Over the course of their career, Low's glacially beautiful music has gradually melted into something much more accessible and intimate. The thaw culminates on Things We Lost in the Fire; despite its brooding title, it's the group's loveliest, most approachable collection of songs yet. Voluptuous strings, softly fuzzy guitars, and propulsive percussion suffuse songs like the sweetly melancholy opener "Sunflower" and the slo-mo pop of "Dinosaur Act" and "July" with a warmth and direction that Low's best work has always hinted at. Even the album's darkest moments, such as the tense, implosive "Whitetail," have more emotional urgency, heightened by Alan and Mimi's close, brooding harmonies. Yet Mimi's airy solo on the spare, undulating "Laser Beam" is equally spine tingling. Things We Lost in the Fire also features more of Low's understated stylistic experiments: The slightly jazzy harmonies and tempo of "Medicine Magazines" add a bit of swing to the group's usually steady rhythms, while "Kind of Girl" delves into earthy yet ethereal chamber folk. Breathtakingly gorgeous moments, such as "Like a Forest"'s pealing strings and poignant melody, and "Whore"'s build from delicate harmonies into a gently triumphant swell of guitars, vocals, and sparkling percussion reaffirm that Low have perfected and refined their sound. The finale, "In Metal," evolves from a melancholy ballad into one of the group's sunniest, most kinetic songs, mirroring the overall transformation of their music. A perfect match for its late-winter release date, Things We Lost in the Fire's slowly rising warmth and subtly hopeful tone not only make this Low's most cohesive, compelling collection, but one of 2001's best albums.
During my battle with the flu this past week I took some time in between whining and watching bad tv to sift through the only two boxes of stuff that survived my house fire last July. I don't know, its like every time I go through it I will find that one magical photo or letter, something personal and specific and meaningful that I somehow missed the previous hundred times. Nothing magical was ...
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During my battle with the flu this past week I took some time in between whining and watching bad tv to sift through the only two boxes of stuff that survived my house fire last July. I don't know, its like every time I go through it I will find that one magical photo or letter, something personal and specific and meaningful that I somehow missed the previous hundred times. Nothing magical was ...
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Out of the blue, I got an artist alert email from the iTunes store about a couple of Low albums that have been out for a while--_Things We Lost In The Fire_ and _Trust_, albums that I _thought_ were already on the store (they were released on 2001 and 2002 respectively). Fluke, or not, it was a good reminder to listen to this all-time favorite album of mine. Seriously, its top 10 all-time for m...
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Last month I posted a list of my 50 favorite albums of the past decade. You can catch up with that here, here, here, here, and here, if you’d like. While drafting the list I found that I rediscovered plenty of albums that were and are still worthy of more attention, even though they ultimately weren’t included on that finished product. It was extremely difficult to cut many of them, especially
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Sunflower |
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| 2 Whitetail |
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| 3 Dinosaur Act |
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| 4 Medicine Magazines |
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| 5 Laser Beam |
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| 6 July |
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| 7 Embrace |
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| 8 Whore |
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| 9 Kind of Girl |
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| 10 Like a Forest |
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| 11 Closer |
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| 12 [Untitled Instrumental] |
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| 13 In Metal |
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Click to purchase…
© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "Things We Lost in the Fire")
