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Paraphilia Magazine To Be Kind album review
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SWANS: TO BE KINDBy Christopher Nosnibor Swans aren’t dead. Not by any stretch. As we all know by now, they’d simply been in hibernation, and all the time Michael Gira was releasing delicate, acoustic-led albums with Angels of Light, poison was festering in his veins until Swans were, through artistic necessity, reborn, a magnificent chimera of malformed beauty. To Be Kind, the third album since their return in 2010, is their most staggering yet. It does, naturally, bear all the hallmarks of Swans from throughout their lengthy history. It also very clearly belongs to the era that began with the emergence of My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope to the Sky. Yet it also very definitely represents a further evolution. And, clocking in once more at a colossal two hours, it’s fucking epic. But the fact To Be Kind spans a time in which empires rise and fall, wars are won and lost and new species evolve and become extinct is a mere detail of the bigger picture. The weight, the depth, the intensity… To Be Kind feels somehow beyond human scale. It begins in vintage fashion. ‘Screen Shot’ is hypnotic in its repetitions. Gira’s vocal is familiar, yet somehow different, his monotone delivery......
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Interview between Michael and Tom Fleming (of Wild Beasts) in NME Magazine.
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Hear Seven Dirging Minutes of the New Swans Album (Spin)
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The first taste of the 'To Be Kind' comes with really weird baby pictures March 21 2014, 6:45 PM ET Late Thursday, we learned the name, guest list, and size of the next album from New York rock experimentalists Swans. Now we've got the first piquant and decidedly dirty taste of the double-disc set dubbed To Be Kind, plus some super creepy baby portraits to viddy. You can stream the shambling seven-minute drunken dirge known as "A Little God In My Hands" below, and then read a letter from band boss Michael Gira telling the story of the May 13 album's artwork (scroll down for much, much more). Take it away, Swans. March 21 2014, 6:45 PM ET Late Thursday, we learned the name, guest list, and size of the next album from New York rock experimentalists Swans. Now we've got the first piquant and decidedly dirty taste of the double-disc set dubbed To Be Kind, plus some super creepy baby portraits to viddy. You can stream the shambling seven-minute drunken dirge known as "A Little God In My Hands" below, and then read a letter from band boss Michael Gira telling the story of the......
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Swans Share New Song "A Little God in My Hands", Six-Part Art for New Album To Be Kind on Pitchfork
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Swans Share New Song "A Little God in My Hands", Six-Part Art for New Album To Be Kind By Jenn Pelly on March 21, 2014 at 04:00 p.m. Listen to Swans: "A Little God in My Hands" On May 13, Swans will release their next album, To Be Kind, the followup to 2012's epic The Seer, via Young God/Mute. It features a number of guest contributors, including St. Vincent's Annie Clark, Little Annie, Cold Specks, and Bill Rieflin. The band has now shared To Be Kind cut "A Little God in My Hands" as a free download, as well as the cover art, above. The To Be Kind album art will include several panels all featuring different baby images—check them out below. Gira has shared a detailed account of how he first came across these paintings by conceptual artist Bob Biggs. Biggs went on to own Slash Magazine and Slash Records, which released music by the Germs, the Blasters, X, the Gun Club, Violent Femmes, and more. Gira wrote: I first met Bob Biggs in Los Angeles in 1976/77, through friends in the so-called punk scene there. He was a conceptual artist, but like everyone else with a brain, he was enthralled with the sudden......
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Swans Announce Summer Tour on Pitchfork
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Swans Announce Summer Tour By Molly Beauchemin on March 24, 2014 at 09:57 a.m. Listen to Swans: "A Little God in My Hands" Swans have announced even more dates in support of To Be Kind, the followup to 2012's The Seer, out May 13 in the U.S. via Young God and May 12 internationally via Mute. (As previously reported, the new record will feature contributions from St. Vincent's Annie Clark, Little Annie, Cold Specks, and Bill Rieflin.) Following spring U.S. and Europe dates with Jenny Hval, Michael Gira and co. will tour North America this summer. Check out the dates below and listen to "A Little God in My Hands" off of the forthcoming record, above. Swans: 03-24 Odessa, Ukraine - Bernardazzi Wine Club #03-26 Bucharest, Romania - Control Club #03-27 Bologna, Italy - Locomotiv #03-28 Milan, Italy - Bloom #03-29 Berlin, Germany - Kantine @ Berghain #05-14 Washington, DC - Black Cat Mainstage *05-15 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer *05-17 Boston, MA - Royale Nightclub *05-18 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom *05-19 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg *05-22 Manchester, England - Academy 2 *05-23 Newcastle, England - Hoults Yard *05-24 Glasgow, Scotland - The Arches *05-25 Aberdeen, Scotland -......