I've listened. more or less attentively, to Swans' two-hour 2012 epic The Seer this morning -- and all I can say right now is that it is demanding but not alienating, not an endurance test. It does drone a bit, but not so much that I found myself reaching for the Enough Button.
This isn't the kind of record you play at parties, and I'm not sure you should play it when driving to the store, or while doing anything except sitting down and giving it your full undivided attention.
This is one of those purchases based solely on the fact that it made so many best-of lists from last year. I know absolutely nothing of the band's history, except that they (or he, or whoever) have been around for 30 years, born amidst the same early-80s New York noise-rock explosion gave us Sonic Youth (which for me is more than reason enough to merit a listen.)
Seems like one of those ambitious, all-or-nothing epic poems that you really have to listen to many times before you can venture a guess as to just what it is.
Okay. Will do.
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