Have you all seen the Low documentary “You May Need A Murderer”? I’m gonna share a secret with you: It’s one of the most depressing music documentaries I’ve seen…maybe ever. If you haven’t seen it — and you want to take the plunge — it’s broken into parts (one – two – three – four – five – six) on YouTube. That Alan Sparhawk…hoo boy. He’s a genius, but man oh man do his songs make me want to curl up in a ball and live in a dark room for the rest of my life. And pretty much everything Low has ever released has been consistently great. Which is why I felt so comfortable ranking Low’s studio albums last year. There’s probably only one I don’t like. The rest I either really like, or love. Obviously I’m not alone in that belief, because Temporary Residence, LTD. asked Low to contribute to the Travels In Constants series even though they’d never before (and haven’t since) recorded for the label.
Recorded at 20 Below in Duluth, Minnesota (same locale as where Low’s Christmas album/EP/thing was recorded, as well as the Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me EP) and mastered at 3rd Ear, The Exit Papers are somewhat notorious because the band sent copies to several filmmakers and executives in the hopes of scoring more work recording music for TV and film. It’s a shame Low hasn’t received more attention from music supervisors. I know a couple of their songs were used on the UK version of the show Skins, and I think they were in a Gap ad once, but other than that I’m hard-pressed to recall any other instances of their music appearing in those mediums. And I’m fairly sure they haven’t written any original score for TV or film, although if The Exit Papers are any indication of how it would sound I’d immediately hire ’em if I were in a position to do so. Hell, if Nick Cave and Warren Ellis can do it, and if Johnny Greenwood could do it, certainly Alan and Mimi could.
Like many of my copies of Travels In Constants CDs, this came in as part of a near-complete collection of TIC discs one person sold to my store three or four years ago. Whoever that guy was…damn did he have good taste in music.
Low
The Exit Papers (Travels In Constants Vol. 9)
(Temporary Residence – TIC009, 2000)
01. Untitled
02. Untitled
03. Untitled [MP3]
04. Untitled
05. Untitled
06. Untitled
