how are people weiging in on the angels of light?

i always wanted to like swans more han i do. i find them very hard to liten to. and i mean that as a compliment.

the older aol stuff i have maintains the density that i would expect from a band emerging from swans. this new one has a lot more space. its neither light or spacey, but does have a lot of room in it.

interesting sure, but ill have to agree.

Gira, I think, can do 'understated' and even 'pretty' well, but I need some doom and pounding mixed in or he starts to seem heavy-handed to me. That said, I should listen to this some more.

The new one is out there and, about halfway through, I can safely say it's pretty great again. (info: http://www.younggodrecords.com/product.asp?P_ID=46 )

Nice work Gira

You know, you're having sex, you're pumping away, pumping,
pumping, climbing the slippery slope, about to reach the top, you can feel
it, you can feel it, feel it, here it comes, here it comes, then you decide
to stop it, STOP(!!!),you just refuse to release, you hold it in, hold it in
(!), you suck it all the way back inside you and it shapes itself into an
angry fist, and it stays there, tight and hard in the pit of your belly...
Then you get out of bed and immediately get into the cold, cold (!) shower.
That shower, the feeling of that shower, is how I wanted the album to sound.

There's a button on the mixing desk that does just that, luckily.

(big button though, it has all that text on it)

ive given it a few spins...1st time i was unimpressed. 2nd i found some places to hang out in...well see how it develops.

i forget starting this thread...i do recall eventually writing a pretty positive review of that record

This new one rules

"the man we left behind" is v pretty.

I've only heard a couple tracks from the new one, but they were pretty good. I've been listening to Other People a lot lately and it's still great, especially "On the Mountain".

good album, horrible cover

great cover! haven't heard the album

i mean, how can you not love?

http://www.usounds.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/angelsoflight.jpg

You can stream the whole album on paperthinwalls until Monday:

http://www.paperthinwalls.com/listeningparty/index?id=25

With illuminating and stomach-churning stories from Mr. Gira.

i love that cover!

can't wait to see him supporting boredoms in oct

the new album is fabulous.

that cover looks like a Zwinky version of Neutral Milk Hotel

i think this is probably my favorite Angels record of them all.

Yes, it is that good.

Picked this up today. Didn't intend to, but when I walked to the counter to ask where they (Swans/Young God recordings) were filed, the guy came out from behind the desk, found the section in question empty and then went in the back to fetch the new one for me -- all despite the fact that I didn't ask him to!. I think he was just tired of people coming in and asking for -- fuck, I don't know -- shit like Interpol, that he was chuffed to have someone ask him for some music of substance.

In any event, despite the awful (yes, awful) cover art, I'm quite enjoying it. So not what I was expecting. I love "Black River Song".

Regarding the cover, when I got home, one of my wife's friends was over. She asked what I'd bought, and I showed it to her. The cover her gave her some pause, and she looked at me as if I just showed her some kiddie porn.

And that didn't confirm for you that the cover is awesome?

Good point.

So after knowing the basically just the names for a while, nothing about the music (I may have heard some Angels of Light a few years back but if so, it didn't really stick), I've just got around to finally hearing Swans/Angels of Light/Michael Gira stuff, and have kinda been digesting a lot of this stuff at once.

Children of God, Soundtracks for the Blind, Feel God Now, New Mother, Everything is Good -- all of these I've come across in used record shops and have heard for just the first time in the past couple months. This is like a fucking goldmine of incredible, incredible music, I'm completely blown away. I'm motivated to check out just about everything this guy has done.

sorry for the grammar, this should be attached to basically everything i post btw

holy shit!!! i just noticed the inside covers of the used Swans/Angels of Light copies i picked up are signed by Gira

"thank you miranda! m gira '03"

man that's pretty fuckin cool

though miranda ditched all these albums... shame for her

miranda killed herself in '04

lol

i know, right

"untitled love song" is one of the best things gira's done, i think. this song is gorgeous

Michael Gira's coming here next week. I'm trying out this latest Angels of Light album. This is some really weird-ass music. I'm trying to chat with my friend and this record keeps distracting me and warping my brain like a record it can choose random speeds to play at will.

xpost across time

and evangeline. what a beginning combo. if gira never did anything else his legend would be assured based off of those two songs alone. also, a good indicator of a record's quality is whether or not kid congo powers is involved.

oh goodness "untitled love song" is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard

y'all gonna make me finally get into this band, aren't you

("get into" in a major way; I'm already a fan -- weirdly I was listening earlier today to 'Other People' which is the only one I have besides the Ak/Fam split)

i'm at the beginning of my fanhood (though i'm into swans). it is so nice to not know things!

debut album is my favorite for sure, they all have some gems on them though, at the same they are all very inconsistent. gira was not a very good self editor during this time (if he's ever been) but the highs are amazing and would make a pretty astonishing double album, very emotional and powerful music

damn I'm listening to "Not Here/Not Now" off of We Are Him & that shit is making me distinctly uneasy!

'everything is good here / please come home' is the best and my favorite