There was a time — during the early ’00s, when eBay was filled with ridiculous results for common records — people were actually paying money for this 12″. Released sixteen years ago by Kranky, it is now sadly out of print and honestly I don’t know if it’s really that sought after anymore. Ian e-mailed me asking if I had rips of this record and Change by Jackie-O Motherfucker (he didn’t specify if he wanted the Textile version of the Ecstatic Peace version, and yes there are discernible differences). So this is part one of filling his requests. I think I’ve only got the “tour edition” of that JOMF record, which was mastered from an alternate acetate with a different mix than what you’ll hear on the French import. But…I digress…I’m supposed to be talking about Low.
For a band as minimalist as Low, when someone calls an album “THEIR MOST MINIMALIST!” it’s really saying something. Alas, Songs For A Dead Pilot (the group’s first album recorded for Kranky Records) was inspired by a story the band read regarding a pilot whose plane had crashed. So, yeah, literally, this mini-album is dedicated to a particular person. Also, a more ambient version the song “Will The Night” appears here. Later it would be fleshed out and included on Secret Name.
Secret Name, if you didn’t already know, won the top spot on my list of the Top 10 List of Low’s Studio Albums, which you can read by clicking that there link.
Nathan Bush for AllMusic writes: “The mood on Songs is almost overwhelmingly somber and, like much of the band’s music, often develops at a glacial pace. Bringing time to a crawl, the band exposes the silence and space in the music to great, occasionally thrilling effect. Low’s drama is created in the gaps between guitar chords and snare hits. Engineering their own record allowed the members of Low the freedom to experiment. A washing machine was apparently employed for the low drum thud of “Be There.” Deciphering the methods behind “Will the Night” is even more complicated; it would make a strong candidate for the most obscure opening album track. Heard as if from the other end of a tunnel, its melody is almost inaudible through a dense fog of echo…”Born By the Wires,” a song stripped to its bare bones, clocks in at over 13 minutes, although the body of the song takes place during the first five. Sparhawk sings in a fragile falsetto like a withdrawn child entertaining himself. The effect is chilling. Following this, the guitarist lapses into eight minutes of a repeated chord. While it seems to entrance the musician, it’s the kind of aimless diversion few listeners will have the patience for. “Landlord” has a similar structure yet succeeds through slow, careful development. At its worst, Songs for a Dead Pilot is the sound of unsuccessful experiments on record. Repeated listening will only make its inconsistencies more apparent. However, the best songs (“Condescend,” “Be There,” and “Hey Chicago”) provide the link between two of Low’s best full-length recordings: the similarly constructed The Curtain Hits the Cast and the bolder Secret Name.”
Low
Songs For A Dead Pilot
(Kranky, 1997)
MediaFire DL Link
01. Will The Night
02. Condescend [MP3]
03. Born By The Wires
04. Be There
05. Landlord
06. Hey Chicago
