Low / I Could Live in Hope - 4064385

I Could Live In Hope is the first full-length album by Duluth, Minnesota slowcore group Low, released in 1994. It was produced by Mark Kramer.

Released: January 10, 2012

Low / C'mon - SP905

C’mon is the shortest title of any Low album, which seems fitting, as it also ranks among the most succinct and straightforward entries in their variegated discography. Singer-guitarist Alan Sparhawk has even perfected the “elevator pitch” for C’mon: “Recorded in an old church in Duluth, MN and mixed in an apartment in Hollywood, CA.” But that brief synopsis hides universes.

Comprised of new material written on and off the road, the ten-song set was recorded in a former Catholic church, aka Sacred Heart Studio (where the band previously crafted 2002’s Trust) and co-produced and mixed by Matt Beckley. The band took full advantage of Sacred Heart’s high, vaulted ceilings, natural reverb, and audible affinity for organ sounds and group singing. The thunder-crack percussion that peppers the final minute of the slowly unfolding “Majesty/Magic” is just one example of this dynamic in action. With its jangly guitars and sweet vocal harmonies, opener “Try to Sleep” sets the album’s tone: Warmer, fuller and more introspective. Whereas 2007’s Drums and Guns railed against the war in Iraq, C’mon feels like a plea for humanity, decency and common sense in a world gone mad. Sparhawk concurs. “With the last couple of records, we were grappling with something outside of ourselves. This one feels more like, ‘Well, forget that. I’m looking in your eyes right now, and we need to figure out how to get through the next moment, together, as human beings.’”

Without curtailing their artistry one iota, the trio has made one of its most accessible, affecting albums to date. And while the origins of C’mon may lie in a church in Minnesota, Beckley’s apartment in CA and the hearts of the modest individuals who created it, the resulting music has the capacity to resonate deeply with audiences everywhere.

Released: April 12, 2011

Low / Drums and Guns - SP736

Formed in 1993, Low is from Duluth, Minnesota, and features Alan Sparhawk on vocals and guitar, Mimi Parker on vocals and drums, and Matt Livingston on bass and vocals. Sparhawk and Parker are married with two children; they first met in fourth grade in rural Minnesota. Drums and Guns is the band’s eighth full-length album and second for Sub Pop. It’s also, after 2005’s The Great Destroyer, the second album they’ve recorded with producer Dave Fridmann. Drums and Guns features a number of songs that ardent Low fans will recognize from the band’s recent live shows. These songs appear here in substantially altered forms, as though they’ve been taken apart and reassembled in striking new ways, or seen with new eyes. Or, given the lyrical emphasis on murder and death, a more insightful interpretation might see the band killing these songs and bringing them back to life anew. There’s no contrivance here, however. While these songs feature new elements (looped vocals, drum machines, etc.) and are thoroughly, radiantly contemporary, they remain undeniably Low’s. Drums and Guns possesses the unique, subtle beauty and power we’ve come to expect from Low, but the record is also profoundly exciting in ways that it’s easy to forget music can be.

SP736

Release date: March 20, 2007

Pitchfork review of Drums and Guns

The Onion review of Drums and Guns

Stylus review of Drums and Guns

Tiny Mix Tapes review of Drums and Guns

Boston Globe review of Drums and Guns

Dusted review of Drums and Guns

The Phoenix review of Drums and Guns

Released: March 20, 2007

Low / Alan Sparhawk - Solo Guitar - RS-SILB49

This cd contains the guitar experiments of Low’s Alan Sparhawk. The Drones and fuzz are beautiful and the volume control is brilliant, Sparhawk has really accomplished something here.

Released: December 14, 2006

Low / Tonight The Monkeys Die - CKM018

Low has released an EP, “Tonight the Monkeys Die,” featuring remixes of the original track “Monkey” from “The Great Destroyer.” Fog, Bob Mould, Stephin Merritt, Crew Jones and Count all contribute remixes. The EP also features the original album track and the full-length video.

Track Listing:

1. Monkey (original album version)
2. Monkey (Fog Remix)
3. Monkey (Crew Jones Remix)
4. Monkey (Stephin Merritt Remix)
5. Monkey (Bob Mould Remix)
6. Monkey (The Count Remix)

Low / The Great Destroyer - SP643

Formed in 1993, Low is a trio from Duluth, Minnesota comprised of guitarist/vocalist Alan Sparhawk, percussionist/vocalist Mimi Parker and bassist Zak Sally. Throughout Low’s history, the band has accumulated acclaim from critics (“Low build big magic from so little” – Rolling Stone) and musicians (Radiohead hand-picked Low to open a string of dates in 2003). Initially garnering attention as leaders of the ‘90s slowcore movement, Low went on to develop a sonic repertoire that incorporated pop, R&B and dissonant rock n’ roll. With this kind of storied history, most people thought they had Low pegged. But then they turned in their Sub Pop debut, The Great Destroyer. The band’s seventh full-length album, The Great Destroyer is fascinating in that it blends the band’s austere melodies (“On the Edge Of,” “Silver Rider”) with an aggressive guitar onslaught (“Monkey,” “Everybody’s Song”) and even melds Low’s varied styles together into a single song (“When I Go Deaf”). Co-produced by Low and David Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev), The Great Destroyer is a welcome surprise and, in the end, a rock n’ roll revelation.

Released: January 25, 2005

Low / A Lifetime of Temporary Relief - CHAIR012

Low box set, comprising the past 10 years in the band’s history, including b-sides, unreleased songs, live material, and other rarities. Almost 4 hours of music, with a 32 page booklet and a double length dvd with videos, live footage, a documentary, and more.

Released: July 20, 2004

Low / Things We Lost In the Fire - 4064386

Track Listing:

1. Sunflower
2. Whitetail
3. Dinosaur Act
4. Medicine Magazines
5. Laser Beam
6. July
7. Embrace
8. Whore
9. Kind of Girl
10. Like a Forest
11. Closer
12. In Metal

Recorded by Steve Albini at electrical audio, chicago, il. Additional recording by Tom Herbers at third ear, minneapolis, mn. Mixed by Steve Albini and Low. Mastered by John Golden. Written and performed by Low, with Marc De Gli Antoni (piano, keyboards, sampler), Daniel Huffman (guitar, loops, noises), Tresa Ellickson (viola), Jaron Childs (cello), Bob Weston (trumpet), Ida Pearle (violin), Zach Wallace (double bass), Dusty Sayre (backing vocals), and Hollis Mae (squeaks, yells).

Low / Trust - KRANK052

Track Listing:

1. (That’s How You Sing) Amazing Grace
2. Canada
3. Candy Girl
4. Diamond
5. Tonight
6. I am the Lamb
7. In the Drugs
8. Snowstorm
9. John Prine
10. Little Argument with Myself
11. La La La Song
12. Point of Disgust
13. Shots and Ladders

Low / Secret Name - KRANK035

Track Listing:

1. I Remember
2. Starfire
3. Two Step
4. Weight of Water
5. Missouri
6. Don’t Understand
7. Soon
8. Immune
9. Lion/Lamb
10. Days Of…
11. Will the Night
12. Home

Recorded by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio.

Low / Christmas - 4064385

Track Listing:

1. Just Like Christmas
2. Long Way Around The Sea
3. Little Drummer Boy
4. If You Were Born Today
5. Blue Christmas
6. Silent Night
7. Taking Down The Tree
8. One Special Gift

Low / Songs for a Dead Pilot - 4064387

Track Listing:

1. Will The Night
2. Condescended
3. Born By The Wires
4. Be There
5. Landlord
6. Hey Chicago