Soundtracks for the Blind

Soundtracks for the Blind
Studio album (double album) by Swans
Released 22 October 1996
Recorded 1981 – 1996
Genre
Length 141:37
Label Young God
Producer Michael Gira, Jarboe (track 7)
Swans chronology
Die Tür ist zu
(1996)Die Tür ist zu1996		 Soundtracks for the Blind
(1996)		 Swans Are Dead
(1998)Swans Are Dead1998
Singles from Soundtracks for the Blind
  1. "Failure" / "Animus"
    Released: 1996

Soundtracks for the Blind is the tenth studio album by Swans, and the last released until 2010's My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky. It was released as a double CD in 1996, through Young God Records. Soundtracks for the Blind was intended, as suggested by the title, to function as a sort of "soundtrack for a non-existent film", and is Swans' most varied studio effort.

A reissue of the album was released on July 20, 2018, marking the first time Soundtracks for the Blind is released on vinyl.[3]

Background

On the composition of Soundtracks for the Blind, frontman Michael Gira said in 1997:

I've always been interested in different sounds like that and listened to Brian Eno and different kinds of music that use non-musical sources often, and as I made this record I had a lot of that material: those loops and things I'd made from '81; I had vocal loops that Jarboe had made in 1985 on a little sixteen second digital delay unit which was actually the first sampler... we had these tape narrations we'd been collecting, that she got from her father's desk when he was an FBI agent – surveillance tapes; I interviewed my father because I'm interested in his life, and took a little snippet of his experiences... then we had new things we'd recorded with our 'band' from the last tour; and some stuff we did for a soundtrack for a film. I threw all those into the computer and assembled it that way. So, in some things, there's something from 1981 playing simultaneously with something from '85 playing simultaneously with something from 1996. It's cross-faded and blended and mixed so to speak in the computer, cut-up and sometimes looped and reversed.[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Sputnikmusic[6]
Terrorizer[7]

Soundtracks for the Blind has been met with acclaim by critics. Terrorizer magazine wrote, "Gira has painstakingly recorded and produced this magnus [sic] opus with a ferocious attention to detail. Above all, it sounds phenomenal".[7] AllMusic called Soundtracks for the Blind "[Swans'] best album ever".[5]

Track listing

All tracks written by Michael Gira, except "Yum-Yab Killers", "Volcano", and "Red Velvet Wound", written by Jarboe, and "Surrogate 2", "Her Mouth Is Filled with Honey", "Minus Something", and "Secret Friends", written by Gira and Jarboe.

Disc One (Silver)
No.TitleLength
1."Red Velvet Corridor"3:04
2."I Was a Prisoner in Your Skull"6:39
3."Helpless Child"15:47
4."Live Through Me"2:32
5."Yum-Yab Killers"5:07
6."The Beautiful Days"7:49
7."Volcano"5:18
8."Mellothumb"2:46
9."All Lined Up"4:48
10."Surrogate 2"1:52
11."How They Suffer"5:52
12."Animus"10:41
Total length:72:06
Disc Two (Copper)
No.TitleLength
1."Red Velvet Wound"2:02
2."The Sound"13:11
3."Her Mouth Is Filled With Honey"3:19
4."Blood Section"2:39
5."Hypogirl"2:44
6."Minus Something"4:14
7."Empathy"6:45
8."I Love You This Much"7:23
9."YRP"7:47
10."Fan's Lament"1:28
11."Secret Friends"3:08
12."The Final Sacrifice"10:27
13."YRP 2"2:09
14."Surrogate Drone"2:06
Total length:69:31 (141:37)

Personnel

Credits for Soundtracks for the Blind adapted from liner notes.[8]

Swans
  • Michael Gira - vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, samples, sampler, sounds, loops, producer (all tracks except "Volcano")
  • Jarboe - vocals, sounds, loops, producer (on "Volcano")
  • Norman Westberg - additional musician
  • Algis Kizys - additional musician
  • Bill Rieflin - additional musician
  • Christoph Hahn - additional musician
  • Clinton Steele - additional musician
  • Larry Lame - additional musician, mixing and recording
Guest Musicians
  • Joe Goldring - electric guitar, bass guitar (on tracks 3, 5, 9, 12, 14, 19, 24, and 25)
  • Vudi - electric guitar, acoustic guitar (on tracks 3, 5, 9, 12, 14, 19, 24, and 25)
  • Larry Mullins - drums, percussion, vibraphone (on tracks 3, 5, 9, 12, 14, 19, 24, and 25)
  • Cris Force - viola (on "Animus" and "YRP")
Additional Personnel
  • Billy Anderson - mixing and recording
  • Chris Griffin - mixing, mastering and recording
  • Martin Bisi - mixing and recording
  • Andy Ray - live engineer on "Yum-Yab Killers", "I Love You This Much", "The Final Sacrifice" and "YRP 2"

References

  1. ↑ Isachs. "Recorded Music: Swans, "Soundtracks for the Blind" (Young God, 1996)". Reviewing the Arts, Columbia College Chicago. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  2. ↑ joshuatree. "Swans - Soundtracks for the Blind". sputnikmusic. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  3. ↑ "Soundtracks For The Blind (Remastered 2018) PREORDER". YOUNG GOD RECORDS. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
  4. ↑ "Swans | M. Gira | Interview". younggodrecords.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  5. 1 2 Raggett, Ned. "Soundtracks for the Blind – Swans : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Review: Swans – Soundtracks for the Blind | Sputnikmusic". July 26, 2008.
  7. 1 2 Terry, Nick. "[Terrorizer review]". Terrorizer. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  8. ↑ Track listing and credits as per liner notes for Soundtracks for the Blind album
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