Category: Richard Swift

“If the freedom doesn’t kill you/Well then man, I think the politics might.” Richard Swift cracks that line in “The Original Thought,” the opening number of 4 Hits & A Miss-The Essential Richard Swift, a 50-minute, 14-song collection that serves as a primer or introduction to the late songsmith. Lovely, charmed, oddball, and often ha ha funny, this playlist presents Swift as a pop wizard/joker/wisecracking oracle, tap dancing the line between sarcastic wit and transcendental wisdom.

On the fifth anniversary of Richard Swift’s passing, those who worked closest with him speak to what made his process so magical. Includes remembrances from Jonathan Rado (Foxygen), Damien Jurado, Jessie Baylin, Luke Lalonde (Born Ruffians), Greta Morgan (Springtime Carnivore), Laura Burhenn (Mynabirds), and Kevin Morby.

Recorded a dozen years ago at the Mohawk in Austin, TX during SXSW, the half-hour performance finds Swift (backed by a full band) running through material from Dressed Up for the Letdown and the (then) soon-to-be released lp, The Atlantic Ocean. The night was crisp, the atmosphere buoyant, and the performance joyous.

Richard Swift was no stranger to singing about death. “Everyone knows when they’re gonna die,” he crooned, nearly a decade ago . Though absurdist comedy often obscured the fact, death loomed over many of Swift’s best […]

Richard Swift, songwriter, producer, visual artist, and genuine American weirdo, has passed. A prolific producer and sideman — known for his work with Damien Jurado, the Shins, the Black Keys/Dan […]

It must be the season for new Richard Swift . Last month we shared the troubadour’s ode to a maimed hand, ” Broken Finger Blues ,” and today Swift offers up “Whitman,” the first taste […]

Our friends at Flannelgraph Records just hooked us up with the upcoming, six-song, Richard Swift EP (Laminar Excursion Monthly Volume 9). A co-release with Crossroads of America, ‘Wolfman’ is available later this month on […]