BIG LOW
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BIG LOW

Wageningen, Gelderland, Netherlands

Wageningen, Gelderland, Netherlands
Band Alternative Avant-garde

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This band has not uploaded any videos

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Press


"Album review 2009 Australia"

"The first thing you'll notice is the unconventional nature of the instrumentation...exotic stuff like the singing saw, banjo bass, velofoon and ocean drum colouring Tuffys vocals magically, helping to further dislocate you from mundane expectations, and walk wide-eyed into this dream that Big Low has conjured...this music has a dark unspeakable power" - Rhythms Magazine Australia


"Big Low Review Roots Magazine Australia"

These songs are dusted in red dirt...boistress bent rock'n'roll, bush philosophy and instrumentation that is at times as sparse as the Nullabor plain...raw and gritty" - Roots Magazine Australia


"NRC National Newspaper 2007"

BIG LOW - No Tears in Paradise (NRC Handlesblad, the Netherlands, Saturday 29/01/05)

Sinister rattling from an unrecognisable string instrument and a growling vocal that blindly staggers its way through Afternoon – once a song from Jonathon Richman. So begins the second album from Big Low, a group that have named themselves after a low pressure system. The name of the singer alone – Dan Tuffy – calls up images of the lonesome Americana musician. But this guy is Australian and has been living here for years, having once been a psychedelic pop-folkie (WPAM) and currently also the bass player for PARNE GADJE, a masterful group that improvises in Balkan music.
The music of Big Low might have a touch of Americana to it but what makes the album unique is the left of centre choice of instruments. The acoustic guitar still plays a big role but this is offset by east –European and African instrumentation. The result is a wonderful amalgam, in which there is as much room for comparisons with Kurt Weill as there is Tom Waits or the Australian outback. The songs begin drunkenly and swagger from count to count but when the band sets in an old fashioned waltz all hell breaks loose with the singer. Little wonder: We Gunna Die out Here refers to the fear and mystery of the Australian hinterland – luckily without the use of the didgeridoo. More ghostliness can be heard in If God Be God, a gothic folk song with squeaking doors and a singing saw. And towards the end of the journey even romanticism gets a chance, like the cherry on top of this uniquely beautiful Euro-Americana world music creation.
- NRC Rotterdam, Holland


"Album Review 2005"

BIG LOW
‘No Tears in Paradise’
15/04/05
www.folkforum.nl

One of the most fascinating alternative roots bands on the live-scene in Holland at the moment has to be BIG LOW. Americana in which, for example, Moroccan castanet’s, the bandoneon and a countless array of home-made instruments play a crucial role. You could say that their influences range from Captain Beefheart all the way to John Prine.

Band frontman Dan Tuffy (who, like the other band members also plays in the Balkan group Parne Gadje) had this to say in the Brabantsdagblad (national newspaper) “We’re not your average guitar, bass and drums group. I find it far more interesting and challenging to color my music with non-standard sounds. You get a very personal tone and texture like this. I find that far more interesting than just hitting your public over the head with volume” and also “No – if you want a pop group with the right guitar and drum sounds you better stay away from us. I’d rather have our music sounding like an old shit-heap of a car sliding down a sandy track – a little bit of tension in what you do can’t hurt”.

The recently released NO TEARS IN PARADISE is receiving nothing other than rave reviews at the moment. Folkforum reviewer Mirjam Adams valued the album as a 9/10.
“…it is slowly becoming evident to everyone that the Australian Dan Tuffy is not your average songwriter. His choice of subject material cannot be pinned to a single central theme while his choice of accompaniment is, at the very least, original within it’s genre…in the 40 minutes that passes while listening to the album an avalanche of stories falls over you, each with its own unique charm and beautiful instrumentation. The stories would easily stand alone– with or without music – even though some of them are just snapshots. With most singer/songwriters you can expect the accent to be on the guitar but not here. Guitar is only used in service of the rest of the instrumentation to create atmosphere, and the rest of the instrumentation changes from song to song…the result is so beautiful I don’t need to know the names of the instruments involved. The two Big Low concerts I have witnessed were fantastic, ‘No Tears in Paradise’ is the perfect supplement.”
- Folkforum.nl


"Website Review 2005"

BIG LOW
“No Tears in Paradise” CD review
www.alternativecountry.nl
February 2005

“I know that there is an agricultural university in Wageningen and that they also cultivate strange plants there. What I didn’t realize is that the entire surrounds of Wageningen have turned into a dry flat landscape where giant cactuses tower above the plains and where the average temperature is about 15 degrees higher than it is in the rest of Holland. All things being equal, this would be the only environment where a group like BIG LOW could normally come into existence. Dan Tuffy, Michiel Hollanders and Marc Constandse have managed to create a mini- Arizona right here in Holland! At least, that’s what it sounds like. Howe Gelb (Giant Sand) meets Tom Waits. But a close listen to the 9 originals and 1 cover on the album uncovers rural Australia as the real inspiration for this album, not rural America. ‘Todd River Disco’ would have to take place somewhere in the vicinity of Alice Springs while Darwin gets a big mention in ‘Black Snake Story’. The use of singing saw, bandoneon, banjo-bass and percussion creates a beautiful sound decor. This in combination with imaginative and moving lyrics results in an incredibly good album. Quite simply the best release from Dutch soil so far this year.”
- alt.country.nl


Discography

2002 'Ghost Hunt Migration" CD Album
2005 "No Tears in Paradise" CD Album
2008 "The Junction of the Two Rivers" CD Album

Photos

Bio

GENRE: Singer-songwriter/alternative folk trio "RED DIRT MUSIC"
SOUNDS LIKE: 16 Horsepower, The Baptist Generals, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Centro-Matic, Nick Cave
INSTRUMENTS: (Dan Tuffy) songs, stories, acoustic & electric guitars, home-made banjo bass, upright bass, (Marc Constandse) bandoneon, kora, cajon, drums and various percussion (Michiel Hollanders) dobro, velofoon and singing saw
HISTORY & FACTS: Big Low released their 1st album ‘Ghost-Hunt Migration’ (Smoked/Munich SR001) in 2001- the album received stunning reviews. Australian Songwriter Dan Tuffy is currently also the manager/bassist of successful Balkan improvisation group Parne Gadje and runs runs the rising indy folk/roots label Smoked Recordings. ‘No Tears in Paradise’ Big Low’s 2nd album was released in 2005 to more rave reviews. Thier highly-praised 3rd album "The Junction of the Two Rivers" was released in 2008. In the meantime the band has toured extensively in Australia and the Netherlands and will be touring Germany in the latter half of 2009. Big Low have appeared at major clubs and festivals including Paradiso/Amsterdam, Tivoli/Utrecht, 013/Tilburg, Roots of Heaven Festival/Haarlem, Mt. Beauty Music Festival/Australia, Brunswick Music Festival/Australia. Airplay on ABC National Radio Australia, 3RRR Australia, JJJ Australia, VPRO The Netherlands
Reviews

"You can hear the dry leaves crackling underfoot in this music - rugged Australian roots music at its best!" SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 2008
“A wonderful potpourri of American roots sounds, peppered with European folklore and given extra dimension with the use of singing saw, velofoon, kora and other rarities. With this kind of instrumentation , they can sing songs of longing but manage to be thoroughly uplifting at the same time” DE VOLKSKRANT – January 2005 (Dutch National newspaper)

“the whole thing is a wonderful amalgam of sound where there is as much room for Kurt Weill and Tom Waits as there is for the Australian outback….gorgeous” NRC HANDELSBLAD – January 2008 (Dutch National newspaper)

“Big Low commands a lot of respect all round…sometimes introvert then suddenly explosive…always fascinating” PLATOMANIA – January 2008 (National In-store Magazine)

“on a run of the mill Wednesday evening in Merelyn you get to experience the meaning of pure, honest music. For comparisons sake you could pull out the big names such as Dylan or 16 Horsepwer but it’s not necessary because BIG LOW are unique enough” PITCH FANZINE – NIJMEGEN (live review October 2006)

“everything about this debut makes sense..everything…the originality of the album surprisingly enough lurks in the percussion, sounding like a harvesting machine in the distance …Tuffy has managed to bring the burnt embers of his homeland remarkably close” DE VOLKSKRANT – November 2003

“fresh sounding alt. pop, a crooked song a-la Tom Waits, film music, a touch of Morricone – Big Low draws from a wide spectrum to create a prime album for the singer/songwriter/folk sector” OOR – Major Dutch Music magazine 2002

“The only act that managed to give us the feeling we were witnessing something special was Big Low…they created a universe where Hendrix jams in the shadows of Ayres Rock, accompanied by some Berbers and a Gypsy Orchestra– a magical semi-realist sound full of tension without any frills…utterly brilliant” Roots ’05 Festival review/Gent - Belgium (translated from www.rootsmusicfreezne.be May 2006)
Other acts on festival included Hugh Cornell (X-Stranglers), Black Lipstick (US)