SWANS

this is amazing and deserves a thread of its own

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sdOvQjtUrg

Was a good watch, motivated me to finally check out the new album. Listening now and it is really great so far.

Although I really like Swans for years now, it takes a long time to get into the albums. I only have Children of God, Soundtrack for the Blind and My Father... What are other albums I am totally missing out on?

  On 11/26/2012 at 11:53 PM, usagi said:

  On 11/26/2012 at 3:16 PM, Herr Jan said:

Was a good watch, motivated me to finally check out the new album. Listening now and it is really great so far.

 

until recently, the only full Swans album I'd listened to was Filth and I was kind of under the impression that they just went full-blast with the sound, punk style, not caring too much what the end mix sounded like. watching this video really opened my eyes as to how they actually engineer their sound for max clarity and impact. Gira is mental.

 

  Quote

Although I really like Swans for years now, it takes a long time to get into the albums. I only have Children of God, Soundtrack for the Blind and My Father... What are other albums I am totally missing out on?

 

probably some of their earlier stuff: Filth, Cop and Holy Money. Filth absolutely destroys.

Hah, yeah I always kinda ignored the old stuff because I just thought it was just obnoxious loud without any depth. Thanks, I'll check those out but I need alot of time to let Swans delve into my mind!

Too bad I just missed them playing near my place just a few days ago, that would've been one hell of an experience...

Yes! saw them live a few weekends ago! loudest gig I can think of in recent memory! proper wallop clap bang sort of band, very clinical and timed in their destruction!

Ear plugs/not being too close to the main speakers I'd consider essential if you want to keep your hearing and see them ;)!

This album and the Scott Walker album are good reminders that you don't have to be really young to make fucking vital music. It defies lots of peoples' expectations I think.

  On 11/26/2012 at 3:16 PM, Herr Jan said:

What are other albums I am totally missing out on?

The Great Annihilator for sure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jkjogSynZc

still haven't checked out the seer yet, extremely curious about it though. soon.

So I just picked up the 3cd re-master set of "white light from the mouth of infinity" and "love of life", the 3rd CD is additional tracks from around the 1990 original recording period.

I have not heard either of these albums before, so purchase was a non-brainer.

White light, upon first listen, is amazing. A totally different beast from Filth that was released just a few years before, it is melancholic, playful, full of heartfelt songs and sounds incredible. The range of styles within the album should also be mentioned, Gira's vocals give way to a female accompaniment on a few occasions too.

Really surprised / impressed with this and cannot wait to get stuck into " love of life" tomorrow evening. Swans really are band that have reinvented themselves constantly over their time.

  On 12/16/2015 at 10:52 PM, fletcher said:

White light, upon first listen, is amazing. A totally different beast from Filth that was released just a few years before, it is melancholic, playful, full of heartfelt songs and sounds incredible. The range of styles within the album should also be mentioned, Gira's vocals give way to a female accompaniment on a few occasions too.

? Filth is their first LP from 1983, White Light is from the early 90s. there was a big evolution in their sound in that period though, yes.

have you guys heard the latest live release? good

lord

  On 12/17/2015 at 12:02 AM, usagi said:

 

  On 12/16/2015 at 10:52 PM, fletcher said:

White light, upon first listen, is amazing. A totally different beast from Filth that was released just a few years before, it is melancholic, playful, full of heartfelt songs and sounds incredible. The range of styles within the album should also be mentioned, Gira's vocals give way to a female accompaniment on a few occasions too.

? Filth is their first LP from 1983, White Light is from the early 90s. there was a big evolution in their sound in that period though, yes.

OK fair point, I thought it was 86. Yeah, a massive leap in the sound.

Not heard the new live set, it was a limited release that sold out pretty instantly.

New track is all sorts of awesome.

Welcome back swans

Saving it for the whole album. Wonder how the "one man" band Swans will sound.

He has a bunch of guests helping him out - including BEN FROST - amazing

Copped a ticket for the show in Brussels the moment they became available.

  On 10/11/2019 at 12:34 PM, ncrtx said:

Copped a ticket for the show in Brussels the moment they became available.

I went to a Swans show once and it's probably the single thing that I would choose to undo out of all the things I've done.

You’ll have to give us a bit more than that. Otherwise I’ll leave it to my imagination, and it can’t be that bad. 
 

I can name the top 3 things I’d undo in my life. One, my dad dying. Two, a 10/10 bad trip (I’ve had two of those tbh) and being savagely sea sick for 8 hours until I was throwing up my stomach lining (it was yellow)
 

How can a concert be worse? You must of been raped in the toilet.

Well, I've got a bad case of tinnitus on a Swans concert, maybe something like this? Kind of regret it too, even though it also brought good things (I wrote and published a novel as an escape from the ringing, had some TV/radio appearances about tinnitus, and it also isn't so bad after 3 years). But I know it was one of the most depressing episodes of my life when I got it.

The loud volume at Swans concerts is just stupid, IMHO. It may have made sense back in the eighties but it doesn’t now that their music actually has interesting details in it. These get drowned out with earplugs (and you need drastic ones to survive their concerts). Not a problem for their early, Cop-era material (which in fact sounds fantastic when you mostly hear it in your stomach, but for anything newer it’s really not doing it any favors.

@Dpek got it

I started listening to Swans in 2012 with The Seer and have followed them since. I've been sort of "saving" their old stuff for later.  I like to save some obvious classics and old albums I expect to enjoy for the right moment to kinda portion it out, if that makes any sense. 

I decided that it was the right time for "Soundtracks for the Blind" and oh my what a unique album it is. I can't remember anything that even resembles this monster. It's almost too big, and I tend to listen to three and four tracks here and there, since I have problems finding the right 141(!) minute slot where I'm ready for the whole package. 

I'm not sure what album to pick out after this. Should I continue backwards? Or should I start at the beginning?

  On 3/10/2021 at 10:46 AM, scumtron said:

I started listening to Swans in 2012 with The Seer and have followed them since. I've been sort of "saving" their old stuff for later.  I like to save some obvious classics and old albums I expect to enjoy for the right moment to kinda portion it out, if that makes any sense. 

I decided that it was the right time for "Soundtracks for the Blind" and oh my what a unique album it is. I can't remember anything that even resembles this monster. It's almost too big, and I tend to listen to three and four tracks here and there, since I have problems finding the right 141(!) minute slot where I'm ready for the whole package. 

I'm not sure what album to pick out after this. Should I continue backwards? Or should I start at the beginning?

Expand  

I'm also a late bloomer when it comes to Swans. Well, sort of...I purchased The Great Annihilator in the mid 90s when it was new, and liked it for the most part, but I didn't follow them or explore older material. It may have been 2018 when I finally decided to dive back in. Did I go that long without revisiting The Great Annihilator? Probably not. And it's entirely possible I listened to Filth (I had decided I might as well start from the top) sometime before 2018, too. In any case, when I decided to dive in I kind of found myself jumping around their discography instead of going chronologically like I tend to do when exploring new-to-me artists. I think the order went something like White Light From the Mouth of Infinity, Soundtracks for the Blind, Greed, Holy Money, Children of God, and The Seer. Having played each a couple of times, I'll say that in addition to The Great Annihilator, White Light is my favorite and Soundtracks is my least favorite. I think that one will just require more listening to absorb, if I give it the chance. Anyway, I certainly wasn't steering clear of the classics as I hopped around. 

It is tough finding the right time to play these super long albums. When I decided to dive in, late 2018 and early 2019, I'd been working a lot of late nights at home, in front of the computer, and needed to put something on that wouldn't require changing for long stretches. Usually I reach for my "Focus" playlist on Spotify that has hundreds of IDM albums, mostly instrumental as we know, but felt like something different. The shorter ones (Greed, Holy Money for example) I'd listen to on bus commutes, which tbh weren't the best choice on the way to work because I'd get there feeling depressed. 

What's next for me, I don't know, and as for you, scumtron, it all depends how open you are. If you start at the beginning, brace yourself for something completely different. If you'd rather hear an evolution, or devolution in this case, then keep going backwards. I guess that puts you at The Great Annihilator and you probably won't hear too many Swans fans say anything bad about it.

  On 3/10/2021 at 7:22 PM, sidewinder said:

I'm also a late bloomer when it comes to Swans. Well, sort of...I purchased The Great Annihilator in the mid 90s when it was new, and liked it for the most part, but I didn't follow them or explore older material. It may have been 2018 when I finally decided to dive back in. Did I go that long without revisiting The Great Annihilator? Probably not. And it's entirely possible I listened to Filth (I had decided I might as well start from the top) sometime before 2018, too. In any case, when I decided to dive in I kind of found myself jumping around their discography instead of going chronologically like I tend to do when exploring new-to-me artists. I think the order went something like White Light From the Mouth of Infinity, Soundtracks for the Blind, Greed, Holy Money, Children of God, and The Seer. Having played each a couple of times, I'll say that in addition to The Great Annihilator, White Light is my favorite and Soundtracks is my least favorite. I think that one will just require more listening to absorb, if I give it the chance. Anyway, I certainly wasn't steering clear of the classics as I hopped around. 

It is tough finding the right time to play these super long albums. When I decided to dive in, late 2018 and early 2019, I'd been working a lot of late nights at home, in front of the computer, and needed to put something on that wouldn't require changing for long stretches. Usually I reach for my "Focus" playlist on Spotify that has hundreds of IDM albums, mostly instrumental as we know, but felt like something different. The shorter ones (Greed, Holy Money for example) I'd listen to on bus commutes, which tbh weren't the best choice on the way to work because I'd get there feeling depressed. 

What's next for me, I don't know, and as for you, scumtron, it all depends how open you are. If you start at the beginning, brace yourself for something completely different. If you'd rather hear an evolution, or devolution in this case, then keep going backwards. I guess that puts you at The Great Annihilator and you probably won't hear too many Swans fans say anything bad about it.

Expand  

Wait ... where is Cop in his list? You haven’t listened to Cop yet?

  On 3/10/2021 at 7:37 PM, rhmilo said:

Wait ... where is Cop in his list? You haven’t listened to Cop yet?

I have not. I guess to be honest I was aiming for the less harsh material most of the time. I should have listened to the early stuff in the 90s (I was too young for Swans in the 80s) and probably would have appreciated it more. But still, I do intend to give it a go. Just not sure if it's next or further in the queue.