That which Luke is listening to: Swans “To Be Kind”
If you are looking for a laid back, chill album, something that can help just ease into for the summer, well, I can’t help you. Instead, this is what LUKE is listening to.
If you don’t know the Swans, you probably should. The band (M. Gira being the only continuous member, and they have been making albums since 1982) has gone through numerous changes over the years, but the music they make always is worth listening to (even their failures are interesting).
Their sound is loud and abrasive as often as it is melodic and mesmerizing. They make albums that are to be listened to as a whole, and well, this one is a double album. The music is haunting and really gets under you skin in places. To call parts of it droning would not be an understatement. But, these are professionals and all of this is by design. The music repeats, and twists and turns back on itself and you find yourself lost in the wall of sound. There are new sounds in here, the albums since they reformed have all been harder, but each one has brought in some new sonic flavors. In this album there is something a bit southern and a touch of something a bit funky, but in there too, is M. Gira’s screaming, as it should be.
If you are looking for an album that does not sound quite like anything else, even other Swans albums, and one that might need a couple of listens before you can set it aside, this one is a great choice.
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