Public Castration Is a BAD Idea:
1. Scrape away everything I like about the No Wave era
2. Make it REALLY loud
3. Make it twice as long

Recipe for buns. Noooo thank you..

Greed's sister album, Holy Money, is the most polished and my favorite rendition of their No Wave albums. The No Wave era of Swans wasn't one I was looking forward to much, as I hadn't heard many positive things about it, but I'm finishing it off pleasantly surprised. This album, specifically, is a mix of being both incredibly concerning and mesmerizingly beautiful.

The opener, A Hanging, is as expected from Swans at this point—a horrifyingly beautiful song with some ... read more

This is quite the successor to White Light. It has a similar sound to that album but with its own twist, making it unique enough to not just be a sequel but to actually have its own identity. Songs like Love of Life and Amnesia are genuine masterpieces, and I'm upset that this album is so easily overlooked because it just seems like another White Light. The interludes are also a nice touch. I have no clue why people tend to dislike them; they really heighten the experience this album ... read more

This is such a step up from Cop. This is the first Swans album that really leans into the lyrical repetition that became synonymous with the band. Fool is a really, really good opener, and it immediately got me hooked on the album. It is harrowing — it's the exact reason I love Swans so much. However, the album doesn't really go anywhere. It sticks as close to Filth and Cop as it can, so it (to me, at least) doesn't offer much replay value beyond maybe listening to one or ... read more

I mean, it is difficult to follow up on something like the trilogy, so my expectations were rather low — and those expectations were met. This album is just more Swans with less innovation, more or less returning to their softer roots. The songs here really don't justify their length; they progress to nowhere. That is really my only issue, though. What is here is incredible — the music is shockingly eerie, as expected from Swans. Gira's storytelling keeps shining ... read more

This album is nasty, about as nasty as it can get, but I don't see this really working as a full length album. Even at its rather short runtime of 36 minutes It still kind of overstays its welcome. But besides that these songs on their own are raw and brutal, it is an incredibly powerful debut and a very important one for the development of Swans' sound. If this album was an EP of just the first 4 songs this would be peak but then again I wouldn't want to see Cop as the debut ... read more

This album was.. boring. Not necessarily bad, but boring. It devolved from Children of God rather then further developing the sound heard there, turning into a very simple almost country-like album. It's a weird piece in their discography because it's the only album that feels afraid of trying something new and rather tries to conform to a more common sound. This album being squished between 2 much more loved and unique albums also doesn't do it much good.

God Damn the Sun is an ... read more

This is an incredible gothic rock record, though because of it's age it's mastering can be quite an issue at times (if only there was a remaster made in 2017 that fixes 99% of my audio issues), nonetheless the iconic bleak lyrical work Gira has is just as apparent here and I love it. Originally when I listened to this I really didn't like it, I thought it was boring as hell (I have since improved as a person). Mind/Body/Light/Sound is peak media. Thats my review, I'm John.

Thanks Gerd. This makes for a nice although rather repetitive song.

No it's fine, I just... I didn't think STFTB would be German.

Oxygen Edit ❤️

I'm finding this album very hard to remember; there are a few pretty good songs here (specifically Starburster), mostly on the first half. However, the second half really falls off in memorability. If this album were more like Starburster, I might enjoy it more, but this just isn't it. The songs here don't really try much; the ideas presented should be good, but I feel like Fontaines doesn't build upon those ideas for long enough to actually make it interesting.

Really good instrumental shoegaze album; it manages to create a beautiful atmosphere with some ethereal melodies, but I feel like it could do a little more; the progression in these songs is very minimal. The nostalgic style of the album is very nice and not something I've really heard before. The first track specifically has a really cool use of samples that I really enjoyed. (Very fond of the album cover it's pretty cool)

Oh, btw It's John.

Personal favorite: Youthful Days

In 2010, Swans reformed after a 13-year hiatus and released My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky. This album marked the beginning of Swans' 'big sound' era, with sprawling compositions, hypnotic drones, and towering crescendos. Over the following six years, the band created a trilogy of albums - The Seer, To Be Kind, and The Glowing Man - that is my favorite trilogy in music to this day. The Glowing Man, the latter of these three albums, is at once a triumphant conclusion ... read more

Not much to say about this EP, as it is only 8 minutes. This whole Neoclassical New Age style is very new for Vylet Pony, and it's fine. Because of its short runtime, it can't really build up any interesting ideas, and what is here is mostly bland. The vocals are fine as usual, but this EP overall is nothing special.

Personal favorite: Old Heroes III: Memoir

This album just kinda makes me sad. It is a compilation of the EPs Aloe and Lotus with a few extra songs sprinkled in the middle. The first half of this album is just really not great, a major regression from the last 2 albums. But the latter half is SO MUCH better; it is genuinely like night and day, and because of that major discrepancy, I cannot rate this album any higher than I do now.

Personal favorite: Catching On

Our Light and After is a pretty chill album, honestly. Vylet keeps getting better and better, but I feel this album is a bit too short and underdeveloped to really stand out. This doesn't take away from the fact that the songs in this album are pretty well-balanced quality-wise and all pretty alright. A nice little indietronica album.

Personal favorite: Ember

Another Lo-Fi album by Vylet, and this one is a step up from apathy. The instrumentals are improved upon, and there are more interesting ideas on this album while still staying relatively simple. There are some nice vocals on these tracks, which, in my opinion, improve it a lot. This works as some nice background music, but it doesn't really do much more than that. An above-average lo-fi hip-hop LP. It's a bit too long for my liking, though.

Personal favorite: In a Rush

Mystic Acoustics returns to Vylet Pony's brostep roots, and... it's fine? She has definitely improved her sound in that regard, but brostep just doesn't do much for me. If you do enjoy the genre, you'd probably like this much more than I did; she has improved an impressive amount after all. This album really starts to gain some genuine substance, Vylet is a pretty good vocalist and the lyricism is also better than in previous albums, it's kinda corny but that is also ... read more

apathy. the 5th studio album by Vylet Pony. Vylet goes very lo-fi in this album (a bit like her ramen house EP but not exactly), with it being purely ambient. It doesn't do much to stand out from other albums of this genre, nor does it do anything to improve on prior albums, but it isn't worse either. Apathy is just a very mediocre and still bland ambient album that you could maybe turn on in the background (though I wouldn't see why).

Personal favorite: yeah i'm ok thanks ... read more