Swans - Can't Find My Way Home

Ever onwards through collecting the Swans discography! Ever onwards....

Unfortunately, Can't Find My Way Home is one of the weaker tracks off the somewhat-hated The Burning World album (and a cover song to boot), so this single doesn't really do anything for me in that respect. It is merely a completists item for me, as I go on to collect at least one version of every release Swans have put out. I have the 7" version here, although there is a 12" version of this single in existence, which I believe possesses yet another extra track. 

 

The b-side here though, is a cripplingly-weak acoustic re-working of "(She's A) Universal Emptiness", which is one of my favourite tracks off The Burning World. This version, is for some godforsaken reason, sped up in tempo, and not only sounds rushed, but loses it's depressive and brooding feeling. 

To briefly conclude; this release offers nothing to the Swans discography in any way, and is entirely a completists item. I do not recommend purchasing it to anyone, anywhere.

Swans - Love of Life

This little remix EP accompanied the release of the Love of Life album by Swans back in 1992. It makes things a touch confusing whilst researching online as both 12"s have the same title. It takes two tracks from that record, and pairs them alongside "long versions", which are essentially drawn-out, more atmospheric takes on the classic original tracks. This "single" isn't particularly rare, but at the same time it isn't very easy to find either. I know that doesn't make much sense, but don't expect these to fall off trees. Despite this, you can still get it fairly cheap (expect to pay around a minimum of £15). I found my copy buried in amongst all the crap at Kelly's Records in Cardiff market, much to my delight. This will eventually go inside my Love of Life black box set, which to date is still missing a record (White Light). When I get a copy of White Light I'll do a separate review for that as well and then do the Love of Life album review + box set overlook in another post, probably as something special like the 1000th post or something.

The title track remix doesn't really offer much, just drawing out the track a bit more and adding a weird funk to it, as well as a strange dance beat. When it kicks in proper, it has more time to unfold that the 3-minutes-or-so album version, but it does get a bit repetitive after 6 minutes. The "Amnesia" remix however is totally brilliant. It takes the drum pattern and extends it, filling the void with hellish screams, horns, mysterious sounds and Jarboe's haunting vocals. The original version of "Amnesia" is so short and to the point for a Swans song, so this creepy atmospheric version definitely feels more like the real thing!

Both remixes were done by a guy called Martin Bisi, who runs a recording studio in New York with Bill Laswell (the guy who produced The Burning World), and the 12" was put out by Gira's own label, Young God Records. You check out both extended remix tracks below. Get in!

Swans - New Mind

In my quest to own all Swans shit I endeavor to pick up all the singles as 12"s, with the exception of New Mind as the 12" doesn't really offer me anything for the increased price. For the singles that follow, a lot of alternate versions / exclusive tracks occupy the B-side, but with New Mind all the 7" gets is a shorter version  of what's on the 12" B-side. And that is actually a good thing, because we get the lush Jarboe track "I'll Swallow You" without the crappy remixed "New Mind" intro. Straight to the point! The whole 12" version appears as the final track on any repress of Children of God anyway, so I've heard it and own it and it's fucking crap. Also, as a note, the version of "New Mind" here is cut down to just under four minutes.

 

Michael Gira - Songs for a Dog

This post is dedicated to Michael Gira's dog Nina, who passed away last week. 

Songs for a Dog is essentially the vinyl version of what would become The Milk of M. Gira on CD. Both act as compilation albums of Gira's self-released acoustic stuff, which is all out of print, limited edition and worth a fucking fortune. This was originally put together by a British label called Lumberton Trading Company back in 2006. It is a fairly simple affair comprising mainly of a plain cardboard sleeve with minimal art by Gira himself (co-incidentally the same front cover stamp that adorns The Milk...) and a lyrics sheet.  

All the Gira classics are here, be they solo tracks or borrowed ones from Swans or The Angels of Light. Stand out tracks are the ominous opener "Promise of Water", the personal homage that is "Rose of Los Angeles" and the self-destructive depress-o-classic "God Damn the Sun". "Purple Creek" is pretty good too, and closer "Mean Monster Mike" is just plain insane.

I'm not entirely sure if this record is still in print (I got it at a stall in Roadburn Festival 2012) but if you are looking to get some of Gira's acoustic stuff this is the cheapest you'll find anywhere, ever. The Milk of M. Gira is still in print but unless you can catch him / Swans on tour your never going to get it at a decent price when beret wearing hipster cunts are selling them on Discogs for over sixty quid each. All the other hand-made CDs are valuing at a hundred or more, so this simple 12" at an average of fifteen pounds is your best bet, I'd wager.   

I fucking love Gira but I fucking hate hipsters. What an endlessly painful situation, eh?

PS - This song isn't on this compilation, but it is an excellent example of Gira's acoustic show.