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Beach House, Swans highlight week's big events

Cinematic is a term that gets bandied about a lot with popular music, often to indicate some sort of quiet dreamy sound that conjures up landscape-y imagery. “The Seer,” the new album by New York’s legendary experimental post-punk ensemble Swans, is more cinematic in the sense that it unfolds over a lengthy period (two hours) with expert pacing, pitch-perfect dynamics, great variety and a mood that simply doesn’t allow for comfort. Swans is guided by the steady hand of Michael Gira, who reactivated the band in 2010 after a 15-year run (“detour” would sound disparaging for a very different and compelling band). After two very good records — one in 2010 and the other earlier this year — Swans dropped “The Seer” on fans who may not have been suspecting something else so soon, especially the most grand and ambitious album Gira and his crew have made to date. To cite songs seems pointless since the pieces range from 90 seconds to 32 minutes. It’d be like recommending scenes from a movie. It’s an album that demands a dark room, formidable speakers and no distractions. Presumably they’ll unleash most, if not all, of “The Seer” this week in concert

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