by Bryan Carroll
Named after a friend of the band who was instrumental in bringing them to Paris, where this live album was recorded, Anthony, Are You Around? is a more representative account of a live experience with Low when compared to their first official bootleg, the diaphanous One More Reason to Forget. Though the vocals take up a little more than their fair share of the mix (which isn't really a distraction, given the spot-on performance of Mimi Parker and Alan Sparhawk), the band picked a superlative set to release. With a few refreshingly left-field selections from the band's catalog finding their way onto the set list, all of the subtlety and energy of their best gigs is preserved here. Unfortunately, Anthony, Are You Around? is only available as an import outside of Japan.