Melting Vinyl: Bringing the cream of live music to Brighton.

We are delighted to welcome back Minnesota’s wonderful indie-rock group Low to Brighton, with the release of their latest critically-acclaimed album ‘Ones and Sixes’ (out now on Sub Pop).

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. Initially comprising the husband-and-wife team of guitarist/vocalist Alan Sparhawk and drummer/vocalist Mimi Parker along with bassist John Nichols, Low began as an experimental reaction to the predominance of grunge, but the band in their 20+ years in music have progressed beyond that reaction and have grown from strength to strength with Sparhawk and Parker’s striking vocal harmonies representing perhaps the group’s most distinctive element.

The band have collaborated and played alongside the likes of Robert Plant, Red House Painters, and The Magnetic Fields. They were also chosen by Jeff Magnum of Neutral Milk Hotel to perform at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in March 2012 in Minehead. Their latest album ‘Ones and Sixes’ released on Sub Pop, has been received with critical acclaim and includes contributions from Wilco, Bon Iver, and artist Peter Liversidge. Every song released from the spectacular new album has been been playlisted on BBC 6 radio, and they appeared on Jools Holland BBC show to great acclaim.

“Brooding intimacy has long been Low’s speciality; now it’s as though you are zoomed in even closer.” – The Guardian ****

“Whatever the formula that has seen them constantly mutating their sound whilst keeping true to their ideals, it is obviously working” – The Quietus

Support comes from:

Harkin
Having been touring since her teens, Harkin’s reputation as an in-demand multi-instrumentalist has seen her pass through 30 countries, whilst writing and releasing three critically-acclaimed records with her own band Sky Larkin. Her work garnered the attention of friends and fellow former Leeds dwellers Wild Beasts, with whom she worked across their Smother tour, and reverberated across the pond to urgent cult trio Sleater-Kinney, who recruited her as a touring member upon their triumphant return to the live stage. Most recently, Harkin has performed across North America with Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak’s solo project, Flock of Dimes.

Now, though – as she unveils her debut solo project – the collaborator steps out as the singular; her new set-up giving further platform to her idiosyncratic, muscular guitar-playing and revealing a body of work which is equally propelled by a life on the move and anchored by her romance for the North of England.

Erik Koskinen
Musically sprouted from the blend of American folk, country, rock-n-roll, and blues, Erik Koskinen realizes a sound that is distinctive and fresh while familiar and classic. Koskinen’s albums are a lyrical and musical metaphor of American’s theaters of war, of history, of relationships, and of the reflections in the mirror. Knowing but not didactic, Koskinen channels the ways of Whitman and reverently enters the anthology of uniquely crafted wry songs with the likes of Woody Guthrie and Ry Cooder while speaking as plainly as your neighbor.