drums & guns II

where would you go if the gun fell in your hand?

questions, questions. Low asks a plenty of these on the new album. but whether or not you choose to answer them, they are perhaps worth some attention.

not that the problems of our personal lives aren't pressing, but at times they can seem rather petty and insignificant compared to the problems people in other parts of the world are having. in other words, i have the luxury of being stressed out about chinese language exams.

the album itself: some electronic touches, primarily drums that are definitely not mimi and her snare and floor tom, but rather a blend of organ-produced beats mixed with a modern aesthetic. overall the production is pretty sparse, which lets the vocals come through nicely. but low has always been about vocals. this is nothing new.














what is new is the way that low continues to push at the barriers of music. this is a band that was playing songs at so-called glacial tempos before sigur ros even existed, during the age of nirvana and grunge, if you can believe it. now they show that they are unafraid not only to move around in the freedom they bought with their last album, but also to continue to break new ground.

and while when younger i would have certainly passed them off as boring and moved on to the more adrenaline-filled grunge rock, it is low who has ended up staying with me, eight albums and more than ten years later.

so listen. war, violence, death: there's got to be an end to that.