NEWS
SWANS - ANNOUNCE REMASTERED REISSUE OF THE GREAT ANNIHILATOR & UPDATED UK TOUR DATES IN MAY
"Swans live is performance art of the highest order" - LA Music
"…a mighty devotional racket" - The Scotsman
"...two and half hours of shamanic magic that uplifted and cleansed the audience" – Trebuchet
SWANS have announced a remastered reissue of their ninth studio album, The Great Annihilator, out on 28 April 2017 on Mute / Young God Records (N America) plus further dates for their spring UK tour which now begins in Glasgow on 18 May and finishes with a show at London’s historic Roundhouse on 27 May and an appearance at Transformer festival in Manchester on 28 May.
The Great Annihilator, originally released in 1995 and described at the time as “…a majestic symphony of haunting melodies and shifting moods” [SF Bay Guardian], will be released on double vinyl – the album’s first release on vinyl for decades - and as a 2CD set. Both the vinyl (in the form of a download code) and CD will feature Drainland, Michael Gira’s debut solo album recorded at the same time as The Great Annihilator.
The album was entirely remastered by Doug Henderson, but only after Bill Rieflin (“honorary Swan forever”) recently tracked down DATs and cassettes containing unmastered mixes from the sessions. Michael Gira describes the discovery as “a revelation of great sonic effect”. Talking about the recording, Gira said “I lived in a tent in a mosquito infested studio right next to Cabrini Green in Chicago for what (?) something like 3 months, rarely leaving. Band members and Jarboe and Bill Rieflin etc came and went, and somehow we crafted this thing into what it became.”
The Great Annihilator line up features: Michael Gira, Jarboe, Bill Rieflin, Algis Kizys, Norman Westberg, Clinton Steele and Ted Parsons.
Swans return to Europe next month with dates starting in Greece before returning to the UK on 18 May with a show at Glasgow’s Oran Mor. The tour continues through the UK ending with their final London performance in the band’s current incarnation, at London’s Roundhouse with very special guest Thurston Moore on 27 May, and in Manchester the following evening for Transformer festival on a bill that includes The Fall, Royal Trux’s first UK show in over 15 years, This Is Not This Heat, Sex Swing, Little Annie and Loop.
SWANS EUROPEAN TOUR DATES – 2017
March
3 March - GR Athens, Gagarin 205
4 March - GR Thessaloniki, Block 33
6 March - FI Helsinki, Tavastia
8 March - NO Oslo, Rockefeller *
9 March - SE Stockholm, Kraken Sthlm*
10 March - NO Trondheim, Byscenen*
11 March - DK Copenhagen, Grey Hall*
12 March - DK Aarhus, VoxHall*
14 March - CZ Brno, Fleda Club*
15 March - SK Kosice, Taba Ka Kulturfabrik*
17 March - LT Vilnius, Legendos Klubas*
19 March - UA Kiev, Sentrum*
22 March - RO Cluj-Napoca, FORM Space Club*
23 March - RO Bucharest, Control Club*
24 March - MK Skopje, MKC*
25 March - RS Belgrade, Dom Omladine*
27 March - HR Rijeka, Pogon Kulture*
28 March - CH Zürich, Rote Fabrik Ziegel oh Lac*
29 March - DE Dortmund, FZW*
30 March - BE Ghent, Kompass Klub*
31 March - NL Amsterdam, Paradiso Music Hall*
April
1 April - NL The Hague Rewire Festival
May
16 May – TR Istanbul, Zorlu Performing Arts Center
18 May - UK Glasgow, Oran Mor*
19 May - UK Aberdeen, The Lemon Tree*
20 May - UK Leeds, Stylus - Leeds University Union*
21 May - UK Sheffield – The Plug*
24 May - UK Birmingham – The Asylum*
26 May - UK Bristol – Trinity Community Arts*
27 May - UK London, Roundhouse* - http://bit.ly/2enJyG1
28 May - UK Manchester, Victoria Warehouse* – http://bit.ly/2dSv18R
30 May – RU St Petersburg – Kosmonavt*
June
1 June - RU Moscow – Red Club*
2 June - ES Barcelona – Primavera Sound Festival
4 June - FR Biarritz, Atabal*
6 June - FR Angoulême, La Nef*
7 June - FR Rouen, Le 106*
9 June - PT Porto – NOS Primavera Sound Festival
Aug
18 Aug - US Las Vegas, Psycho Festival
20 Aug - US Las Vegas, Psycho Festival
*with Little Annie