NEWS
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A NOTE FROM MICHAEL GIRA OF SWANS:
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“In 2009 when I made the decision to restart my musical group, Swans, I had no idea where it would lead. I knew that if I took the road of mining the past or revisiting the catalog, that it would be fruitless and stultifying. After much thought about how to make this an adventure that would instead lead the music forward into unexpected terrain, I chose the five people with whom to work that I believed would most ably provide a sense of surprise, and even uncertainty, while simultaneously embodying the strength and confidence to ride the river of intention that flows from the heart of the sound wherever it would lead us - and what’s the intention? LOVE! And so finally this LOVE has now led us, with the release of the new and final recording from this configuration of Swans, The Glowing Man, through four albums (three of which contain more complexity, nuance and scope than I would have ever dreamed possible), several live releases, various fundraiser projects, countless and seemingly endless tours and rehearsals, and a generally exhausting regimen that has left us stunned but still invigorated and thrilled to see this thing through to its conclusion.......
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LIVE REPORT: Swans (The Quietus)
() - M. Gira, Michael Gira, Quietus, SWANS, young god
Toby Cook gets "sucked down the gloriously uncomfortable rabbit hole once again" as he witnesses two and a half hours of both intensity and restraint at the Roundhouse in London It starts with no more than a murmur. A low, soft hiss, an almost imperceptible resonance that, whilst muted and hushed, seems to charge the very air around you – the first few, almost unnoticed drops of rain and the soft bristle of static that mutes the breeze and gently prickles your skin; the kind of deceptive change in atmosphere and infinitely building, barely tangible sense of complete physical unease that tells you that somewhere, miles and miles out to sea, it's starting to change course, the storm is rolling in – it's coming straight at you and there's nothing you can do about it. You think, you fear, that you know what's about to arrive; you brace, you steady yourself, and you wait for the full, righteous power of the tempest to come crashing into you and to consume you totally. That's how it starts: Not with a bang but with a drone, barely audible at first, but deeply unsettling nonetheless, as Swans' perpetually shirt-adverse percussionist Thor Harris takes......
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New Swans Tour Dates
() - M. Gira, Michael Gira, SWANS
Just announced a bunch of new Swans dates for 2015, including shows in China, Japan, Australia, the Big Ears Festival in Tennessee and Festival Nrmal in Mexico City. You can find a full list of tour dates HERE....
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‘FILTH’ REMASTERED EDITION out now
() - M. Gira, Michael Gira, SWANS
A remastered edition of SWANS debut studio album, ‘Filth’, is out now on vinyl for the 1st time in years. http://younggodrecords.com/collections/frontpage/products/filth-remastered-2014 ‘Filth’ was released in 1983, the album was recently described by Clash magazine as “a brutally exhaustive work swimming in a thematic pool of audacious abjection” and by The Village Voice as “no wave with five years of practice, too messy for mysticism and too funny for suicide.” The vinyl edition of ‘Filth’ will come with two reproduction live posters and is the first in a series of remastered catalogue reissues....
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Michael Gira/Swans will be curating Mouth to Mouth program at Le Guess Who Fest
() - M. Gira, Michael Gira, SWANS
Michael Gira/Swans will be curating the Mouth to Mouth program of the Le Guess Who? fest in Utrecht, NL this Nov. It is set to feature Wire, Silver Apples, Savages, Ben Frost, Xiu Xiu, as well as a 24-Hour Dronefest that will include William Basinski, Stephen O’Malley, Tim Hecker and more. Tickets and more info here: leguesswho.nl ...