Low / I Could Live In Hope
Artist Low
Album Title: I Could Live In Hope
Album Cover:
Primary Genre Alternative & Punk: Snore-Core
Format CD
Released 02/18/1994
Label Vernon Yard Recordings
Catalog No YARD CD6
Bar Code No 0 1704 68005 2 5
Packaging Jewelcase
Tracks
1. Words (5:50)
2. Fear (2:16)
3. Cut (5:48)
4. Slide (3:51)
5. Lazy (5:39)
6. Lullaby (9:50)
7. Sea (1:50)
8. Down (7:29)
9. Drag (5:16)
10. Rope (6:17)
11. Sunshine (2:59)
Date Acquired 05/26/1994
Personal Rating
Acquired from Roadrunner Records
Purchase Price 15.00

Web Links

All Music Guide Entry:
Discogs Entry:

Notes

℗ & © 1994 Vernon Yard Recordings, a division of Virgin Records America, Inc.
Produced at Noise N.J.
Durations posted are slightly different from the printed ones.

Artwork [Visuals] – Low
Bass – John Nichols
Guitar, Vocals – Allan Sparhawk
Percussion, Vocals – Mimi Parker
Photography By [Shoes Picture] – Gerree Small
Producer – Kramer
Producer [Assistant] – Steve Watson
Written-By – Alan Sparhawk (tracks: 1 to 10), John Nichols (tracks: 1 to 10), Low (tracks: 1 to 10), Mimi Parker (tracks: 1 to 10)

foobar2000 1.2.9 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2013-09-02 05:26:55

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: Low / I Could Live in Hope
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR         Peak         RMS     Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR10       0.00 dB   -12.98 dB      5:50 01-Words
DR10       0.00 dB   -13.71 dB      2:17 02-Fear
DR10       0.00 dB   -14.06 dB      5:48 03-Cut
DR11       0.00 dB   -13.72 dB      3:52 04-Slide
DR10       0.00 dB   -11.90 dB      5:40 05-Lazy
DR11       0.00 dB   -14.91 dB      9:51 06-Lullaby
DR10       0.00 dB   -13.28 dB      1:51 07-Sea
DR13       0.00 dB   -17.42 dB      7:29 08-Down
DR10       0.00 dB   -12.69 dB      5:17 09-Drag
DR10       0.00 dB   -14.27 dB      6:17 10-Rope
DR10       0.00 dB   -13.14 dB      2:59 11-Sunshine
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks:  11
Official DR value: DR11

Samplerate:        44100 Hz
Channels:          2
Bits per sample:   16
Bitrate:           798 kbps
Codec:             FLAC
================================================================================

Reviews
All Music Guide Review:

Review by Ken Taylor
Like so many of their contemporaries, Low are repeatedly lumped into numerous derivative and nondescript headings intended to encompass slow-paced, instrument-driven music that maintains an indie aesthetic. Quite simply, no category can truly reveal the beauty and glory of Low's debut record I Could Live in Hope. Sad core? Not even close! I Could Live in Hope is an incredibly joyous journey of spirit and songwriting sensibility. The record remains patient and sparse throughout (just guitar, bass, high hat, and snare, and angelic vocals by the husband and wife team of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker), but succeeds beautifully. Low truly behold the gift of understatement.

Working with long-time producer and New York underground mainstay Kramer, Low examine their own fears and haunting experiences, occasionally linking them with Biblical references, while consoling listeners with warm layers of ethereal vocals and waves of guitar reverberation. Tracks are simple one-word titles but that's all that they require -- too much information would spoil the record's elegance. And that's probably why they open the record with "Words," a song about the overuse and misuse of language, that sets the tone for the entire album, right up to their plaintive and passionate cover of "You Are My Sunshine." Every small nuance of production is evident -- Sparhawk's fingers not quite connecting on a chord change or sliding over a fret and echoing infinitely -- making I Could Live in Hope a true testament to both Low and Kramer's penchant for capturing the lushest of soundscapes.
Cover 1
Cover 2
Cover 3
Cover 4
Cover 5