Paste: The Low Anthem's New Album Among Year's Best

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The Low Anthem's recent Nonesuch release, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, has made Paste magazine's list of the Best Music of 2009 (so far), assembled by Associate Editor Kate Kiefer. She dubs it her "favorite discovery this year." Drowned in Sound rates it an 8 of 10. "Part of what makes this album so compelling is purity, and purity, when done well, is hard to knock," reads the review, which hears an apt comparison to Tom Waits. "Just as Waits has the power to infuse you with familiarity with the return of a chord, so do the songs of Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, like an embroidered pillow on an old porch that says 'home sweet home.'"

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The Low Anthem's recent Nonesuch release, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, has made Paste magazine's list of the Best Music of 2009 (so far), assembled by Associate Editor Kate Kiefer. She dubs it her "favorite discovery this year."

Drowned in Sound gives the album an 8 of 10. "Part of what makes this album so compelling," writes reviewer Ed Miller, "is purity, and purity, when done well, is hard to knock. Recorded to unfashionably high standards, the album spans several facets of traditional Americana, from bluegrass to country to choral."

Miller takes issue with the notion, oft-repeated of late, that the album bears some comparison to Fleet Foxes and the like. In fact, he lauds as "quite brave" the band's decision to break out from the field of such compatriots as Animal Collective, Deerhunter, and Yeasayer with a more sentimental sound that suits its repertoire well.

He does, however, appreciate another comparison the band has acquired. "[W]hile the Fleet Foxes references still don't sit well with this reviewer," writes Miller, "the other cliche—comparison to Tom Waits—works for this very reason. Just as Waits has the power to infuse you with familiarity with the return of a chord, so do the songs of Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, like an embroidered pillow on an old porch that says 'home sweet home.'"

Read the album review at drownedinsound.com.

---

The band is in the UK, where the new album is out on the Bella Union label next week, to play multiple sets at the famed Glastonbury Festival tonight and tomorrow, as well as the Hard Rock Calling Festival in London's Hyde Park on Sunday.

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The Low Anthem "Oh My God Charlie Darwin" [cover]
  • Friday, June 26, 2009
    Paste: The Low Anthem's New Album Among Year's Best

    The Low Anthem's recent Nonesuch release, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, has made Paste magazine's list of the Best Music of 2009 (so far), assembled by Associate Editor Kate Kiefer. She dubs it her "favorite discovery this year."

    Drowned in Sound gives the album an 8 of 10. "Part of what makes this album so compelling," writes reviewer Ed Miller, "is purity, and purity, when done well, is hard to knock. Recorded to unfashionably high standards, the album spans several facets of traditional Americana, from bluegrass to country to choral."

    Miller takes issue with the notion, oft-repeated of late, that the album bears some comparison to Fleet Foxes and the like. In fact, he lauds as "quite brave" the band's decision to break out from the field of such compatriots as Animal Collective, Deerhunter, and Yeasayer with a more sentimental sound that suits its repertoire well.

    He does, however, appreciate another comparison the band has acquired. "[W]hile the Fleet Foxes references still don't sit well with this reviewer," writes Miller, "the other cliche—comparison to Tom Waits—works for this very reason. Just as Waits has the power to infuse you with familiarity with the return of a chord, so do the songs of Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, like an embroidered pillow on an old porch that says 'home sweet home.'"

    Read the album review at drownedinsound.com.

    ---

    The band is in the UK, where the new album is out on the Bella Union label next week, to play multiple sets at the famed Glastonbury Festival tonight and tomorrow, as well as the Hard Rock Calling Festival in London's Hyde Park on Sunday.

    Journal Articles:On TourReviews

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