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| Submitted by: |
jen |
| On: |
2001-07-24 |
| Genre: |
tradgoth
experimental
ethereal
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| Official Site: | The Official Swans Website
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| Best songs: |
Killing for Company, Mind/Body/Light/Sound
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Description, by jen
Deep, heavy & gloriously throaty, Swans give great sternum rerverberation. Unfortunately Amazon UK doesn't seem to offer "White Light From the Mouth of Infinity" yet, & that's a shame, cause it's excellent. |
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Featured comment (1/3) by penguinboy on 2001-08-03
In existence from 1982 to 1995, Swans' awesome body of work encompasses an extraordinary range of styles, all driven by the uncompromisingly bleak worldview of founder member Michael Gira. Springing from the New York based No Wave scene (with contemporaries including the likes of Lydia Lunch), their early recordings are incredibly heavy, complex, percussive and harrowingly strange excursions into pure terror, alienation and degradation, while gigs were supposedly loud enough to knock spectators unconscious. Bringing in frighteningly psychotic-sounding female vocalist Jarboe and exploring electronic and acoustic sounds, Swans eventually expired in 1995 in favour of the members' solo work. Immensely talented and never belonging to any scene or genre beyond, broadly, industrial, Swans remain arguably the darkest, greatest and most creative band of the past two decades.
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Albums:
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Cop/Young God/Greed/Holy Money
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Kill The Child
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Featured comment (1/1) by midwinter on 2003-07-31
Oh where to start with this album. Imagine hypnotic pounding drums, guitars that sound like they're being rhythmically smashed to pieces, and Gira's deep, throaty wailing overtop, then simultaneously slow it down and speed it up and you might have some idea of what this sounds like. It really defies description. I guess Gira and co. want you to listen to this straight through, as though you were at a Swans show back in the 80s, because there is only one track on this CD - you can't skip from one song to another. And really, after you've listened to this the whole way through, you'll agree that that's only proper. Truly brain stunning.
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Real Love
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Soundtracks for the Blind
- Music type:
experimental
tradgoth
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Featured comment (1/1) by Huw on 2002-07-29
This is not the album to listen to if you are new to Swans, in fact this is not an album to put on and leave running in the background. This record requires EFFORT. You could copy all the traditional songs from this double disc effort and you would be left with a great album, but this isn't what Swans were about. In between the songs there are random samples and patches of textured sounds, it all blends together to make a wonderful collage of sound and once you have cracked this album you will be forever in love with it.
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The Great Annihilator
- Music type:
experimental
tradgoth
- Best track on the album:
Killing for Company, Mind/Body/Light/Sound
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Featured comment (1/1) by midwinter on 2003-07-31
This is probably my favourite Swans album. There isn't really anything else in their catalogue to compete with the power of these songs. Gira employs and true 'wall of sound' production style which really works, and there are actually melodies! Imagine! It's not as soft-sounding as the White Light era stuff, and less grating than the 80s material. This is one of those crank-it-up-on-a-dark-and-stormy-night albums.
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Various Failures
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Featured comment (1/1) by penguinboy on 2001-08-03
Michael Gira's personal choice from the Swans most folk and blues influenced (and most immediately Goth-friendly) period, 'Various Failures' contains both some of their most upbeat tracks and the positively suicidal 'God Damn the Sun' and 'Failure' (one of the most depressing songs ever recorded). As the title suggests, Gira remains inexplicably unsatisfied with this period (including the commercially produced major label album 'The Burning World' and covers of Joy Division's most commercial track 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'). The acoustic clarity of style explored here showcases his amazing, desperately passionate voice to stunning effect. Nick Cave fans are strongly advised to check this out!
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