Ducks Battle Satan

I admit it. There are sometimes records I own that defy description. And by “defying description” I actually mean that I doubt I am bright enough to really post on a record that is (to me at least) as profound as Global Cone. I’ve posted before about my love of the Yellow Swans and yet when I look back through this blog there are fuck all posts about their records.
Global Cone came out as a limited release on Pacrec last year. It compiled a number of tracks from previous releases on to one helpful disc. Essentially it’s a bevy of untitled tracks that have been previously released under their constantly changing D Yellow Swans moniker. Track 1 is from the Declawed Yellow Swans cassette that originally came out on Tonefilth. Track 2 is from a split cassette they did with the Skaters. Track 3 originally appeared on the Deathbombbarc Tape Club split cassette that they did with Sex with Girls (you can imagine the search terms I’m going to get now!) and the final two tracks come form the Damaged Yellow Swans cassette that was released by 23 Productions.

This record was my introduction to the Yellow Swans and as such I admit that I am totally biased and declare that this is my personal favourite. As a document for experimental electronic noise it’s pretty hard to beat. The first track is a truly sinister slice of noise. It’s creepy atmosphere moves it almost into the dark ambient sphere. The second track is the true behemoth of proceedings. At over 22 minutes it’s an example of the fantastic journey experimental noise can take you. It’s a track that continually evolves, devolves, explodes and whispers. Anyone who owns a Yellow Swans record knows what this can sound like. Electronic fuckery, extreme fuzz, distant hiss, layered ear-piercing frequencies, vocals so distorted you doubt yourself that they were even there and the odd doomy nay gothic blast. One minute it’s a world of ambient peace, the next  pain is  induced by a high pitched tone.

I suppose it is this tension thing that lowers me to the status of dribbling fanboy for the Yellow Swans. How a band keeps making what they do so different and vital is completely beyond me. Every Yellow Swans record I own is as essential as the next. A smarter man once wrote that every time the Yellow Swans release a record it’s like their best one yet. Couldn’t have said it any fucking better. One question though: Why the limited release? More people should hear this and the fact they can’t is a fucking outrage.

This entry was posted on December 1, 2007 at 9:28 am and is filed under Music, noise, yellow swans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.