Yellow Swans - Descension

Yellow Swans
Descension
(05.2007, Acuarela)
9.0/10

The first time I ever listened to Yellow Swans was when they opened for Xiu Xiu at Kilby Court in 05'. The set was so loud and abrasive that I listened in the court yard, sparing the ears of a then budding love interest. In conversation she described the sound billowing out of the venue as conjuring “a thousands ghosts on a train.” While I felt that the coarseness of their earlier sound required the specification of demons rather than ghosts, I thought the term was terrific. Now, a couple years later, I feel like Yellow Swans finally embody that statement. Gone are the demons, remaining are thousands of ghosts, not necessarily ill begotten, but still breathing a cacophonous moan as passengers reeling along the screeching of an ancient train track. Descension, released earlier this year, is a pair of long form live recordings that are exactly what I thought would really be the outcome of “a thousand ghosts on a train.” As the opener to their fabulous full length release At All Ends, Descension takes steps to upstage the main event. Totaling just under a half hour, the tracks dive head long into the most jarringly beautiful recreation of a spectral despair magnified and layered a thousand times over. A must for fans of experimental noise music.

-Mr. Thistle

Descension on Boomkat