My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 23, 2010 | |||
Recorded | 2009–2010 | |||
Genre | Post-rock [1] | |||
Length | 44:21 | |||
Language | English | |||
Label | Young God | |||
Producer | Michael Gira | |||
Swans chronology | ||||
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Limited deluxe edition | ||||
My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Swans released on September 23, 2010; [2] it was their first studio recording in 14 years. Swans founder Michael Gira funded the recording of this album by creating the limited-edition album I Am Not Insane and chose several collaborators from previous Swans line-ups as well as his side project Angels of Light to record and tour for this album. My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky has received positive critical feedback for the return of Swans as well as the rich spiritual themes of the lyrics.
In a 2009 interview, Gira hinted at the prospect of resurrecting the Swans project. [3] Later that year, many of the tracks that would appear on My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky were released in demo and acoustic form on I Am Not Insane and sold in order to fund the recording process for this album. Gira handmade 1,000 copies of that album to fund the new Swans recordings. [4] In January 2010, Gira amended the band's Facebook and MySpace to read "SWANS ARE NOT DEAD"—an announcement that the band had been reformed as well as a play on words from Swans' live album Swans Are Dead .
Gira wrote the songs over a three-year period and decided that they were unfit for an Angels of Light album and he wanted to transition back the aggressive sound and "sonic intensity" of Swans; [5] he briefly considered releasing the material as an Angels of Light/Swans split album, but decided against it. [6] After Gira financed the album through sales of I Am Not Insane, he got together a group of musicians to record with him in New York. Each song—with the exception of "You Fucking People Make Me Sick"—was recorded in 12-hour daily studio sessions that culminated in nighttime overdubs. [7]
In deciding to reform Swans, Gira attempted to create a continuity between the band's last studio album—1996's Soundtracks for the Blind —as well as his subsequent work with Angels of Light; [8] for instance, the song "My Birth" includes lyrics written in 1997 originally for Swans. [9] The line-up of Swans that recorded this album features Gira, Kristof Hahn, Phil Puleo, and Norman Westberg from prior Swans releases as well as Gira solo collaborators Thor Harris and Christopher Pravdica; this is the first Swans album that does not feature Jarboe since her debut on 1986's Greed . [9] Gira chose these musicians in part for how they would work together touring to promote this album [10] and has created a distinct sound for Swans, emphasizing rhythm and the interplay between atmospheric instruments such as dulcimer, tubular bells, and vibraphone. [11]
Gira contacted Italian artist Beatrice Pediconi to handle all of the artwork for the album after seeing her pieces in Harper's Magazine . The special edition of the album has a cover that mirrors the album artwork of I Am Not Insane.
The title of the album comes from the lyrics to a then unreleased Swans song entitled "Oxygen" (which was later released on To Be Kind ) that depicts Gira dying and ascending to Heaven [12] and several reviewers have noted spiritual themes on the album. [13] Gira's interest in spirituality developed with this album and his goal was to create music "to elevate, to make you levitate, almost like having it erase your body and lift you up to Heaven." [14]
The song "Jim" is a tribute to Gira's longtime friend JG Thirlwell. [2]
In addition to releasing I Am Not Insane, Gira promoted the album by offering it for free streaming on the Internet, [15] made a demo version of the song "No Words" available on the band's MySpace page, [16] and reorganized Swans for their first tour since 1997. [8] Tour dates were slated to be performed in the United States and Europe, including headlining the Supersonic Festival in October 2010, [17] and Gira intended to tour for 18 months. [9] Gira also remixed the album with the intention of selling that version on tour and through the band's website. [6]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 8.0/10 [18] |
Metacritic | 83/100 [19] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [20] |
The A.V. Club | A [21] |
Drowned in Sound | 8/10 [22] |
Mojo | [23] |
NME | 9/10 [24] |
Pitchfork | 7.7/10 [25] |
PopMatters | 9/10 [26] |
Slant Magazine | [27] |
Spin | 8/10 [28] |
Uncut | [29] |
My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky is rated an 83 with "universal acclaim" by Metacritic. [19] The A.V. Club gave the album an A, calling it "a leviathan of an album" and commenting on the similarities and differences that this album has with the rest of Swans' catalogue, saying that it "resembles all of Swans' previous work, yet none of it." BBC Music has declared it "a majestic return and, let us hope, a harbinger of more to come." [30] The Big Takeover has remarked that the album "encompasses all of the original band's many moods." [31] The Wire listed My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky as the third best record of 2010 in its annual critics' poll. [32]
All songs written by Michael Gira
Bonus disc available on the special edition
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 and post-rock. Initially, their music was known for its sonic brutality and 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 except Gira and semi-constant guitarist Norman Westberg until their dissolution in 1997.
Michael Rolfe Gira is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, author and artist. Now based in New Mexico, he founded the band Swans, in which he sings and plays guitar, in New York City in the 1980s at the height of the no wave movement. He is also the founder of Young God Records and previously fronted Angels of Light.
Angels of Light was an American neofolk band that was formed circa 1998 by singer-songwriter and musician Michael Gira after he disbanded Swans, the group he had founded in 1982. The band has marked a distinctly different style for Gira since he left Swans, most noticeably being musically more melodic and less brutal than his previous efforts and with emphasis on acoustic instruments and folk and country influences.
Norman Westberg is a guitarist from Detroit best known for his work with Swans. Present through almost the entirety of the band's existence, Westberg was brought on for Swans' debut album Filth (1983) and appeared on every album through 1991's White Light from the Mouth of Infinity. Westberg became a full-time Swans member once again when Michael Gira reactivated the group in 2010.
Children of God is the fifth studio album by American experimental rock band Swans. It was released on October 19, 1987, through record label Caroline and on K.422 in the United Kingdom.
Soundtracks for the Blind is the tenth studio album by Swans. It was released as a double CD on October 22, 1996, through Young God Records. Soundtracks for the Blind was intended, as suggested by the title, to function as a "soundtrack for a non-existent film." Upon its release, it received widespread acclaim from critics, but was the last studio album released by the band until 2010's My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky. A reissue of the album was released on July 20, 2018, marking the first time Soundtracks for the Blind was released on vinyl.
The Burning World is the sixth studio album by American experimental rock band Swans. It was released in 1989, through record label Uni Records, the band's only major-label release. Co-produced by Bill Laswell and band leader Michael Gira, the album features a major stylistic shift from their past releases, being very tuneful and accessible compared to the bleak, industrialized sound from their past records. It received a mixed reception and was a commercial disappointment; the band was dropped from the record label following its poor performance.
Swans Are Dead is the fifth double and seventh overall live album by American experimental rock band Swans. It was released in 1998 and was recorded in 1995 and 1997 on the band's final tours, before reuniting in 2010.
Jarboe Devereaux, known mononymously as Jarboe, is an American singer and musician who came to prominence as a member of the New York City experimental rock band Swans in 1985. Jarboe and Michael Gira, the founder of Swans, were the two constant members of the group until it broke up in 1997.
Flux Information Sciences were a three-piece noise rock band based in Brooklyn, New York. The band was formed in 1996 by vocalist/guitarist Tristan Bechet and keyboardist Sebastian Brault, who met in art school in Marseille. A revolving drummer policy saw Derek Ethridge replace Phil Hernandez in 1999, who was in turn replaced by Siobhan Duffy. Eventually, the band settled on the line-up of Bechet and Brault, with Christopher Pravdica on electronics.
I Am Not Insane is a 2010 album by Michael Gira. The release consists of a CD with new material, and a DVD of two live shows that includes a 16-minute "mini-doc" on Gira's new material in acoustic demo form, shot and edited by Francisco Macias. Several songs were considered, and eventually revised, for inclusion on Swans' comeback album, My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky. Gira released this album in order to help raise money to fund the recording of the upcoming Swans album, following his announcement that he had reformed the band.
Phil Puleo is an American composer, drummer, illustrator and visual artist from New York. He is known as a founding member of the band Cop Shoot Cop in the 1990s, and for his current involvement in the experimental rock group Swans. He has also collaborated with Swans leader Michael Gira on his Angels of Light musical project. After briefly touring with Swans during the mid-nineties, Puleo joined the band as a full-time member in 2010.
We Rose from Your Bed with the Sun in Our Head is the second double and eighth live album by American experimental rock band Swans. The album was recorded in New York City, Berlin, Germany and Melbourne, Australia during the Swans World Tour of 2010-2011. Only 1,000 copies of the album were sold, and each was numbered and signed personally by frontman Michael Gira. The album was released to help support the upcoming Swans album, The Seer.
The Seer is the twelfth studio album by the American experimental rock band Swans. It was released by Young God Records on August 28, 2012. Producer and front man Michael Gira funded the recording of the album with the sales of the live double album We Rose from Your Bed with the Sun in Our Head (2012).
Not Here / Not Now is a limited-edition double live album by American post-rock band, Swans. It was announced for sale on October 14, 2013, via Young God Records. The profits earned from this album were used to fund the band's subsequent album, To Be Kind.
To Be Kind is the thirteenth studio album by American experimental rock band Swans, released on May 12, 2014. A double album, it was recorded by producer John Congleton in Texas.
Christopher Pravdica is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bass guitarist of American experimental rock band Swans.
The Gate is a 2015 limited-edition live album by American experimental rock band Swans. The album was released on October 1, 2015 on band leader Michael Gira's Young God Records. Limited to 2500 copies, the album served as a fundraiser for The Glowing Man.
Deliquescence is a 2017 limited-edition, and the overall ninth, live album by American experimental rock band Swans. The album, limited to 3,000 CD-only copies, contains three tracks that have previously only been played live. The packaging for the CD release includes the details of location of each show, band photos, and alternative artwork.
Kristof Hahn is a German guitarist, composer and translator.