hypersongs

Soundtracks for the Blind

A 26-track double album, the tenth Swans studio record and the longest of their catalog.
Swans, 1996

Gira, by then in Atlanta, assembled archival tapes, field recordings and new performances with the Sonic Solutions program by looping, reversing, cross-fading and layering. The sources included cassettes and surveillance tapes left by Jarboe's father, a former FBI agent. Gira said in Magnet that everything from Children of God on became backdrop to films that didn't exist. Bill Rieflin produced and played whatever parts a song needed. Guests include Joe Goldring, Vudi, Larry Mullins, Cris Force, Christoph Hahn, Clinton Steele and Norman Westberg. Wikipedia's infobox gives October 22 and its text October 29 for release; the first vinyl was a four-LP box on July 20, 2018.

AllMusic gave 4.5 of 5 and its Ned Raggett called it their best album ever, Alternative Press gave 5, and Thom Jurek of Metro Times called it a final statement, exiting at the very top of their game. Stereogum ranked it third among Swans albums, and Paste placed it 175th in its 300 greatest albums. The German EP Die Tür ist zu (1996) carries early German-language versions of two of its songs, including "Hilflos Kind".

Track listing

  1. Red Velvet Corridor3:04
  2. I Was a Prisoner in Your Skull6:39
  3. Helpless Child15:47
  4. Live Through Me2:32
  5. Yum-Yab Killers5:07
  6. The Beautiful Days7:49
  7. Volcano5:18
  8. Mellothumb2:46
  9. All Lined Up4:48
  10. Surrogate 21:52
  11. How They Suffer5:52
  12. Animus10:41

More from Swans

Filth (1983), Cop (1984), Greed (1986), Public Castration Is A Good Idea (1986), Holy Money (1986), Real Love (1986), Živi V Ljubljani (1987), Children Of God (1987), Feel Good Now (1988), The Burning World (1989), White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity (1991), Omniscience (1992), Love Of Life (1992), The Great Annihilator (1995), My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky (2010), The Seer (2012), We Rose From Your Bed With The Sun In Our Head (2012), To Be Kind (2014), The Glowing Man (2016), Deliquescence (2017), Leaving Meaning. (2019), The Beggar (2023), Birthing (2025), Newly Sentient Being (2026)

Sources

  1. Soundtracks for the Blind, Wikipedia
  2. Magnet Classics: the making of Soundtracks for the Blind, Magnet (2016-08-16)
  3. Soundtracks for the Blind, Swans