Live Rope
A black vortex drawn in ballpoint pen over a white circle, all over a cardstock background
Live album by
ReleasedNovember 2024 (2024-11)
RecordedMusic Hall of Williamsburg, New York City on 18 May 2024
Amare, The Hague on 19 November 2023
Length182:51 (USB version)
~150:00 (vinyl version)
147:52 (CD version)
LabelYoung God
ProducerMichael Gira
Swans chronology
The Beggar
(2023)
Live Rope
(2024)

Live Rope is the tenth live album by American experimental rock band Swans, released in November 2024 on Young God. Released in full as a USB "credit card" as well as in edited forms on CD and vinyl, the album served as a fundraiser for the upcoming seventeenth studio album Birthing.[1][2][3][4]

Background

edit

The vinyl and USB releases were limited to 1,000 and 1,300 copies respectively.

The album contains live recordings of songs from the band's previous two albums, Leaving Meaning and The Beggar, on the 2023 and 2024 tours, where both albums' material saw their live debuts. The album also features three new songs, "Rope/The Beggar", "Away", and "Birthing". The former, at 86 minutes, is the band's longest song to date by a significant margin, surpassing the 46-minute The Knot from their 2017 album Deliquescence. As a whole, at 183 minutes in length, the album is additionally to date the band's longest release, also exceeding Deliquescence at 155 minutes.[1]

Live Rope consists of the entirety of the band's performance at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, New York City, on 18 May 2024 (lightly edited on the CD and vinyl releases), as well as additional performances of previously released tracks (The Memorious, Cathedrals of Heaven, and Leaving Meaning) recorded at Amare, The Hague on 19 November 2023. Leaving Meaning, played initially as an introductory section for Birthing, additionally interpolates The Glowing Man from the 2016 album of the same name.[1]

Track listing

edit

All music is composed by Michael Gira, Kristof Hahn, Larry Mullins, Dana Schechter, Phil Puleo, and Christopher Pravdica, except where noted.

USB "credit card" version
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 2024"
I. "Rope/The Beggar"
II. "The Hanging Man"
III. "Away"
IV. "Birthing"
 
 
Michael Gira
Michael Gira
 
2:23:57
1:26:07
12:52
7:51
37:27
2."Den Haag, Netherlands, 2023"
I. "The Memorious"
II. "Cathedrals of Heaven"
III. "Leaving Meaning"
 
Michael Gira
 
 
38:54
14:07
11:16
13:32
Total length:182:51
CD version (disc one)
No.TitleLength
1."Rope/The Beggar"1:18:24
CD version (disc two)
No.TitleMusicLength
1."The Hanging Man"Michael Gira12:52
2."Away"Michael Gira7:51
3."Birthing" 37:27
4."Cathedrals of Heaven" 11:16
Total length:147:52
Vinyl version (side one)
No.TitleLength
1."Rope/The Beggar" 
Vinyl version (side two)
No.TitleLength
1."Rope/The Beggar (cont.)" 
Vinyl version (side three)
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Rope/The Beggar (cont.)"Michael Gira 
Vinyl version (side four)
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Rope/The Beggar (cont.)"Michael Gira 
Vinyl version (side five)
No.TitleMusicLength
1."The Hanging Man"Michael Gira 
2."Away"Michael Gira 
Vinyl version (side six)
No.TitleLength
1."Birthing" 
Vinyl version (side seven)
No.TitleLength
1."Birthing (cont.)" 
Vinyl version (side eight)
No.TitleMusicLength
1."The Memorious"Michael Gira 

Personnel

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c "Swans announce new live album Live Rope preorder". Young God Records. 10 September 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  2. ^ "Swans reimagine crowdfunding". Scene Point Blank. 16 September 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  3. ^ Fabretti, Claudio (11 September 2024). "Swans: esce l'album dal vivo, il ricavato finanzierà il nuovo disco in studio, che è già in lavorazione". Ondarock. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  4. ^ Lefebvre-Massey, Félix (11 September 2024). "Swans partage un album live pour financer leur prochain album". Le Canal Auditif. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
edit

Category:2024 live albums Category:Swans (band) live albums Category:Young God Records live albums Category:Albums produced by Michael Gira