Transmission

Duluth, Minnesota's slowcore pioneers Low had been impressing live audiences with their slow as molasses cover of Joy Division's "Transmission" well before it was released on the largely unimpressive Joy Division tribute album, "A Means to an End." Not content to let their version wither, the band put together this fine EP. "Transmission" is joined by some excellent songs unavailable elsewhere, including the brief but lovely "Bright," a darker version of the band's "Caroline" (called "Caroline 2"), and a cover of Supreme Dicks' "Jack Smith." "Transmission" EP also marks a couple of firsts for Low. It was the first pairing of the band with producer Steve Albini, who would produce the band's best work, 1999's "Secret Name." Another first was a hidden, untitled track that stretched the band into much more experimental territory that they would explore on 1997's "Songs for a Dead Pilot."