The Story of Swans by Those Who Lived to Tell

Nick Soulsby's oral history of Swans digs deep in and around the trenches of Michael Gira's twisted musical world.

                                      
Books
    
        Nick Soulsby Reads from His Oral History, 'Swans: Sacrifice and Transcendence'
    
PopMatters Staff

    02 Aug 2018

Music
    
        Étant Donnés with Michael Gira - Offenbarung und Untergang (Review)
    
Mike Schiller

    13 Feb 2018

Music
    
        Swans: The Great Annihilator / Michael Gira: Drainland
    
Mike Schiller

    28 Jun 2017

Recent

Interviews

Finding the Image: Michael Gira Talks Swans' Creative Process

Michael Gira discusses the mistake that led to a critical part of the latest Swans album, building a collective mind, and the art of Francis Bacon.

Music

Swans: The Gate

Michael Gira’s lauded experimental rock group returns with an apocalyptic shriek.

Music

Swans: Oxygen EP

Revealing the true horsepower behind the Swans’ "Oxygen", this four-song collection should be handled by a professional driver on a closed course.

Music

The Knife and the Blood That Ensues: An Interview with Swans

PopMatters speaks with Swans frontman Michael Gira about the band's "joyous" new double LP, To Be Kind, covering everything from its undulating rhythms to its original titillating cover art.

Music

Swans: To Be Kind

To Be Kind is a punishing exploration of rhythm and groove as only Swans can do it.

Music

The Transcendant Power of Extreme Music

Genres like metal can be experienced as a cleansing agent, removed of anger, sadness, pleasure, and bereft of space and origin. Momentarily, you are negated, a joyous flipside to nihilism.

Music

Sturm und Swans: Stalking 'The Seer'

The end result of Swan's recent The Seer is a place where Gira’s demons, sages, and baffled, bruised mortals do the jig of life alongside the dance macabre, and the gentleness of John the Baptist rides upon the rage of Jehovah.

Arthur Smith

Music

The Seer Returns: An Interview with Swans' Michael Gira

Upon the release of Swans' 12th album, Michael Gira opens up about why this is not a Swans reunion album, music piracy, and what fans can expect from the upcoming tour.

Matt Spencer

Music

Swans: My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky

Michael Gira's legendary Swans return from over a decade of silence to create a heart-stopping album of sin, death, hope, and reclamation.

Performing Arts

20 Questions: Genesis Breyer P-Orridge

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge warns PopMatters 20 Questions readers, "Pleasure is a cultural weapon. Use it wisely."

Music

Psychic TV/PTV3: Mr. Alien Brain vs. the Skinwalkers

In the shadow of the passing of Lady Jaye, Genesis P-Orridge sounds worn, defeated by the realities of this world.

Music

Michael Gira in His Own Words

Even after decades of creating powerful music, first through Swans and now with Angels of Light, Michael Gira finds the creative process mysterious, chaotic and a little frightening.

Jennifer Kelly

Music

Perpetual Motion: An Interview with Akron/Family

With its third album in two years Akron/Family takes another snapshot of its continuously evolving musical journey. Meek Warrior's free jazz freak outs may surprise some fans, but bass player Miles Seaton shrugs it off, saying, 'We just want to keep capturing wherever we are along the way.'

Jennifer Kelly

Reviews

Collapse Expand Reviews

BROWSE ALL ALBUM REVIEWS

Features

The 60 Best Albums of 2007

Primal Scream's 'Screamadelica' and the Altered State

Collapse Expand Features

PM Picks

Collapse Expand Pm Picks

Nick Soulsby's oral history of Swans digs deep in and around the trenches of Michael Gira's twisted musical world.

Michael Gira discusses the mistake that led to a critical part of the latest Swans album, building a collective mind, and the art of Francis Bacon.

Michael Gira’s lauded experimental rock group returns with an apocalyptic shriek.

Revealing the true horsepower behind the Swans’ "Oxygen", this four-song collection should be handled by a professional driver on a closed course.

Following their "reconstitution", Swans have put out three albums since 2010. PopMatters examines the best material the innovative rock band has put out during that time.

PopMatters speaks with Swans frontman Michael Gira about the band's "joyous" new double LP, To Be Kind, covering everything from its undulating rhythms to its original titillating cover art.

To Be Kind is a punishing exploration of rhythm and groove as only Swans can do it.

Genres like metal can be experienced as a cleansing agent, removed of anger, sadness, pleasure, and bereft of space and origin. Momentarily, you are negated, a joyous flipside to nihilism.

The end result of Swan's recent The Seer is a place where Gira’s demons, sages, and baffled, bruised mortals do the jig of life alongside the dance macabre, and the gentleness of John the Baptist rides upon the rage of Jehovah.

Upon the release of Swans' 12th album, Michael Gira opens up about why this is not a Swans reunion album, music piracy, and what fans can expect from the upcoming tour.

Michael Gira's legendary Swans return from over a decade of silence to create a heart-stopping album of sin, death, hope, and reclamation.

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge warns PopMatters 20 Questions readers, "Pleasure is a cultural weapon. Use it wisely."

In the shadow of the passing of Lady Jaye, Genesis P-Orridge sounds worn, defeated by the realities of this world.

Even after decades of creating powerful music, first through Swans and now with Angels of Light, Michael Gira finds the creative process mysterious, chaotic and a little frightening.

With its third album in two years Akron/Family takes another snapshot of its continuously evolving musical journey. Meek Warrior's free jazz freak outs may surprise some fans, but bass player Miles Seaton shrugs it off, saying, 'We just want to keep capturing wherever we are along the way.'