As of this writing (Jan. 2007), this is the earliest Low show known to exist on tape, and it's a true gem. There's a little bit of bass distortion now and then, and very slight tape hiss, but all things considered, it's a really nice recording. I had thought this was a soundboard tape, but listening back I'm not sure. The acoustic is open and spacious, with plenty of "air" (unlike many sbds which feel unnaturally close), but there's no audience interference at all -- indeed, besides the applause at the ends of songs, the audience is pretty much inaudible.
Whatever its origins, it's a beautiful set. All the songs are tracks from "I Could Live in Hope" -- only "Lullaby" and "Rope" are absent -- and those who love that album will find much to enjoy here, too. It's a nice memory from a very different era in Low's music and career.
The tape I received had a speed problem (about 5% fast) which was corrected on playback using the Tascam's pitch control knob. It sounds like the chat between songs has been edited out -- it may well be that the original taper pressed the pause button at the end of each song. I didn't normalize these files after transferring them, but my notes indicate that the peak level is -1.7 dB, so normalization shouldn't be needed.
Thanks to M. for sharing this tape with me, and to the original taper -- and of course to Low, for making some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard.
![[item image]](/images/logo.jpg?cnt=0 "[item image]"){kind=logo}
![[help]](/images/question.gif "[help]")
)