Posts in tag

Swans


It’s over 40 years since Michael Gira’s Swans burst onto the scene. Actually, more like oozed onto the scene, a bit like that monster in Dr Who who seeped under your door, Now, 16 albums later, Gira returns to Manchester, the location for many a triumphant Swans gig, with his revolving entourage of musicians in …

As the sweltering start to the UK summer fizzled out just as the festival season was in full flow, its good to know that there are some touring bands still intent (pun intended) on playing indoor shows. August is traditionally a quiet month for major bands, as the university venues close their doors for the …

So this is it for the current incarnation of Swans. Back in 2010 they rode into a world that was replete with some quite dreary Americana and blew it apart. (OK, I’m talking about my world, but you know…) Not without irony, given Michael Gira’s role with Angels of Light and Young God records. My …

SWANS have one of the most intriguing discographies in music and with front man Michael Gira recently announcing that The Glowing Man would be the last for this incarnation of the band,  it makes it a pivotal part of the history. So after the seminal To Be Kind, does The Glowing Man act as a …

I’ll admit, my only knowledge of SWANS is that of a friend playing them back in the eighties; an album with a dollar sign on the sleeve (‘Greed’ 1986). My frazzled memory lumped them in with that ‘Butthole Surfers’/’Big Black’ school of American nut-job noise, with a side-serving of Psychick TV cultism. Now, almost thirty …