A Screw is a single by the New York City experimental rock group Swans. The single's three songs were later appended as bonus tracks to the CD release of Holy Money.
| "A Screw" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Swans | ||||
| Released | 2 May 1986 | |||
| Genre | Industrial | |||
| Length | 15:02 | |||
| Label | K.422 | |||
| Producer(s) | Michael Gira | |||
| Swans singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Background and composition
editThe single's title track sees the band diving their farthest into the realm of industrial dance music, complete with dubby, distorted vocals and complex programmed rhythms, a distinct contrast to the naturalistic album version.[1] The piano-driven ode to obsessive love, "Blackmail", was Jarboe's first Swans track as lead vocalist.[1] A reworked version of "Blackmail" appears on the 1987 album Children of God.[2]
Regarding his contribution to the single's title track, drummer Ted Parsons said:
"But you know the first recording I did with Swans, was "A Screw" on Holy Money? I get in there – I can’t remember what the studio was – and Michael Gira the singer said, "Well, you know what? There’s no drum kit here, we just want to set a snare drum up in the hallway and have you hit it." And I was like, "What? OK." So they set the snare up in this big hallway down this corridor, and I hit the drum, and that was it. They sampled it, and he said, "OK, that’s great, go home." That was it. That was "A Screw.""[3]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "A Screw" | 5:40 |
| 2. | "Blackmail" | 4:42 |
| 3. | "A Screw (Holy Money)" (Mix) | 4:58 |
| Total length: | 15:20 | |
Notes
- Track 1 and 3 were mislabeled on most original releases. Later issues like the "Greed/Holy Money" compilation corrected this.[4]
Personnel
edit- Michael Gira – vocals, samples, sounds, piano, bass
- Norman Westberg – guitar
- Harry Crosby – bass
- Algis Kizys – bass
- Jarboe – vocals, backing vocals, mirage
- Ronaldo Gonzalez – drums
- Ted Parsons – drums
- Ivan Nahem – drums
- Greg Grinnell – trumpet
- Keene Carse – trombone
Charts
edit| Chart (1986) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Indie Chart[5] | 4 |
References
edit- ^ a b c Raggett, Ned. "A Screw". Allmusic. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
- ^ "Children of God Discogs entry". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ^ Fernando, S.H. "Interview: Swans, Prong, and Godflesh drummer Ted Parsons". daily.redbullmusicacademy.com. Red Bull Music Academy Daily. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ^ "Original "A Screw" Discogs entry". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ^ Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1989. Cherry Red Books. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
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