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Avg: 4.0 (37 ratings)
- Date Released: January 1, 1996
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Alternative Experimental, Alternative
- Label: Young God Records / Revolver
Michael Gira and co.'s studio swan song.
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We Say...
Swans' studio swan song is overwhelming in a very different way from their earliest records, slow and richly majestic, sometimes even beautiful, assembled and paced to sweep the listener along for well over two hours. As usual, the lyrics are focused on blood and bodies, halos and helpless children and screaming slaves, but half the songs are instrumentals or sound collages — it's a painstakingly detailed map of an ash-blanketed psychological landscape.
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They Say...
Choosing to extinguish the band name under which Gira and Jarboe had worked together for so long must not have been an easy step, but when they decided to end Swans with one last studio release as a prelude to a farewell tour, they did so with what turned out to be their biggest and best album ever. Interestingly, the double-disc, two-and-a-half-hour long Soundtracks makes no pretensions at being a uniform creation like The White Album or Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness; Gira's own notes indicate the song sources as being from "hand-held cassette recordings to found sounds, to samples, to loops, to finished multitrack recordings," recorded with ten different musicians. Everything from raging electric music in extreme to the gentlest of acoustic strums can be found here, ultimately being a perfect encapsulation of Swans' sound -- as much as any greatest-hits anthology could ever have been. "The Helpless Child," the epic-length Gira-sung piece previewed on Die Tür ist Zu, amazingly gets an even more brilliant revision here, while another similarly lengthy track, "The Sound," at once roars and whispers over its length in a way that early Swans -- much less many other bands -- could never have done. Other tracks continue Swans' then-recent practice of mixing random taped conversations with exquisitely arranged performances: "I Was a Prisoner in Your Skull" is especially noteworthy as the clear forerunner of Godspeed you Black Emperor!'s entire musical approach. Jarboe's own tracks are all winners, from the fractured, tempo-shifting techno of "Volcano" to the howling live version of a solo album track from Sacrificial Cake, "Yum-Yab Killers." Ending on the unexpected yet appropriate "Surrogate Drone," Soundtracks lets Swans bow out from recording on the highest note possible.
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| 01. |  |
Red Velvet Corridor |
3:04 |
|
| 02. | |
I Was A Prisoner In Your Skull |
6:39 |
|
| 03. | |
Helpless Child |
15:47 |
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| 04. | |
Live Through Me |
2:31 |
|
| 05. | |
Yum-Yab Killers |
5:07 |
|
| 06. | |
The Beautiful Days |
7:49 |
|
| 07. | |
Volcano |
5:19 |
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| 08. | |
Mellothumb |
2:45 |
|
| 09. | |
All Lined Up |
4:48 |
|
| 10. | |
Surrogate |
1:51 |
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| 11. | |
How They Suffer |
5:52 |
|
| 12. | |
Animus |
10:42 |
|
12 Total Tracks, 72:14 Total Length
This album includes one or more tracks available only with a full album download.
eMusic Tip
Paid downloads are counted towards an album discount but free downloads are not.
COMPLETE FOR FREE!
You can download the rest of the tracks from this album for free! Just click the Complete Album button.
We’re sorry this album can only be downloaded using paid subscription download credits.
We recommend you Save it for Later by clicking the Save for Later button shown just above this message. For a list of related albums you can download right now, check out these recommendations.
We'll give you 24 additional free credits to download this album and start your paid subscription.
Get 24 bonus credits on us if you download this album. Sweet!
| 01. | |
Red Velvet Wound |
2:02 |
|
| 02. | |
The Sound |
13:11 |
|
| 03. | |
Her Mouth Is Filled With Honey |
3:18 |
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| 04. | |
Blood Section |
2:39 |
|
| 05. | |
Hypogirl |
2:44 |
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| 06. | |
Minus Something |
4:14 |
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| 07. | |
Empathy |
6:45 |
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| 08. | |
I Love You This Much |
7:23 |
|
| 09. | |
YRP |
7:46 |
|
| 10. | |
Fan's Lament |
1:28 |
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| 11. | |
Secret Friends |
3:08 |
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| 12. | |
The Final Sacrifice |
10:27 |
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| 13. | |
YRP 2 |
2:09 |
|
| 14. | |
Surrogate Drone |
2:09 |
|
14 Total Tracks, 69:23 Total Length
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Credits
- Martin Bisi - Engineer // Martin Bisi - Mixing // Swans - Main Performer // Swans - Main Performer // Jarboe - Keyboards // Jarboe - Keyboards // Jarboe - Keyboards // Jarboe - Sound Effects // Jarboe - Sound Effects // Jarboe - Sound Effects // Jarboe - Vocals // Jarboe - Vocals // Jarboe - Vocals // Jarboe - Producer // Jarboe - Producer // Jarboe - Producer // Jarboe - Loops // Jarboe - Loops // Jarboe - Loops // Jarboe - Sounds // Jarboe - Sounds // Jarboe - Sounds // Michael Gira - Guitar (Acoustic) // Michael Gira - Guitar (Acoustic) // Michael Gira - Guitar (Electric) // Michael Gira - Guitar (Electric) // Michael Gira - Sound Effects // Michael Gira - Sound Effects // Michael Gira - Vocals // Michael Gira - Vocals // Michael Gira - Producer // Michael Gira - Producer // Michael Gira - Sampling // Michael Gira - Sampling // Michael Gira - Loops // Michael Gira - Loops // Michael Gira - Design // Michael Gira - Design // Michael Gira - Package Design // Michael Gira - Package Design // Michael Gira - Concept // Michael Gira - Concept // Michael Gira - Sounds // Michael Gira - Sounds // Algis Kizys - Musician // Larry Mullins - Percussion // Larry Mullins - Drums // Larry Mullins - Vibraphone // Bill Rieflin - Musician // Clinton Steele - ? // Vudi - Guitar (Acoustic) // Vudi - Guitar (Electric) // Marion - Photography // Billy Anderson - Engineer // Billy Anderson - Mixing // Norman Westberg - ? // Norman Westberg - Musician // Kris Force - Viola // P.M. Froehle - Photo Manipulation // P.M. Froehle - Execution // Joe Goldring - Bass // Joe Goldring - Guitar (Bass) // Joe Goldring - Guitar (Electric) // J. Morgan Puett - Clothing/Wardrobe // J. Morgan Puett - Wardrobe // Larry Lame - Engineer // Larry Lame - Mixing // Larry Lame - Musician // Andy Ray - Engineer // Bill Fieflin - ? // Braden King - Execution // Christopher Hahn - Musician // Chris Griffin - Engineer // Chris Griffin - Mastering // Chris Griffin - Mixing // Chris Griffin - Equalization // Chris Griffin - Collage
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