Swans -- The Seer

you should do that. maybe they have one! i asked last week to have one put aside with my name on it.

Just posted on FB:

sheesh! i forgot to post this. the seer is out now. by the way, preorders are shipping as we speak, most of them anyway...still working on it...

on spotify, too

huh, that's funny. It wasn't on there this morning. I listened to the Rope one instead. I don't really know Swans.
Good mood music.

I mean, good music for a particular mood that isn't necessarily a "good" one.

Eagerly waiting by the mailbox, like many others here.

Wrote about this record for Burning Ambulance today. Didn't like it as much as I'd hoped I would.

I called and they had sold out yesterday, so I had them prepare to hold a copy when it comes back in.

But I'm downloading it now, damn it.

the record's very ambient in its aggressiveness, but I don't think that's a bad thing

and this is a half truth: But even at their most primitive and brutarian, the old Swans always had real songs.

swans *could* write real songs but frequently relied on soundscapes and atmosphere to get the job done, I mean cop didn't exactly have prince running scared

i don't really agree with what appears to be the conventional wisdom that this album must be taken in all at once, in one session. i did listen to the whole thing at once for the first listen, but ever since then i've just diving into the epic tracks in the middle. tracks like "the seer" and "a piece of the sky" and "the apostate" are almost song suites in themselves, and it's enjoyable to listen to them individually and then move on to something else.

Pre-ordered the LP on Amazon (weak, I know) but they haven't shipped it yet. Note on their site says ships within 10-14 days. WTF? They'll probably all be gone by then.

check out that middle eight!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vozd5F_OEio

and this is a half truth: But even at their most primitive and brutarian, the old Swans always had real songs.

swans *could* write real songs but frequently relied on soundscapes and atmosphere to get the job done, I mean cop didn't exactly have prince running scared

yeah, wasn't gira saying in interviews circa 'my father' that he took some time to realize that he was a drone artist, as far as songwriting goes? something about that explaining the songs he wrote before?

He talks about songwriting process a little in this interview I did with him a year ago.

i'd wished this album was slightly more agressive.

i know it's bad to wish something of an album that it was clearly never going to be

regardless i wish the entire album were like the ending of "avatar"

got mine in the mail today!!

old man gira would like you to put yr computer in a stereo system when listening kthx

And this is going to be what, like three vinyl records?
Yeah [laughs]. Paradoxically, the best way to listen to this from beginning to end is digitally because then there's no breaks in it. Even on CD, it's two CDs. It's a strange thing because I'm not a big fan of digitized iTunes experiences. But I think the best way is if somebody can get high-quality files from the music they buy, I emphasize, then listen to the entire album through their computer in a stereo system, or something like that.

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/countygrind/2012/08/swans_michael_gira_interview_the_seer_album.php

Well fwiw I agree w/ him that this is not headphones music.

I listened to it again yesterday on headphones on my hourlong walk home and it freaked me out! Good headphones music if you can control the circs to your liking and are not a chicken.

it makes me happy walking down the street hearing 'lunacy! lunacy!' in my headphones

mine came today, going straight into the car stereo for repeated listening

swans in the car is the best

oh man i can't listen to them on my way to work in car/walking/while I get ready/at all -- it puts me in a mood that is 100% unsuitable for work
only on the way home

so the track order is different for the LPs, would be curious to know if the download is the same or has the CD running order.

http://www.discogs.com/Swans-The-Seer/release/3832321

OK that explains SO MUCH
i was really confused when i went from LP to downloads yesterday! was embarrassed to ask about it, lest i did something stupid
how weird!

tracklist for downloads (at least the ones I got with the LP, not from itunes) is much different than LPs!

Lunacy 6:09
Mother Of The World 9:57
The Wolf 1:35
The Seer 32:14
The Seer Returns 6:18
93 Ave. B Blues 5:22
The Daughter Brings The Water
Song For A Warrior
Avatar 8:52
A Piece Of The Sky 19:10
The Apostate 23:01

wacky, I was wondering how they were going to work out those long run times on vinyl

A1 Lunacy 6:07
A2 The Apostate Pt. 1 13:18
B1 The Apostate Pt. 2 9:36
B2 A Piece Of The Sky Pt. 1 9:36
C1 A Piece Of The Sky Pt. 2 9:30
C2 93 Ave. B Blues 5:22
C3 The Daughter Brings The Water 2:33
C4 Song For A Warrior 3:58
D1 Mother Of The World 9:59
D2 Avatar 8:49
E1 The Wolf 1:35
E2 The Seer Pt. 1 18:56
F1 The Seer Pt. 2 13:17
F2 The Seer Returns 6:15

normally i'd prefer to listen the vinyl, but this release is kind of incompatible! all three of the epics (apostate, a piece of the sky, the seer) are broken up into two parts. yikes.

i'm glad i didn't order the vinyl. normally i do it just out of habit, but that looks like something that would sit on the shelf while i play the digital copy.

kind of weird to break up A Piece of the Sky in two parts since it could fit on a single side

though I haven't actually heard this yet so maybe it makes sense

i dunno, i liked the experience of changing the records, spreading them all over the table, trying to figure out what song was playing by looking at the words on the sleeve and listening to the lyrics, having a tiny insignificant role by flipping/changing

it felt like a ~listening event~ (even though it was just a normal wednesday morning)

i mean that's why i like to listen to records anytime, not just this one
this one is just a little more work, but that made me like it more :-/

kind of weird to break up A Piece of the Sky in two parts since it could fit on a single side

not really, trying to fit an album where two songs are +20 minutes onto vinyl is tricky, especially if you're paying attention to consistent volume and sound quality which I assume gira is

That vinyl tracklisting makes no sense to me. You can get a half hour piece of music onto one side of vinyl - Miles Davis put "He Loved Him Madly" (32 minutes) on one side of Get Up With It. If I was doing the vinyl for this it would be:

Side A: Lunacy/Mother of the World/The Wolf
Side B: The Seer
Side C: The Seer Returns/93 Ave. B Blues/The Daughter Brings the Water
Side D: Song for a Warrior/Avatar
Side E: A Piece of the Sky
Side F: The Apostate

Now I'm really conflicted about buying this on vinyl or not...

I may do so just so that I may put the cover on my wall

Did anyone test to see how the end of a broken up track sounds? Is it suddenly like FLIP RECORD or seriously does it really pull you out of the moment?

at the end of each side the little dog on the cover barks and you know it's time to flip

borf! (flip)

You can put 30 minutes on a side but the grooves are tighter and the dynamic range narrower. On bass heavy music - which some of this surely is - that can be a problem. I don't know what the magic ratio of fidelity to side length is (seems usually to be 20-24 minutes or so), but they obviously chose higher fidelity for this record.

"I flipped the record like 20 times before I realized it was just Gira"

xp

Great, great piece of work. I like the uncompromisingness of it all, the "we don't like repeating this note for ten minutes either but it wouldn't be the same if we didn't" I imagine hearing them think during some bits. It works and it's awesome and uncomfortable all at once. I can't imagine anyone else pulling this off quite like this.

i thought it would be electrifying, but it was sort of disappointing and slack on first listen.

I love this, "Piece Of The Sky" is so beautiful... lots of this rec reminds me of the Love Of Life/White Light era. then there are the long crushing parts, mmm. I agree w/Whiney's review above that this is very similar in general vibe to Soundtracks For The Blind, esp. imagining that record without Jarboe.

agreed, this is definitely in the love of life/white light stream of things. it feels also like a career summation, a compilation of everything that has made Swans great; in that sense, it also feels like a 'last album,' but then so did soundtracks for the blind, so maybe it won't be.

Well they're two different kind of 'last albums' -- Soundtracks was summation as fragmented sprawl, Seer is summation as epic architecture.

Looked for this yesterday but it was £20. Including COMPULSORY bonus DVD and screaming LIMITED EDITION. I mean, fuck off, Gira, you're not all that. You realise that the only people who are going to buy this thing, hardcore Swans addicts/ILxors notwithstanding, are saddo "collectors" who look like Al Murray As The Pub Landlord and who'll try to flog it on eBay for £200 without even listening to it or taking it out of its shrinkwrap?

there is a normal 2CD edition. perhaps your shop had sold out of that one.

The 2xCD is hardly cheap either, unfortunately.