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The Steinberg Principle ORAN MOR Concert Review
SWANS – ORAN MOR, GLASGOW, TUESDAY 11TH OCTOBER 2016. It’s been a long time since I wrote anything on this blog.  It was always going to take something special to bring me back to writing.  That something special happened this week amidst one of the most challenging weeks of my life.  Without going in to details, my wife and I have had to deal with legal proceedings against her, that attempt to portray the pair of us as unstable, controlling and unfit parents.  It’s been hugely upsetting for us and for my... Read more...
Rave Child ÒRAN MÓR Concert Review
SWANS AT ÒRAN MÓR, 11/10/16 OCTOBER 25, 2016 RAVECHILD LEAVE A COMMENT Reviewing Swans in the traditional sense is a difficult task. The music of Michael Gira’s celebrated American ensemble seems not so much to resist description as to exist in a place so totally beyond description itself that words are incapable of encapsulating the experience. Watching them on what may well be their last ever tour, I realise just how far the standard journalistic tidbits – ‘visceral’, ‘raw’, or ’abrasive’ – fall short, seeming trite in comparison to the reality... Read more...
London In Stereo Islington Assembly Hall Concert Review
SWANS // LIVE REVIEW By GRANT BAILEY - NOVEMBER 2, 2016 Islington Assembly Hall – 13 October  A Swans show is never a sure thing. Michael Gira’s drone machine has been rolling for over 35 years (excusing that lengthy hiatus) and in that time we’ve bared witness to the peaks and troughs of quality the band are capable of. On one hand they have the benefit of time and experience to hone their craft, but on the other the ever-shifting line-up of Swans backline always introduces an element of change... Read more...
Trebuchet Islington Assembly Concert Review
Swans give one of those performances that must be seen before you die and they never disappoint. Latest release The Glowing Man purports to be the final release by this incarnation of Swans, and with this tour being the last chance for fans to take part in an incredible run of albums and performances, it was always going to be special. For readers unfamiliar with live Swans their music uses sound as a transformative tool: excessive volume, repetition, evangelical fervour, it exists at a physical level that vibrates your whole... Read more...
Graffiti Punctuated Review of Swans' 10/13/16 London
SWANS: THE MAN WHO REFUSED TO BE UNHAPPY OCTOBER 18, 2016 NILS VAN DER LINDEN Swans | Islington Assembly Hall | 13 October 2016 This is the end. The current Swans line-up are hitting the road one last time. But, as always, it’s on their own terms. So, no nostalgia, no pandering, no greatest hits. Instead, the New York noise gods are bidding farewell – for now – with thunderous performances showcasing not just their sublime new album, ‘The Glowing Man’, but also music so new it’s not yet been... Read more...
Reprobate Magazine Review of Swans 2016 London Concerts
Review: Swans – Islington Assembly Hall, Oct 13th/14th 2016 You know what? Perhaps I am a masochist after all. Why else, at the end of the day, would I choose to spend two consecutive evenings stood in a packed hall, being flattened for nearly three hours at a time by what is quite possibly the most overpowering, noisy, ear-bleeding music currently purveyed by any rock band? On the other hand, maybe it’s because right now, it’s also the most exciting music being made by any rock band. And they’re not even... Read more...
The Riviera Glowing Man Review
Swans- The Glowing Man Michael Gira's legendary noise-makers sign out with one of the most transcendental records of their career.    It's easy to look at the current state of worldwide affairs and denounce this age as the final downward spiral of humanity. Depressingly, for many of those among the most unfortunate it has all too often seemed as though their fates have been prized from their hands; gone in a millisecond with no confirmation of return or purpose. Together with his band Swans, Michael Gira has been the gutter-level... Read more...
Totally Biased Glowing Man Review
Swans – The Glowing Man by EliotPublished 19 July 2016 Swans have been around for a while. They started way back in 1982, stopped in 1997 and then reinvented themselves in 2010. That’s also when I first heard of them, not really being into experimental no-wave when I was 10 years old. So my introduction came pretty late, but I was immediately hooked, listening to everything they released and buying all their reissues to really understand what Swans are all about. To me, the masterpiece of their current line-up is... Read more...
LEO Weekly Q&A with Michael Gira
No expectations: A Q&A with Michael Gira of Swans JULY 20, 2016 BY JOHN KING Michael Gira — musician, author and owner of the record label Young God Records — has released 30 albums under various projects including Angels of Light and Swans, the latter he founded in 1982. After a 15-year-break, Gira reformed Swans in 2009 and has since released four albums to critical acclaim. The latest album, The Glowing Man, was released June 17. We recently caught up with Gira to talk about the new record, and how his music... Read more...
The Big Takeover Review of Swans @ Royale, Boston 7/7/2016
Swans with Okkyung Lee @ Royale, Boston - Thursday, July 7, 2016 17 July 2016 by Tim Bugbee Brutal. Hellaciously loud. Single-minded. Monolithic. I’m sure all these and more adjectives have been used to describe the sonic art that Michael Gira and his rotating ensemble known as Swans have created for decades. Active since the earliest days of noise rock, Gira has developed one of the more uncompromising canons since the electric guitar was invented. He’s moved on from the sludgy death march material of his early days, even flirting... Read more...

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