Most noise bands pummel you into oblivion with extreme sound violence. Shards of noise bash around the listener until through sheer volume alone an immersion of the listener into the sound field occurs. Yellow Swans are not most noise bands. Instead of pummeling the listener, they intoxicate with cascades of sound that are as beautiful as most noise is brutal. This isn't to say the Yellow Swans are an easy listening ambient trip; they are as loud and intense as they come, but they make a place in their audio assaults for dynamics and melodics that few of their brethren bother with.
"Mort Aux Vaches" finds the Yellow Swans at their most expansive and dramatic. Haunting guitars cry out under squalls of noise, while the band explores breathtaking peaks and valleys of sound among the album's four sound sculptures. It is an exhilarating and intensely moving listen. The guitar invokes the aching arch of Godspeed You Black Emperor at times, but married to, and at odds with, a relentless tidal wave of noise. The juxtaposition of harsh electronics with mournful guitar is quite effective, but the band really hits their stride when both guitar and noise accompany and compliment each other through epic buildups of sound. There is something downright anthematic about this release. Yellow Swans do immerse the listener to the eventual point of oblivion with "Mort Aux Vaches," but they do so by way of their unique transcendental ascensions of noise rather than the decimated leveling of pure sonic violence. Phenomenal stuff.
Untitled #3 here
Untitled #1 here
2 comments:
do you know if this is still available?
I don't think so unless some distro still has it. I think download is the only way. You could e-mail Pete S. through the YS myspace page, and see if he has any copies left to sell.
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