Yellow Swans - Going Places

Yellow Swans
Going Places
(2010, Type)
RIYL = Axolotl, Jan Jelinek, Tim Hecker

The final official Yellow Swans album is finally here. It took two whole years after Pete Swanson and Gabriel Mindel Saloman announced that they were going their separate ways for the thing to arrive. I don’t know why it took so long, but boy was it worth the wait. Going Places mines the same aural depths found in At All Ends and the CDrs and cassettes that surrounded that release; which is to say, Going Places is both transcendently gorgeous and muck-rakingly ugly. It’s a creative feat that the Yellow Swans seem to hold a patent on. While Going Places does share strong similarities to the band’s most recent work, there are subtleties on this record that stretch the Yellow Swans’ sound to heights they’ve never reached before. The muted pulse of rhythm on “Foiled,” the cantankerous electric bubbling in “Opt Out,” the cross faded bells on “Limited Space;” Going Places is the Yellow Swans pushing themselves just that much further to make arecord that is beyond satisfactory. This is absolutely the best thing they’ve ever done, I’m convinced of it. Perhaps these past two years have been used to ensure that that was the case. If so, it was well worth the effort. Lots of bands go out in flames, and rightfully so, but few manage the control and mastery of their sound that the Yellow Swans have exhibited here. The band has left us with their masterpiece. It’s as simple as that.

-Thistle

Yellow Swans - Drowner Yellow Swans

Yellow Swans
Drowner Yellow Swans
(2007, Tape Room)
Verdict = The Most Glorious Noise

Anyone who regularly reads this music blog will already be familiar with my absolute adoration of the Yellow Swans most recent releases (At All Ends, Descension EP). Well, with Drowner Yellow Swans (which was also released last year) I think it is pretty safe to say that 2007 was the year of Yellow Swans. I don’t think I have heard more assured, glorious “noise” records than the ones that these north westerners have been peddling as of late. I am going to stop applying the cop-out application noise here – what the Yellow Swans have accomplished is as organic and moving compositionally as anything else that’s hit the streets. Simple, crushing devastation married to blissfully ascending beauty and in all its permutations, whether through At All Ends, Descension or here on Drowner, the albums seem to be endlessly rewarding. They are all so incredible and, as I’m sure it is with children, almost impossible to choose a favourite. Well, not knowing the experience of having kids yet, if I had to recommend one album amongst the group Drowner Yellow Swans would be it. Released on cassette tape and CDR through Tape Room, Drowner Yellow Swans edges out the pack with more tracks, a longer running time and an even wider breadth via the Swans’ signature, grueling gorgeousness. The grit is intact, the guitars shimmering, the electronics bubbling, the specters and haunts have been meticulously engrained in the tape and the indescribable, pummeling weight of the Yellow Swans are all here. I’m already exasperated; this is the type of amazingness that is impossible to put into words. If there is one Yellow Swans record to get, this is it. I promise it won’t be your last. Mom, if you are reading this, that last statement may not apply to you, but then again who knows? It’s that good.

-Mr. Thistle

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