Soundtracks for the Blind
Encyclopedia
Soundtracks for the Blind is the eleventh studio album by Swans
, and the final for fourteen years, until 2010's My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
. It was released as a double
-CD
in 1996. Soundtracks for the Blind, intended, as suggested by the title, to function as a sort of "soundtrack for a non-existent film", is by far Swans' longest and most varied studio effort. The album showcases various musical styles, ranging from stark, nearly gothic
minimalism
("Empathy", "All Lined Up"); to epic compositions in the vein of Glenn Branca
("Helpless Child"); musique concrète
("The Beautiful Days"); cinematic post-rock
as later popularised by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
("The Sound"); EDM
("Volcano"); ambient music
("Surrogate Drone", "Red Velvet Corridor"); and even punk rock
(the live track "Yum-Yab Killers"). Due to the extreme diversity and sudden shifts of musical style, Soundtracks for the Blind could be compared to Faust
's The Faust Tapes
, although the general mood of the album is far more consistent and less miscellaneous than the latter.
The album is purely a compilation of old sound experiments and live recordings by bandleader Michael Gira
, some of which date back to the very beginnings of the band. Some were recorded on tapes, whilst others were to be found on simple casette tapes and floppy disks. Gira described the making of the album as "an extremely difficult and painstaking process". After the album was completed and released, Gira took all of his old recordings that were not used on the album ("A massive amount", says Gira) and disposed them on a nearby dump, leaving them lost forever.
Disc two (Copper)
Swans (band)
Swans are an influential American post-punk band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York No Wave scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in...
, and the final for fourteen years, until 2010's My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky is a studio album by Swans released on September 23, 2010; it is their first studio recording in 14 years...
. It was released as a double
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
-CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
in 1996. Soundtracks for the Blind, intended, as suggested by the title, to function as a sort of "soundtrack for a non-existent film", is by far Swans' longest and most varied studio effort. The album showcases various musical styles, ranging from stark, nearly gothic
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
minimalism
Minimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
("Empathy", "All Lined Up"); to epic compositions in the vein of Glenn Branca
Glenn Branca
Glenn Branca is an American avant-garde composer and guitarist known for his use of volume, alternative guitar tunings, repetition, droning, and the harmonic series. In 2008 he was awarded an unrestricted grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.-Beginnings: 1960s and early 1970s:Branca...
("Helpless Child"); musique concrète
Musique concrète
Musique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...
("The Beautiful Days"); cinematic post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
as later popularised by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a Canadian post-rock band which originated from Montreal, Quebec in 1994...
("The Sound"); EDM
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
("Volcano"); ambient music
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
("Surrogate Drone", "Red Velvet Corridor"); and even punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
(the live track "Yum-Yab Killers"). Due to the extreme diversity and sudden shifts of musical style, Soundtracks for the Blind could be compared to Faust
Faust (band)
Faust are a German krautrock band. Formed in 1971 in Wümme, the group was originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, working with record producer Uwe Nettelbeck and engineer Kurt Graupner.-History:Faust...
's The Faust Tapes
The Faust Tapes
The Faust Tapes is a 1973 album by the German krautrock group Faust. The album sold well in the United Kingdom because of a marketing gimmick by Virgin Records that saw it go on sale for the price of a single. This exposure introduced British audiences to Faust.Recommended Records reissued the...
, although the general mood of the album is far more consistent and less miscellaneous than the latter.
The album is purely a compilation of old sound experiments and live recordings by bandleader Michael Gira
Michael Gira
Michael Rolfe Gira is an American musician, author, and artist. He is the main force behind the recently reformed New York City musical group Swans and fronts the Angels of Light...
, some of which date back to the very beginnings of the band. Some were recorded on tapes, whilst others were to be found on simple casette tapes and floppy disks. Gira described the making of the album as "an extremely difficult and painstaking process". After the album was completed and released, Gira took all of his old recordings that were not used on the album ("A massive amount", says Gira) and disposed them on a nearby dump, leaving them lost forever.
Track listing
Disc one (Silver)- "Red Velvet Corridor" – 3:04
- "I Was a Prisoner In Your Skull" – 6:39
- "Helpless Child" – 15:47
- "Live Through Me" – 2:32
- "Yum-Yab Killers" – 5:07
- "The Beautiful Days" – 7:49
- "Volcano" – 5:18
- "Mellothumb" – 2:46
- "All Lined Up" – 4:48
- "Surrogate 2" – 1:52
- "How They Suffer" – 5:52
- "AnimusFailure/AnimusFailure/Animus is an EP by Swans. It was limited to 3000 copies. "Failure" was taken from the LP White Light from the Mouth of Infinity, while the B-side, "Animus", was excerpted from the then-unreleased album Soundtracks for the Blind. "Failure" can also be found on the compilation album "Various...
" – 10:41
Disc two (Copper)
- "Red Velvet Wound" – 2:02
- "The Sound" – 13:11
- "Her Mouth Is Filled With Honey" – 3:19
- "Blood Section" – 2:39
- "Hypogirl" – 2:44
- "Minus Something" – 4:14
- "Empathy" – 6:45
- "I Love You This Much" – 7:23
- "YRP" – 7:47
- "Fan's Lament" – 1:28
- "Secret Friends" – 3:08
- "The Final Sacrifice" – 10:27
- "YRP 2" – 2:09
- "Surrogate Drone" – 2:06