I Could Live in Hope

I Could Live in Hope
I Could Live in Hope
Studio album by Low
Released	February 18, 1994
Recorded	Autumn 1993
Studio	Noise New Jersey
Genre	Slowcore; dream pop;
Length	57:05
Label	Vernon Yard
Producer	Mark Kramer
Low chronology

I Could Live in Hope is the debut studio album by American indie rock band Low. It was released on February 18, 1994, on Vernon Yard Recordings.^[2]

Background and composition

"Lullaby"

A 29 second excerpt from "Lullaby". This song became one of Low's most famous tracks. The song, alongside the rest of I Could Live in Hope, helped pioneer the genre slowcore, which Pitchfork described as "stretch[ing] a simple melody into a 10-minute meditation that gently pulls [the listener] out of linear time".^[3]

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A reaction to the abrasiveness of alternative rock in the early 1990s, when grunge had reigning popularity, Low "eschewed conventional songwriting in favour of mood and movement."^[4]^[5] Influenced by Brian Eno and Joy Division, the band, collaborating with long-time producer and New York underground mainstay Mark Kramer, favored slow-paced compositions characterized by minimal instrumentation and an economy of language.^[6]^[5]^[7]^[8]

The band named the album after stopping for sandwiches in Hope Township, New Jersey.^[9]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[6]
Chicago Tribune	^[10]
NME	7/10^[11]
Q	^[12]

I Could Live in Hope received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics. Writing for the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot felt that "its heavy-lidded drama creeps by in all-enveloping slow motion" and called it "the best record made for those dreary, nothing's-going-on-and-I-want-to-crawl-into-a-hole afternoons since Galaxie 500's debut."^[10]

Legacy

Featuring music played at an "unprecedented pace in the then-flowering underground,"^[5] I Could Live in Hope helped to birth the genre known as slowcore, which encompassed acts from Bedhead to Codeine throughout the 1990s.^[7]

Pitchfork placed I Could Live in Hope at number 49 on its 1999 list of the best albums of the 1990s.^[13] The same year, critic Ned Raggett ranked it at number 37 on his list of "The Top 136 or So Albums of the Nineties" for Freaky Trigger.^[14] In 2004, the album was included in Les Inrockuptibles' "50 Years of Rock'n'Roll" list.^[15] In 2018, Pitchfork placed it at number 22 on its list of the 30 best dream pop albums.^[16]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Alan Sparhawk, Mimi Parker and John Nichols, except where noted.

*I Could Live in Hope* track listing
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Words"		Sparhawk	5:45
2.	"Fear"		Sparhawk	2:12
3.	"Cut"		Sparhawk	5:43
4.	"Slide"		Parker	3:46
5.	"Lazy"		Sparhawk	5:35
6.	"Lullaby"		Parker	9:46
7.	"Sea"		Sparhawk, Parker	1:45
8.	"Down"		Sparhawk	7:24
9.	"Drag"		Sparhawk	5:11
10.	"Rope"		Sparhawk	6:11
11.	"Sunshine"	Oliver Hood	Sparhawk, Parker	2:59

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of I Could Live in Hope.^[17]

Low

Alan Sparhawk – guitar, vocals
Mimi Parker – percussion, vocals
John Nichols – bass

Additional personnel

Mark Kramer – production
Steve Watson – assistant production
Low – artwork
Gerree Small – inner sleeve photography

References

^ Low Live at KJHK-FM on 1994-05-02, Interview (part 2), Archive.org. Accessed March 15, 2020.
^ Wray, Daniel Dylan (February 13, 2019). "Calm Amidst The Storm: Low's Debut 25 Years On". The Quietus. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
^ Swensson, Andrea (November 7, 2022). "Remembering Low's Mimi Parker With 6 Essential Tracks". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
^ Buckley, Peter (October 30, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. p. 615. ISBN 978-1843531050.
^ ^a ^b ^c Earles, Andrew (October 9, 2014). Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981-1996. Voyageur Press. pp. 177–178. ISBN 978-0760346488.
^ ^a ^b Taylor, Ken. "I Could Live in Hope – Low". AllMusic. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
^ ^a ^b Everhart, John (June 5, 2013). "Low Albums From Worst To Best". Stereogum. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
^ Sprague, David (April 1, 1995). "Vernon Yard/Virgin Is Counting on Low's 'Long-Division'". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. p. 14. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
^ Low Live at KJHK-FM on 1994-05-02, Interview (part 2), Archive.org. Accessed August 8, 2016.
^ ^a ^b Kot, Greg (February 24, 1994). "Low: I Could Live in Hope (Vernon Yard)". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on November 8, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
^ "Low: I Could Live in Hope". NME. September 3, 1994. p. 52.
^ "Low: I Could Live in Hope". Q. No. 96. September 1994. p. 102.
^ "Top 100 Albums of the '90s". Pitchfork. p. 6. Archived from the original on February 25, 2003. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
^ Raggett, Ned. "The Top 136 Or So Albums Of The Nineties". Freaky Trigger. Archived from the original on January 20, 2000. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
^ 50 ans de rock. 01 : Hors-série Les Inrocks 2, Les années 80–90 (in French). Paris: Les Inrockuptibles. 2004. OCLC 419731573.
^ "The 30 Best Dream Pop Albums". Pitchfork. April 16, 2018. p. 1. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
^ Low (1994). I Could Live in Hope (Media notes). Vernon Yard Recordings.

This 1990s indie rock album-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Low Live at KJHK-FM on 1994-05-02, Interview (part 2), Archive.org. Accessed March 15, 2020.

[2] Wray, Daniel Dylan (February 13, 2019). "Calm Amidst The Storm: Low's Debut 25 Years On". The Quietus. Retrieved December 15, 2024.

[3] Swensson, Andrea (November 7, 2022). "Remembering Low's Mimi Parker With 6 Essential Tracks". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 15, 2023.

[buckley-4] Buckley, Peter (October 30, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. p. 615. ISBN 978-1843531050.

[earles-5] Earles, Andrew (October 9, 2014). Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981-1996. Voyageur Press. pp. 177–178. ISBN 978-0760346488.

[am-6] Taylor, Ken. "I Could Live in Hope – Low". AllMusic. Retrieved August 19, 2009.

[stereogum-7] Everhart, John (June 5, 2013). "Low Albums From Worst To Best". Stereogum. Retrieved February 18, 2016.

[8] Sprague, David (April 1, 1995). "Vernon Yard/Virgin Is Counting on Low's 'Long-Division'". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. p. 14. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 18, 2016.

[9] Low Live at KJHK-FM on 1994-05-02, Interview (part 2), Archive.org. Accessed August 8, 2016.

[gregkot-10] Kot, Greg (February 24, 1994). "Low: I Could Live in Hope (Vernon Yard)". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on November 8, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2017.

[11] "Low: I Could Live in Hope". NME. September 3, 1994. p. 52.

[12] "Low: I Could Live in Hope". Q. No. 96. September 1994. p. 102.

[13] "Top 100 Albums of the '90s". Pitchfork. p. 6. Archived from the original on February 25, 2003. Retrieved July 28, 2019.

[14] Raggett, Ned. "The Top 136 Or So Albums Of The Nineties". Freaky Trigger. Archived from the original on January 20, 2000. Retrieved September 28, 2011.

[Les_Inrockuptibles_2004_p.-15] 50 ans de rock. 01 : Hors-série Les Inrocks 2, Les années 80–90 (in French). Paris: Les Inrockuptibles. 2004. OCLC 419731573.

[16] "The 30 Best Dream Pop Albums". Pitchfork. April 16, 2018. p. 1. Retrieved April 24, 2018.

[AV-17] Low (1994). I Could Live in Hope (Media notes). Vernon Yard Recordings.

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v t e Low
Alan Sparhawk Mimi Parker John Nichols Zak Sally Matt Livingston Steve Garrington
Studio albums	I Could Live in Hope Long Division The Curtain Hits the Cast Secret Name Things We Lost in the Fire Trust The Great Destroyer Drums and Guns C'mon The Invisible Way Ones and Sixes Double Negative Hey What
Other albums	Paris '99: "Anthony, Are You Around?" A Lifetime of Temporary Relief: 10 Years of B-Sides and Rarities
EPs	Finally... Transmission Songs for a Dead Pilot Christmas The Exit Papers Tonight the Monkeys Die: Low Remixed Murderer
Related articles	Slowcore Solo Guitar The Seer Black Eyed Snakes Retribution Gospel Choir White Roses, My God Your Voice Is Not Enough
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