LOW caLcuLatiOn

adding up to Double Negative: four Low albums that led to their latest departure

SONgS fOR a dEad PiLOT kRaNkY, 1997

Low set up a home studio in Duluth for their fourth album, which allowed them more space to experiment. A distorted sewing machine provides the persistent beat of “Be There” and opener “Will the Night” sculpts an ambient drone into an uneasy overture, while the 13-minute “Born By The Wires” brilliantly, brutally deconstructs their sound.

OwL (REmix) VERNON YaRd, 1998

Sparhawk said Low had nothing to do with this remix LP, released shortly after the band left Vernon Yard Records. But there are some interesting parallels between these mostly ambient remixes and the chopped-and-screwed sound of Double Negative. It’s not a great collection, but it does include a joyous club remix of “Words” by Jimmy Somerville.

dRUmS aNd gUNS SUB POP, 2007

Their second album for Sub Pop and their second with producer Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev), Drums… is a scathing anti-war record, the lyrics peppered with images of violence and conflict. Spare and often caustic, the music reflects that tension in the lyrics, especially in the knotty rhythms of “Always Fade” and “Murderer”.

ONES aNd SixES SUB POP, 2015

For their 11th album, Low holed up at April Base with producer BJ Burton, dramatically expanding their sonic palette. Songs like “No Comprende” and the 10-minute epic “Landslide” distress the guitars and add static to the beats, but three years later Ones And Sixes sounds like a warm-up to the jarring Double Negative.