Soundtracks For The Blind

by Swans

Soundtracks For The Blind cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: October 29, 1996
  • Label: Young God, Atavistic
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 2:21:40
  • Community rating: 4.47/5 from 37 ratings

Artists on this release: Michael Gira, Vudi, Joe Goldring, Larry Mullins, Jarboe, Bill Rieflin

Album Notes & Community Reviews

'Soundtracks For The Blind' is a sprawling double album constructed from a vast archive of found sounds, surveillance tapes, and cassette loops that were digitally layered with new studio performances. [1] The work's blend of post-rock, drone, industrial textures, and musique concrète explores themes of despair, aging, and human frailty, often incorporating deeply personal recordings from the families of Michael Gira and Jarboe. Conceived as the definitive final statement before the group's initial dissolution, its experimental song structures and thematic intensity cemented its status as a monumental and defining work in the Swans discography. [9]

Genres

Descriptors: monolithic, experimental, long-form, noisy, ambient, conceptual

Tracklist

  1. Red Velvet Corridor (3:05)
  2. I Was A Prisoner In Your Skull (6:39)
  3. Helpless Child (15:47)
  4. Live Through Me (2:31)
  5. Yum-Yab Killers (5:07)
  6. The Beautiful Days (7:49)
  7. Volcano (5:19)
  8. Mellothumb (2:45)
  9. All Lined Up (4:48)
  10. Surrogate 2 (1:51)
  11. How They Suffer (5:52)
  12. Animus (10:43)
  13. Red Velvet Wound (2:02)
  14. The Sound (13:11)
  15. Her Mouth Is Filled With Honey (3:18)
  16. Blood Section (2:39)
  17. Hypogirl (2:44)
  18. Minus Something (4:14)
  19. Empathy (6:45)
  20. I Love You This Much (7:23)
  21. YRP (7:46)
  22. Fan's Lament (1:28)
  23. Secret Friends (3:08)
  24. The Final Sacrifice (10:27)
  25. YRP 2 (2:09)
  26. Surrogate Drone (2:10)

Credits

  • Michael Gira - vocals, guitar, samples, sounds, loops, producer, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
  • Jarboe - vocals, keyboards, sounds, loops, producer
  • Larry Mullins - percussion, vibraphone, drums
  • Vudi - guitar, acoustic guitar
  • Joe Goldring - electric guitar, bass guitar, guitar, bass
  • Bill Rieflin - performer
  • Andy Ray - engineer [live]
  • Chris Griffin (2) - mastered by, mixed by, recorded by
  • Billy Anderson - mixed by, recorded by
  • Larry Lame - mixed by, recorded by, performer
  • Martin Bisi - mixed by, recorded by
  • Algis A. Kizys - performer
  • Clinton Steele - performer
  • Christoph Hahn - performer

More from Swans: full discography