Swans -- The Seer

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.

£18 in HMV. I'll wait until it turns up for six quid in MVE.

The vinyl version was $27 for me.

Aye this is expensive

14 quid post free on Amazon UK. Nowt expensive about that

oh thats ok

Ten quid used on Amazon innit. Already! There'll be plenty more where that came from.

WTF is your problem?

Big sigh here at Amazon's ridiculous pricing, as almost always. Nothing to do with Swans. Depresses and frustrates me ferociously.

Go on? Used and new prices from sellers on Amazon can often be the best deal around, unless something is rare and only asshats have copies listed.

Briefly... it is far too cheap for any other retailer to compete with price-wise. When one accounts for dealer price, VAT and the price of postage, there is no profit to be made by a retailer on a sale at that price.

This is a persistent issue and I think that it is a bad thing in the long term, even if a low price may be appealing to one as a consumer in the short term. I see it potentially leading to nothing but operations on the scale of Amazon being able to really survive.

well people will always buy the cheapest they can find. Moneys tight for the 99%!

True, though many of those retailers list inventory (or should) on amazon for international sales, and Amazon will give you a credit towards every order you get. The store I worked at would be out of business if it weren't for Amazon sales.

And I suppose Marcello wants more cd's for his fifty quid.

Evan, the shop krakow works for does.

Oh OK.

What krakow is saying is that they get screwed over by amazons pricing which means people order from them instead of the shop. They have an unfair advantage over the small record shops.

Yes, I see that is very true. Unfortunately though unless you are in Brooklyn or something participating seems to me to be the only way to stay afloat.