Swans: Classic or Dud?

SWANS albums for repeat listens: "Omniscience" is a great live rockgoth thing, as is "Swans Are Dead". "The Great Annihilator" is one of my all time favorite CDs. The recently released "Various Failures" is fantastic. The earlier industrial Swans stuff I can do without.

Newer Michael Gira stuff like "Body Lovers" and "Angels of Light" continue to dazzle and delight in ways similar but different from Swans. I recommend Body Lovers, at least. It's one continuous album with 9 reference points, so you can fast forward or rewind, but there are no breaks in the music. Perfect for zoning out or on the subway. Gets freaky, of course. Angels of Light were fantastic when I saw them live, unfortunately the LIVE cd they released of the show had pretty poor production. The studio release by Angels of Light called "New Mother" was okay, but some of it, though amazingly produced, just bored me.

Them fellers sure can be oppressive, though. That's why I go through phases. In all actuality, I really don't listen to them too much anymore just because it's so depressing. I'd rather be happy.

I have heard few of their albums. Those that I have heard have been among the most negative, miserable, pointless pieces of music that I have ever encountered. No doubt Gira would in some way approve of this reaction. I couldn't care less. Dud.

The Burning World had a few, uh, songs on it. Bet their cult thinks it's a sell-out.

But, it is funny that humorless music can be "hilarious" since "humorous" music can really piss me off- like Ween for instance. Sometimes they're annoying as hell.

(I didn't as I'm working late for this stupid presentation tomorrow therefore I am jealous: did gira scream the word 'mother' at any point during the gig?)

The difference is, Gira and Co. sound traumatized by this discovery, whereas Malice and Pusha T sound like they're doing a gleeful dance.

Being a masocist I especially love the brutal Cop/Holy Money
period - most people would find this stuff horrible, but given
a bit more listening one may be able to experience this amazing
feeling of ? - too hard to describe, but it compliments such
painful things like exercise, washing dishes etc.

Anyone heard the live disc 'Public Castration is a Good Idea'?
This out-heavies anything I've ever heard...

Gira's book THE CONSUMER also so, so recommended.

Utterly, timelessly CLASSIC.

I just mean all the terse little statements of complete hopelessness in the lyrics. I get about three lines in and completely lose my shit.

No, it means you're the right audience.

When I saw Angels of Light play Tonic, he drank a full pint of whiskey in a glass filled from behind the bar and didn't seem in the least bit drunk. After the show, he went and got a refill and mingled like he was at an art opening or something.

His writing is pretty disturbing.

Jarboe seems to have severe mental problems. Oh yeah, and so does Gira.

-- Ficky Stingers (bimble87...), Sunday 1:33 AM. (Bimble...) (later) (link)

best/scariest/best thing ever.
Weird that two completely different Swans C or D threads just got revived a few days apart. Here's the other:
Classic or Dud: Swans

OK...Happy Ned...Did this already...but isn't exactly what I was looking for anyway...

Screw this....

I'm gonna give up on the Swans...

Filth is one of my all-time favorite albums. I'd recommend that one, but it may not be the best convince-me-otherwise album.

Its Aja!

Yeah, hi....

I find it funny that my thread was locked so soon...

Anyway, I was bored and wanted to see what was up in these parts...I really should be getting to sleep though...

I think it's funny that you say "screw this" because Swans have a song called A Screw don't they? Heheh.

Also there is some really fantastic Swans stuff on You Tube. But in all honesty, Swans are not a band I would likely try to argue with someone into liking the way I would, say, Led Zeppelin or even the Fall. I find it perfectly understandable that some folks will never get Swans.

I think it's funny that you say "screw this" because Swans have a song called A Screw don't they? Heheh.

-- Bimble, Monday, May 28, 2007 7:04 AM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

They do? Gosh...is it any good? Or is it really slow and weird...

Well there are two different versions I found.

This one is a more beefed up version of the album version with horns and a heavy industrial beat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqiEmNaG5QY

This one is a live performance, and more bare-bones, truer to their early material and I prefer it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHES9YAGGkU

Of course this is before they became a lot more listenable, pretty and mellow.

Ok................

Interesting. I'll leave it at that.

I got into the first couple of albums for a while, saw them live, then gradually decided that life was just too short for Gira's schtick. Haven't listened to them for ten years.

I have a promo copy of 'Cop' which was issued to Radio Forth, our local top forty station, a thought that makes me laugh every time I flick past it on the stack.

Dud

everyone decide to just ignore the assault allegations or what

well i mean they were so long ago

i haven't forgotten
my feelings about the music of swans haven't changed (i still like it) but my feelings about gira the person (which were never great) have depleted further.

allegations vs truth, art vs artist, look, I don't know, man.

do you want me to stop updating Swans threads if there's news about music?

here we go again

don't get shook again, control yourself this time

Angels of Light have some good tunes, Swans are pretty whatever for me, even before all of that weirdness.

allegations vs truth

oh you mean the admitted rape that went from being "a slanderous lie" to "an unfortunate mistake" within 24 hours?

what ppl still defending the dude don't seem to get is that it was the way he overreacted to the story that was the dealbreaker for many people including myself, all "allegations" (jfc) aside

And fwiw re: the Adams effect of fucking with their victims careers too, I have seen Grimm on way too few bills post accusation. Hard to make a tight case for the causality there, admittedly; but even harder to deny its probability id say

I used to go back and forth on whether gybe or swans would be my 'soundtrack to the apocalypse.'

turns out it is THE SWANS

er.. i mean SWANS

spelled backward is.. SNAWS

https://younggodrecords.com/collections/special-items/products/swans-face-masks !

wow theyre so poorly designed

idk I like the teeth one

do we have a "neat quarantine masks" thread yet

There is clearly no level to which Gira will not stoop nowadays. That said, I'd happily wear a Public Castration Is A Good Idea mask.

lots of bands are selling masks tbf

some of them not fronted by rapists

^^^

sure, just didn't see the big deal on this count

dud

new album in 2023 - fundraiser (acoustic versions) & preorder:

https://younggodrecords.com/products/is-there-really-a-mind

New *studio* album in 2023:

SWANS have announced details of their sixteenth studio album, The Beggar, due for release on Mute / Young God Records (N America) on 23 June 2023. The Beggar will be released on double vinyl in a brown chipboard sleeve with a download card for accessing an additional 44 minutes of music (also included on the album's CD version), as a double CD in a brown chipboard digi-pack, as well as digitally.

Listen to the first track from the album, ‘Paradise is Mine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgtGHp2kfPQ

The Beggar tracklisting
1. The Parasite
2. Paradise is Mine
3. Los Angeles: City of Death
4. Michael is Done
5. Unforming
6. The Beggar
7. No More of This
8. Ebbing
9. Why Can't I Have What I Want Any Time That I Want?
10. The Beggar Lover (Three)
11. The Memorious

3. Los Angeles: City of Death
4. Michael is Done

nice

Is Ben Frost still in this band, or is he just a touring member?

From the press release:

Primary contributors to The Beggar:

Michael Gira – Vocals, words, acoustic guitar, production. Gira started Swans in NYC in 1982 and has been the primary songwriter, singer and producer throughout the years. During the Swans hiatus (1999 – 2010), he released several albums by and toured with a group called Angels of Light. Gira recently published a book of his short stories, journals, and words for music, called The Knot. He lives in New Mexico.

Kristof Hahn – Lap steel, various guitars, vocals. Kristof first joined Swans in 1989 and was a principal contributor to Angels of Light, and a core Swans member 2010 – 2017. Kristof’s other musical ventures have included the Rock ‘n’ Roll Noir band Les Hommes Sauvages and Kool Kings (with Alex Chilton). When not making music Kristof translates books. He lives in Berlin, Germany.

Larry Mullins - Drums, vibes, orchestral percussion, Mellotron, various keyboards, backing vocals. Larry is a trained symphonic percussionist. He played through the ‘90s with Iggy Pop and later with The Stooges. He played with Swans in the late ‘90s and was a main contributor to Angels of Light. His current main job is playing drums with The Bad Seeds. Larry lives in Berlin, Germany.

Dana Schechter – Bass guitar, lap steel, keyboards, vocals, piano. Dana played bass in and was a core member of Angels of Light. She subsequently released music and toured as Bee and Flower. Her current band is the power-duo, Insect Ark. Dana is an animator and designer in the film industry and currently lives in Berlin, Germany.

Christopher Pravdica - Bass guitar, sounds, keyboards, vocals. Chris played bass as a core Swans member in 2010 – 2017. Chris has played with the bands, The Gunga Din, Flux Information Sciences, Xiu Xiu, Yonatan Gat’s Medicine Singers and has a project of his own called We Owe. Chris is a sound designer and lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Phil Puleo – Drums, percussion, vocals, piano, exotic wind instruments. Phil played drums with Swans in the late ‘90s and was a core member in Swans 2010 – 2017 and contributed to Angels of Light. Phil’s early NYC musical venture was Cop Shoot Cop and has since played with Human Impact, among others. Phil is an extremely talented illustrator and lives in Chicago, IL.

Ben Frost - Guitar, synthesizers, sound manipulations. In his own work, Ben’s adventurous sound-craftings are sometimes harrowing and sometimes delicate and quite musical. His numerous albums and his powerful live shows have afforded him much recognition. He is also an accomplished composer and arranger of music for film and television. Ben lives in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Backing vocals are provided by Jennifer Gira, Lucy Kruger and Laura Carbone.

Initially thought Larry Mullins was Larry Mullen Jr and i was like “Strange pairing!”

No Thor on this one

Track listing with running times (from the Young God site):

The Beggar 2CD tracklisting

CD1:
The Parasite (8:27)
Paradise is Mine (9:23)
Los Angeles: City of Death (3:29)
Michael is Done (6:08)
Unforming (5:55)
The Beggar (10:15)
No More of This (6:55)
Ebbing (11:04)
Why Can't I Have What I Want Any Time That I Want? (7:38)

CD2:
The Beggar Lover (Three) (43:51)
The Memorious (8:38)

When I got the promo email I initially thought this was the album cover:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0397/1609/files/Swans_2023_TourPoster_Venue_v2copy_50ac29fc-beab-4c77-831c-a725de264052_480x480.jpg

Gira will be 70 next year. His hearing must be totally gone at this point.

I almost ordered it but then I remembered I paid for "New Album Fundraiser & Pre-Order" last time (got the "Is There Really A Mind" CD last year but this includes the 2023 album too, or it should)

I chatted him up after a show in Houston and asked if he ever wore earplugs. He gave me quite a dour look.

If he was my neighbor I would refer to him as “Chuckles.”

I chatted him up after a show in Houston and asked if he ever wore earplugs. He gave me quite a dour look.

If he was my neighbor I would refer to him as “Chuckles.”

lmao that Ben Frost didn’t allow himself to be caricatured, dude appears to be somewhat self obsessed

Why Can't I Have What I Want Any Time That I Want? (7:38)

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

yeah i dunno i'll probably check this out though xD

The Beggar Lover (Three) (43:51)

beats Richard Dawson by almost three full minutes!

I hadn’t realized it was out. Enjoying it.

It's pretty good

Haven't found much discussion of the remastering, I listened to White Light last night, it sounds great but very different, just now reading that aside from the obvious change (adding "Blind") that some of these songs are significantly different edits, I'm a bit dismayed but at least I still have my old Various Failures and White Light CDs. Maybe someday there'll be deluxe versions with all versions. I don't have a lot of experience listening to remasters of old favourites, hope it won't always cause this anxiety.

I didn't know about the edits.

I only have the remastered White Light from the Mouth of Infinity. I just have all the old CDs from the 90s that were bunched together

The live band from 1988 was one of the best things I'd ever heard, extremely heavy folk rock. Played by most of the band that recorded Children Of God but with a different drummer. It took me an age to get hold of recordings from that era. I missed getting the official botleg which I think documents it Anonymous Bodies in an Empty Room . Not sure if that has been reissued. I think the sound they reached at the time does inform their more recent incarnation to some extent.

Remaster still sounds great, but different things are brought forward, I can't quite say what it is I'm missing from the older version

How do they compare to the original LPs?

Just dropping in her to say that I listened to Screen Shot and Oxygen again today annd they are two of the best songs ever produced (and I don’t really care for this band much). Carry on!

I've never heard the vinyl versions of any of them

me neither