Heyo, just a word here as Roadburn does that Roadburn pre-holiday thing and announces a butt-ton of acts for next year’s festival before things get (outwardly) quieter for the next month or so. I know the narrative as regards the festival is that they’ve expanded from their beginnings, let go of the stoner rock stuff and all this, and to a certain point, that’s probably true. But among these almost-30 bands and artists, check out just how much heavy, psych, space and generally-out-there shit there is. Like, a ton.

Gnod & White Hills — who just announced a new collaborative album today — and Messa (I haven’t seen that album announcement but assume it’s coming unless I just missed it; it’s apparently called The Spin) playing full LPs, Coilguns, Smote, Thou, Zombie Zombie, Pothamus who I recently got put onto — some of it is spaced out and some of it is trippy, but if you’re looking for tonal presence, I don’t think it’s going to be in short supply.

That they also happen to be open-minded around this, such that Dødheimsgard and Chat Pile can exist on the same bill with Cinder Well, Faetooth and a Kylesa reunion, I don’t think is a weakness. At least it doesn’t seem to be looking at the new poster art, which I’ll just say flat out I prefer to 2024’s. I got to attend Roadburn earlier this year for the first time in five years, and it was magic and emotional both. I don’t know that I’ll be invited back for 2025 — because, really, why would I? — but this announcement does nothing at all to uncross my superstitious fingers.

The PR wire brought the latest:

Roadburn adds 29 new names to the 2025 lineup including envy, Oranssi Pazuzu, Thou, Gilla Band, Midwife, Steve Von Till and more

Roadburn has announced a further 29 names for the 2025 edition of the festival. Among the artists confirmed are several who will return to Roadburn – such as Thou, Messa, and Oranssi Pazuzu – and many who will be making their Roadburn debut – such as Envy, Tristwych y Fenywod, and Curses. Steve Von Till and Midwife have also been announced as artists in residence, both performing multiple times over the course of the festival. Roadburn 2025 will take place in Tilburg, The Netherlands between April 17-20.

Roadburn’s artistic director Walter Hoeijmakers comments:

“This announcement shows the broad scope of heaviness at Roadburn 2025. There are artistic, musical and emotional boundaries being pushed, and we are hosting up-and-coming acts making their festival debuts alongside longstanding luminaries. We are looking to the future, to our roots, and in all directions in the present to find those defying the perceived limits of genre in the underground. We know there are no limits.”

The new names added to Roadburn 2025 are as follows:

Bambara: brooding post-punk from New York

Big Brave performing their latest, critically acclaimed album A Chaos of Flowers

Blind Girls will make the trek from Australia to bring their frenetic screamo to Roadburn

Buñuel’s off-kilter noise rock will be presided over by enigmatic frontman Eugene S. Robinson

CHVE is the intense and intimate outlet for the solo work of Amenra’s Colin H. van Eeckhout

Coilguns will perform their new album Odd Love in its entirety.

Curses (Live) are set to deliver their neon-lit post-punk/electro hybrid

Dødheimsgard will bring their iconic combination of progressive black metal and avant-garde industrial as they perform their latest album, Black Medium Current

envy will make their long awaited Roadburn debut, performing A Dead Sinking Story in full as well as a modern era/Eunoia set

Gilla Band will revisit the Early Years with a noise-rock set that throws back to their roots

Gillian Carter hail from Orlando, Florida and will bring their distinctive brand of screamo to Tilburg in April.

Glassing head to Europe for just the second time to showcase their post-everything sound and bristling live energy.

Gnod & White Hills unite to perform their legendary Gnod Drop Out With White Hills II album

Great Falls fuse noise rock and hardcore in a discordant, emotion driven sonic purge

Messa return to Roadburn to play their upcoming new album, The Spin, in full.

Michael Gira and Kristof Hahn (SWANS) will present an intimate set of new and rarely heard compositions.

Midwife (Artist In Residence) – Madeline Johnston AKA Midwife will return to Roadburn – this time as an artist in residence – where she will perform three times, including a set with Vyva Melinkolya and a commissioned performance of her new album, No Depression In Heaven

Oranssi Pazuzu return to the festival with a very special performance of their latest release, Muuntautuja

Pothamus have just announced a brand new album, Abur, which they will perform in full at Roadburn 2025.

Pygmy Lush will play their first show in Europe at Roadburn, bringing their dark Americana to Roadburn.

Smote will expand to an eight-piece ensemble to perform their latest album, A Grand Stream

Steve Von Till (Artist In Residence) – we have invited Steve to be an artist in residence to honour his incredible musical legacy and shine a light on his future creative endeavours; he will perform two full sets and unite with artist Thomas Hooper for a collaborative audio-visual exhibition.

Thou will perform their latest album, Umbilical, in full on the main stage.

Tristwch Y Fenywod bring their folky Welsh-language incantations to Tilburg.

Violent Magic Orchestra blend black metal and electronics to dizzying effect

Vuur & Zijde feature members of Laster, Silver Knife, Terzij de Horde and more – and will make their live debut performing their album, Boezem

Vyva Melinkolya will play her first show in Europe, bringing her emotionally heavy dreamgaze to Roadburn.

Witch Club Satan rip up the rule book of black metal, embracing the feminine and the theatrical along the way.

Zombie Zombie combine groovy electronics and trippy motorik rhythms in their psychedelic sound

More information on these artists can be found HERE: https://roadburn.com/line-up/

They will join a slew of previously announced artists including Chat Pile, ØXN, Sumac, Altin Gun, and Kylesa.

All ticket and accommodation options for Roadburn are now on sale. For all information including tickets, please visit www.roadburn.com

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Thou, Umbilical (2024)

Swans founder and spearhead Michael Gira will spend much of the rest of this month on tour in Europe. In the latest update from his label, Young God Records, Gira gives a rundown of plans current and future that include more Swans reissues and a live album — no doubt they’ve already sold completely through their pressings even though they don’t exist yet; that’s kind of how it goes with Young God stuff; any hesitation leads only to regret — and notes a new short story collection titled The Egg that’s now available through the Young God site and at shows. I’ve never read any of Gira‘s work before, but hell yes I’d check that out. Dude has perspective to spare, certainly.

Of course, the future of Swans is kind of up in the air at the moment as Gira disbanded the lineup after wrapping the touring cycle for 2016’s The Glowing Man (review here), but until/if that band resurfaces, either way there was never any question he’d be keeping plenty busy.

The latest update follows the creepiest picture I’ll post here this week. Seriously. Here it is. You ready?

Okay:

M.Gira Solo Tour + The Egg

Short note here to let you know that my Europe Solo Tour commences on February 6.

If you’re interested, tour dates and ticket info here: https://younggodrecords.com/pages/tour-dates

I’ve been working on new songs, and I’ll be performing those as well as some older material.

The new songs are the first steps on my way to formulating the next Swans album. They’re quite heavy on the words – the longest narrative songs I’ve written. Still finding my way into them, but I think they’re good. If you attend one of the shows, I hope they offer something worthwhile… I suspect that the next Swans album will be a variety of these songs, highly (and I hope, tastefully) orchestrated, and then perhaps in opposition some more atmospheric pieces which will draw on and extend the approach evidenced in the more “sfumato” moments on the last few Swans albums… That’s a long way off, and a lot of work and thought involved before I embark on that next venture. In the meantime, I’ll be doing a series of short Solo Tours, both in Europe and USA…

I’ve completed a new collection of short stories, written over the past year or so. It’s called The Egg, and it’s available here: https://younggodrecords.com/products/michael-gira-the-egg

The collection features some rather vivid and wonderful illustrations by Nicole Boitos. It’s a limited edition. It can be found at the link or at my live shows… I thought for a while that this area of my mind was closed off forever, but as it happens, the spigot has opened up a bit and I hope to have more fiction in the near future…

Soundtracks for the Blind is finished and is in the pipeline. It’s taken forever to figure out the packaging and to master it properly. It will be available as a 4xVinyl set, as well as a 3xCD (the 3rd CD is the long out of print Die Tur Ist Zu). Release for Soundtracks will be in May. Die Tur Ist Zu will also be available soon as a limited 3 sided vinyl release, the 4th side being an etched graphic. It will be available for Record Store Day, April 21st in North America (Mute to release at a later date).

Later in the year, we’ll also be putting together a live Swans album of material from this recent, now past formidable line up. We did a great deal of live recordings. I’m still sifting through it…

And more Swans catalog rereleases of course along the way…

Much Love to You! – Michael Gira / Swans / Young God Records

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M. Gira, “Promise of Water” Live in NYC 2007

This tour will precede what’s been announced as the final studio full-length by (the current version of) Swans, but it seems like it will be telling nonetheless, since in the spectrum of works by Michael Gira, there continues to be a one-thing-leads-to-the-next-thing linearity. What that next thing will be is the question, at least when Swans is put to rest — if in fact they are — and for however long. Recent Gira solo outings have been limited demo material for Swans and so on, but a studio LP doesn’t seem out of the question. But then, neither does anything else. It’s Michael Gira. Not a context you’d call limited as far as possibilities are concerned.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Dying to hear the sendoff Swans gives itself, and not that there was any doubt, but good to get confirmation that Gira continues to look forward.

Tour dates from the PR wire:

MICHAEL GIRA OF SWANS ANNOUNCES SOLO TOUR

Michael Gira of Swans has announced a London performance at the Barbican on March 30, 2016. The solo London date, his first since 2013’s performance at the Church of St John at Hackney, is part of a European tour through March and April – full details below.

The Barbican show, with Thurston Moore and Laura Cannell opening, is presented as part of Art Assembly’s ‘Saisonscape” series. For more information go to:
artassembly.org.uk/saisonscape

MICHAEL GIRA SOLO TOUR DATES
5 March – Brisbane, AU Queensland Gallery of Modern Art
8 March – Melbourne, AU Melbourne Recital Centre
9 March – Sydney, AU Carriageworks
30 March – London, UK Barbican Centre – bit.ly/1N7JbrE
1 April – Moscow, RU ZIL Culture Center
2 April – Saint Petersburg, RU The Place SPB Venue
4 April – Warsaw, PL Pardon, To Tu
5 April – Warsaw, PL Pardon, To Tu
7 April – Berlin, D Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz
8 April – Copenhagen, DK Jazzhouse
9 April – Oslo, N John Dee Club inside Rockafeller
10 April – Bergen, NO Bergen Kunsthall – Landmark Bar
11 April – Amsterdam, NL Paradiso Upstairs
13 April – Brussels, BE AB Small Club
15 April – Paris, FR Le Point Ephémère

Michael Gira recently announced that Swans are working on their last album in this “current incarnation”. The basic tracks and vocals were recorded at Sonic Ranch studio in Texas with John Congleton as engineer, and with Michael Gira producing. Further recording and mixing took place in Seattle and Berlin and the new album is expected to be released on Mute / Young God Records in the summer of 2016.

http://younggodrecords.com
www.facebook.com/SwansOfficial

Michael Gira, Live in Portugal, March 2014

These updates are quickly becoming the highlights of my week. Although I can’t imagine the room won’t be so packed as to allow one to breathe and exist at the same time, seeing Michael Gira perform a solo acoustic set might just be worth the lack of oxygen. Toss in Killing Joke and Dutch doom innovators Celestial Season and the latest Roadburn news just made my afternoon. Dig it:

Voivod and Roadburn are equally thrilled to announce that seminal post-punk pioneers Killing Joke will perform at Roadburn 2012 on Thursday, April 12th as part of the newly expanded Au-delà du Réel event.

Killing Joke was at the top of Voivod‘s wish list as soon as they accepted the curator invitation.

Unfortunately, Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards and arrangements), Geordie Walker (guitar), Youth (bass) and Paul Ferguson (drums) could not make it to Tilburg on Friday, April 13th due to prior commitments. However, in the spirit of Roadburn and true to the Outer Limits theme, it was quickly decided to expand Au-delà du Réel and turn Voivod‘s dream of sharing a stage with Killing Joke into reality.

Please note that Voivod‘s second show originally scheduled for Saturday, April 14th has been moved to Thursday, April 12th as part of the specially extended Au-delà du Réel. The main stage lineup for Thursday, April 12^th (in alphabetical, not official running order): Agalloch, d.USK/diSEMBOWELMENT, Killing Joke, OM, Ulver and Voivod.

While Swans’ intensely heavy headliner performance at this year’s Roadburn is still resonating in our collective minds, we’re elated to announce the return of Michael Gira for an acoustic solo performance on Thursday, April 14th at the Midi Theatre in Tilburg, Holland.

In related news: Reunited Dutch doomsters Celestial Season will perform their influential, groundbreaking second album, Solar Lovers in its entirety for the first time ever at Roadburn Festival 2012 on Saturday, April 14th, Midi Theatre in Tilburg, Holland.

Barn Owl, Jucifer, Urfaust, The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation, Purson, Hammers of Misfortune, Orchid, Sigiriya, Lord Vicar and End of Level Boss have also been confirmed for Roadburn Festival 2012.

Tickets for Roadburn 2012 will go on sale Saturday, November 26th, 10:00 Central European Time. There will be a 2 ticket limit (per order) for 3-day and 4-day passes and Afterburner tickets –the same goes for the Campsite Tickets. More info here.