Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
Choosing to extinguish the band name under which Gira and Jarboe had worked together for so long must not have been an easy step, but when they decided to end Swans with one last studio release as a prelude to a farewell tour, they did so with what turned out to be their biggest and best album ever. Interestingly, the double-disc, two-and-a-half-hour long Soundtracks makes no pretensions at being a uniform creation like The White Album or Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness; Gira's own notes indicate the song sources as being from "hand-held cassette recordings to found sounds, to samples, to loops, to finished multitrack recordings," recorded with ten different musicians. Everything from raging electric music in extreme to the gentlest of acoustic strums can be found here, ultimately being a perfect encapsulation of Swans' sound -- as much as any greatest-hits anthology could ever have been. "The Helpless Child," the epic-length Gira-sung piece previewed on Die Tür ist Zu, amazingly gets an even more brilliant revision here, while another similarly lengthy track, "The Sound," at once roars and whispers over its length in a way that early Swans -- much less many other bands -- could never have done. Other tracks continue Swans' then-recent practice of mixing random taped conversations with exquisitely arranged performances: "I Was a Prisoner in Your Skull" is especially noteworthy as the clear forerunner of Godspeed you Black Emperor!'s entire musical approach. Jarboe's own tracks are all winners, from the fractured, tempo-shifting techno of "Volcano" to the howling live version of a solo album track from Sacrificial Cake, "Yum-Yab Killers." Ending on the unexpected yet appropriate "Surrogate Drone," Soundtracks lets Swans bow out from recording on the highest note possible.
© Ned Raggett /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From £10.83/month
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Jarboe, Composer - Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
DISC 2
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Jarboe, Composer - Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Jarboe, Composer - Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Jarboe, Composer - Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Swans, MainArtist - Michael Gira, Composer
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Album review
Choosing to extinguish the band name under which Gira and Jarboe had worked together for so long must not have been an easy step, but when they decided to end Swans with one last studio release as a prelude to a farewell tour, they did so with what turned out to be their biggest and best album ever. Interestingly, the double-disc, two-and-a-half-hour long Soundtracks makes no pretensions at being a uniform creation like The White Album or Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness; Gira's own notes indicate the song sources as being from "hand-held cassette recordings to found sounds, to samples, to loops, to finished multitrack recordings," recorded with ten different musicians. Everything from raging electric music in extreme to the gentlest of acoustic strums can be found here, ultimately being a perfect encapsulation of Swans' sound -- as much as any greatest-hits anthology could ever have been. "The Helpless Child," the epic-length Gira-sung piece previewed on Die Tür ist Zu, amazingly gets an even more brilliant revision here, while another similarly lengthy track, "The Sound," at once roars and whispers over its length in a way that early Swans -- much less many other bands -- could never have done. Other tracks continue Swans' then-recent practice of mixing random taped conversations with exquisitely arranged performances: "I Was a Prisoner in Your Skull" is especially noteworthy as the clear forerunner of Godspeed you Black Emperor!'s entire musical approach. Jarboe's own tracks are all winners, from the fractured, tempo-shifting techno of "Volcano" to the howling live version of a solo album track from Sacrificial Cake, "Yum-Yab Killers." Ending on the unexpected yet appropriate "Surrogate Drone," Soundtracks lets Swans bow out from recording on the highest note possible.
© Ned Raggett /TiVo
About the album
- 2 disc(s) - 26 track(s)
- Total length: 02:21:51
- Main artists: Swans
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Mute
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock Alternative & Indie
2001 Young God under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited 2001 Young God Publishing (ASCAP) under exclusive licence to Mute Artists Limited
Improve album informationWhy buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.