Every week five Disc Makers employees talk about an album they’ve been listening to. We’d also love to hear what you’re listening to, so leave a comment with your album pick for the week!
Low The Great Destroyer (2005)
Low gained my full attention with the track “Breaker” off their 2007 release Drums and Guns. With minimal instrumentation and haunting vocals they managed to convey heavy emotion, lamenting the endless violence in our world. As I slowly made my way through the rest of their catalog (and I do mean slowly because they leave you no choice) I got stuck on their album from 2005: The Great Destroyer. You could consider Low a leader in the “slowcore” movement. Although the band prefers to describe their music as minimalist, let’s face it, their sound creeps along at a steady pace like Michael Myers, calmly in pursuit. It’s not loud or boring, just slow and brooding, sometimes painfully so. The Great Destroyer is perhaps the one exception. The band enlisted engineer Dave Fridman, of Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips fame, for their seventh studio release. The result is a more open sound, making them feel a bit larger and more accessible. Don’t get me wrong, it will still hang over you like a weeping willow, but there is warmth here. The pace varies more so than in any of their previous records – and two tracks in, on “California,” they almost sound…happy.
The vocals are what first drew me to Low. There is something sweet about them, as if in another band they could make delicious pop hits, one after another. That’s not the goal here though. The writing is so self-aware and at times, down right dark. On “Just Stand Back” lead singer Alan Sparhawk issues a not so delicate warning: “One more step and I’ll slit your neck. You’ll be used to it, you better just stand back. I could turn on you so fast.” Sparhawk’s delivery, however, coupled with Mimi Parker’s back-up vocals, is so gentle and the arrangement so light, you can almost imagine him singing with a smile on his face. It’s wonderfully twisted.
Later, on “When I Go Deaf,” Sparhawk imagines life without sound to the most sparse opening on the album. The first half of the track sounds like something you might find on a Nick Drake album. Sparhawk calmly considers the benefits of hearing loss with feigned optimism singing, “I’ll stop writing songs, stop scratching out lines. I won’t have to fake and it won’t have to rhyme.” Seconds later the song erupts with guitar fuzz and booming drums, a final audible explosion before the great loss.
What I appreciate most on The Great Destroyer is Low’s ability to perfectly blend a chilling sound with charming vocals without completely depressing you.
–Bobby K., Project Manager
The Gaslight Anthem The ’59 Sound (2008)
The Gaslight Anthem is a New Brunswick band and it shows. Their most recent album, The ’59 Sound screams summer in New Jersey. It’s their second album and they’ve only built upon their first effort. The Boss obviously inspired these guys and they’ve taken the New Jersey sound to a new level, combining punk rock with soul. Tracks like “The Patient Ferris Wheel” and “The Backseat” follow the classic formula for rock anthems. The ’59 Sound makes me want to drive “down the shore” really fast with the windows down.
–Brian W., Master Scheduler
Dredg The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion (2009)
Dredg is a four-piece out of California that many do not know about (a real shame). They have been around for a bit now and every release just keeps getting better. The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion is definitely an album you pop in and listen to from start to finish. My personal favorites are “Information,” “Pariah,” ” I Don’t Know,” and “Lightswitch”. Dredg consists of really talented musicians who experiment with a lot of sounds and moods. Plus, the drummer sometimes plays keys and drums simultaneously, which is always fun to watch.
–Rick B., Silk Screen Prep Assistant Manager
The Ray Gradys Rednecks, Zombies, Terrorists (2008)
This is the 6th full length release from one of Philadelphia’s hardest working punk bands. The snide, angry lyrics and blisteringly-fast music give society a dose of its own medicine. Nothing is sacred to these guys. God, government, religion, work, even their fans are all fair game. They are a blend of West Coast punk and East Coast hardcore. Fast and melodic. Heavy and grunting. The politically and anti-socially charged EArl-y GAtes (guitar/vocal) is countered by the personality of drummer and vocalist Mike Yak. The songs that he writes/sings “Mustache Riders in the Sky” and “Magic Dance” (a cover of David Bowie’s hit from the movie Labyrinth) attest to that. They even poke fun at some of their fan base on “Modern Day Punk.”
The album shows their versatility in jumping genres and styles as well. “Holiday In Iraq” slows it down a bit with some catchy riffs. “Conformity (is what they want)” breaks into ska and reggae. There is even a little country-style guitar and drum on “They Don’t Care About You” track. If you like punk rock, old school or new, definitely check these guys out online, buy the album, or see them live at a show and support local music.
–Mike M., Project Manager
Sam Cooke Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 (1963)
I’ve never heard a live album I really enjoyed, let alone one that could replace the artist’s studio output as my favorite. But Sam Cooke’s Live at the Harlem Club, 1963 does just that. Best known for his string of classic late 50’s catchy pop/soul songs, Cooke sheds his polished “Greatest Hits” sound and explodes through a high intensity set with a powerful 7-piece band.
The opener “Feel It” initially sounds much like the studio version but ignites halfway through into an almost funk-like tornado of bass lines & lead riffs until disintegrating. The band quickly jumps into a string of classics including “Chain Gang,” “Cupid,” and “For Sentimental Reasons” which all reach a near transcendent mix of raw and sublime. Gone are the orchestra, harmonies, and full horn sections; instead we have George Stubbs’ pounding piano and King Curtis’s hair-raising saxophone playing (see “Twisting the Night Away”).
After toying with the whole “Sam testifies while the band strums loosely on two chords” thing between a few songs the album reaches its emotional peak. The nearly 3 minute introduction to “Bring it On Home to Me” details an increasingly frantic Cooke fighting with phone operators trying to get his “baby on the telephone” as the band follows his every moan and wail. By the time the actual song comes you forgot that you were even listening to an introduction and you’re confused, overwhelmed & moved (or moving). “Having a Party” appropriately closes the album with a full on sing-along and the parting words of wisdom: “Whatever you do, don’t stop having a party.”
–Dan C., Assistant Product Specialist
