Why in the fuck can't I get in to swans?
I appreciate them, and I enjoy screen shot, but I just can't... ENJOY listening to them.
Is starting with their more recent discography a mistake?
>>66150242
Start with soundtrack for the blind, the album is 2 hours and 30 mins but tracks arent as long. That might get you in the right mindset
>>66150242
Because swans is bad
Why force yourself to like something you have tried and didn't like it
if you don't like them don't listen to them
>>66150242
Start with Filth move chronologically.
>>66150265
I never thought starting with SFTB was a good idea
>>66150242
Don't force yourself to "enjoy" things. Put it aside and wait for its time to come.
>>66150242
I started getting into swans this week and so far I really like their first album filth. It's almost nothing like their new albums but if you like no wave/noise rock you'll like filth. Also, I have this chart that I have been using that might help you.
>>66150242
Start with Various Failures.
>>66150242
Try to get into the grooves, especially on To Be Kind. Listen to the music loudly, without distractions. Or, check out other parts of their highly varied discography.
Try >>66150343 or try this: Listen to Filth and White Light from the Mouth of Infinity, if you like Filth more check out Cop and Greed/Holy Money. If you prefer White Light, check out Children of God, Love of Life and The Great Annihilator.
Soundtracks for the Blind is their best album, though.
>>66150346
Not too sure about this idea.
>>66150242
Maybe because swans are fucking garbage and no wave is the worst, most pretentious fucking genre ever created and everything else they've created just sounds like shit. I can't believe I listened to all of Soundtracks for the blind, I want my two and a half hours back
>>66150377
>without distractions
how do you not get distracted at the boring drone parts?
>>66150387
i didn't like soundtracks too desu, but i liked To Be Kind and Seer
>>66150402
>the boring drone parts
fucking pleb
>>66150387
no wave is by far the least pretentious genre ever created, what the fuck are you on
>>66150387
>pretentious
emptiest criticism ever. Besides, Swans has done more than No-Wave, and SFTB is certainly not No-Wave
SFTB is good though, maybe you should listen again. I didn't like it my first time either
>>66150440
I like no wave but anything that Lydia Lunch is a part of is automatically disqualified from being the least pretentious anything
>>66150476
good point. >>66150387 is still a fucking pleb though
>>66150387
>two hours and a half back
You would have wasted them on /mu/ either way you NEET
>>66150242
Update: I'm on track 4 of filth and i'm actually enjoying this album, especially track 3.
I feel like some of track 4 is too redundant, but i'm looking forward to where it goes.
>>66150242
>Is starting with their more recent discography a mistake?
Yes. If you liked screenshot you'll probably enjoy their mid period with albums like The Great Annihilator.
>>66150540
OP again, the thing I dont get about swans I suppose is the repetition in every track with seemingly no progression, if that makes sense
>>66150540
nice
as >>66150377 said, listen to the greed/holy money compilation and cop if you like filth
>>66150567
>repetition in every track with seemingly no progression
no wave in a nutshell
>>66150567
What Swans does is us the repetition as a foundation to build off of, especially in the longer songs
>>66150632
I get it I guess. In context of the album, (this first one at least,) every track seems to progress even when the track alone seems repetitive.
>>66150242
Seriously? You took one look at that album cover and thought "Yeah, this looks good".
>>66150802
I dont even understand what you're trying to say.
>>66150802
Nevermind, I get it. Like, I picked an album to listen to and liked the first track. I guess so lol. But the first album I listened to was the glowing man. what else should I have done though without making a post like this?
>>66150284
Swans is dead
>>66150328
Fucking this. I was forcing myself to like Swans and started to go crazy but then one day after waiting and sampling for like 2 months, I try The Seer one day and it started to click. Now I can put on more of their albums and legit jam out. Sometimes it takes a lot of time to process things.
>>66150343
Post the updated one instead.
>>66151179
>>66150429
Please tell me how you can pay attention to and be entertained with 15 minutes of nothing?
>>66151193
>15 minutes of nothing
literally where
>>66151193
theyre memeing on you nobody can
>>66151216
on their 30 minute tracks on The Seer and To Be Kind. Maybe it's 10 minutes but it feels like forever
>>66151258
something engaging or interesting is always happening on those tracks though, theres barely any drones
if you were talking about the lengthy intro to a piece of the sky you might have a point, but just because something is repetitive or not a lot is happening or changing it doesnt mean it can't be engaging.
>>66151289
what is so interesting about Toussaint L'Ouverture?
Not OP but I now have all the studio albums, how shall I deal with the live albums? Listen to them after the associated studio album, go through all the studio albums and then the live albums or shall I just skip them? Are they worth checking out?
>>66151392
heyy man, there's a new version of musicbee you might wanna upgrade to. upgrading is easy as shit, you just download a zip and put it in the folder.
yes, the live albums are worth checking out. which one to start with, depends on your taste desu
>>66150242
Because the swans is shitty music for edgy pseudo intellectual teenagers.
>>66151392
I would recommend getting the Greed/Holy Money compilation album, it has an altered tracklist and is remastered. Greed and Holy Money are really sister albums.
Anyway, listen to their studio output first (if the Swans EP and Young God aren't included as part of Filth and Cop already I'd recommend those), and then listen to the live albums.
Public Castration and Swans Are Dead are the best ones imo, and the three post-reformation live albums are pretty good too.
>>66150242
i started to really appreciate them after seeing them live
>>66151425
>>66151473
Alright, thanks anons!
I sorta like Swans
I like individual songs but I get so fucking bored listening to their albums in one piece
I don't know any other band where I feel this way about and it sorta bugs me that it happens with on of /mu/s favorite bands but I figure at one point I'll just be down to listen ot it all in one sitting and really get it
>>66151322
I'd like to ask a different question, why do so many people not like Toussaint? Just because it doesn't have a grandiose build up structure like Bring the Sun it doesn't mean its uninteresting. I really like the groove, its very foreboding and atmospheric, I also like how on Toussaint the instruments "talk to each other", mainly the lap steel and Thor's instruments, Christops plays a theme, Thor's chimes, saw, xylophone or whatever crazy shit he has try to one up it etc, its very fluid and even though it is not freely improvised it feels like it. I like Gira's lyrics too. Haiti revolution was some bloody shit and it just fits.
>>66150242
desu i didnt like them until i saw them live. My gf at the time dragged me to a show and I was mesmerized. We had to drive home a few hours after, so I listened to TBK and some of STFTB and there was a hypnotic feeling to them. Its like stepping into a different mindset...
>>66151531
Why did it have to be so long? Yeah, the groove is nice but...it just goes on too long.
>>66151545
This is basically the TL;DL of Swans mate. Its just not for you then.
>>66151531
because its 35 minutes long. Its not a casual listen. I love the song but I can only listen to it in the right setting
>>66151555
Nah, this song is just not for me.
She Loves Us is longer than Toussaint but I'd rather listen to it. Natailie Neil+To Be Kind too. And etc. It just has too little going on in it.
>>66151586
If you like the rest you'll get to like Toussaint to in time. Its more subtle but its stuffed with neat little details and melodies. Also the drumming, I like how at certain parts it sounds like military march which is a neat detail.
>>66151604
Hah, okay, thanks for replying. I think I'll listen to it now actually.
>>66150242
White Light From The Mouth of Infinity got me into Swans. If you like Joy Division and a bit of the Neofolk atmosphere, give it a try. Very accessible.
Didn't like Swans until a year ago, it just suddenly clicked...
Great Annihilator is also amazing.
>>66152938
>White Light From The Mouth of Infinity
tru, and thats also their best album
>>66150292
>>66150296
>>66150328
He did say he appreciates them. I can understand this feeling perfectly. You like the idea of something, but what you really want is to viscerally just -enjoy- it. Experience teaches you that sometimes it just take a little while for a piece of music to become familiar enough to you for it to be immediate, so I see nothing wrong with putting a bit of extra effort into liking something.
>>66150242
nobody really likes swans it's a meme
>>66152938
Reccing Great Annihilator as well, it was the point when I started to actually understand Swans as a whole even when I already enjoyed The Seer and Filth.
>>66153349
...and then suddenly you realize how amazing their no wave side is, especially filth.. weird.
But I still can't get into Soundtracks for the Blind and Seer for some reason.
Will see them live in a few months, hyped as fuck :o
