[Curly21029]

Quote:

Nice to see Swans up there...

 
What I'd like to know is when, exactly, Michael Gira transitioned from being No Wave fringe to indie darling.  Perhaps I was just in the wrong circles, but Swans never seemed to be all that popular pre-hiatus.

 

[carlchip78]

In no particular order:

Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
Father John Misty - Fear Fun
Jack White - Blunderbuss
Florence + the Machine - MTV Unplugged
Tom Waits - Bad As Me
The Black Keys - El Camino
Lower Plenty - Hard Rubbish
Zappa Re-issues

 

[metalsonata]

Their cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart brought them a pretty healthy dose of popularity for a while--and Soundtracks for the Blind received just as much reverence as The Seer has, if not even more. Although, of course, the hiatus itself helped. Everyone wants to see a legendary band succeed after an extended break, so when they do, it's really cause for celebration.
 
Quote:

 
What I'd like to know is when, exactly, Michael Gira transitioned from being No Wave fringe to indie darling.  Perhaps I was just in the wrong circles, but Swans never seemed to be all that popular pre-hiatus.

 

[louguzzo]

Quote:

Their cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart brought them a pretty healthy dose of popularity for a while--and Soundtracks for the Blind received just as much reverence as The Seer has, if not even more. Although, of course, the hiatus itself helped. Everyone wants to see a legendary band succeed after an extended break, so when they do, it's really cause for celebration.
 

 
Could you make a suggestion on which Swans album to start on?  I just found out about them the other day after reading Rolling Stone's list of the best of 2012, and so far have heard just 3 songs from Soundcloud, all from The Seer... One of them, the 23-minute "The Apostate," was pretty good, but maybe a little boring for my tastes - of course, I wasn't hearing it in context with the album which may be part of the issue... Any recommendations on where to start for a newbie?   Thanks! 

 

[ferday]

Could you make a suggestion on which Swans album to start on?  I just found out about them the other day after reading Rolling Stone's list of the best of 2012, and so far have heard just 3 songs from Soundcloud, all from The Seer... One of them, the 23-minute "The Apostate," was pretty good, but maybe a little boring for my tastes - of course, I wasn't hearing it in context with the album which may be part of the issue... Any recommendations on where to start for a newbie?   Thanks! 

Either 'the seer' (in entirety), 'soundtracks for the blind', or 'my father will guide me up a rope to the sky'

Their earlier stuff is often grating noise and unless you are into it (I love it myself) you will likely be turned off swans forever. Soundtracks for the blind has a good mixture of noise, punk, and a taste of their current post rock sound...and is my favourite swans work.

 

[MorbidToaster]

Either 'the seer' (in entirety), 'soundtracks for the blind', or 'my father will guide me up a rope to the sky'
Their earlier stuff is often grating noise and unless you are into it (I love it myself) you will likely be turned off swans forever. Soundtracks for the blind has a good mixture of noise, punk, and a taste of their current post rock sound...and is my favourite swans work.

The Seer is my favorite but Rope to the Sky is a close second.

I can understand the 'boring' complaint I guess but it's Drone music. Kind of his Drone rolls.

 

[Curly21029]

Quote:

Their cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart brought them a pretty healthy dose of popularity for a while--and Soundtracks for the Blind received just as much reverence as The Seer has, if not even more. Although, of course, the hiatus itself helped. Everyone wants to see a legendary band succeed after an extended break, so when they do, it's really cause for celebration.

 
Thanks for the history lesson!  I'm often pathetically ignorant when it comes to what's popular. 

 
But hey, something ambitious being recognized/rewarded is always a GREAT thing!

 

[metalsonata]

I would also highly recommend Soundtracks for the Blind as a starting point. As mentioned above, it's sort of representative of just about everything they've ever done--on the whole it's all perhaps a bit disjointed feeling, but it's pretty uniformly powerful work, regardless of which genre they're messing about with.

 

[JamesHuntington]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_jDjTz5SMI

 

[itayze]

Quote:

There has indeed been a plethora of great releases this year. My top 5 in order ......
5th - Storm Corrosion - "Storm Corrosion"
4th - Fleet Foxes - "Helplessness Blues"
3rd - Beth Orton - "Sugaring Season"
2nd - Mark lanegan Band - "Blues Funeral"
1st - Portico Quartet - "Portico Quartet"

 
For some reason (maybe because you mentioned Fleet Foxes), From all of the albums mentioned here I decided to pick up Portico Quartet without any specific knowledge about them.
 
They blew me away (especially the first song), I've never heart anything like it - they're amazing.
 
Thank you!

 

[max pl]

 

[mutabor]

My favorite Russian album of the year 2012
 
InWhite Неверлэнд ( Neverland)
 

 

[metalsonata]

Here's NPR's 'Viking's Choice' two top 10 lists, one for metal (not a big fan of the metal list this year--probably the first time I've been somewhat miffed at most of the choices, or more accurately, the exclusions), and one for 'outer sounds' (aka drone, noise, ambient, 'experimental' stuff, etc.).
 
http://www.npr.org/blogs/bestmusic2012/2012/12/21/167695210/top-10-metal-albums-of-2012
http://www.npr.org/blogs/bestmusic2012/2012/12/20/167711832/top-10-outer-sound-albums-of-2012
 
Enjoy!

 

[paradoxper]

In particular order:
 
Marconi Union - Different Colours
Preterite - Pillar of Wind
BT- Morceau Subrosa
Lorn -  Ask The Dust
For Today -  Immortal
The Word Alive - Life Cycles
The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza- Danza 4: The Alpha - The Omega
Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
Swans - The Seer
Grimes - Visions
The Acacia Strain - Death Is The Only Mortal
Impending Doom - Baptized In Filth
BT - If The Stars Are Eternal So Are You And I
Grizzly Bear - Shields
Parkway Drive - Atlas

 

[ferday]

Quote:

In particular order:
 
Marconi Union - Different Colours
Preterite - Pillar of Wind
BT- Morceau Subrosa
Lorn -  Ask The Dust
For Today -  Immortal
The Word Alive - Life Cycles
The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza- Danza 4: The Alpha - The Omega
Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
Swans - The Seer
Grimes - Visions
The Acacia Strain - Death Is The Only Mortal
Impending Doom - Baptized In Filth
BT - If The Stars Are Eternal So Are You And I
Grizzly Bear - Shields
Parkway Drive - Atlas

 
umm...fantastic list my friend!