{"id":12603,"date":"2025-04-24T11:25:43","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T09:25:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ponderosa.it\/?post_type=artisti&p=12603"},"modified":"2025-04-24T11:25:52","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T09:25:52","slug":"swans","status":"publish","type":"artisti","link":"https:\/\/ponderosa.it\/en\/artist\/swans\/","title":{"rendered":"Swans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Michael Gira founded the groundbreaking NYC band Swans in 1982. Initially notorious for their relentless, brutal, high-volume onslaughts of sound, the extreme, abject imagery of Gira\u2019s lyrics and his thundering vocals, Swans would undergo a series of startling transformation over the next 15 years. Following the punishing Filth<\/em> and Cop<\/em> albums, the ensemble would venture into harshly mechanical proto-industrial rock of their Greed<\/em> period, then both haunted atmospheric idylls and martial stomps on 1987\u2019s landmark Children of God<\/em> double album. They\u2019d conjure gentler acoustic-based meditations on The Burning World<\/em> (1989), then after relocating to Atlanta grand, melody-dense sonic whirlwinds of the White Light from the Mouth of Infinity<\/em> (1991) and Love of Life<\/em> (1993) era, becoming more dissonant and sharp-edged with The Great Annihilator (1994). Finally, the ultimate statement of that epoch of Swans, Soundtracks For The Blind<\/em> (1996), incorporated all of these elements across well over two hours of music. At this point, Gira called it quits after 15 years of non-stop recording and touring, disbanding the group.  For the next 13 years, he\u2019d make a long series of acclaimed albums and perform live extensively with a revolving roster of musicians under the name Angels Of Light. Gira also discovered, produced and released albums by other musicians through his label Young God Records. He cultivated such talents as Devendra Banhart and Akron\/Family among others, the original figures of the late 00\u2019s Avant-folk movement. 
In 2010, he reactivated Swans, releasing the studio album My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky<\/em> to ecstatic critical response and touring the world for the better part of a year. The Seer<\/em>, a triple album studio set, came out in 2012 and was celebrated by another lengthy world tour eliciting more media praise and album sales that landed The Seer<\/em> on Billboard\u2019s Top 200. Swans\u2019 next release, To Be Kind<\/em> (another triple vinyl) debuted at #36 on Billboard\u2019s Top 200 Sales Chart and #5 on their Independent Sales Chart. The group sold out 47 concert dates in their subsequent touring including selling out two-night stands in cities including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Paris, as well as single shows in London, Berlin and Rome. The album garnered enormous praise from the press, and the two-hour long album stream was premiered by NPR. The Glowing Man<\/em> (2017) (also triple vinyl) was the last studio release by this incarnation of Swans. 2019\u2019s Leaving Meaning,<\/em> saw Gira return to working with a fluid supporting cast of musicians once again, which continued with 2023\u2019s acclaimed album, The Beggar<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

website<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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