Low

Although Low’s been getting louder and more raucous over the last couple of albums, there are still few bands as effective with spare, slow, intimate instrumentation. But the band has been relatively, well, quiet in recent years, with leader Alan Sparhawk putting energy into side project Retribution Gospel Choir. Even Robert Plant has been recording more Low songs than the members of Low, covering “Silver Rider” and “Monkey” on his Band Of Joy album. But with the recent Sub Pop-issued album, C’mon, the silence subsides with songs like “Try To Sleep,” a typically lovely hymn to facing the not-so-lovely parts of life, and the powerfully gloomy “Witches.”

Updated 09/14/2011