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The Body Lovers | Number One of Three | Review
FM Outlook #49 | Danen JobeNew York Noise Has A Mid Life CrisisSonic Youth—A Thousand Leaves (DGC) The Body Lovers—One of Three (Young God/Atavistic) Sixteen years ago an amazing movement began in New York City. This was a movement which came out of Glenn Branca's infamous guitar orchestras, and was quickly dubbed the New York Noise movement. Most famous of these original groups (which also included Live Skull and 8 Eyed Spy) were Sonic Youth and Swans, who were often found touring together, making people's ears hurt all over the... Read more...
Swans | Swans Are Dead | Review
Ink #19 | Drew WestThey were, are, and will always be the most powerful band in the world live.A banshee screams while the Vikings swing hammers and swords into their enemies. I sense sweat pouring from faces. Every soul being destroyed from within the shell it lives. The anger, resentment, and rawness cuts through even the hardest heart. No one ever does it like Swans. Even through the CD, I get goose bumps. I can't explain it. When I watched Swans in Atlanta for the last time, my body went... Read more...
Swans | Swans Are Dead | Review
SF Weekly | Dave CliffordSwans Are Dead, the final act of attritionAttrition—the act of wearing away a surface through repeated rubbing, or the gradual reduction of will through constant waves of repetition—is the defining characteristic of Swans. In the 15-year existence of the now-finished group, vocalist/guitarist Michael Gira and a revolving door of contributors—the most significant of these being longtime vocalist/keyboardist Jarboe—sought to isolate and exaggerate the limitations of music. Where rhythm and melody traditionally embody a song, Swans have dissected it. Where lyrical themes traditionally ignore the visceral and... Read more...
Review | SWANS ARE DEAD
TimeOut New York | Issue No. 126 | Jordan N. MamoneGira & Co.'s discography is rich in masterful concert documents, and this pristinely recorded capper is no different.Over the course of a 15-year existence, Swans built up a solid reputation for blinding intensity and brutal honesty. Leader Michael Gira was so unafraid to explore the limits of the crushingly leaden and the mystically ethereal that his compositions and from-the-gut emotional frankness occasionally verged on the ridiculous. More often, his tunnel vision and severity intensified music of a singular power unmatched... Read more...
Swans | Swans Are Dead | Review
PathosDeath Is Not The EndLive double albums used to be the sound of artistically exhausted rock bands fulfilling their contractual obligations in the easiest, yet most decadent manner possible. Now that records of remixes seem to constitute the modern equivalent of this void filler, the artists who actually release live material are usually either dead or have something to say. In the case of the Swans, both are equally true. One of the greatest things to come out of the amazing New York of the early eighties, up to last... Read more...
Body Lovers - Number One of Three
Mark WeddleOverall impression: absolutely brilliant.I had very high expectations for this disc, and I can truthfully say that they were completely blown away. I've had this cd for only 12 hours and it's already impossible for me to imagine life without it. Michael Gira has taken the first bold step from out of the shadow of the SWANS moniker. This disc, the first of three, exemplifies the instrumental skills of Gira and friends which have been foreshadowed on the last several years of SWANS' discs. The entire spectrum of sound... Read more...
Swans Are Dead | Review
Pitchforkmedia.com | Nick MirovRating: 7.7 Listening to Swans is like looking into the face of eternity and being scared shitless by it. Whether or not that qualifies as a religious experience is for you to decide. For almost fifteen years, Swans mastermind Michael Gira has made the most unabashedly dramatic, harrowing music to come out of the '80s New York art-punk scene, or anywhere else, for that matter. The closest mainstream comparisons would be to Skinny Puppy's grotesque Grand Guignol theatrics or Ministry's insane thunderous noise, but neither band can... Read more...
Swans | Soundtracks for the Blind | Review
Y Zine | Derick Varndark metaphysical landscapesThis double compact disc is a whole world of ethereal lovers and drags you through dark metaphysical landscapes. Jarboe and Michael Gira have released their LAST album as The Swans. "Soundtracks" is over two hours of music that is sometimes dark, sometimes droning, and always unpredictable. Layers and layers of samples and music are born in this album. "Soundtracks" is musically textured and extremely original. Michael Gira manages industrial sampling without the choppy "techno" or machine effects. Drones, moans, answering machines, keyboards, pan flutes,... Read more...
Swans | Soundtracks for the Blind | Review
Y Zine | Derick Varndark metaphysical landscapesThis double compact disc is a whole world of ethereal lovers and drags you through dark metaphysical landscapes. Jarboe and Michael Gira have released their LAST album as The Swans. "Soundtracks" is over two hours of music that is sometimes dark, sometimes droning, and always unpredictable. Layers and layers of samples and music are born in this album. "Soundtracks" is musically textured and extremely original. Michael Gira manages industrial sampling without the choppy "techno" or machine effects. Drones, moans, answering machines, keyboards, pan flutes,... Read more...
Swans Song | Extensive Interview and History
AddictedToNoise.com | Howard WuelfingMichael Gira, leader of the influential but little-known band Swans, isn't just floating along with the current. He's controlling it. "The reason I write is because I have to, that's what I do. I don't have any other choice," explains Swans founder/frontperson, Michael R. Gira late one Summer afternoon at NYC's Knitting Factory, before a spoken-word performance. "It's the reason I make music. That's what I do in life. I'm not adjusted nor adjustable to anything else." Gira's Swans are one of those rare acts that have... Read more...

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