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Birthing (album)
''Birthing'' is the seventeenth studio album by the American experimental rock band Swans. It was released on May 30, 2025, through Mute and Young God Records. Frontman Michael Gira stated that the album was the last to focus on "all-consuming sound worlds", with future albums taking on a "significantly pared down form". The first single from ''Birthing'', "I Am a Tower", was released on February 25, 2025. Background Michael Gira, the frontman for Swans, stated that the material within ''Birthing'' was developed and recorded across a yearlong tour. The songs were then further orchestrated and rearranged in the studio. Gira also stated that it would be the last "big sound" Swans album, with future releases from the band being "significantly pared down" and that it would mark his last album as the main producer of Swans. One last tour with the band's old sound is planned to take place near the end of 2025. Release The first single from ''Birthing'', "I Am a Tower" was released ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swans (band)
Swans are an American experimental rock band formed in 1981 by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. One of the few acts to emerge from the New York City-based no wave scene and stay intact into the next decade, Swans have become recognized for an ever-changing sound, exploring genres such as noise rock, post-punk, industrial music, industrial and post-rock. Initially, their music was known for its sonic brutality and Misanthropy, misanthropic lyrics. Following the addition of singer, songwriter and keyboardist Jarboe in 1986, Swans began to incorporate melody and intricacy into their music. Jarboe remained the band's only constant member with Gira and semi-constant guitarist Norman Westberg until their dissolution in 1997. In 2010, Gira re-formed the band without Jarboe, establishing a stable lineup of musicians which has toured worldwide and released four albums to critical acclaim. This iteration of the group performed its last shows in November 2017, endi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic (abbreviated as Sputnik) is a music website that publishes music reviews and news entries. The site hosts both professional and amateur content, covering metal, punk, indie, rock, hip-hop, pop and other styles. Its reviews are used by the review aggregate Metacritic. Reception Metacritic incorporates Sputnikmusic's staff reviews into its review aggregate ratings. The site was cited by ''The Guardian'' and Neil Daniels. Michael Miller wrote that "you're likely to fine a wide variety of opinions in the site". A Master's thesis utilized Sputnikmusic's music database for its research, due to its "focus on non-mainstream artists" and its "encompassing database". The ethnomusicologist Jorge Mercado Méndez references Sputnikmusic as an 'acclaimed' review source adjacent to ''Pitchfork'', while musicologist Giuseppe Catani cites Sputnikmusic's Alex Robertson alongside the ''NME''. Stratification and rating systems On Sputnikmusic, there are four levels of reviewer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larry Mullins (musician)
Lawrence Edward Mullins, also known as Toby Dammit, (born 13 December 1966 in Knoxville, Tennessee) is an American musician, record producer, and composer. A multi-instrumentalist (primarily drums, percussion, and keyboards), Mullins is best known as a member of the bands Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Swans, as well as a former member of The Stooges and other incarnations of Iggy Pop’s bands. He has also worked extensively in music for films and television, and had a performance role in the German cable series '' Babylon Berlin''. Music career Mullins played drums in Iggy Pop’s band from 1990 to 1999, recording three albums and additional works created specifically for films. In 2011, he joined Iggy and The Stooges in England, and remained their live drummer until their final performance in 2013. Mullins joined Swans in 1995 and continued working with Swans frontman Michael Gira in Angels of Light into 2003. He rejoined Swans in 2019 for the recording of their album ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taishōgoto
The , or Nagoya harp, is a Japanese stringed musical instrument. The name derives from the Taishō period (1912–1926) when the instrument first appeared. It has also become naturalized in East Africa, often under the name ''Taishokoto''. It is essentially a Keyboard Psalmodikon with multiple strings. There are 4 types available: soprano has 5 or 6 strings, alto has 4 or 5 strings, tenor and bass have 1 or 2 strings. History The ''Taishōgoto'' was developed in 1912 by the musician Gorō Morita in Nagoya. He came up with the idea of combining the mechanics of a typewriter with an instrument. The ''taishōgoto'' bears a close resemblance to the '' bulbul tarang'' from India, ''benju'' from Pakistan, and the akkordolia from Germany, all sharing the same principle of using keys to press down on strings to change their pitch. It also bears some resemblance to the Swedish nyckelharpa for the same reason, although the action and the method of playing the strings is very dif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Pravdica
Christopher Pravdica (born October 2, 1975) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bass guitarist of American experimental rock band Swans. Biography Pravdica is a member of the band Human Impact, along with former members of NYC based bands Cop Shoot Cop and Unsane. Ipecac Records released their first full-length album in March 2020. He was a member of New York-based indie rock band The Gunga Din, which was founded in 1998. The band released two studio album, ''Introducing'' (1999) and ''Glitterati'' (2000). He also puts out solo music under the name We Owe. He performed with Flux Information Sciences on electronics, alongside fellow The Gunga Gin member Siobhan Duffy. After the break-up of Flux Information Sciences, Pravdica and former member Tristan Bechet founded the band Services, which released its debut album ''Your Desire Is My Business'' in 2005. In 2010, Pravdica joined Swans, which reunited that year. After the reunion, Swans released six st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loop (music)
In music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections can be repeated to create ostinato patterns. Longer sections can also be repeated: for example, a player might loop what they play on an entire verse of a song in order to then play along with it, accompanying themselves. Loops can be created using a wide range of music technologies including turntables, digital samplers, looper pedals, synthesizers, sequencers, drum machines, tape machines, and delay units, and they can be programmed using computer music software. The feature to loop a section of an audio track or video footage is also referred to by electronics vendors as ''A–B repeat''. Royalty-free loops can be purchased and downloaded for music creation from companies like The Loop Loft, Native Instruments, Splice and Output. Loops are supplied in either MIDI or Audio file formats such as WAV, REX2, AIFF and MP3. Musicians ''play'' loops by triggering the start of the musical sequence by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lap Steel Guitar
The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar or lap slide guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional acoustic guitar, in which the performer's fingertips press the strings against frets, the pitch of a steel guitar is changed by pressing a polished steel bar against strings while plucking them with the opposite hand. The steel guitar's name is derived from this steel bar. Though the instrument does not have frets, it displays markers that resemble them. Lap steels may differ markedly from one another in external appearance, depending on whether they are acoustic or electric, but in either case, do not have pedals, distinguishing them from pedal steel guitars. The steel guitar was the first foreign musical instrument to gain a foothold in American pop music. It originated in the Hawaiian Kingdom about 1885, popularize ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kristof Hahn
Kristof Hahn (also known as Christoph Hahn; born 6 February 1959) is a German guitarist, composer and translator. Hahn is best known for his lap steel guitar playing in the New York experimental rock band Swans. He joined the band in 1989 to tour in support of the ''Burning World'' album tour and played on the subsequent album '' White Light from the Mouth of Infinity''. He left the band in 1992 due to the birth of his first child, and joined Swans' bandleader Michael Gira's follow-up project Angels of Light. Hahn was a constant member of the Swans relaunch from 2010 until 2017, and again in 2023. His approach to the lap-steel guitar is non-traditional, often devoted to playing drones that can serve as either supporting background elements or take a more prominent role in the band's music. Biography Kristof Hahn grew up in Saarbrücken in southwest Germany. He studied classical guitar as a youth, then turned to electric guitar. His style is influenced by a diversity of art ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Page Layout
In graphic design, page layout is the arrangement of visual elements on a page. It generally involves organizational principles of composition to achieve specific communication objectives. The high-level page layout involves deciding on the overall arrangement of text and images, and possibly on the size or shape of the medium. It requires intelligence, sentience, and creativity, and is informed by culture, psychology, and what the document authors and editors wish to communicate and emphasize. Low-level pagination and typesetting are more mechanical processes. Given certain parameters such as boundaries of text areas, the typeface, and font size, justification preference can be done in a straightforward way. Until desktop publishing became dominant, these processes were still done by people, but in modern publishing, they are almost always automated. The result might be published as-is (as for a residential phone book interior) or might be tweaked by a graphic designer (as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melodica
The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usually covers two or three octaves. Melodicas are small, lightweight, and portable, and many are designed for children to play. They are popular in music education programs, especially in Asia. The modern form of the instrument was invented by Hohner in the late 1950s, though similar instruments have been known in Italy since the 19th century. Description The mouthpiece can be a short rigid or semi-flexible plastic piece or a long flexible plastic tube (designed to allow the player to either hold the keyboard so the keys can be seen or lay the keyboard horizontally on a flat surface for two-handed playing). A foot pump can also be used as an alternative to breathing into the instrument. Melodica keyboards typically ascend from a low F not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Concert Flute
The Western concert flute can refer to the common C concert flute or to the family of transverse flute, transverse (side-blown) flutes to which the C flute belongs. Almost all are made of metal or wood, or a combination of the two. A musician who plays the flute is called a “flautist” in British English, and a “flutist” in American English. This type of flute is used in many ensembles, including concert bands, military bands, marching bands, orchestras, Flute choir, flute ensembles, and occasionally jazz combos and big bands. Other flutes in this family include the piccolo, the alto flute, and the bass flute. A large Flute Repertoire, repertory of works has been composed for flute. Predecessors The flute is one of the oldest and most widely used wind instruments. The precursors of the modern concert flute were keyless wooden transverse flutes similar to modern Fife (instrument), fifes. These were later modified to include up to eight keys for chromatic notes. Six ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hammered Dulcimer
The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-string instrument which consists of String (music), strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board (music), sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more traditional styles may sit cross-legged on the floor, or in a more modern style may stand or sit at a wooden support with legs. The player holds a small spoon-shaped Percussion mallet, mallet or ''hammer'' in each hand to strike the strings. The Greco-Roman world, Graeco-Roman word ''dulcimer'' (sweet song) derives from the Latin ''dulcis'' (sweet) and the Greek ''melos'' (song). The dulcimer, in which the strings are beaten with small hammers, originated from the psaltery, in which the strings are plucked. Hammered dulcimers and other similar instruments are traditionally played in Iraq, India, Iran, Southwest Asia, China, Korea, and parts of Southeast Asia, Central Europe (Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Slovaki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
