Harkin
Erik Koskinen
Union Chapel, 6 December 2016
What could be better for getting into the Christmas spirit than a trip to church to hear some Christmas tunes? Of course the fact that it's the wonderful and cosy Union Chapel and the Christmas tunes in question are courtesy of the bleakly beautiful Minnesotans Low makes it all the more special. Low's 1999 Christmas EP is easily one of my favourite Christmas records ever: even better than the best of Sufjan Stevens' festive releases and right up there with Elvis' Christmas albums. Yes, it's that good. I had never seen Low before this but the location and the fact they were playing this fantastic EP just before Christmas made this show absolutely irresistible to me and one of my most anticipated of the year. And I wasn't disappointed.
