Swans

I had no idea we were getting new music from Swans this year, but the ever-evolving band just dropped their 17th studio album on Friday with the heavy, lush, and sprawling "Birthing."  The band's mix of post punk, post rock, noise, and more remains intact, with the feeling that something ancient lays beneath the din.  Check out the epic title track below and get the 3LP here from Young God Records.

Swans

It's wild to think that experimental band Swans has been kicking it around in one incarnation or another for 40 years now.  And this summer, they're back again with their 16th album "The Beggar."  Check out the creeping and crawling "Paradise Is Mine" below and pre-order the album download here or the LP here from Young God Records.

Kidbug

Here's a '90s alt-rock throwback jam from the kinda indie rock supergroup Kidbug.  Featuring members of Best Coast, Eerie Wanda, and the always formidable Thor Harris of Swans, the band channels all those crunchy old sounds and feelings i grew up loving.  Check out "Lovesick" below and get the self-titled album here via Joyful Noise.

Daily Jam (Covers Week 2) - Love Will Tear Us Apart

Gonna do another week of cover songs for our Daily Jam selections this last week of August.  First out the gate is this achingly beautiful version Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" from Swans.  The group actually recorded a couple of different versions, but i've always been partial to this stripped down rendition featuring vocals from band member Jarboe.  Check it out below, our Daily Jam.

Swans

Somehow i forgot that there was a new Swans record coming out today...and from all looks and sounds, it's going to be another hard, dark, heavy (both literally and figuratively) sonic exploration.  Following 2012's "The Seer" and 2014's "To Be Kind," "The Glowing Man" seems to complete the trilogy of sorts, and has been hinted as the last album by the band in its current incarnation.  Listen to the haunting "When Will I Return" featuring vocals from Michael Gira's wife Jennifer, then get the album from Young God.

Swans at The Parish

Monday night, i finally got to see Swans, after missing them their last three times through Austin for a whole myriad of reasons.  And let me say this...they are intense.  The atmosphere is loud and doom-filled, like they're summoning the apocalypse.  Awesome stuff.  Check out a couple of pics below.

Swans - Oxygen

Here's another track from Swans' upcoming new album "To Be Kind."  "Oxygen" is frantic, noisy, and discordant, and shows off just how awesome the pairing of producer John Congleton (The Paper Chase) on the boards with Swans front man Michael Gira truly is.  This record is going to make my head explode.  Listen below and get the album on Young God next month.

Swans - A Little God in My Hands

Since 2012's dark, epic, and difficult (and amazing) "The Seer," Swans have kept pretty busy with touring, a live album, and now the upcoming follow up record, "To Be Kind."  The darkness of previous efforts may have ebbed...but not really.  First taste "A Little God in My Hands" sounds like some kind of serial killer mantra, a swirl of cacophonous noises, repetitive and trance-like, until the blasts of discord and violence disrupt all reason, and the bloodletting begin.  Listen and download below, and look for the album in May from Young God/Mute.