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Yellow Swans

By Ray Cummings

Published on June 05, 2008 at 3:20am

Portland, Oregon, noise duo Yellow Swans—Pete Swanson and Gabriel Mindel Saloman—drew from a many-splendored sound palette. Radioactive, lopsided electronic loops? Check. Full-bore, concussive eruptions? Yep. Aurora Borealis-esque synth draping? Sure. Elegiac, fiery interwoven drones? They went that route, too, on dozens of multi-format releases issued since their formation in 2000. (Which doesn't even take into account their collaborations with countless equally obscure peers, like Mouthus, Skaters, and Birchville Cat Motel.) Our use of the past tense isn't accidental; the Yellow Swans announced their impending breakup earlier this spring. A handful of live dates remain, a string of releases are planned into 2009, and Saloman and Swanson will surface as members of other projects they're already involved in (Badgerlore, Mudsuckers, etc.); but for all intents and purposes, this band is effectively kaput. If you've always wanted to catch 'em in the flesh, now's certainly the time. The last time. With Sicbay, STNNNG, FT (The Shadow Government), and Church of Gravitron. 18+.
Fri., June 6, 8 p.m., 2008