Swim (Feeder EP)

Swim is a 1996 EP by the British alternative rock band Feeder. It was Feeder's second commercial release, but failed to have much success. Although on release not eligible for the U.K. Album Charts due to its short length of 21 minutes, chart rule changes in the mid 2010s mean that Swim can retroactively be defined as an album and thus their debut (although not of full length). The vinyl release played at 45 rpm rather than the more usual 33.3 rpm, contained only six songs and lasted for only 21 minutes and 46 seconds.

Swim
EP by Feeder
Released	24 June 1996 1 July 2001
Recorded	1996 at Townhouse and Livingston Studios, London
Genre	Grunge
Length	21:46 (1996) 37:42 (2001)
Label	Echo
Producer	Chris Sheldon, Feeder
Feeder chronology
Two Colours EP (1995) Swim (1996) Polythene (1997)
Original cover

The EP had influences of the Smashing Pumpkins' early works along with those of Nirvana, Manic Street Preachers and Silverchair that followed on Polythene.

Release

The 6-track EP was released on 24 June 1996 on The Echo Label and later released on CD-format on 12 October 1998. Swim was re-released with seven additional tracks on 30 July 2001. The songs "Stereo World" and "Descend" appeared on the band's debut album Polythene.

After Feeder broke into the mainstream with their single "Buck Rogers" and the Echo Park album, Swim was re-released, with five B-sides from the Polythene singles and two videos. The only difference between the original Swim artwork and the re-release is the colour of the backgrounds; blue for the original and red for the re-release.

In late 2006, to coincide with the tour of Japan tour in October, the album had its first release outside Europe.[1]

Reception

On original release, the mini-album was talked about by Kerrang! magazine as one of the releases of the year, but was not eligible for the end-of-year list because it was a mini-album.

The re-release was Kerrang! magazine's "Album of the week" and its website carried a commentary from the lead vocalist and guitarist Grant Nicholas on each of the eleven audio tracks.[2]

It reached #15 on the UK indie chart and #91 on the national chart.

The tracks "Sweet 16" and "Shade" (the latter being an instrumental version) are used on the European version of the original PlayStation racing simulator, Gran Turismo. "Shade" is also used in the opening movie for the Japanese version of Omega Boost for PlayStation.

Track listing

1. "Sweet 16" – 3:32
2. "Stereo World" – 3:32
3. "W.I.T. (Women in Towels)" – 2:29
4. "Descend" – 5:25
5. "Shade" – 4:09
6. "Swim" – 3:19

2001 re-release

1. "Sweet 16" – 3:32
2. "Stereo World" – 3:32
3. "W.I.T. (Women in Towels)" – 2:29
4. "Descend" – 5:25
5. "Shade" – 4:09
6. "Swim" – 3:19
7. "Elegy" – 4:13
8. "World Asleep" – 4:16
9. "Chicken on a Bone" (1997 version) – 3:45
10. "Spill" – 2:58
11. "Forgiven" – 4:47
12. Crash (CD Rom Video)
13. Cement (CD Rom Video)

References

1. HMV.co.jp "Swim" release details
2. Kerrang!.com Swim review