Could listen to it in its entirety only 3 times. Tons of questions though.
1. Is there supposed to be a story throughout the album, or just a comprehensive idea(s)? If it's the latter, what is it? Death? Loss of innocence? Despair? Or all of it?
2. The interviews haven't clicked for me yet. It's either that or they're very unsubtle. For instance, "Well if you're asleep you can't tell whether you're asleep" is too elusive and vague for me to grasp. I just feel like I'm missing something vital here, that might push the pieces into place.
3. Where the heck does 'Yum-Yab Killers' fit in with all this?
>>61048760
1. No
B - They have no value. Some are from Jarboe's fathers collection (he was CIA), others are home tapes
@ SQUIGGLE It's just a song
>>61048760
Better yet is what the point of volcano is, it's a typical 90s club hit with a swans twist.
>>61048788
Dark and unsettling, I'm willing to guess. Goes with the whole atmosphere, but I don't know where it fits too.
1. Someone in a previous thread had a good idea about what it was about. Can't remember exactly what they said, but it was something along the lines of: there is a man who had a terrible up bringing coming to terms with his inner demons. By blind, they mean it in a metaphorical way where the protagonist is blind to their issues and essentially it all amounts to them dieing, being sent to heaven, and the last song is the ending credits.
2. Refering to #1, this is the protagonist trying to understand the situation themselves, but because they're so vague they don't quite catch on. They interviews can also be seen as memories? I guess.
3. No clue, I feel like in alot of ways this album is meant to taken as the movie, hence the name Soundtracks for the Blind, so I'm supposed to imagine what the scene is like. I take it with Yum Yab Killers, its the protagonist going to a concert of a girl that they like and then going clubbing with them, hence Volcano.
>>61048816
I found it fun and uplifting, apart from the sexually charged lyrics.
>>61048760
you are fucked up
>>61048836
What, even the screwed up beat?
>>61048760
HELLA FUCKING EPIC
1. The story is basically a guy who's in a relationship with, and utterly emotionally dependent on an insane woman (could be his literal mother as the lyrics suggest, could be gf, could be something else, I dunno) gets locked away in a mental institute. The first disc mostly details his agony and hopelessness at being separated from her, but in the second disc as his thoughts become a little more coherent he comes to the realization that the woman was in fact abusive towards him, he learns to hate her, but without her he has literally nothing in the world so he kills himself (The Final Sacrifice).
Note that I could be completely wrong about this, but it's what I got from the album
2. I think the majority of these are just random insane ramblings, I dunno, I haven't gotten that far yet
3. Yum-Yab Killers is a cutaway from the perspective of the woman I mentioned earlier, establishing her as being batshit insane
>>61048827
Thanks for the detailed explanation. Is the movie soundtrack take on it accepted?
>>61048856
yeah, honestly the best way to listen to this album is late at night before you go to sleep when its dark outside and you have your eyes closed. It's hassle to do that for 2 1/2 hours, but it's totally worth it.
>>61048843
Yeah, it's bouncy.
I think it's supposed to be fun too, Gira always had a chip on his shoulder about people finding his music gloomy, I imagine this is a response to that criticism.
>>61048852
Thanks for the equally plausible alternate take. But what about tracks like How They Suffer, doesn't that take a detour from the matriarch you described?
>>61048884
That's what I actually do, though I've only gone through it fully on 3 occasions. I've also found its ambiance to match really well with dusk.
>>61048888
Oh, I'd never heard of that. But what were you supposed to feel according to him? I mean, not just gloomy, some tracks from Cop and Filth sound outright macabre and unholy.
>>61048852
What if the Loud Jarboe tracks are the crazy side of this woman being shown, and the softer jarboe tracks like red velvet wound being this inner female persona that the protagonist has created?
>>61049179
While volcano acts as the clashing of these two personalities? (I'm tired right now, now thinking clearly)
>>61049179
>>61049189
Okay now I'm really confused.
>>61049220
Building on >>61048852, it could be argued that jarboe plays two "characters" during the album. One being his insane mother and another being this loving kind woman (tulpa?) that he has created in his mind. Like I said before I'm tired and usually would never come up with something like this.
>>61048760
There is no story it is collection of old tapes left over from 20 years of being a musician. So, don't look for a story at best what you can find is a general feeling of catharsis, but not all the songs fit into this mold like (Yum-Yab, Volcano, Hypno Girl, Live Through Me)
>>61049868
Fair enough. But I can't help trying to reason out why I like this so much when I don't understand it.
>>61049887
Most albums don't have stories and you like them. I like it because it has a nice variety of music and some actually good drone music. Also, the bleakness of the album is impressive.
>>61049904
Can't argue with that. Maybe I'm putting these guys on too tall a pedestal.
>>61048760
>>61048827
>>61048852
I’ve been checking out Soundtracks for the first time. Would be nice to have some explanation/analysis for it.
>>61048760
1. No
2. The interviews were a collection of recordings from Jarboe's father who worked for the FBI, and Gira's parents, whom he interviewed, this was shortly before his father died.
3. It doesn't, this album isn't about what fits, it's Swans' attempt at Krautrock ala Faust where they took a medley of vastly different recorded bits and ditties and put them all together to make a pastiche of various styles.
