[Photos by acidjack]
Our affection for the band Low is well-known; we were blown away by their performance earlier this year at the Society for Ethical Culture, touring behind their latest record The Invisible Way, as well as the performance by Alan Sparhawk’s other band, Retribution Gospel Choir, at Knitting Factory that found that band guesting with frequent Wilco collaborator Nels Cline.
These two almost back-to-back shows, first at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and next at the Solid Sound Festival — where our now-famous Wilco recording came from — did nothing to dim that affection. Despite the more traditional club setting, this Music Hall set was a subtler, less rocking affair than the show in the church, with fewer of Sparhawk’s guitar pyrotechnics and more emphasis on the band’s more traditionally “slowcore” numbers, including some rarer early material. But the highlight for me was the night’s biggest rocker, “Canada”, from the band’s album Trust and no longer a set regular. Likewise, at Solid Sound, Low continued to demonstrate why they’ve enjoyed a nearly 20-year career with no sign of slowing down, playing a set that differed significantly from just a few nights before. They may call this “slow”-core, but this has been a band of constant and exciting momentum.
The Music Hall recording suffered from some early technical issues that required me to switch to my mics a few songs in. The first and fourth songs of the set are missing as a result, the second song fades in, and the fifth, “Holy Ghost”, contains the noise of me setting up the mics. Once things settled down, it was smooth sailing from there and the sound was excellent. The Solid Sound set, graciously provided by DC-based site collaborator Kubacheck, is likewise an excellent recording, albeit with a bit more crowd chatter and made at more distance than the Music Hall show. It also has none of the Music Hall show’s flaws. Please enjoy!
These NYCTaper recordings are being hosted on the Live Music Archive. You can stream the entire shows by clicking the song titles below or download them via the links provided.
Stream “Canada” from Music Hall:
Stream “Pissing” from the Solid Sound Festival
Direct download of Music Hall recording: [MP3] | [FLAC]
Direct download of Solid Sound recording: [MP3] | [FLAC]
Low
2013-06-19
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY USA
Download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack
Schoeps MK5 (cardiod, DFC, PAS)>Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod]>24bit/48kHz WAV>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, exciter)>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (adjust levels)>Audacity 3.0 (tracking, amplify, additional EQ, additional level adjustments, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )
[Note: Soundboard source on first 1.5 tracks]
Tracks [Total Time 1:20:11]
[first song missed]
01 Plastic Cup (cuts in)
02 On My Own
[song missed]
03 Holy Ghost [setup noise]
04 Monkey
05 Waiting
06 Witches
07 Especially Me
08 Dragonfly
09 Try to Sleep
10 Violent Past
11 (That’s How You Sing) Amazing Grace
12 Lazy
13 Silver Rider
14 Just Make It Stop
15 [banter]
16 Canada
17 Laser Beam
18 [encore break]
19 Murderer
_____________
Low
2013-06-22
Solid Sound Festival
North Adams, MA USA
Download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded by kubacheck
Produced by acidjack
MBHO KA200N>MBP603a>Naiant adapter>Naiant Tinybox>Roland R-05 (24/48)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, exciter)>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (adjust levels)>Audacity 3.0 (tracking, amplify, additional EQ, additional level adjustments, downsample)>FLAC ( level 8 )
Tracks [Total Time 56:29]
01 On My Own
02 Plastic Cup
03 Clarence White
04 Holy Ghost
05 Monkey
06 Witches
07 Especially Me
08 Pissing
09 Dinosaur Act
10 Murderer
11 [banter]
12 Just Make It Stop
13 Last Snowstorm of the Year
If you download these recordings from NYCTaper, PLEASE SUPPORT Low, like them on Facebook, and purchase The Invisible Way and their other releases directly from SubPop Records [HERE]
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