Third album from slowcore pioneers Low, originally released in 1996. The Curtain Hits The Cast might be the most spacious and unhurried effort in the Minnesota trio’s vast catalog; all airy guitar strums, bare-bones drums (that’s Mimi Parker’s ‘kit’ on the front cover) and tender harmonies like The Sundays played at quarter-speed. Single hushed words hang for 8 or 10 seconds at a time, lonely guitar chords ring out for several bars. It’s all a build-up to the massive payoff of “Do You Know How To Waltz?,” a fourteen-plus-minute wall of sound that aches with all the compounded sorrow of the twelve tracks that precede it. “Tomorrow One,” “Lust,” “Over The Ocean” and “Coattails” are other highlights. 180g double vinyl pressing with printed inner sleeves, recommended.

• black 180g double vinyl pressing
• printed inner sleeves
• music label: Plain Recordings 2012

reviewed by winston wolf 03/2019