Swans are a gateway band of the worst kind. They're a bad group. a clusterfuck of shitty lyrics and repetitive song structures that isn't very well done by any aspect, but which attempts to compensate for its weaknesses by adding in excessive edginess and DARKNESS. The normal anon can see this as the shit it is, and may enjoy it, hate it or be indifferent to it, but all the while recognizing that the music itself, regardless of their opinion, is plain bad.
However, these very aspects that try to smear over the shit of its core make it a breeding ground for aspie, unsociable underageb& faggots who engage in every kind of faggotry both online and in the real world. The 20 minute songs all trying their hardest to sound deep, the themes, edgy lyrics, pompous song writing, the whole post-rock faggotry and everything about Swans fuels their escapist fantasies, while the 2deep4u albums, emphasis on revenge, SEX, GOD, RAPE etc. and overall preachiness of the band make it fit just right with the fedora tipping drives of your average preteen and his sense of unwarranted self-importance towards the world. Exactly the kind of shit that makes little kiddies and underageb& retards eat this shit right the fuck up.
Swans is basically THE band to attract the most hated fanbase known to /mu/. which is why, regardless of individual opinions, it is the responsibility of every anon to troll the fuck out of this band and everyone who likes it, and ensure that no Swans threads ever encourage the newfriends to show their faces here.
I'd argue Swans turned marketing into the essence of their art. All great phenomena of popular music, from David Bowie to Joy Division, had been, first and foremost, marketing phenomena, however, Swans turned that into an art of its own. With Swans the science of marketing becomes art; art and marketing become one. Swans was, in many ways, the band that would be the heir of it, no matter how perverted, of Ian Curtis's nopop art and of the underground culture of the 1970s. They adopted some of the most blaspheme issues and turned them upside down to make them precisely what they had been designed to fight: a commodity. Swans were a protagonist of their times, although a poor musician: to say that Gira is a musician is like saying that Nero was a harp player (a fact that is technically true, but misleading). Swans embodies the quintessence of artificial art, raises futulity to paradigm, focuses on the phenomenon rather than the content, makes irrelevant the relevant, and, thus, is the epitome of everything that went wrong with rock music. Each element of their art is the emblem of a true artistic movement however, the ensemble of those emblems constitutes no more than a puzzle, no matter how intriguing, of symbols, a roll of incoherent images projected against the wall at twice the speed, a dictionary of terms rather than a poem, and, in the best of hypotheses, a documentary of the cultural fads of their era. Reading the chronicles of their times, it is clear that what causes sensation is the show, not the music. The show that Gira set up was undoubtedly in sync with the avantgarde, as it fused theater, mime, cinema, visual art, literature and music. However, Swans merely recycled what had been going on for years in the Meme underground, in particular what had been popularized by the nowave bands of of 1982. And their turned it into a commodity: whichever way you look at their oeuvre, this is the real merit of it.
>>60474876
That's a funny hat
>>60474876
My mom is obsessed with Swans right now. She is 45. She calls Swans "intellectual mallgothcore" She says Swans is smarter than other post-music artists because Swans has songs that make you want to lick ashtrays and kill. She has gone to one of Swans concerts recently. She talks about Swans constantly to everyone she knows including me. She has been spinning Filth, To be Kind and SFTB constantly. she bought lately and she songs along to them.
Here is a conversation we had the other day:
Her: (singing along) THIS ISNT REEEEEL NAT REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLL
Me: You're too old for this
Her: This is Filth, Swans has matured a lot since then
Me: That makes one of you
She ignored me. She never listens to me. She never has. I am a neglected child. My grandma is more of a mom to me. I'm worried she'll die soon and I'll lose it. Please grow up mom, I need you to
>>60474956
>That makes one of you
kills me everytime
>listening to pic related for the first time
>really enjoying myself, really loving the energy and effort put into each and every single song
>Even enjoying the absurd comedy sketch during Prisoner in your skull
>Helpless child comes on
>starts off sounding like Johnny cash, not bad
>halfway through it turns into a total jam session
>can't help but rock out right along with the members of Swans
>thisishellafuckinepic.jpg
>Yum-Yab killers comes on
>completely kills my vibe
>no longer interested in the album
You bros have any tips for enduring through the Jarboe tracks? Should I just skip them?
This morning, precisely at 6 AM, I forced myself out of a lofty perch amidst warm covers and into the cool morning air. I had decided the night before, and I was resolute, that I would go for an early morning run. So I quietly laced up, donned a sweatshirt, inhaled a glass of water, and was on my way into the misty morning darkness.
The previous night, I'd given the soundtrack to my excursion plenty of forethought. I'd need something atmospheric, exquisite, and thrilling... something that encapsulated the early morning campus ambiance in all of its chilling glory. Filth would be the perfect sort of music for my intents and I decided to give Swans another shot.
I was blown away. Speechless. The record is immaculate. Eerie, foreboding, gloomy, magnificent, monolithic. Massive. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect soundtrack to my trek across the campus ground, and I really can't quite explain why. Words evade me, and I can only hope you would have the same experience some day.
As I approached the end of my route, I acted on impulse and backtracked to the bluffside in hopes of catching the sunrise. I sat on a lonely column of rock high above the ocean waves and rested, digesting what had just transpired. As I waited for the first sign of that fiery ball of hydrogen and helium on the horizon, deep in contemplation, a lone dolphin fin arched up above the swells. It was fucking beautiful. This is the kind of shit that people give God credit for. This is what creates religious nuts.
My catacean friend quickly disappeared along the coast, and as it bid me adieu, the sun had just began to shine on my infinitesimal self. The skyline was beautiful on fire, a blaze of orange, purple, and blue. I sat in silent awe for some time.
...my soundtrack had long since concluded, and it was high time I found my way home to a hot shower.
>>60475004
I know this is supposed to be the most fedora thing ever written and there's a 99% chance it isn't real, but I actually kinda liked this
>>60475021
It is a very nice story, but it was supposed to be review m8, this makes it 100 times funnier
>>60475037
Oh, you mean this was on RYM or something? Yeah, that's a problem
>>60475004
>inhaled a glass of water
