So in 1979, with test pressings of Kurtis Blow’s “Christmas Rappin’” in hand, the promoter and producer Russell Simmons came up with a fresh strategy: Once early copies had won over area DJs, Simmons encouraged the community to place “fake orders” for the single. Major label executives were slow to recognize rap’s sales potential. Its arresting beauty didn’t go unnoticed by advertisers (an appearance in a Gap spot popularized it beyond the indie set), but commercial association has not dimmed its heart-expanding force. There are no weak moments on the release, and some of the best songs are Low’s originals-including “Just Like Christmas,” possibly their catchiest and most upbeat tune.įor all the record’s spare beauty, though, their aching version of “Little Drummer Boy” is the one for the ages it’s built around a drone and overlaid with a fine mist of reverb and processing that evokes both snowfall and shoegaze, soft as snow but warm inside. They’d already released a few stray Christmas singles, but as the millennium came to a close, they honored the season with a proper record, an eight-song EP that has since become a holiday classic. In 1999, Low were at the peak of their powers as a slowcore unit, having mastered the art of minimal music that hits with maximal force.
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