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Baker's Dozen

Pulling At The Threads: Katie Gately’s Favourite Albums
Ben Graham , February 6th, 2020 09:34

On the release of her new album, Loom, the Brooklyn musician and sound artist talks about the records that have weaved their way through her life, from Joy Division to Joanna Newsom, Philip Glass to Low and This Heat

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Low - Drums And Guns
I went to college in Minnesota and Low were a local band. That is kind of a magical thing, to discover a band and get to see them at your little college venue. You’re not sharing them with random 30-year-olds, it’s just you and other 19-year-olds, 15 of you in a little space. They had a song called ‘Words’ which was gorgeous, and then I just started with them chronologically and I just went through every record. I really had been a fan for years. A lot of their records have a few songs on them that just blow me away and I’ve listened to them many times. This record is so different from a lot of the earlier records. It’s so sparse. It isn’t as murky. I feel like there’s not as much reverb. There’s an incredible music video for ‘Breaker’ where Alan Sparhawk eats a whole chocolate cake. He binge eats a whole chocolate cake in two minutes, because the song’s very short, and he drinks a lot of milk, and it’s kind of distressing because you know that’s not fun for the body, but it’s so funny and fun to watch. Having seen them live a bunch of times that does affect how you fall in love with a record. I love that they’re a family band. I love how prickly Alan is. I’ve seen him play some shows where I don’t think he wanted to be there. I don’t think he was very happy, but it was still wonderful. I love their new record too. I would say in terms of a band with a guitarist they’re one of my favourite bands, and I will always listen to their music. They just captured my heart at a young age, and they haven’t left.