Low Vinyl Records
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 (2021's Hey What), with the harmonies of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker serving as their aural constants.