Soundtracks for the Blind

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Soundtracks for the Blind
Double album by Swans
Released	1996
Genre	Experimental, Post-Rock, Art Rock, Minimal, Ambient
Length	141:37
Label	Atavistic Records
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Swans chronology
Failure/Animus (1996)	Soundtracks for the Blind (1996)

Soundtracks for the Blind is the final studio album by Swans. 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 compostions in the vein of Glenn Branca ("Helpless Child", "The Sound"); musique concrète ("The Beautiful Days"); cinematic post-rock as later popularised by Godspeed You! Black Emperor ("I Was a Prisoner in Your Skull"); 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 random than the latter.

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Disc one

1. "Red Velvet Corridor" – 3:04
2. "I Was A Prisoner In Your Skull" – 6:39
3. "Helpless Child" – 15:47
4. "Live Through Me" – 2:32
5. "Yum-Yab Killers" – 5:07
6. "The Beautiful Days" – 7:49
7. "Volcano" – 5:18
8. "Mellothumb" – 2:46
9. "All Lined Up" – 4:48
10. "Surrogate 2" – 1:52
11. "How They Suffer" – 5:52
12. "Animus" – 10:41

[edit] Disc two

1. "Red Velvet Wound" – 2:02
2. "The Sound" – 13:11
3. "Her Mouth Is Filled With Honey" – 3:19
4. "Blood Section" – 2:39
5. "Hypogirl" – 2:44
6. "Minus Something" – 4:14
7. "Empathy" – 6:45
8. "I Love You This Much" – 7:23
9. "YRP" – 7:47
10. "Fan's Lament" – 1:28
11. "Secret Friends" – 3:08
12. "The Final Sacrifice" – 10:27
13. "YRP 2" – 2:09
14. "Surrogate Drone" – 2:06

Swans

Michael Gira | Jarboe | Algis Kizys | Norman Westberg

Studio Releases

Swans EP | Filth | Cop | Young God EP | Time is Money (Bastard) EP | Greed | A Screw EP | Holy Money | Children Of God | New Mind EP | Love Will Tear Us Apart | The Burning World | Can't Find My Way Home EP | Saved EP | White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity | Love Of Life | Celebrity Lifestyle EP | The Great Annihilator | Die Tür Ist Zu | Failure/Animus EP | Soundtracks for the Blind

Live and Compilations

Public Castration Is A Good Idea | Feel Good Now | Anonymous Bodies In An Empty Room | Body To Body, Job To Job | Real Love | Kill The Child | Omniscience | I Am the Sun/My Buried Child | Swans Are Dead | Various Failures | Forever Burned

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Official Site | Young God Records