[kj] Track of the day . . Angels of Light/Swans

[Alexander Smith]

Well, as I said in the last sentence of that blog post, it's very  
difficult to sum up the band's entire oeuvre neatly. They went from  
being intensely loud noise rock to being sort've quasi-industrial to  
making sort've sweeping, often-lushly-orchestrated pieces. Lots of  
folks cite CHILDREN OF GOD as the big turnaround point. I quite like  
a lot of the early stuff, but a little goes a long way (Darth E.  
Vader -- or whatever he's calling himself these days -- probably has  
some thoughts on Swans).

My personal fave is LOVE OF LIFE, which -- for some inane reason --  
is out of print these days. There are a number of compilations like  
VARIOUS FAILURES still making the `rounds. SOUNDTRACKS FOR THE BLIND  
(their last one) is roundly hailed as a remarkable achievement. I've  
never heard the live one, SWANS ARE DEAD, but both KILL THE CHILD and  
the tastily named PUBLIC CASTRATION IS A GOOD IDEA both make for a  
bracing listen. OMNISCIENCE (also live) captures their latter period  
fairly well.

I don't know. Again, a little Swans can go a long way.

Alex in NYC



On Sep 27, 2007, at 9:24 PM, Neil Perry wrote:


> OK, I want to listen to some Swans stuff... anyone guide me in the

> right direction?

> My only experience of them is the aforementioned loudest gig on earth,

> which I quite liked once I was stood almost outside the venue. Is it

> all like that, or did they mellow?

>

> N

>

> Alexander Smith <vassifer at earthlink.net> wrote:

>

> Lately, I've been listening to the new Angles of Light disc and  

> this....

>

> http://vassifer.blogs.com/alexinnyc/2007/09/the-great-annih.html

>

> Alex in NYC

>

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