Customer Reviews

Curtain Hits the Cast

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have been an obsessive music fan for a very, very long time now. So when I say that 'The Curtain Hits the Cast' is still the most devastating album I have ever heard, I'm not saying it lightly.

The resonance of this record haunts me even eight years after hearing it for the first time.

The whole thing is achingly mournful. Probably too sad for one's health and well-being, but I have never, ever been affected by a simple $12 CD in the way that this CD has affected me.

Granted, I may have more subconscious personal attachments to it than most other people... I am resolutely tied to it, somehow. I guess it must have been my soundtrack to some epiphany or other.

But it's the whole thing, from the ghostly shades of brown on the desolate cover image, to the barely-audible cacophony just before 'Anon' strikes its first note, so so so slowly.

'Slow & spare' barely begins to describe it. There is rarely more than the guitar, bass, snare and voices that Low has always relied on. And anything more would rob the songs of their delicacy. But as much as anything else, there is truly the space between the notes, the quality of limitless patience and bottomless depth that balances everything.

And the bits of barely-there dissonance throughout, as if the music occasionally scrapes against the sheet metal of God.

To be sure, a guitar has never been strummed this un-hurriedly. The chords are profound, often hit awkwardly, or with a sour note, a misstep, but they are always perfect.

I wouldn't be able to describe what exactly Steve Fisk did to make the sound so absolutely, desolately Holy. It sounds perfect for long-abandoned churches, from long-abandoned civilizations. With a lone candle flickering somewhere nearby. Such faraway resonance, solitary resonance, the resonance of dark, lonely rooms.

Can you understand this? Can you understand the things I am trying to say?

Low would be a great band without this record. And this record sounds not much like anything else that Low has done, in my opinion. But with this record, Low is legendary and more than a little bit mythical. To me, anyway.

An overwhelmingly beautiful work of art.

This album takes everything Low learned from Kramer on "I Could Live in Hope" and "Long Division" and combines it with some beautiful songs to create one of their best records. The album-opening "Anon" is haunting and sets a somber tone echoed in songs like "Standby" and the long, droney "Do You Know How To Waltz?" (yes, the rumors are true: Low did a 30-minute live collaboration with Godspeed on this song in Chicago in 1998).

"Curtain" contains some long-time Low favorites -- at almost any Low show, you'll hear requests for "Over the Ocean" and "Lust". If you're just starting to get into Low's later records, this is a great place to start to introduce yourself to their earlier sound.

I imagine that most people's computer speakers don't do these songs justice. I own some of their other albums, and this one is the richest, most developed. Low is beautiful-- this album is worth owning.

there are quite a few songs that just make one sad on this album. The saddest, most somber is Do You Know How To Waltz? clocking in at about fifteen beautiful minutes. Followed by Dark, the album ends perfectly. The best song by far is Stars Gone Out, a poetic and haunting image of love and death, and ethereal experience. This is by far, Low at its peak. (Sorry, Secret Name wasn't as good as this one!)

Low are back again with another slow-moving and thought provoking album. So what else is new? Upon initial listening, it may be difficult to tell. Gives it a few more spins and give yourself enough time to differentiate the tracks and you will not want to turn it off. The impact of the production is obvious when you compare it to other albums by Low with different producers. The droning guitar and bass, the minimal percussion, the haunting vocals and harmonies and everything else that characterizes Low's style is here but it still sounds like a bit of a departure from their previous albums. "Stars Gone Out" and "Over The Ocean" incorporate almost mythical themes of sea voyages, "Lust" explores the darker side of relationships, and "Do You Know How To Waltz?" delves into over 14 minutes of ambient sonic experimentation that is positively dazzling. The only words of caution I have to offer regarding this album are do not drive with it playing! Use it to fall asleep at night (or any time for that matter) and to decompress after a long and trying day.

if you are unfamiliar with the minnesota trio Low, this CD is an excellent place to start. fans of the cowboy junkies' essential "trinity session" will feel right at home with this release. highly recommended and one of 1996's best releases.

Is it just me? Or does anyone else out there pick up on Low's tongue-in-cheek humor, something they share with their friends Ida? A prime example is "Coattails". The instrumentation is impossibly delicate, impossibly beautiful. And then there's that pointless, leftfield lyric, "He rides on coattails." The juxtaposition makes me chuckle, if not for that voice-- that angelic, perfect voice, Mimi, that comes straight from heaven, or some other better place. I ALMOST laugh, but come closer to weeping with joy at the sheer beauty of it all. This is not to belittle Low in the least; it only deepens my admiration for them. Clearly, they're having a lot of fun with this stuff.

I love their entire output, but I usually return to "Curtain" because of it's diversity and possibility, it's large range of conflicting emotion.

This album is very mellow and relaxed. Actually, i fell asleep as i was listening to it. It's good to hear something else sometimes and when i'm too tired for prog metal, i just put this cd on.

Another Low album just short of complete minimalistic melodic brilliance, with the group at their earnestly haunted best, stumbles slightly in the second half of low-fi depressive inspiration, despite the epic droning production's final farewell.

Low's most brilliant work. "Lust" is one of the most perfect songs ever written. "Standby" swells to a howling, epic climax. And "Do You Know How To Waltz" is a psychological masterpiece. This album is to LOW what "Hounds of Love" is to Kate Bush fans. A Classic.