Lowlife - Eternity Road (5xCD Box)

5xCD box set. 70 tracks.

LTM presents Eternity Road, a 5xCD box set containing all 5 studio albums released by Lowlife, the cult Scottish postpunk/dreampop band featuring former Cocteau Twins bassist Will Heggie.

Lowlife were formed in Grangemouth in 1985 when Heggie joined forces with former Dead Neighbours members Craig Lorentsen, Grant McDowell and Stuart Everest. Their atmospheric, moody soundscapes were often compared to Joy Division, New Order, The Comsat Angels, and more recently shoegaze, Interpol and Radiohead.

Disc 1 combines debut 6 track mini album Rain (1985) with the band’s first LP, Permanent Sleep. Released the following year. Disc 2 combines sophomore album Diminuendo (1987) with 7 bonus tracks drawn from non-album singles and EPs. Discs 3 and 4 feature the albums Godhead (1989) and San Antorium (1991), each adding one-half of rare demo set Black Sessions. Disc 5 is final album Gush, issued in 1995.

All tracks are digitally remastered. The booklet includes a band biography by journalist and former manager Brian Guthrie, along with photographs and artwork.

CD 1: Permanent Sleep + Rain (1986)

1. Coward's Way
2. As It Happens
3. Mother Tongue
4. Wild Swan
5. Permanent Sleep
6. A Year Past July
7. The Betting and Gaming Act 1964
8. Do We Party?
9. Sometime: Something
10. Reflections of I
11. Gallery of Shame
12. Sense of Fondness
13. Hail Ye
14. Again and Again
15. From Side to Side (version)

CD 2: Diminuendo + Singles (1987)

1. A Sullen Sky
2. Big Uncle Ugliness
3. Ragged Rise to Tumbledown
4. From Side to Side
5. Off Pale Yellow
6. Tongue Tied and Twisted
7. Licking One's Wounds
8. Wonders Will Never Cease
9. Given to Dreaming
10. Hollow Gut
11. Permanent Sleep (Steel Mix)
12. Eternity Road (12" version)
13. Swing
14. Colours Blue
15. Ramafied

CD 3: Godhead + The Black Album Pt. 1 (1989)

1. In Thankful Hands
2. Where I Lay, I'll Lie
3. Marjory's Dream
4. I Don't Talk To Me
5. Drowning Leaves
6. Bittersweet
7. River of Woe
8. I, the Cheated
9. Missing the Kick
10. Forever Filthy
11. Neverending Shroud
12. The Beggar's Burning Bush (demo)
13. Moved to Tears (demo)
14. Acrid Tongue (demo)
15. River of Woe (demo)
16. Where I Lay, I'll Lie (demo)

CD 4: San Antorium + The Black Album Pt. 2 (1991)

1. Jaw
2. Inside In
3. My Mother's Fatherly Father
4. Big Fat Funky Whale
5. Good As It Gets
6. Suddenly Violently Random
7. June Wilson
8. Give Up Giving Up
9. Bathe
10. As Old As New
11. Missing the Kick (demo)
12. Bittersweet (demo)
13. Forever Filthy (demo)
14. Neverending Shroud (demo)
15. We the Cheated (demo)

CD 5: Gush (1995)

1. Bleach
2. Kiss Me Kick
3. Former Compadre
4. Truth In Needles
5. Tocopherol
6. Loaded, Primed and Pulled
7. Wicked Papa Tantalus
8. Patricide
9. Swell

Reviews:

"High quality re-release from avant-shoegazers. Eternity Road is an impressive, passionate collection, Bauhaus-bleak yet complex as jazz. Makes Radiohead sound like Nizlopi" (Uncut, 05/2006)

"Profound, melancholic, and reaches the parts more ephemeral pieces of plastic cannot reach" (Melody Maker)

"A good introduction - but not all you'll ever need - to a band deserving of care and attention" (NME)

"Atmospheric and claustrophobic, music to sharpen razor blades to" (M8)

"A gorgeous full swell of sound" (Melody Maker)

"Eternity Road collates singles and other highlights from an eventful six-album career making a solid case for their own chapter in the dreampop story. Recommended for fans of slow, eerily atmospheric songs and dense production" (Leonard's Lair, 03/2006)

"Culty dream-pop rightfully remastered and reissued" (The List, 03/2006)

"Absolutely beautiful cult band - dreamy, melancholic wave songs, and a must for all fans of 1980s guitar bands like The Sound and The Chameleons" (transmission.com, 04/2006)