PRESS » young god
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Enigmatic Instrumentation, Atmospheric Elements Entrance Crowd (Oberlin Review)
() - M. Gira, Michael Gira, SWANS, to be kind, young god
Danny Evans, Arts EditorFebruary 27, 2015Filed under ARTS, Music, Recent Stories From the opening moments of their set at Cleveland’s Beachland Ballroom and Tavern Wednesday night, Swans made it clear that they did not plan on granting their audience a standard concert experience. The New York post-punk veterans, who performed for nearly three hours but only played six songs, started so quietly that attendees didn’t even register they had begun and utilized everything from a hammer dulcimer to wind chimes to a homemade viola in pursuit of auditory devastation. Clearly, nothing about the set adhered to audience expectations of what a rock show consists of, but despite this, infamously demanding frontman Michael Gira and his five bandmates managed to offer one of the most powerful concerts I’ve ever attended. Percussionist Thor Harris introduced Swans’ set by himself. He stood near the backstage area, hitting a gong softly. As the gong grew louder, alerting the audience to Harris’ presence, other members of the band joined in. Lap-steel guitarist Christoph Hahn droned forebodingly, and Phil Puleo, the band’s other drummer, complemented Harris’ gong with tasteful cymbal work. The band built up slowly, silencing chatty showgoers. My jaw dropped as Swans’ entrance manifested......
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Swans at Le National
() - M. Gira, Michael Gira, SWANS, to be kind, young god
If You’re Hearing This, You’re Already Dead On Thursday night, I went to see Swans. It was a viciously cold evening, snowing like hell, the wind whipping up and making my eyes water as I marched against the wind tunnel that is Ste. Catherine St., making my way toward Le National. My fingers were actually blue by the time I stumbled in the doors, I was greeted by a nose bleed as soon as I hit the wall of steamy heat inside. I sighed, and bought a drink. It was a strange way to start an evening, but probably appropriate for seeing a band like Swans. The blood certainly was, anyway. This is Swans’ first show in Montreal since June, when they played with another groundbreaking act, Jamie Stewart’s rock n’ roll/avant/partial, electronic/partial, orchestral/partial art piece, Xiu Xiu. This time around, Swans maintained their fantastic taste in openers, bringing out duo Xylouris White, featuring George Xylouir and Jim White of Australian Dirty Three. They were fantastic, not only as a band, but as an opener. They absolutely shredded – Xylouir scampering around the fretboard of his lute, White casually alternating with utmost ease and natural flare between halting, fitful jungle......
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Concert Review: Swans and Xylouris White @ The Phoenix – Toronto (A Music Blog, Yea?)
() - M. Gira, Michael Gira, SWANS, to be kind, young god
I had certain expectations when I walked into the Phoenix concert theater on Friday, with Swans as the headliner I had prepared myself for a fairly loud evening. As I made it past the coat check I heard music that I wasn’t prepared for… klezmer music. Passing the stage, a large crowd basked in pale white light was gathered listening in relative silence to Xylouris White. Consisting of drummer Jim White and virtuoso Cretan laouto (lute) player George Xylouris, the the duo played a mix of jazz, psychedelia, and folk music (not just from the Balkans, but from many different traditions). With George singing intermittently, Jim White played complex but subtle drumlines while playing with his drumsticks like a baton twirler, spinning them around with flourishes of his arms with every other beat. I found a spot between two older men near the sound booth and had started settling in when I heard a scream. Behind me someone had collapsed on the ground near the back bar. Staff rushed over but didn’t seem able to do much because a lot of the rest of the set was punctuated by cries and moans of the injured person. This added in a......
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‘Young God’ Author Katherine Faw Morris Interviews Michael Gira of Swans (Flavorwire)
() - M. Gira, Michael Gira, SWANS, to be kind, young god
‘Young God’ Author Katherine Faw Morris Interviews Michael Gira of Swans BY JASON DIAMOND MAY 7, 2014 10:15 AM Young God, the debut novel by Katherine Faw Morris, is a dirty book. It’s full of the the kind of grit you can only pick up in the South, and it sticks in your teeth no matter how hard you try and get it out, with its lightning-quick paragraphs that sometimes take up entire pages. It’s a book with this crazy energy and angst, the type that has always made the South (where Morris is originally from) the region that produces some of America’s most intriguing fiction. The book follows 13-year-old Nikki, who navigates her way through places children shouldn’t wander, seeing things they shouldn’t see, and learning that “smoking heroin’s harder than it looks.” It’s at times a waking nightmare the likes of which David Lynch or Bruno Schulz could have contrived if they lived in North Carolina, combined with that eerie and exciting feeling writers like Flannery O’Connor and Harry Crews — or contemporary author Scott McClanahan — conjure up.And, as I noticed the second I looked at the cover, the book takes its title from a song and EP by the band Swans. That, I should point out,......