Swans (band)
Encyclopedia
Swans are an influential American post-punk
band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
Michael Gira
. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York
No Wave
scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in 1982, Swans employed a shifting lineup of musicians until their dissolution in 1997. Besides Gira, the only other constant members were keyboardist/vocalist/songwriter Jarboe
from 1984 to 1997, and semi-constant guitarist Norman Westberg
. The band was noted for droning vocals and strange instrumentation. In January 2010, Michael Gira reactivated Swans and released a new album, My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
on September 23, 2010.
The earliest known lineup of Swans comprised Gira on bass guitar and vocals, Jonathan Kane on drums, and Sue Hanel on guitar and either Thurston Moore
, Dan Braun or Jon Tessler on 2nd bass. Jon Tessler also played percussion and tape loops. Hanel's only recordings with the group are on the compilation Body to Body, Job to Job
, but the ambiguous personnel credits do not make it clear on which songs she performed; Kane stated that "Sue was the most fearsome guitarist we’d ever heard in New York. She was unbelievable."
Hanel did not stay long in the group, and by the time of their recording debut, she had been replaced by Bob Pezzola. This lineup of the group also featured saxophonist Daniel Galli-Duani, who had previously played with Kane as the avant-garde duo Transmission. The debut EP, Swans, released on Labor, is markedly different from anything they would do later. The plodding tempos and distorted, detuned guitar work is reminiscent of such post-punk
outfits as Joy Division
. However, the minimal
chord structures owe more to blues
, while the jazz
instrumentation and awkward time signatures are evidence of Swans' roots in the No Wave
scene of the late 1970s, which had more or less collapsed by the release of Cop
.
, played repeatedly to hypnotic effect. Some of Burnett's songs—especially the songs penned by Burnett himself—have a similar structure and quality. Their early music was typified by slow and grinding guitar
noise, and pounding drums, punctuated by Gira's morbid and violent lyrics (inspired by Jean Genet
and the Marquis de Sade
), usually barked or shouted. Critics have described Swans' early recordings as "aggressive beyond words".
Their first full-length release, Filth (1983), featured driving, choppy rhythms and abrasive drums. The whole is reminiscent of earlier No Wave
bands, such as Mars
, and the work of Swans' contemporaries, like Sonic Youth
's Confusion Is Sex
and Kill Yr Idols
; but Raggett
contends that "early Swans really is like little else on the planet before or since". Filth was the first album to feature guitar
ist Norman Westberg
, who would play a vital role in much of Swans' music, and would be featured on every subsequent studio album other than Love of Life
.
Cop
(1984) and the originally untitled Young God
EP were both released in 1984 and re-released together on CD in 1992. This release has been known by several names, usually by one of its two A-sides, such as "I Crawled" or, infamously, as "Raping a Slave". This release is often confused with their self-titled debut. The music continues in the same vein as Filth, and is again vaguely reminiscent of heavy metal music
played in extreme slow motion. Swans were, in this era, Gira on vocals, Westberg
on guitar, Harry Crosby on bass guitar, and Roli Mosimann
on drums. Gira's vocals had changed slightly, becoming slowly more melodic, although the snarl still remained. Some of the songs on the EP, particularly "Young God" and "I Crawled", have an actual vocal melody, if rudimentary, hinting at the sounds of future releases. Young God is considered by many to be the best of their early releases for this reason.
Justin Broadrick
shared this impression of the group:
, something Gira detested. This lent a reputation to the name Swans which was one of the contributing factors in Gira's retirement of the band in 1997.
Since Swans' reformation, Gira has made a point of maintaining the intensity of their live show, stating that it is at once "soul-uplifting and body-destroying". He has also developed a penchant for turning off the air conditioning before Swans perform, comparing the experience to a Native American sweat lodge
.
joining the band. Her presence began a slow thawing in the overt brutality and energy of the Swans' early work.
Greed also marked the introduction of bassist Algis Kizys
as a long-time, near-constant member. The album is not as brutal or noisy as their previous releases but is still an extremely ominous and dark record. This was followed by its "twin" album, Holy Money
, the first to feature Jarboe on lead vocals.
Holy Money was also the first album by Swans to incorporate acoustic elements. In particular, the eight-minute dirge "Another You" starts with a blues
y harmonica
introduction. It also marks the introduction of religious themes in Swans records with the sacrificial ode "A Hanging", complete with gospel-like backing vocals from Jarboe.
Children of God
(1987) further expanded Jarboe's role, acting as a foil to Michael Gira's tales of suffering, torture, and humiliation. The stories portrayed here, however, are ever the more unusual, given their juxtaposition—and admixture—with religious imagery. The intention was neither to mock nor embrace religion, but experiment with the power inherent in its messages and the hypocrisy of many of its leaders.
Some songs, such as "Beautiful Child", retain the vocal style of earlier days, but many are quite tame. The almost baroque
"In My Garden", for example, added an extra dimension with piano
(used before on "Fool" and "Sealed in Skin" to far grimmer effect) and acoustic guitar. In between the two poles, there are pieces like "Sex, God, Sex" (heavy metal-like bass riffs with blues and gospel-inspired singing), "Blood and Honey" (a murder ballad
with early post-rock
tendencies), and "Blind Love" (a lengthy song, alternating between intoned vocals and violent instrumental passages). Gira considers this to be the band's major turning point.
(in the USA). The first, Blood, Women, Roses, featured Jarboe on lead vocals, and the second, Shame, Humility, Revenge, featured Gira on lead vocals. Both were recorded together in 1987, although Shame, Humility, Revenge was not released until 1988. These albums were full of slow, ethereal, melancholy, dirge-like songs, sounding like stripped down acoustic versions of the Children of God songs.
The band continued this transformation with an unexpected cover of the Joy Division
song "Love Will Tear Us Apart
", which was released in 1988 on Product Inc. in a confusing array of 7- and 12-inch formats. Both Gira and Jarboe sang lead vocals on different versions of the song. In later years Gira dismissed this release as a mistake, and for a long time refused to reissue his own vocal version, although Jarboe's version was re-released much sooner. However their version of the song was a hit on US college radio in 1988, which led to the group being offered a major label deal at Uni/MCA. "I'd worked so hard all my life," said Gira. "At 15, I was digging ditches in the desert in Israel, and I put myself through college painting houses. I never saw any money from any of our records. So by the time I finally got that carrot dangled in front of me, it was like, at last I can make a living at what I love to do."
This single was followed by The Burning World
(1989), Swans' first and only major label album. Released on Uni
/MCA Records
, the record was produced by Bill Laswell
and expanded the acoustic palette introduced on Greed and Children of God. For this album, the core line-up of Michael Gira, Jarboe, and Westberg was augmented by session musicians, and the distinctive heavy guitar element of their earlier work was toned down significantly in favor of folk
and world music
elements. Though Swans would later explore more acoustic music with similar moods, Gira has stated that, while he admires much of Laswell's work, his efforts with Swans were simply a mismatch. The album reportedly sold 5000 copies in the UK, one of the lowest numbers in the history of MCA Records, and was soon deleted from catalogue.
The Burning World
was the first Swans album to feature more conventional pop
melodies. Gira's lyrics still favored themes of depression
, death
, greed and despair, but were actually sung, rather than the chanting or shouting typical of earlier material. They even cover
ed Steve Winwood
's popular Blind Faith
hit "Can't Find My Way Home
" in 1989, one of two singles from the LP.
In 1990, Gira and Jarboe released the third and final World of Skin
album, Ten Songs From Another World. It was less successful than the previous two 'Skin' albums.
Gira's disillusionment with their Uni/MCA exploits led to White Light from the Mouth of Infinity
(1991), a successful blending of earlier hard rock and later pop styles. Produced by Gira, the album blended acoustic rock
, blues
and hypnotic guitar noise successfully, resulting in an album more complex than anything they had released in the past. This album was followed by Love of Life
(recorded by Martin Bisi
in 1992), and the EP single Love of Life/Amnesia, taking the group even farther into experimentation, and then The Great Annihilator
(1995), considered to be one of the band's most accessible releases, possibly through being their most straightforward. The songwriting style and musical approach, however, would take a more unusual turn the following year.
(1996) was the result: a mammoth two-disc album comprising Jarboe-supplied field recordings, experimental music
, dark ambient
soundscapes, post-industrial epics, post rock suites and acoustic guitar. Gira, Jarboe, and other long time collaborators created one of the most highly regarded albums of their career. Swans Are Dead
(1998) brings together live recordings from their 1995 and 1997 tours, documenting the energy and stage presence of Michael Gira and Jarboe. In an interview with Soundsect, Gira revealed that there is more live material that may be released in the future. He described these unreleased recordings as "fairly spectacular".
, via his Young God Records website. In January 2010 LAS Magazine
posted an article on alternative financing in "a cash-strapped music industry, unable to rely on record label financing, [that] is positioning its own quid pro quo: fan dollars to fund projects in exchange for exclusive material and a sense of involvement" that cites the Swans selling out of the 1,000 signed and numbered copies of I Am Not Insane as an example of reverse financing where proceeds from one project are rolled over to finance the next. Swans have announced a series of U.S. and European tour dates, and headlined the Supersonic Festival
in Birmingham, England in October 2010. Michael Gira announced on June 13, 2010, through the Young God Records page on Facebook and his personal Facebook account, that the next Swans album would be titled My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
. The album was released on September 23, 2010, and the band simultaneously embarked on a world tour scheduled to last eighteen months. The band have been chosen by Portishead to perform at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror
festivals that they will curate in July 2011 at London's Alexandra Palace. and in September 2011 in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
Michael Gira
Michael Gira
Michael Rolfe Gira is an American musician, author, and artist. He is the main force behind the recently reformed New York City musical group Swans and fronts the Angels of Light...
. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in 1982, Swans employed a shifting lineup of musicians until their dissolution in 1997. Besides Gira, the only other constant members were keyboardist/vocalist/songwriter Jarboe
Jarboe
Jarboe is an American singer, songwriter, and keyboardist.Jarboe is a solo artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with the New York City based group Swans. With founder Michael Gira, the duo was the core of Swans until the group broke up in 1998...
from 1984 to 1997, and semi-constant guitarist Norman Westberg
Norman Westberg
Norman Westberg is a New York City guitarist best known for his work with Swans. Present through almost the entirety of the band's existence, Westberg was brought on for Swans' debut album Filth and appeared on every album through 1991s White Light From the Mouth of Infinity...
. The band was noted for droning vocals and strange instrumentation. In January 2010, Michael Gira reactivated Swans and released a new album, My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky is a studio album by Swans released on September 23, 2010; it is their first studio recording in 14 years...
on September 23, 2010.
Initial influences
Gira always states he took the moniker Swans as it described the sound he wanted best. Gira's summation of the name follows along the lines of: "Swans are majestic, beautiful looking creatures. With really ugly temperaments."The earliest known lineup of Swans comprised Gira on bass guitar and vocals, Jonathan Kane on drums, and Sue Hanel on guitar and either Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
, Dan Braun or Jon Tessler on 2nd bass. Jon Tessler also played percussion and tape loops. Hanel's only recordings with the group are on the compilation Body to Body, Job to Job
Body to Body, Job to Job
Body To Body, Job To Job is a compilation album by the American no wave/noise rock band Swans. It was released simultaneously on LP, CD and audio cassette in 1991. It presents various live recordings, tape loops and previously unavailable material from the years 1982-1985...
, but the ambiguous personnel credits do not make it clear on which songs she performed; Kane stated that "Sue was the most fearsome guitarist we’d ever heard in New York. She was unbelievable."
Hanel did not stay long in the group, and by the time of their recording debut, she had been replaced by Bob Pezzola. This lineup of the group also featured saxophonist Daniel Galli-Duani, who had previously played with Kane as the avant-garde duo Transmission. The debut EP, Swans, released on Labor, is markedly different from anything they would do later. The plodding tempos and distorted, detuned guitar work is reminiscent of such post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
outfits as Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
. However, the minimal
Minimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
chord structures owe more to blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, while the jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
instrumentation and awkward time signatures are evidence of Swans' roots in the No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
scene of the late 1970s, which had more or less collapsed by the release of Cop
Cop (album)
Cop is the second album by Swans.On Cop, Swans took the style of their previous LP, 1983's Filth, and intensified it, utilising slower tempos, more tape loops, and even more abrasive musical textures...
.
Early press comparisons
In the same article cited above, Kane compares Swans to blues icon Chester Burnett, a.k.a. Howlin' Wolf. While this comparison might initially seem unlikely, there are in fact some similarities worth noting—the music of early Swans was often based on a single riffRIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
, played repeatedly to hypnotic effect. Some of Burnett's songs—especially the songs penned by Burnett himself—have a similar structure and quality. Their early music was typified by slow and grinding guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
noise, and pounding drums, punctuated by Gira's morbid and violent lyrics (inspired by Jean Genet
Jean Genet
Jean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing...
and the Marquis de Sade
Marquis de Sade
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...
), usually barked or shouted. Critics have described Swans' early recordings as "aggressive beyond words".
Their first full-length release, Filth (1983), featured driving, choppy rhythms and abrasive drums. The whole is reminiscent of earlier No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
bands, such as Mars
Mars (band)
Mars was a New York City No Wave band formed by vocalist Sumner Crane in 1975. He was joined by China Burg , Mark Cunningham , and artist Nancy Arlen , and briefly by guitarist Rudolph Grey. The band played one live gig under the name China before changing it to Mars...
, and the work of Swans' contemporaries, like Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
's Confusion Is Sex
Confusion Is Sex
Confusion Is Sex is Sonic Youth's first studio album, originally released on 12" vinyl in 1983 on Neutral. It was reissued on SST Records in 1987 and on CD in 1995 on DGC with extra tracks from the Kill Yr Idols EP. The album features a live cover of The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog". The cover...
and Kill Yr Idols
Kill Yr Idols
Kill Yr Idols is a 1983 EP by the rock band Sonic Youth, originally released only in Germany.In 1995, the tracks on Kill Yr Idols not found on 1983's Confusion Is Sex were appended to the DGC reissue of that album.-Side one:...
; but Raggett
Ned Raggett
Ned Raggett is a library assistant, freelance writer and music journalist. His work has been published in Allmusic, the OC Weekly, Plan B, Metal Edge and The Quietus, while pieces have also appeared in Dream, Arthur, as well as Stylus, The Broken Face, Fake Jazz, Freaky Trigger, Careless Talk...
contends that "early Swans really is like little else on the planet before or since". Filth was the first album to feature guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Norman Westberg
Norman Westberg
Norman Westberg is a New York City guitarist best known for his work with Swans. Present through almost the entirety of the band's existence, Westberg was brought on for Swans' debut album Filth and appeared on every album through 1991s White Light From the Mouth of Infinity...
, who would play a vital role in much of Swans' music, and would be featured on every subsequent studio album other than Love of Life
Love of Life (album)
Love of Life is a studio album by Swans. It was released in 1992. It was also released in a limited edition box that was designed to contain it and their previous studio album White Light from the Mouth of Infinity....
.
Cop
Cop (album)
Cop is the second album by Swans.On Cop, Swans took the style of their previous LP, 1983's Filth, and intensified it, utilising slower tempos, more tape loops, and even more abrasive musical textures...
(1984) and the originally untitled Young God
Young God (album)
Young God is the 4th release by the New York No Wave band Swans. It is also referred to as "Raping A Slave" and "I Crawled", but is referred to as "Young God" by the band...
EP were both released in 1984 and re-released together on CD in 1992. This release has been known by several names, usually by one of its two A-sides, such as "I Crawled" or, infamously, as "Raping a Slave". This release is often confused with their self-titled debut. The music continues in the same vein as Filth, and is again vaguely reminiscent of heavy metal music
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
played in extreme slow motion. Swans were, in this era, Gira on vocals, Westberg
Norman Westberg
Norman Westberg is a New York City guitarist best known for his work with Swans. Present through almost the entirety of the band's existence, Westberg was brought on for Swans' debut album Filth and appeared on every album through 1991s White Light From the Mouth of Infinity...
on guitar, Harry Crosby on bass guitar, and Roli Mosimann
Roli Mosimann
Roli Mosimann is a drummer, electronic musician and record producer who has worked in genres ranging from industrial to pop. Originally from Switzerland, Mosimann first came to attention with the New York City no wave band Swans and later collaborated with Foetus leader J. G...
on drums. Gira's vocals had changed slightly, becoming slowly more melodic, although the snarl still remained. Some of the songs on the EP, particularly "Young God" and "I Crawled", have an actual vocal melody, if rudimentary, hinting at the sounds of future releases. Young God is considered by many to be the best of their early releases for this reason.
Justin Broadrick
Justin Broadrick
Justin Karl Michael Broadrick is a British singer, songwriter, guitarist and drummer. He is best known as a founding member of the band Godflesh, one of the first bands to combine elements of extreme metal and industrial music.-Biography:Broadrick was born in the council estates of inner...
shared this impression of the group:
Live shows
One of the trademarks of Swans' early period was playing at painfully loud volumes during concerts, to the point where some audience members would vomit or the police would stop the show. Gira was also notably confrontational with the audience, such as stepping on people's fingers resting on the stage, pull people's hairs, and notably beating up anyone caught in the crowd headbangingHeadbanging
Headbanging is a type of dance which involves violently shaking the head in time with the music, most commonly in the rock and heavy metal music genres.-Origin:The term "headbanger" was coined during Led Zeppelin's first US tour in 1969...
, something Gira detested. This lent a reputation to the name Swans which was one of the contributing factors in Gira's retirement of the band in 1997.
Since Swans' reformation, Gira has made a point of maintaining the intensity of their live show, stating that it is at once "soul-uplifting and body-destroying". He has also developed a penchant for turning off the air conditioning before Swans perform, comparing the experience to a Native American sweat lodge
Sweat lodge
The sweat lodge is a ceremonial sauna and is an important event in some North American First Nations or Native American cultures...
.
Mid-period (1986–1988)
1986's Greed had a new addition to the group with vocalist/keyboardist JarboeJarboe
Jarboe is an American singer, songwriter, and keyboardist.Jarboe is a solo artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with the New York City based group Swans. With founder Michael Gira, the duo was the core of Swans until the group broke up in 1998...
joining the band. Her presence began a slow thawing in the overt brutality and energy of the Swans' early work.
Greed also marked the introduction of bassist Algis Kizys
Algis Kizys
Algis Kizys is a New York City bass guitarist most well-known for his long-time membership in No Wave indie band Swans. First joining Swans on 1986s Greed LP, he stayed with the group through The Great Annihilator...
as a long-time, near-constant member. The album is not as brutal or noisy as their previous releases but is still an extremely ominous and dark record. This was followed by its "twin" album, Holy Money
Holy Money
Holy Money is the fourth studio album by the New York No Wave band Swans. The album was recorded in the same sessions as A Screw and Greed. It was later reissued on CD with the 3 tracks from the A Screw and then again with Greed and then once again with Greed, Cop, and Young God...
, the first to feature Jarboe on lead vocals.
Holy Money was also the first album by Swans to incorporate acoustic elements. In particular, the eight-minute dirge "Another You" starts with a blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
y harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
introduction. It also marks the introduction of religious themes in Swans records with the sacrificial ode "A Hanging", complete with gospel-like backing vocals from Jarboe.
Children of God
Children Of God (album)
Children of God is the eighth album by the American band Swans, released in 1987. It was re-released along with some songs by World of Skin on CD in 1997, as Children of God/World of Skin. On this re-release, the original album version of Our Love Lies was replaced with the version included on the...
(1987) further expanded Jarboe's role, acting as a foil to Michael Gira's tales of suffering, torture, and humiliation. The stories portrayed here, however, are ever the more unusual, given their juxtaposition—and admixture—with religious imagery. The intention was neither to mock nor embrace religion, but experiment with the power inherent in its messages and the hypocrisy of many of its leaders.
Some songs, such as "Beautiful Child", retain the vocal style of earlier days, but many are quite tame. The almost baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
"In My Garden", for example, added an extra dimension with piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
(used before on "Fool" and "Sealed in Skin" to far grimmer effect) and acoustic guitar. In between the two poles, there are pieces like "Sex, God, Sex" (heavy metal-like bass riffs with blues and gospel-inspired singing), "Blood and Honey" (a murder ballad
Murder ballad
Murder ballads are a sub-genre of the traditional ballad form, the lyrics of which form a narrative describing the events of a murder, often including the lead-up and/or aftermath...
with early post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
tendencies), and "Blind Love" (a lengthy song, alternating between intoned vocals and violent instrumental passages). Gira considers this to be the band's major turning point.
Later years (1988–1997)
After the Children of God album, Gira professed himself tired with the band's fearsome reputation for noise, feeling that their audience now had expectations that he had no intention of fulfilling. He made a conscious decision to tone down the band's sound, introducing more acoustic elements and foregrounding Jarboe as a singer. The first results of this shift in direction were the two records recorded by Gira and Jarboe under the names Skin (in Europe) and World of SkinWorld of Skin
The World of Skin was a project springing out of the American group Swans, and was a collaboration between the core Swans members Michael Gira and Jarboe. The project was initially called Skin, with the first two albums being released under that name, the last one being released under the name the...
(in the USA). The first, Blood, Women, Roses, featured Jarboe on lead vocals, and the second, Shame, Humility, Revenge, featured Gira on lead vocals. Both were recorded together in 1987, although Shame, Humility, Revenge was not released until 1988. These albums were full of slow, ethereal, melancholy, dirge-like songs, sounding like stripped down acoustic versions of the Children of God songs.
The band continued this transformation with an unexpected cover of the Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
song "Love Will Tear Us Apart
Love Will Tear Us Apart
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" is a song by the British post-punk band Joy Division. It was written in August and September 1979, and debuted when the band supported Buzzcocks on their UK tour in September and October 1979. It is one of the few songs in which singer Ian Curtis played guitar...
", which was released in 1988 on Product Inc. in a confusing array of 7- and 12-inch formats. Both Gira and Jarboe sang lead vocals on different versions of the song. In later years Gira dismissed this release as a mistake, and for a long time refused to reissue his own vocal version, although Jarboe's version was re-released much sooner. However their version of the song was a hit on US college radio in 1988, which led to the group being offered a major label deal at Uni/MCA. "I'd worked so hard all my life," said Gira. "At 15, I was digging ditches in the desert in Israel, and I put myself through college painting houses. I never saw any money from any of our records. So by the time I finally got that carrot dangled in front of me, it was like, at last I can make a living at what I love to do."
This single was followed by The Burning World
The Burning World (album)
The Burning World is an album by the American rock band Swans. It was released in 1989 on Uni Records, and it was its only major label release and only album featuring production by Bill Laswell....
(1989), Swans' first and only major label album. Released on Uni
Uni Records
Uni Records was a record label owned by MCA Inc. The brand, which long featured a distinct UNi logo, was established in 1966 by MCA executive Ned Tanen and developed by music industry veteran Russ Regan...
/MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
, the record was produced by Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
and expanded the acoustic palette introduced on Greed and Children of God. For this album, the core line-up of Michael Gira, Jarboe, and Westberg was augmented by session musicians, and the distinctive heavy guitar element of their earlier work was toned down significantly in favor of folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
elements. Though Swans would later explore more acoustic music with similar moods, Gira has stated that, while he admires much of Laswell's work, his efforts with Swans were simply a mismatch. The album reportedly sold 5000 copies in the UK, one of the lowest numbers in the history of MCA Records, and was soon deleted from catalogue.
The Burning World
The Burning World (album)
The Burning World is an album by the American rock band Swans. It was released in 1989 on Uni Records, and it was its only major label release and only album featuring production by Bill Laswell....
was the first Swans album to feature more conventional pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
melodies. Gira's lyrics still favored themes of depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
, death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
, greed and despair, but were actually sung, rather than the chanting or shouting typical of earlier material. They even cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
ed Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
's popular Blind Faith
Blind Faith
Blind Faith were an English blues-rock band that consisted of Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood and Ric Grech. The band, which was one of the first "super-groups", released their only album, Blind Faith, in August 1969...
hit "Can't Find My Way Home
Can't Find My Way Home
The New York No Wave band Swans version of "Can't Find My Way Home" appeared on their 1989 album The Burning World and was also released as a single.- Track listing :# "Can't Find My Way Home"...
" in 1989, one of two singles from the LP.
In 1990, Gira and Jarboe released the third and final World of Skin
World of Skin
The World of Skin was a project springing out of the American group Swans, and was a collaboration between the core Swans members Michael Gira and Jarboe. The project was initially called Skin, with the first two albums being released under that name, the last one being released under the name the...
album, Ten Songs From Another World. It was less successful than the previous two 'Skin' albums.
Gira's disillusionment with their Uni/MCA exploits led to White Light from the Mouth of Infinity
White Light from the Mouth of Infinity
White Light from the Mouth of Infinity is a studio album by Swans. It was released in 1991. The album is now out of print and has not been reissued by Young God Records, although all but two of the songs appear on the compilation Various Failures...
(1991), a successful blending of earlier hard rock and later pop styles. Produced by Gira, the album blended acoustic rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and hypnotic guitar noise successfully, resulting in an album more complex than anything they had released in the past. This album was followed by Love of Life
Love of Life (album)
Love of Life is a studio album by Swans. It was released in 1992. It was also released in a limited edition box that was designed to contain it and their previous studio album White Light from the Mouth of Infinity....
(recorded by Martin Bisi
Martin bisi
Martin Bisi is an American producer and songwriter.He is known for recording important records by Sonic Youth, Swans, John Zorn, Material, Bill Laswell, Helmet, Unsane, Cop Shoot Cop, White Zombie, Boredoms, Angels of Light and Herbie Hancock's Grammy-winning song Rockit,In 1979, Martin Bisi...
in 1992), and the EP single Love of Life/Amnesia, taking the group even farther into experimentation, and then The Great Annihilator
The Great Annihilator
The Great Annihilator is a studio album by Swans. It was released in 1995 and re-released in 2002. The re-released version contains "I Am the Sun" as bonus track....
(1995), considered to be one of the band's most accessible releases, possibly through being their most straightforward. The songwriting style and musical approach, however, would take a more unusual turn the following year.
Demise
With other projects occupying his time, Gira decided to end the group with one last album and a world tour. Soundtracks For The BlindSoundtracks for the Blind
Soundtracks for the Blind is the eleventh studio album by Swans, and the final for fourteen years, until 2010's My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky. It was released as a double-CD in 1996...
(1996) was the result: a mammoth two-disc album comprising Jarboe-supplied field recordings, experimental music
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
, dark ambient
Dark ambient
Dark ambient is a subgenre of ambient music that features foreboding, ominous, or discordant overtones. Although it had its roots in the 1970s, Dark ambient emerged in the 1980s and 1990s with the introduction of newer, smaller, and more affordable Effects units, synthesizer and sampling technology...
soundscapes, post-industrial epics, post rock suites and acoustic guitar. Gira, Jarboe, and other long time collaborators created one of the most highly regarded albums of their career. Swans Are Dead
Swans Are Dead
Swans Are Dead is a double live album by Swans. It was released in 1998 and was recorded in 1995 and 1997 on the band's final tours.The setlists of this era in the Swans live show were probably the most varied in terms of chronology...
(1998) brings together live recordings from their 1995 and 1997 tours, documenting the energy and stage presence of Michael Gira and Jarboe. In an interview with Soundsect, Gira revealed that there is more live material that may be released in the future. He described these unreleased recordings as "fairly spectacular".
Post-breakup & reformation (1997–present)
After dissolving Swans, Gira formed Angels of Light, continued his work with Young God Records and Jarboe continued her solo work. In 2009, Gira hinted that he may one day resurrect Swans. In January, 2010, the official MySpace page for Swans was changed to display "SWANS ARE NOT DEAD", and a bulletin was posted containing a link to Young God Records' MySpace, where a new song had recently been uploaded. According to a post on the Young God Records Facebook & MySpace accounts, Swans have officially reformed and Gira is currently recording and demoing new material. To help raise money for the upcoming new Swans album, Gira released a new solo album, I Am Not InsaneI Am Not Insane
I Am Not Insane is a 2010 album by Michael Gira. The release consists of a CD of new material, and a DVD of two live shows that includes a 16 minute "mini-doc" on Gira's new material in acoustic demo form, shot and edited by Francisco Macias. Several songs were considered, and eventually revised,...
, via his Young God Records website. In January 2010 LAS Magazine
LAS Magazine
LAS Magazine, also known as Lost At Sea or LostAtSea.net, is a daily online magazine founded in 1998 by Eric J Herboth. An online social group for the magazine list it in the "Entertainment & Arts - Online Media" category with a description of "Art. Bike. Music. Media. Literature. Photography....
posted an article on alternative financing in "a cash-strapped music industry, unable to rely on record label financing, [that] is positioning its own quid pro quo: fan dollars to fund projects in exchange for exclusive material and a sense of involvement" that cites the Swans selling out of the 1,000 signed and numbered copies of I Am Not Insane as an example of reverse financing where proceeds from one project are rolled over to finance the next. Swans have announced a series of U.S. and European tour dates, and headlined the Supersonic Festival
Supersonic Festival
Supersonic Festival is a yearly music festival in Birmingham featuring a combination of music, art, film and and other crafts. It continues to join boundaries between music and art, by inviting people to engage with both through a programme of avant garde sound and performance as well as hands-on...
in Birmingham, England in October 2010. Michael Gira announced on June 13, 2010, through the Young God Records page on Facebook and his personal Facebook account, that the next Swans album would be titled My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky is a studio album by Swans released on September 23, 2010; it is their first studio recording in 14 years...
. The album was released on September 23, 2010, and the band simultaneously embarked on a world tour scheduled to last eighteen months. The band have been chosen by Portishead to perform at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
festivals that they will curate in July 2011 at London's Alexandra Palace. and in September 2011 in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
Studio albums
- Filth (1983)
- CopCop (album)Cop is the second album by Swans.On Cop, Swans took the style of their previous LP, 1983's Filth, and intensified it, utilising slower tempos, more tape loops, and even more abrasive musical textures...
(1984) - Greed (1986)
- Holy MoneyHoly MoneyHoly Money is the fourth studio album by the New York No Wave band Swans. The album was recorded in the same sessions as A Screw and Greed. It was later reissued on CD with the 3 tracks from the A Screw and then again with Greed and then once again with Greed, Cop, and Young God...
(1986) - Children of GodChildren Of God (album)Children of God is the eighth album by the American band Swans, released in 1987. It was re-released along with some songs by World of Skin on CD in 1997, as Children of God/World of Skin. On this re-release, the original album version of Our Love Lies was replaced with the version included on the...
(1987) - The Burning WorldThe Burning World (album)The Burning World is an album by the American rock band Swans. It was released in 1989 on Uni Records, and it was its only major label release and only album featuring production by Bill Laswell....
(1989) - White Light from the Mouth of InfinityWhite Light from the Mouth of InfinityWhite Light from the Mouth of Infinity is a studio album by Swans. It was released in 1991. The album is now out of print and has not been reissued by Young God Records, although all but two of the songs appear on the compilation Various Failures...
(1991) - Love of LifeLove of Life (album)Love of Life is a studio album by Swans. It was released in 1992. It was also released in a limited edition box that was designed to contain it and their previous studio album White Light from the Mouth of Infinity....
(1992) - The Great AnnihilatorThe Great AnnihilatorThe Great Annihilator is a studio album by Swans. It was released in 1995 and re-released in 2002. The re-released version contains "I Am the Sun" as bonus track....
(1995) - Soundtracks for the BlindSoundtracks for the BlindSoundtracks for the Blind is the eleventh studio album by Swans, and the final for fourteen years, until 2010's My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky. It was released as a double-CD in 1996...
(1996) - My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the SkyMy Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the SkyMy Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky is a studio album by Swans released on September 23, 2010; it is their first studio recording in 14 years...
(2010) - The Seer (2012)
Members
- Michael GiraMichael GiraMichael Rolfe Gira is an American musician, author, and artist. He is the main force behind the recently reformed New York City musical group Swans and fronts the Angels of Light...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Christoph Hahn – guitar
- Thor HarrisThor HarrisThor Harris is a musician, painter, and carpenter. He is the percussionist for Shearwater , a band from Austin, Texas. He has performed with Bill Callahan, The Angels of Light, Lisa Germano, Gretchen Phillips, Devendra Banhart, Rebecca Cannon, Rob Halverson and Swans...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, vibesVibraphoneThe vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
, dulcimerDulcimerDulcimer may refer to two types of musical instruments:* Appalachian dulcimer, a fretted, plucked musical instrument which is also referred to as a "mountain dulcimer", "lap dulcimer", "hog fiddle", "fretted dulcimer" or simply "dulcimer"...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Chris Pravdica – bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Phil PuleoPhil PuleoPhil Puleo is a drummer from New York and a founding member of the band Cop Shoot Cop.-Discography:Cop Shoot CopRed ExpendablesSwansOther appearances-References:...
– drums, percussion, dulcimer - Norman WestbergNorman WestbergNorman Westberg is a New York City guitarist best known for his work with Swans. Present through almost the entirety of the band's existence, Westberg was brought on for Swans' debut album Filth and appeared on every album through 1991s White Light From the Mouth of Infinity...
– guitar