Swans thread. Anyone else here a fan?

[jonajon91]

How come I never see anyone here talking about swans here? I understand that they are not a very extended range band but that hasn't stopped people discussing other band.

New sounds



Old sounds




Chart

 

[Anant Naag]

Got into these guys from sound tracks for the blind. Haven't revisited them in a long time. Thanks for this thread.

 

[jonajon91]

Today was my first time listening to soundtracks and it did nothing for me. It wasnt bad by any stretch of the imagination (apart from yumyab killers) it is just pretty okay and at two and a half hours it is just ... quite a lot to take in.

---edit---

I did a thing, green rings are my favorite albums, orange ones were okay, red I didn't really care for as much.

 

[ShredFever]

Love some of their stuff, especially with Jarboe, hate some of their stuff too. Saw them on their farewell tour in the 90's, definitely one of my all time favorite concert experiences.

 

[gorthul]

I rarely listen to their studio recordings, but if you have the chance to see them live, just do it! Saw them last May and damn, this was one of the best liveshows I have seen so far.

 

[DXL]

Swans started out as a joke between me and my roommate, saying that we were going to end up psychopathic if we kept listening to them, but we're both fans now

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Chart

Lollers, that's pretty accurate -- I love Great Annihilator.

 

[MFB]

I'm a big fan of White Light From the Mouth of Infinity, and had some of my lowest moments while listening to them; but they also have this very dark beauty to them as well.

I enjoy them overall, I just have to be in the mood for it

 

[jonajon91]

For me, nothing has beaten 'to be kind yet', it's just fantastic from start to finish.

 

[jonajon91]

New album inbound!

Swans' new album "The Glowing Man" is now available for pre order for a June 17th release. All copies sold though the Young God Records web store, as always, will be signed by M.Gira.
Preorder you copy here: The Glowing Man (preorder) – YOUNG GOD RECORDS
Preorder also available though Mute Records in the UK: Mute Bank | the store for independent record label Mute

It sounds like this.



And a tour

The first tour's dates were listed above.
*with support from Okkyung Lee

THE REST OF THE TOUR DATES WERE GIVEN VIA EMAIL BY YOUNG GOD RECORDS THIS MORNING.

9/1 – Tucson AZ, Rialto Theater
9/2 – Los Angeles CA, Fonda Theater
9/3 – San Francisco CA, The Regency Grand Ballroom
9/4 – Portland OR, Wonder Ballroom
9/6 – Vancouver BC, Venue
9/7 – Seattle WA, The Showbox
9/9 – Salt Lake City UT, Urban Lounge
9/10 – Denver CO, Gothic Theater
9/12 – Dallas TX, Trees
9/13 – Austin TX, Mohawk Austin
9/14 – San Antonio TX, Paper Tiger
9/15 – Albuquerque NM, Sunshine Theater
9/16 Sept – Phoenix AZ, Crescent Ballroom
*with support from Baby Dee

Europe
10/6 – Brussels BE, Oranjerie Botantique
10/7 – Eindhoven NL, De Effenaar
10/8 – Brighton UK, Concorde 2
10/9 – Manchester UK, HMV Ritz
10/11 – Glasgow UK, Oran Mor
10/12 – Newcastle Upon Tyne UK, Northumbria University
10/13 – London, UK, Islington Assembly Hall
10/14 – London, UK, Islington Assembly Hall
10/15 – Reims FR, La Cartonnerie
10/17 – Hamburg DE, Kampnagel
10/18 – Berlin DE, Huxleys Neue Welt
10/19 – Prague CZ, Divaldo ARCHA Theatre
10/21 – Budapest HU, A38 Ship
10/22 – Vienna AT, Arena Big Hall
10/23 – Graz AT, Orpheum Extra
10/25 – Ljubljana SL, Kino Kiska Centre for Urban Culture
10/26 – Zagreb HR, Lauba
10/28 – Basel CH, Kaserne
10/29 – Vevey CH, Rocking Chair
10/30 – Bern CH, Reitschule Dachstock
11/1 – Tourcoin FR, Le Grand Mix
11/2 – Nimes FR, La Paloma
11/5 – Bologna IT, Teatro Auditorium Manzoni
11/6 – Rome IT, Orion Live Club
11/8 – Nantes FR, Stereolux
11/9 – Paris FR, Le Trabendo
11/10 – Cologne DE, Gebäude 9
11/11 – Munich DE, Feierwerk
11/12 – Wiesbaden DE, Kulturezentrum Schlachthof

 

[AngstRiddenDreams]

Stoked, love Swans. The Seer and To Be Kind are on a playlist for when I get insanely baked.

 

[ProtoTechDeath]

Wow, never heard of these guys before. Starting as far back as Spotify will let me (Filth) and I am enjoying this A LOT!!! Thanks for the post!

 

[Andrew May]

Oh, new album!

Funny thing, I got into Swans as my old boss used to play Burning World a lot....loving someone's "weakest" album is a great way to start progressing through their catalog!

Side note, I think Gira is one of the best examples of a "bad musician" if you understand? Non virtuoso at least making fantastic music, more inspiring than half the widdly-diddlers on the planet.

 

[AngstRiddenDreams]

Gira also has an insane life story. Ran away to Jerusalem and sold drugs when he was a teen or something like that.

 

[MFB]

Looks like Swans will be playing the Royale in Boston around June or July this summer, not sure if I'll go. Not even sure what the hell you'd DO at a Swans concert, just stand there and be sad?

 

[vilk]

My first experience with this band was the song Raping a Slave
I was like, "Huh. Well, the guy told me his favorite band was Sonic Youth, idk why I was expecting this to be good."

So you can imagine how super surprised I was when I heard The Seer.

Nowadays I can go for no-wave or newer Swans. But I'll tell you when I listened to that song Raping a Slave for the first time I can't imagine how funny my face must have looked.

 

[InfinityCollision]

Preordered and bought a ticket for the show in town. Can't wait

My first experience with this band was the song Raping a Slave
I was like, "Huh. Well, the guy told me his favorite band was Sonic Youth, idk why I was expecting this to be good."

So you can imagine how super surprised I was when I heard The Seer.

Nowadays I can go for no-wave or newer Swans. But I'll tell you when I listened to that song Raping a Slave for the first time I can't imagine how funny my face must have looked.

One thing Swans has consistently been over the years is uncompromising, but those early years... that's some raw, brutal music. They still play a few songs from that era in their shows every so often. They played Coward live last time I saw them and absolutely killed it.

The announcement mentioned that Gira will still make music going forward, just not with this lineup. Glad to hear we're still getting more music from him.

 

[jonajon91]

^ I can imagine he will step back a little with swans, these last few years have been completely relentless. I think he'll do some stuff with his solo project angels of light before coming back to swans with a different lineup (though I really hope Thor makes the cut).

 

[jwade]

They put on the most intense live shows, and Michael is an absolute gentleman. Saw them play in a tiny underground venue as part of Calgary's Sled Island festival a few years ago, and it was amazing. Love Swans.