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Couldn't find a recent thread on The Low Anthem, and seeing as their back again for 2011 and their new album "Smart Flesh" comes out tomorrow I thought it was a good time to start one... For my money one of the best bands making music today - beautifully written songs, simple arrangements with varied instrumentation.
From their site it looks likes they're playing Sunday - anyone else looking forward to it?
Check out some videos below and a review of Smart Flesh from my blog + an amazing live recording of the band from Boston last spring. Pristine soundboard + room matrix, features songs from the new album too
Post by itrainmonkeys on Feb 21, 2011 22:15:30 GMT -5
Definitely looking forward to it. They'll have a nice day time slot on Sunday in a tent and it'll be great. I liked their show last time but they had the thankless job of following up Portugal. the Man who just tore the house down. A rowdy crowd was not ready for the calmer stylings of The Low Anthem. I've got a few videos i'll post below......and you can hear the audience being pretty chatty.
Cage the Songbird
Charlie Darwin
This Goddamn House
Cigarettes, Whiskey, & Wild Wild Women
I'm looking forward to the show. They've added a fourth guy that's pretty awesome in his own right. I love the songs where they belt out the lyrics. Definitely check out the Cigarettes, Whiskey, & Wild Wild Women video above.
Post by itrainmonkeys on Feb 22, 2011 19:44:43 GMT -5
Here's a review of hte new album that just came out:
The Low Anthem had death on its collective mind. Its fine new album, “Smart Flesh,” out today (Feb. 22) opens with a visitation from lonely ghost and closes 10 songs later with a seven-minute meditation about slipping off this earth.
In between, there are many other references to loss, including a nod to 9/11 (“I was in the air when the towers came down in a bar on the 84th floor” in the musically rowdy “Boeing 737”) and a man laments not taking out a loved one’s remains following his/her cremation on “I’ll Take Out Your Ashes,” cloaked in the sense of guilt that can linger long after someone has passed.
The latter is not a topic you hear about in a song every day and that’s half of The Low Anthem’s charm. The Rhode Island quartet, who originally came together at Brown University, are all multi-instrumentalists, switching off on more than 30 instruments on “Smart Flesh,” most of them acoustic. Anything can be called into a service, from a saw to a transistor radio playing in the background to add ambience. All four members harmonize, but Ben Knox Miller carries the lead vocals with his haunting, spare, lovely voice. He can sound as country as the day is long on “Apothecary Love” or otherworldly on “Love and Altar.” As with 2008’s “Oh My God, Charlie Darwin,” The Low Anthem make no concessions to pop radio or current trends. They are delightfully unburdened by trying to fit into anyone’s preconceived notion of how they should sound. To that end, they recorded the album primarily in an abandoned pasta sauce factory in Rhode Island, with additional recording conducted in a small, garage-like facility to counterbalance the hollow hugeness of the empty factory.
Without ever falling into the too-easy categorization of a retro act, The Low Anthem exists in the same musical space as The Carter Family or Hank Williams crossed with The Band. There’s also a delightful, fresh feeling that the quartet is making it up as they go along, yet they know with absolute certainty when they’ve got it right. This brings about moments of breathtaking beauty, such as on “Matter of Time” with Miller’s vulnerable voice surrounded by a mournful pump organ.
Halfway through the album, there’s a lovely clarinet instrumental, “Wire,” written and performed solely by Jocie Adams (all the other songs other than the cover of “Ghost Woman Blues” are credited to the foursome). It harkens back to the days of vinyl when there’s a break between the side one and side two. “Wire” serves as a elegant palate cleansing between the two halves. In this case, the second half seems to take a darker, dour look at love, life and death, culminating in the title track, about one’s final moments in many different scenarios (where the high wire walker from “Boeing 737” reappears).
With few exceptions like “Boeing 737” and funny (listen for the lines about Ronald Reagan), cascading “Hey, All You Hippies!,” “Smart Flesh” is internationally quiet. It demands your full attention by gently lulling you in, making you want to lean into the music, instead of yelling at you to do so. Your efforts will be well rewarded.
Saw them open for the Carolina Chocolate Drops a few months ago. I am a fan of their music, but as far as a live band, I seriously thought the entire venue was going to go to sleep. Their music is pretty mellow, but the band had no energy on stage. I hope it was just an off day... I might give them another chance.
Post by itrainmonkeys on Apr 26, 2011 10:31:25 GMT -5
They are pretty mellow and can be what some consider boring at times. I'll agree with that. I love it when they get the energy going and are singing at the top of their lungs and really belting out some music. But it seems like that is only 15-20% of their show and I wish it was more.
I'm really looking forward to seeing them at Roo. These guys kind of remind me of a lesser appreciated Avett Brothers. They may be pretty mellow, but that's exactly what I need in the midday Roo heat.
I'm really looking forward to seeing them at Roo. These guys kind of remind me of a lesser appreciated Avett Brothers. They may be pretty mellow, but that's exactly what I need in the midday Roo heat.
Their first show in 09 was tough because they are mellow and followed the super-high energy Portugal. The Man. Everyone had amped up energy levels from that show so it was a tough act to folloow, especially with the measured, slower pace of most the Low Anthem songs.
A sunday afternoon set would be perfect in a tent. Nice and relaxing.
Their records sound like mix tapes... like six different bands. I dig that.
True. Some sound like they're channeling Tom Waits, others they go for a soft, instrumental-focused tune. I like it when they change up instruments too.
Post by themidnightrider on Apr 26, 2011 16:21:26 GMT -5
I saw this band open up for Iron & wine recently. They are a very versatile band in more ways than one. They're sound is very broad and therefor imo keeps it incredibly interesting and they all switch instruments constantly, which I thought was really cool.
This is going to be a great show leading into Deer Tick/Portugal. The Man.......great Saturday lineup.....anyone else catching The Low Anthem?
I'm going to try to see them, but I have been lucky enough to see them 3 times in the past two years and they are going to be at Osheaga so they are not tops for me. But I strongly recommend them they are fantastic live.
I'm passing on them for Old Crow Medicine Show this year. I just saw the Low Anthem play a venue of 150 capacity, and it was absolutely amazing. However, even Saturday afternoon in a tent, I think some of their performance will be lost in a festival setting (though they luck out in the sense that none of the other bands on at that time should amount to a noisy soundbleed).
Post by VoiceOfReason on May 31, 2011 10:58:52 GMT -5
I'm planning on being at this set. I was also torn between this and Old Crow, but I've seen Old Crow a few times. Looks like I'm going to be spending a lot of this in this tent with Deer Tick and PTM following.