A MEANS TO AN END (THE MUSIC OF JOY DIVISION) Various Artists 1995

 

Discogs

 

Joy Division songs covered by various alternative bands


Tracklist

1. Girls Against Boys - She's Lost Control
2. Honeymoon Stitch - Day of the Lords
3. Moby - New Dawn Fades
4. Low - Transmission
5. Codeine - Atmosphere
6. Further - Insight
7. Stanton-Miranda - Love Will Tear Us Apart
8. Starchildren - Isolation
9. Kendra Smith - Heart and Soul
10. Versus - Twenty Four Hours
11. Desert Storm - Warsaw
12. godheadSilo - They Walked In Line
13. Face To Face - Interzone
14. Tortoise - As You Said

SHANTI PROJECT COLLECTION Various Artists 1999

 

Discogs

Tracklist 

1	–Red House Painters	Find Me, Ruben Olivares	3:58
2	–Red House Painters	Follow You, Follow Me	4:54
3	–Red House Painters	Midnight On The Bay	5:54
4	–Red House Painters	Smokey (Demo)	4:51
5	–Low	Turning Over	7:50
6	–Low	Lazy	5:37
7	–Low	Venus	3:46
8	–Idaho	Trip Over	3:09
9	–Idaho	The Sun Is All There Is	3:47
10	–Hayden	Wasting My Days Away	5:44
11	–Hayden	Choking	3:35
12	–Misc. (2)	Tired Of Myself	1:41
13	–Misc. (2)	Compression	3:00

 

KOMPILATION Various Artists 1998

 

Discogs

compilation on the Kranky label

Tracklist

1	–Godspeed You Black Emperor*	The Dead Flag Blues	6:41
2	–Jessica Bailiff	Failing Yesterday	5:13
3	–Pan American*	Tract	5:44
4	–Windy And Carl*	Undercurrent	4:44
5	–Low	Condescend	5:10
6	–Stars Of The Lid	Be Little With Me	6:10
7	–Philosophers Stone*	Where Regrets End (Edit)	6:53
8	–Dissolve	Presume Too Far	6:16
9	–Amp	Polemic	7:52
10	–Jessamine	... Or What You Mean	4:34
11	–Magnog	A Moments Seam	4:46
12	–Roy Montgomery	The Soul Quietens	3:11
13	–Bowery Electric	Long Way Down	4:11
14	–Dadamah	Brian's Children	4:57

 

JABBERJAW...PURE SWEET HELL Various Artists 1996

 

by request

Mammoth Records compilation

Discogs

Tracklist 

1	–Fitz Of Depression	Burn It Down	2:11
2	–The Hi-Fives	Skybolt X-66	1:24
3	–Brainiac	Go!	3:23
4	–Mary Lou Lord	Birthday Boy	2:42
5	–Everclear	How Soon Is Now	3:12
6	–Man Or Astroman?*	Earth Station Radio	3:16
7	–Jawbreaker	Sister	4:16
8	–Steel Pole Bathtub*	The Charm	3:27
9	–Clikitat Ikatowi*	Librarian	1:56
10	–Redd Kross	Star Lust	2:44
11	–The Bomboras	Fiberglass Jungle	2:20
12	–godheadSilo	Heaven Isn't Hollywood	3:45
13	–Low	I Started A Joke	4:29
14	–Laughing Hyenas	Shine	3:58
15	–The Coctails	Gripper Bite	5:57

 

LOW owL Remix 1998

Discogs

Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny

Formed in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1993, Low were perhaps the slowest of the so-called "slowcore" bands; delicate, austere, and hypnotic, the trio's music rarely rose above a whisper, divining its dramatic tension in the unsettling open spaces created by the absence of sound. The group initially won over listeners and critics with music that was dramatically spare and keenly focused on the dynamics of their performances; this era peaked with 1999's Secret Name and 2001's Things We Lost in the Fire. Once Low signed with Sub Pop Records, they embraced a fuller sound and a more diverse approach, including expanded instrumentation (2005's The Great Destroyer), pop-accented production (2011's C'mon), and experiments in discordant electronics (2018's Double Negative), with the harmonies of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker serving as their aural constants. Initially comprising the husband-and-wife team of guitarist/vocalist Alan Sparhawk and drummer/vocalist Mimi Parker, along with bassist John Nichols, Low began as an experimental reaction to the predominance of grunge. Producer and Shimmy Disc Records founder Kramer soon invited the group to record at his Noise N.J. studios, and the resulting demos earned them a deal with the Virgin-distributed Vernon Yard label.

After reentering the studio with Kramer, Low emerged with their 1994 debut, I Could Live in Hope, a beautiful set spotlighting the trio's hauntingly minimal aesthetic -- even Parker's drum set consisted of only a snare and a hi-hat. Nichols exited the group prior to 1995's lovely Long Division, recorded with new bassist Zak Sally. A subsequent appearance on the Joy Division tribute A Means to an End was later expanded into the following year's Transmission EP, a five-track set also featuring a rendition of Supreme Dicks' "Jack Smith." With new producer Steve Fisk behind the boards, Low returned later in 1996 with The Curtain Hits the Cast. The Songs for a Dead Pilot EP followed in 1997 and marked Low's debut with their new label, Kranky, for whom they also released the critically acclaimed Secret Name in 1999. The late '90s also saw them issue Owl (Low Remixes) and the Christmas mini-album, which featured a cover of "Little Drummer Boy" that became a minor hit when it was featured in The Gap's holiday season commercials in 2000. 2000 also brought the release of The Exit Papers, a limited-edition instrumental EP Low described as "a soundtrack to an imaginary film."

The band's brilliant Things We Lost in the Fire arrived on Kranky in 2001, with the darker, more subdued Trust coming the following year. Two years later, the B-sides/rare tracks collection A Lifetime of Temporary Relief appeared on Low's own Chairkickers Music imprint. For their seventh full-length album, 2005's The Great Destroyer, Low moved to Sub Pop; the second leg of the group's tour in support of the album had to be canceled after Sparhawk announced he was in treatment for depression. By 2007 he was feeling well enough to return to work, and the group released its second LP for Sub Pop, the politically charged Drums and Guns; Sparhawk had also launched a side project, the Retribution Gospel Choir, whose debut album appeared in 2008.

Released in 2011, C'mon marked the debut of bassist Steve Garrington, while the band also stretched its boundaries by working with producer Matt Beckley, who had previously worked with mainstream pop acts such as Katy Perry and Avril Lavigne. In 2013, Low's 20th anniversary, the group released The Invisible Way, which featured production from Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. Low returned with a new studio album, Ones and Sixes, in September 2015, which the band produced in collaboration with recording engineer BJ Burton; Glenn Kotche of Wilco was a guest on the sessions. In 2016, Low reissued The Exit Papers, making the EP available on vinyl and as a digital download for the first time. Low returned to the studio with BJ Burton to record 2018's Double Negative, an unusually forceful and challenging album that found the trio experimenting with dissonant electronic backings and aggressively Auto-tuned vocals.

 Tracklist 

1	Down (Porter Ricks Remix)	13:25
2	Anon (Spore)	5:10
3	Over The Ocean ('91 Party Dance Mix)	6:39
4	Laugh (Vox-Reverse Tele)	5:44
5	Anon (Pollen)	5:12
6	Do You Know How To Waltz (Vert)	4:31
7	Over The Ocean (Re-Remix Of Tranquility Bass '91 Party Dance Mix)	5:45
8	Words (J + S Mix)	6:26

ENEMYMINE Ep 1999

Discogs

Artist Biography by Mike DaRonco

With their dual bassist and ability to make their instruments sound anything similar to bass guitars, ENEMYMINE has been synonymous with adjectives such as minimal, dark and experimental. Stemming from the imaginations of Mike Kunka (Godheadsilo), Zak Sally (Low) and Danny Sasaki in late 1998, the three of them wanted to create something different to unsuspecting ears. So with Kunka on bass, Sasaki on the skins and Sally on second bass, (who's comminuting all the way from Duluth, MN no less) ENEMYMINE was created. Several practice sessions and hundreds of frequent flyer miles later, they had enough material to release a seven song self-titled CDEP that was recorded by Calvin Johnson (of Beat Happening/Dub Narcotic Sound System fame) and put out by K Records in February 1999. Ice In Me followed a year later.

Tracklist

1	Apartmentalize
2	Trcr
3	The We're All Friends Club
4	I've Got The Ice In Me
5	Dent Everything
6	Evaporate
7	No Comply

I HATE THE 90s Volume 19

More favorites from the 90s, and as always this comp will fit on a CD.

1. VERBENA Hot Blood
2. PALE SAINTS Angel (Will You Be My)
3. MAGNAPOP Garden
4. MARK EITZEL Cleopatra Jones
5. THE CHARLATANS UK Page One
6. ARAB ON RADAR 99c Lipstick
7. SILVER JEWS Advice to the Graduate
8. BUTTERCUP The Hideout
9. TRAMPOLINE Thunder Invites Summer In
10. SPINNING JENNIES Paperback Writer
11. SUGARTOOTH Club Foot
12. THE SMITHEREENS Now and Then
13. THE FIELD MICE Coach Station Reunion
14. GOMEZ Whippin' Piccadilly
15. DUB NARCOTIC SOUND SYSTEM Sawed Off
16. KIMM ROGERS Desperate
17. THE REAL PEOPLE The Truth
18. RED MONKEY Not for Rent
19. IMPERIAL DRAG Zodiac Sign
20. SACK Climb Mine Power House
21. GIANTS CHAIR Kick the Can
22. LOW Violence

LOW and DIRTY THREE In the Fishtank 7 2001

.

Discogs

review

[+] by Thom Jurek

In late 1999, the Dutch label KonKurrent invited Minneapolis band Low into an in-house studio to record one of the label's near-legendary In the Fishtank sessions; bands have two days to record between 20-30 minutes of all new material of their choosing. Also touring at the time were Low's pals, the Australian instrumental dynamos the Dirty Three. Low invited them in, and in the same collaborative spirit as another In the Fishtank session involving Tortoise and the Ex, this half-hour session is the document. What is truly amazing about this hookup is how natural these two bands sound playing with one another. Low has been striking out lately, playing different kinds of material while keeping its signature slower-than-slow approach to songwriting. the Dirty Three has taken a more melodic and dynamically restrained tack since their landmark Ocean Songs recording of a few years back. Of the six songs recorded here, none is more successful that the nearly ten-minute cover of Neil Young's "Down By the River." Mick Turner's trademark guitar style opens the work with lots of brush and cymbal work. It's unrecognizable for the first five minutes; it's just an opening shimmering drone with guitar strings wafting in and out of the atmospherics before Low's Mimi begins singing the verse and Alan teams with Turner to entwine guitars. And when Warren Ellis' violins slip into the middle of the stream, the eerie effect is complete, and the trancelike motion of the song takes hold and won't let go until silence takes over. The other five tracks are sensual Low originals full of longing and resplendent minimalism. The D3 hold their place in the Low mix, painting it out over a vaster, more colorful expanse, creating more space in their trademark suffocating mix. Alan and Mimi croon together, singing like lovers rather than as bandmates on "Invitation Day." Mimi's vocal and Turner's guitar playing sound enmeshed on "When I Called Upon Your Seed." Drummer Jim White is also a perfect foil for Low; his off-time washes of brush and muted rimshots split the notion of time in two, making the vocal and the tune's time signature two separate entities in a sea awash with the driftwood of the other instruments. Alan's harmonium and organ and Turner take the tune out with Ellis' haltingly shimmering strings. He opens "Cody," however, with the most lonesome, forlorn fiddle line this side of Hank Williams' "Six More Miles to the Graveyard," though it echoes Fartein Valen more than country music. This is really The D3 with Low lending textural ambience and structural balance. It's full of a haunted, hunted beauty that only The D3 can muster up, and it is enhanced by the addition of Zak Sally's bass playing. The disc closes with "Lordy," featuring Low's Alan (providing banjo accompaniment) and Mimi in a gospel-drenched duet before The D3 kick in full-tilt with sawing violin from Ellis tearing the tune apart from the inside; Turner plays slide and counters him to keep in it in a blues mode as White and Mimi duke it out on the trap kits. Turner's scree ends just as the banjo re-enters and Alan forlornly pleads for his soul to be saved as the track just falls apart before ending properly. This is a studio collaboration that works. It's half an hour of music made from the heart of goodwill and the desire by six musicians to do nothing more than play together to see what happens. What resulted is some of the best material either unit has produced.

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Tracklist  

1	I Hear... Goodnight	3:09
2	Down By The River	9:35
3	Invitation Day	5:03
4	When I Called Upon Your Seed	3:58
5	Cody	4:05
6	Lordy	4:23