing, FR – Le Grand Mix =

Oct. 31 - Brussels, BE – AB +

Nov. 02 – Paris, FR – Le Divan du Monde =

^ w/ Two Gallants

+ w/ Chelsea Wolfe

= w/ Mike Noga

Quote:

Originally Posted by hipster_bebop_junkie

The Current writes about "Ones and Sixes", and interviews Alan Sparhawk:
http://blog.thecurrent.org/2015/08/a...-feet-forward/

"Tremendous", eh? Sounds pretty sweet.. I'll receive my copy in October, though. :(:mad:

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

"Tremendous", eh? Sounds pretty sweet.. I'll receive my copy in October, though. :(:mad:

It's a good idea to order from Bandcamp, to at least get lossless audio files while you wait for the actual record :):
https://lowtheband.bandcamp.com/album/ones-and-sixes

Unrelated note: Nels Cline and Jeff Tweedy did a Reddit session the other day. It's archived, and it might interest you:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comme...k_us_anything/

Quote:

Originally Posted by hipster_bebop_junkie

It's a good idea to order from Bandcamp, to at least get lossless audio files while you wait for the actual record :):
https://lowtheband.bandcamp.com/album/ones-and-sixes

Dude, I was JUST there! Yeah, Loser LP + FLACs looks extremely tempting. The only problem is I just shelled out some coins to order (well, I guess technically it's a pre-order as I'm still half an hour away from the official release date) Mars' Archives Volume One: China To Mars from Feeding Tube Records. Only 800 copies, so I figured I better move now... On the other hand, ARE THERE really 800 people in the world who DIG Mars?

Quote:

Originally Posted by hipster_bebop_junkie

Unrelated note: Nels Cline and Jeff Tweedy did a Reddit session the other day. It's archived, and it might interest you:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comme...k_us_anything/

Dammit, I gotta keep up with the Internet. They have it for computers now. The Low and Sleater-Kinney seshs don't seem to be there anymore, do they?

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

I know what you mean. I've recently ordered a copy of Bill Nace's new book, "Pleasure Scenes", from Feeding Tube Records. They're sold out now.

Here's the LOW reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comme...om_low_ask_us/

I did a search for the Sleater-Kinney as well, and it seems to be this one:
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/commen...terkinney_aua/

Quote:

Originally Posted by hipster_bebop_junkie

Here's the LOW reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comme...om_low_ask_us/

I did a search for the Sleater-Kinney as well, and it seems to be this one:
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/commen...terkinney_aua/

Neat-o!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bytor Peltor

A Lovely Conversation with Mimi Parker

Oh man, you guys are killing me here. Someday I'll share my SVE story...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bytor Peltor

A Lovely Conversation with Mimi Parker

Loved this interview. Almost as beautiful as "In Metal". :)