Swans: Classic or Dud?

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