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Swans | Soundtracks for the Blind | Review
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CMJ | Jon FineCMJ February 1997 critic pick for the monthSoundtracks for the Blind is the final studio album from SWANS, and though it's impossible to imagine a document that could provide a summing up to their 15 years recorded output, this two-hour-plus double CD (budget priced and beautifully packaged) covers enough ground to serve as an apt final testament. The cast of characters here includes old-school SWANS Norman Westberg and Al Kizys as well as Vudi late of American Music Club. Like recent SWANS shows, Soundtracks for the Blind's peaks approach a religious intensity. The orchestral sweep and lyrical bent of "Helpless Child" and "The Sound" (which cumulatively clock in at almost 30 minutes) best exemplify the approach, but, like few other multi-disc sets, the whole coheres better than its individual parts. Strewn throughout the album are lengthy instrumental passages, sundry soundscapes and drone pieces, some of which bubble under recorded monologues—children's chants, the ruminations of an old man losing his sight—in a cliched-sounding combination that works much better than you'd expect. A tour will follow in early 1997, and it's hard to imagine anyone interested in the more adventurous aspects and history of the independent rock scene not......
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Swans | Soundtracks for the Blind | Review
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Magnet #27 | Laura DeMarcoa landscape fraught with intensity and experimentationBorn in the New York underground noise scene 15 years ago, Swans have turned out some of the most consistently dark, eerie and unconventionally passionate (not to mention slowest) music around. Soundtracks For The Blind, the final Swans record, is no exception. Ranging from epic highs to the darkest lows, this double album is a disturbing journey through a landscape fraught with intensity and experimentation. Beginning with a barely audible but immensely nuanced melody, the record grows from delicate noise to pure noise to the techno "Volcano"; this marks an unusual foray into disco for the group, although Jarboe's wispy vocals seem perfectly suited to the style. Soundtracks continue to change, from the jangly pop of "Blood Section" and the western rock of "Hypogirl," to the chaotic catharsis of "YRP" and "Surrogate Drone." As unconventional as ever, Soundtracks For The Blind is Swans most finely realized, daring use of sound yet. An uncompromising swan song....
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Swans | Soundtracks for the Blind | Review
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Wired | Mitch MyersSwans bid us farewell with a recording of Homeric magnitudeAfter 15 years of making uncompromising music, the Swans bid us farewell with a recording of Homeric magnitude. Intense sonic assaults jut against gentle instrumentals; tape loops mesh raw feedback with the lost conversations of dead souls; samples are tucked between carvings of art and language. In 1950, Hinsie and Shatsky wrote: "Autistic material ... appear[s] as daydreams, phantasies, delusions, hallucinations, etc. In classical instances, such as occurs in schizophrenia, the unconscious sphere makes the largest contribution." This is the Swans' last studio album. Behold the daydream nation....
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Swans | Soundtracks for the Blind | Review
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BEELD | Theunis EngelbrechtAfrikaans language newspaper; Johannesburg, South AfricaThis cult group is progressive, alternative The pop scene is so overloaded that one inevitably misses certain important albums. Thousands of albums are never released in South Africa. That's why the group Swans is relatively unknown down here. This cult group, which consists of Michael Gira and female vocalist Jarboe, has been making a contribution overseas for the past 15 years. With albums like Holy Money, Children of God, The Burning World, White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity, Body To Body Job To Job, Love Of Life and The Great Annihilator they gained a solid reputation. Their new double album Soundtracks For The Blind is unfortunately their swan song: after 15 years they're calling it a day and this month they are concluding their illustrious career with a US and European tour. Describing their music must be one of the most difficult challenges for a pop music reviewer, since their work is extremely innovative and experimental, refusing to be categorized. So we'll have a look at the opinions of a few overseas reviewers who are better acquainted with their work: "Mysterious, powerful, intriguing... Swans strive for the thrilling scale of great......
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Swans | Soundtracks for the Blind | Review
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BEELD | Theunis EngelbrechtAfrikaans language newspaper; Johannesburg, South AfricaThis cult group is progressive, alternative The pop scene is so overloaded that one inevitably misses certain important albums. Thousands of albums are never released in South Africa. That's why the group Swans is relatively unknown down here. This cult group, which consists of Michael Gira and female vocalist Jarboe, has been making a contribution overseas for the past 15 years. With albums like Holy Money, Children of God, The Burning World, White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity, Body To Body Job To Job, Love Of Life and The Great Annihilator they gained a solid reputation. Their new double album Soundtracks For The Blind is unfortunately their swan song: after 15 years they're calling it a day and this month they are concluding their illustrious career with a US and European tour. Describing their music must be one of the most difficult challenges for a pop music reviewer, since their work is extremely innovative and experimental, refusing to be categorized. So we'll have a look at the opinions of a few overseas reviewers who are better acquainted with their work: "Mysterious, powerful, intriguing... Swans strive for the thrilling scale of great......