Yanqui U.X.O. by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
The Olatunji Concert by John Coltrane
The Lamb As Effigy (Live) by Sprain
Departure Songs by We Lost the Sea
The Winter Ray by Natural Snow Buildings
I think Yanqui UXO is such an underrated album in the grand scheme of things given the records it comes after. It might be my favorite Godspeed record. I’m a prog guy and the general progressive aesthetic of that album makes for an incredible spin on what already made their music great.
Tbh the only critique i have of it is i wish it had field recordings, interviews, etc like previous(and later) albums of theirs. Really great album nonetheless.
the extra 30 minute song is being recorded and released with Alex Kent’s new band (currently nothing released, but it also has guitarist Sylvie from sprain). from snippets hes posted the new music sounds manic
Both utilize aspects of noise music (Swans intentionally, and Coltrane because of the recording quality), both fluctuate between calmer and chaotic passages (although, admittedly, Swans utilizes considerably more calm passages than Coltrane), and, while not technically crescendos in the case of Coltrane, both build tension before releasing into bursts of energy before calming slightly and building tension again.
Obviously the live albums from 2012 - 2017 are must listens but also:
For the more deeply drone like ambient sections of the albums:
Boris: Boris at last: Feedbacker [[drone metal]]
Nurse with wound: Soliloquy for lilith [[Ambient]]
For the more rhythmic passages:
Pharaoh Sanders: Karma [[psychedelic jazz]]
Pink floyd: Wish you were here [[psych rock]]
And For the batshit insane moments:
Daughters: You won't get what you want [[noise rock]]
I'd recommend The Necks discography. Some good albums imo are Aether, Athenaeum/Homebush/Quay/Raab, and Silverwater. Body might be their closest to sounding like rock though.
Honestly I have never found anything, they are truly a one of a kind band that is unlike anything else I’ve heard. They deliver a sound and feeling that I haven’t been able to get from anything else. For the more droning, hypnotic aspects of swans’s music, the closest things ive found are pieces like “music for 18 musicians” by Steve Reich, and some of Tim Hecker’s albums like “virgins” and “harmony in ultraviolet”. When it comes to primal intensity and the more rock oriented elements, I think Slint comes pretty close especially with songs like “good morning captain”, of the album “spiderland”, as well as songs like “sister ray” by The Velvet Underground. A lot of the material on “Deathconciousness” by have a nice life could be seen as similar to swans. Miles Davis’s “bitches brew”, I would argue delivers a similar experience, and by a stretch I would could also place “the black saint and the sinner lady” by Mingus in there too. The most obvious answer would be is Godspeed You Black Emperor and albums like “lift your skinny fists like antennas to heaven” and “f#a#infinity”. For me, my prime example would be a song called “the sun” by the Microphones.
Ignore a lot of the recommendations you'll get here. It's often dreary vanilla post rock.
Forget about genres. Listen to Yes, early Genesis and the Miles Davis stuff around Bitches Brew / Live Evil etc.
If you want to do Nurse With Wound (and you should), go for An Awkward Pause before any other records.
I know what you're saying. But there's a similar spirit in the collective musicianship, and that's more important to me than any of those other qualities.
Tell me that Awaken by Yes isn't at all like Swans.
I mean, it may have vague structural similarities but certainly no more than, say, one of CAN’s epics. Complexity in simplicity is quite a different idea than complexity in complexity. And Yes is just unceasingly upbeat, emotive and cheesy, whereas Gira just drawls and barks out lyrics in between drone or noise sections.
I see a lot more similarities with jazz artists like you had mentioned than most prog bands, although personally I have no interest in, say, Genesis. Miles Davis, Pharaoh Sanders and John Coltrane all have some similarly paced, transcendent songs with just as much violence and sometimes harsher noise.
Yes are not at all upbeat and cheesy! Emotive, definitely, and even sentimental, but I tend to switch off from that and enjoy it on a musical level.
But I'd argue that A Piece of The Sky, for example, could also be considered to be from a similar mould.
I avoided Genesis for years, but I passionately believe that Foxtrot would be an outstanding listen for a Swans fan. Selling England too. The dynamics build in a similar way.
But I'm the kind of person who would recommend Planxty to those looking for a new angle on punk. I can appreciate why many people wouldn't.
Fantastic jazz recommendations. People should definitely also check out Coltrane and Sanders, as you say.
Yanqui U.X.O. by Godspeed You! Black Emperor The Olatunji Concert by John Coltrane The Lamb As Effigy (Live) by Sprain Departure Songs by We Lost the Sea The Winter Ray by Natural Snow Buildings
I think Yanqui UXO is such an underrated album in the grand scheme of things given the records it comes after. It might be my favorite Godspeed record. I’m a prog guy and the general progressive aesthetic of that album makes for an incredible spin on what already made their music great.
Tbh the only critique i have of it is i wish it had field recordings, interviews, etc like previous(and later) albums of theirs. Really great album nonetheless.
ROCKETS FALL ON ROCKET FALLS BABY
Why The Lamb live though
More complete versions of the songs and an extra 30 minute song
the extra 30 minute song is being recorded and released with Alex Kent’s new band (currently nothing released, but it also has guitarist Sylvie from sprain). from snippets hes posted the new music sounds manic
That's very exciting, thank you for making me aware of this!
why live
More fleshed out songs, an extra 30 minute song, and it's a lot more Post-Rock than Noise Rock relative to the studio version.
I wasn't aware of Sprain's Live. I'm fully listening and I think it's spectacular. Good recommendation.
Is there a better place to find it than YouTube?
Well... Soulseek.
How the hell is Olatunji Concert similar to post-rock era Swans?
Both utilize aspects of noise music (Swans intentionally, and Coltrane because of the recording quality), both fluctuate between calmer and chaotic passages (although, admittedly, Swans utilizes considerably more calm passages than Coltrane), and, while not technically crescendos in the case of Coltrane, both build tension before releasing into bursts of energy before calming slightly and building tension again.
The Lamb as Effigy by Sprain is very similar to the post rock trilogy, albeit with more noise elements. Amazing album imo
Obviously the live albums from 2012 - 2017 are must listens but also: For the more deeply drone like ambient sections of the albums: Boris: Boris at last: Feedbacker [[drone metal]] Nurse with wound: Soliloquy for lilith [[Ambient]] For the more rhythmic passages: Pharaoh Sanders: Karma [[psychedelic jazz]] Pink floyd: Wish you were here [[psych rock]] And For the batshit insane moments: Daughters: You won't get what you want [[noise rock]]
The Third Ascension - Glenn Branca
The Lamb As Effigy!!
Consume Red by Ground Zero
Consume red is one of the coolest things I've ever heard
Den Der Hale, Qujaku
The Psychic Paramount - II
Obed Edom Done Up In Jade Like Green Waters. Also, Deceit by This Heat reminds me a little bit of modern swans.
Cliff Richard - just... fabulous rock and roll
Kill the Lights by Lowercase, the song You're King especially
I'd recommend The Necks discography. Some good albums imo are Aether, Athenaeum/Homebush/Quay/Raab, and Silverwater. Body might be their closest to sounding like rock though.
Qujaku self titled
Honestly I have never found anything, they are truly a one of a kind band that is unlike anything else I’ve heard. They deliver a sound and feeling that I haven’t been able to get from anything else. For the more droning, hypnotic aspects of swans’s music, the closest things ive found are pieces like “music for 18 musicians” by Steve Reich, and some of Tim Hecker’s albums like “virgins” and “harmony in ultraviolet”. When it comes to primal intensity and the more rock oriented elements, I think Slint comes pretty close especially with songs like “good morning captain”, of the album “spiderland”, as well as songs like “sister ray” by The Velvet Underground. A lot of the material on “Deathconciousness” by have a nice life could be seen as similar to swans. Miles Davis’s “bitches brew”, I would argue delivers a similar experience, and by a stretch I would could also place “the black saint and the sinner lady” by Mingus in there too. The most obvious answer would be is Godspeed You Black Emperor and albums like “lift your skinny fists like antennas to heaven” and “f#a#infinity”. For me, my prime example would be a song called “the sun” by the Microphones.
H.A.Q.Q. or 93696 by Liturgy. I don’t think Liturgy gets enough cross-over love from swans fans.
you won't get what you want by daughters
Ignore a lot of the recommendations you'll get here. It's often dreary vanilla post rock. Forget about genres. Listen to Yes, early Genesis and the Miles Davis stuff around Bitches Brew / Live Evil etc. If you want to do Nurse With Wound (and you should), go for An Awkward Pause before any other records.
I feel like Yes and Genesis are ironically a lot further from what they're asking for. Completely different emotions, style, and aesthetic from Swans.
I know what you're saying. But there's a similar spirit in the collective musicianship, and that's more important to me than any of those other qualities. Tell me that Awaken by Yes isn't at all like Swans.
I mean, it may have vague structural similarities but certainly no more than, say, one of CAN’s epics. Complexity in simplicity is quite a different idea than complexity in complexity. And Yes is just unceasingly upbeat, emotive and cheesy, whereas Gira just drawls and barks out lyrics in between drone or noise sections. I see a lot more similarities with jazz artists like you had mentioned than most prog bands, although personally I have no interest in, say, Genesis. Miles Davis, Pharaoh Sanders and John Coltrane all have some similarly paced, transcendent songs with just as much violence and sometimes harsher noise.
Yes are not at all upbeat and cheesy! Emotive, definitely, and even sentimental, but I tend to switch off from that and enjoy it on a musical level. But I'd argue that A Piece of The Sky, for example, could also be considered to be from a similar mould. I avoided Genesis for years, but I passionately believe that Foxtrot would be an outstanding listen for a Swans fan. Selling England too. The dynamics build in a similar way. But I'm the kind of person who would recommend Planxty to those looking for a new angle on punk. I can appreciate why many people wouldn't. Fantastic jazz recommendations. People should definitely also check out Coltrane and Sanders, as you say.