Pitchfork

You know Richard Swift as the genial, barrelhouse piano playing guy with the fuzzy hair and the pretty darn good records. You may also know Swift the filmmaker, as his many audiovisual antics include stepping behind the camera for a number of his own music videos. But do you know Richard Swift, engineer of pulsing, largely instrumental krautrock? Nah, we haven't met that dude either.

But all that should change January 22, when Secretly Canadian releases Music From the Films of R/Swift, the debut full-length from Swift's Instruments of Science & Technology project. Collecting a dozen cuts from the multi-talented Swift's more open-ended side, the disc promises to bewilder and beguile in equal measure.

The Swift we already know and love has a few plans for the near future as well: a forthcoming LP of "60s style" rock tunes, and a more imminent tour with Cold War Kids. I'd go (instru)mental too if I had to endure this every night.

Music From the Films of R/Swift:

01 Ashes
02 INST
03 Subplot
04 Shooting a Rhino Between the Shoulders
05 Plan A & Plan B
06 Theme 5
07 War/UnWar
08 Theme 3
09 Theme 4
10 Clay Young Battles the Man
11 Ghost of Hip-Hop (New Apostles Mix)
12 They Provide Lights

Swiftly:

11-16 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom *
11-17 San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theater *
11-23 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern *
11-27 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *
11-28 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *
11-29 Philadelphia, PA - The Fillmore at the TLA *
11-30 New York, NY - Webster Hall *
12-01 New York, NY - Webster Hall *

* with Cold War Kids