Do you know who wouldn’t have shown up in that Times article complaining about lack of affordable rehearsal space in New York? Michael Gira, frontman of noise-rock titans Swans, who self-flagellated his days away in the Big Apple of the early- to mid-’80s, making S&M art out of loud, repetitive, implacable, ass-ugly industrial rhythms, before blossoming into something more lush and malevolent as the decade wore on.
He wouldn’t have worried about disturbing the neighbors while practicing, either. He would have squatted in the nastiest building in town, turned everything up until he scared all the rats away, and beat himself in the face with any that happened to hang around. The horn-y groove of “A Screw” is a Funkadelic burner by Swans standards, a fact not lost on mash-up maestro DJ Lance Lockarm, who once made LL Cool J and Dr. Dre rock to its cavernous boom-bap.
Swans – “A Screw” [YouTube]
Lance Lockarm [Official Site]
wow holy crap, what a pleasant surprise. swans rule my fucking world. now if only Young God would reissue White Light from the Mouth of Infinity. On vinyl preferrably but at this point if I could even find someone with the cd I’d pay them to burn it and then send Mr Gira ten bucks for being awesome.
also, i’m pretty sure this video is going to get me fired, if not arrested.
Echoing everything Jess said. And goddamn what a sense of humor Swans had.
Swans, Doves, Cranes, Black Crowes, Eagles, Flock of Seagulls, um, Hawkwind? Eagles of Death Metal? Byrds?
What are the best Bands named after our avian friends?
TWEEDY BIRD LOC, OBV.