Filth/Body to Body, Job to Job

• Artist: Swans
• Rating:
• Release Date: February 11, 2000
• Type: Compilation (best of), Live
• Genre: Rock

Review

From the center of New York's celebrated downtown music scene emerged a most ugly ducking, the Swans. With a sound like a ditch witch stuck in a tar pit, in 1982 the Swans were the height of noise. Musically, it would be termed proto-industrial, proto-noise rock, but aesthetically it was a sound shot through the axes of power. Strung between the poles of domination and submission, the Swans created a music with a sexually dark, malefic vision of society as despotic and individuals as subjugated to the point of dissolution. This double album, part of a planned series of reissues, captures the Swans at the beginning of their career. The first CD contains their earliest album, Filth, along with a previously unreleased live performance at the Kitchen. It's a classic album and, even though the quality isn't great, sounds more uncompromising live. The second consists of unreleased studio tracks, tape experiments, and live recordings from 1982 through 1985, providing an interesting balance to the "finished" compositions of Filth. It shows Michael Gira et al. testing the limits of their sound, exploring new directions, and laying the groundwork for future albums. Releasing them together makes a point about the experimental quality of the Swans' work. If that isn't enough to make you buy it, there's always the slick and expensive embossed packaging. ~ Brian Whitener, All Music Guide

Tracks

CD 1

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Stay Here	Michael Gira	Swans	(5:41)
Big Strong Boss	Michael Gira	Swans	(3:11)
Blackout	Michael Gira	Swans	(:59)
Power for Power	Michael Gira	Swans	(3:57)
Freak	Michael Gira	Swans	(3:48)
Right Wrong	Michael Gira	Swans	(3:56)
Thank You	Michael Gira	Swans	(3:55)
Weakling	Michael Gira	Swans	(3:57)
Gang	Michael Gira	Swans	(1:26)
Swans Live at the Kitchen		Swans	(3:31)
A Strip/Burn/Heartsheet/Blackout/Clay Man/Stay Here/Weakling		Swans	(5:40)
I'll Cry for You	Swans, Michael Gira	Swans	(1:01)
Red Sheet	Swans, Michael Gira	Swans	(4:53)
Loop		Swans	(5:56)
Your Game	Swans, Michael Gira	Swans	(2:41)
Seal It Over	Swans, Michael Gira	Swans	(9:44)
Whore	Swans, Michael Gira	Swans	(9:02)

CD 2

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
We'll Hang for That	Swans, Michael Gira	Swans	(5:36)
Half Life	Michael Gira	Swans	(3:02)
Loop 21	Swans, Michael Gira	Swans	(3:47)
Get Out	Swans, Michael Gira	Swans	(5:52)
Job	Swans, Michael Gira	Swans	(1:13)
Loop 1	Swans, Michael Gira	Swans	(4:43)
Mother, My Body Disgusts Me	Swans, Michael Gira	Swans	(3:52)
Cop	Swans, Michael Gira	Swans	(5:20)
Only I Can Hear, Only I Can Touch	Swans, Michael Gira	Swans	(3:24)
Thug	Swans, Michael Gira	Swans	(24:18)
Raping a Slave [Live Berlin]		Swans	(9:02)

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