The Invisible Way Lowell Graham

• 1Plastic Cup03:01
• 2Amethyst05:21
• 3So Blue04:23
• 4Holy Ghost03:07
• 5Waiting02:38
• 6Clarence White03:47
• 7Four Score02:56
• 8Just Make It Stop04:09
• 9Mother02:52
• 10On My Own05:44
• 11To Our Knees03:06
• Total Runtime41:04

Info for The Invisible Way

Alan Sparhawk (Low): "We have worked with many of the great engineer/producers. Jeff Tweedy has been on our side of the microphone for over 25 years, however with engineer (and fellow Grammy winner) Tom Schick, he has of late become a formidable and eclectic producer. He spoke a language we understood, but then took us effortlessly into the mystery. We've made many records, and you know our M.O.: slow, quiet, sometimes melancholy, and, we hope, sometimes pretty... How is this different from any other Low record? - Mimi sings lead on five of the eleven songs (she usually only does one or two, despite being a fan favorite). - Piano, lots of piano... and an acoustic guitar. - Songs about intimacy, the drug war, the class war, plain old war war, archeology, and love."

„They emerged from Minnesota's club circuit in the early 90s, at a time when grunge was dominant, kicking against expectations by developing a defiantly minimalist sound. So it's no surprise that Low have remained confident enough to stick to their convictions ever since. Once their music was lazily labeled 'slowcore', but defying outside pressures, their continual tonal and textural explorations have repeatedly defied attempts to classify them.

Low's previous album C'Mon had already essentially abandoned the electronic leanings of 2007's Drums & Guns. Their latest LP The Invisible Way strips things back even further, as the newfound prominence of acoustic guitar and piano lends the album a strangely country feel; a sort of extremely bi-polar Americana. Oddly, this alteration nevertheless feels like their career has established an approximately circular trajectory. Dynamically the songs now closer resemble Trust or Secret Name from the turn of the millennium, rather than the experimental sampling of Drums & Guns or the all-out desert rock of The Great Destroyer.

Perhaps the gravity of reaching a two-decade milestone is reflected in the opening track 'Plastic Cup'. Alan Sparhawk recounts a youth of getting high that's deteriorated into the humiliations of growing old with failing health, as "now they make you piss into a plastic cup". It's crass and it's direct but it's real. "The cup will probably be here long after we're gone", lifts these sad, nostalgic reflections, encapsulating the deep-seated human fear of insignificance and the fleeting temporality of our existence.

A real high point is 'Just Make It Stop' - one of the catchiest and most infectious songs ever recorded by the band. However, the biggest anomaly on the LP is penultimate track 'On My Own'. I can't shake the niggling feeling that the chirpy, campfire rhythm during the first half is borrowed heavily from The Beatles' 'Two Of Us'. It's also the only time the band crashes into feedback and distortion. The song then toys with the idea of a coherent electric guitar solo, but instead meanders in dissonance for a bit, before relaxing into a bizarre closing refrain of "happy birthday". Whether or not this is another indirect nod to Lennon and McCartney is unclear.

A sticker on the cover of the album proudly reads "produced by Wilco's Jeff Tweedy". It's a justifiable selling point, but Low have worked with indie-rock superstar producers before, such as Steve Albini on Secret Name and Things We Lost In The Fire. It's another testament to their power that they largely engulf the presence behind the mixing desk, and Tweedy's presence can only be felt faintly on the record. Admittedly during 'So Blue''s repetitive, incessant beat of keys and vocals, there are subtly-introduced flickers of Wilco-esque electric guitar which offer an exciting climax without overkill, but it never feels like the producer's hand is intruding with Low's inimitable style.

The album's biggest strength lies on songs like 'Amethyst', with characteristically aching and spacious intertwined vocals of Parker and Sparhawk, treading carefully and precisely along. At best Tweedy's soft production compliments and highlights the otherworldly splendour of their harmonies; at worst it's predictably concealed, failing to disguise the more inferior songs and lyrical blankness, leaving behind a fairly mixed bag. It's a record that doesn't undermine their body of work, but nor does it stand out as a career-defining highlight.“ (Tom Hughes, The Quietus)

Alan Sparhawk, vocals, guitar
Mimi Parker, vocals, drums
Steve Garrington, bass

Lowell Graham
A native of Greeley, Colorado, Lowell E. Graham is the Chairman of the Music Department and the Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Texas at El Paso. He is the recipient of the “Abraham Chavez” Professorship in Music. He enjoys a distinguished career conducting ensembles in many musical media, He has held numerous conducting positions to include that of the Commander and Conductor of the United States Air Force's premier musical organization in Washington, DC.

He is a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in music education in 1970 and a Master of Arts degree in performance the following year. In 1977 he became the first person to be awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in orchestral conducting from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

In March 1995, he was honored with membership in the prestigious American Bandmasters Association, the professional association of master conductors and musicians. Membership is considered the highest honor achievable by American bandsmen; it recognized outstanding achievement in the field of concert bands. In February 1996, he was inducted into the University of Northern Colorado School of Music “Hall of Honor.” This distinction was bestowed on only 18 alumni and faculty who have achieved greatness as musician, educators and humanitarians in the school’s first 100 years. He received The Catholic University of America’s 1998 Alumni Achievement Award in the field of Music. This award, which is presented annually by the Board of Governors Alumni Association, recognized his accomplishments and honored him for his life’s work.

In 1999 he received the University of Northern Colorado Alumni Association Honored Alumni Award in the category of “Contributions to Music.” In 2001, he was the recipient of the Award of Distinction for Contributions to Music Education from the Illinois Music Educators Association. The two previous recipients were Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Meryl J. Isaac. In 2003 he was the recipient of the Phi Beta Mu International Outstanding Bandmaster Award. In 2008, he was honored by the American School Band Directors Association with the A. Austin Harding Award for “making significant and lasting contributions to the school band movement.” In 2013 the University of Northern Colorado Graduate School honored him with the “Century of Scholars Award” in performance representing excellence and achievement in the previous 100 years of the Graduate School.

Graham has released recordings on six labels – Naxos, Telarc, Klavier, Mark, Altissimo and Wilson -- that have been recognized for both their artistic and sonic excellence. These recordings have been recognized in Stereophile’s “Records to Die-For” list, The Absolute Sound’s “The Super Disc List,” as well as one having won a Grammy.

This album contains no booklet.