Swans To Reform?
 

http://brainwashed.com/index.php?opt...536&Ite mid=1

Intriguing.:cool:

I don't get it, I honestly just don't get it. Why? What's the point?

From the interview, I think it's because some of the new material Gira's writing would suit a Swans treatment better than Angels of Light.

Swans were immense. It would be nice to hear their classic songs played live again but I'm not sure they could capture that raw power 25 years on.

love them to, so powerfull and immense energy to shake our body and mind.
i think Gira miss the old days...
"Perhaps, he said, there would one day be an Angels of Light and Swans tour."

I'd definately check it out, let's just hope they'll have the same energy on stage they used to have.

That'd be a pretty shocking reformation. I figured Gira would be totally against this kinda stuff. Hmm.

As long as Jarboe gets in on the act then it's alright.

here's something:

I've HEARD Swans songs, and like them a lot. But I don't own a single one of their albums. I feel like I'm kind of afraid of Gira. I should get some of their albums though. Y'know. Face m'fear?

I'm going to be the only one to reccomend you listen to "White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity". It's my favorite Swans record. It's way different than most of the others.

But you can't really go wrong with filth/cop/greed/holy money. I really do love everything they've done, but they are a bit intimidating to listen to at times, definitely.

what's White Light like, as in - what makes it so different from the bits & pieces I've heard from other albums?

lame. swans stayed together for too long as i was if you ask me. i like them much better as a post-no wave noise rock band much more thran the pseudo goth stuff they ended up doing. Sword Heaven substitutes for Swans these days if you ask me.

No you're not. Awesome record. Swans made me realise that what I've wanted out of rock music has always been, give or take, what Swans do, what Haino does, and what NNCK do. I mean, lyrically, Gira's impeccable. One of very few lyricists (actually, Low get this as well) who realise that rock's power isn't in playing dumb (the Ramones, the Cramps), or acting smart (the post-Dylan Continuum) or in failing to simulate classical music (prog, 'art rock', post-rock) but in reducing the lyric to total parity, and the music to skeletal viscera*. I don't read too much in the rock ambit any more, but I find it odd that Swans are never spoken of in terms of influencing doom and black metal.

Isn't Goth the archaic straw man of rock music that anteceded emo? That is to say, isn't that one of those words you can throw at just about anything and it works as a criticism, regardless of the fact that 'goth' seems to have more definitions than actual fans?

As for Swans reforming - I think there's a definite difference between a band like them reforming and someone like MBV or the Pixies. I can't imaigine either of the latter having anything more to say, musically or lyrically, but I'm confident that Gira could do something interesting. Ok, it won't be Holy Money, but it won't be 'together through life' (#1 in Britain, I note) or whatever turd the Pixies will turn out (or, for that matter, Pavement will when their turn for reformation comes around).

*Yes, I do know what the words mean. I'm being poetic. Fuck off.

^^ you should write a review on Bitchdork.

I support any action resulting in Akron/Family not being his backing band.

http://www.swans.pair.com/

this website has RIDCULOUS PRICES on their mailorder. It's laughable!:

When will these classic rock bands learn to leave well enough alone?

Whoa there nelly. Don't you want to start with a few "yo' Momma"s before going for the jugular?

"Oooh, yes it is"

Ok, obviously the Cramps are totally awesome, but the point of my argument isn't anything to do with proofs so much as it is expressing my general ability to be entirely right in spite of incidental evidence to the contrary.

If Rock music isn't about promoting stupidity then I really haven't been listening to it properly.

Clever people write books about economics. Stupid people buy polka dotted flying Vs and sing about their UFOs - at least the clever stupid ones do.

Mahakali is excellent; in fact, its probably Jarboe's best solo record IMO. Its very dense sounding; almost Children of God-era Swans intense.
As for Swans reforming, its fine by me. While I like Angels of Light and Gira solo up to a point, there's always something that I find a little bit unsatisfying about their output.

Seconded wholeheartedly. The Angels of Light recordings prior to Akron/Family's involvement were the equal of Swans in terms of power and majesty, but once they came on board... meh. And even worse, they had a huge negative influence on his songwriting, even a Gira solo show became somewhat tortuous.

It's a long time since I've heard White Light in it's entirety, but the Various Failures compilation contains enough stuff from it for me to say "yeah" to loving that era. Only very slightly earlier, Jarboe's vocal on "Can't Find My Way Home" from Burning World is an object of great beauty.

Hope it's the Children of God lineup!

Children of God is an absolute masterpiece.

Saying that, I've only heard CoG, Filth and Cop. Swans are a band I've been meaning to delve into more as they seem like a very rewarding band.

^Swans have one of the most consistent discographies ever. Listen to all of them, seriously.

I'd be glad if they reformed. That Angels of Light stuff kinda bores the crap out of me.

This is great news.

I remember randomly listening to The Great Annihilator years ago, and being completely blown away.

I'm o.k. with it. I assume a Swans reunion basically means a Gira/Jarboe reunion these days, even if that's not the original band. They are certainly capable of doing some new material worth listening to. I'm sure Sonic Youth and Einsturzende Neubauten would both be getting back together about now if they hadn't forgotten to break up...

However, if rumours are to be believed, Neubauten, ever the contrarians, appear to be choosing to split instead...

Anyway, back to Swans, 1997 interview with Michael Gira...

Where did you hear this?!?

On topic though while I'd be interested in seeing them live (Gira is STILL one of the most intense people I've ever seen, and I've met Jarboe a few times in town and she's almost as intense as he is) I just don't know how I'd feel about them doing new material....maybe with the right backing musicians...
I guess I'm one of the few on here that really enjoyed his Akron/Family backed records.

I enjoy the latest AOL records aswell.

New material from Gira is always welcome, no matter whatever name he choose to release them under, even though "swans are dead"

Saw Swans live back i ´95, and that´s one of the best concerts I ever been too.

Thanks for the interview, Blunderbuss. Good stuff!

Internet mumblings, more than anything. What I've heard is basically that the supporter projects haven't really been as successful as they needed them to be, and that the band struggles to break even on an ongoing basis. Basically it is costing the members of EN money to keep the band going.

Interesting interview Blunderbuss. Thanks!