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  • A Mystery Of Faith & Unreleased Pieces: Swans + World Of Skin

    ALP155

    Artist: Jarboe

    Label: Atavistic

    A double-CD- packed with previously unreleased material from Swans and World Of Skin- with Jarboe on lead vocals.

    Edited & remastered by Chris Griffin (who also recorded & mastered "Soundtracks For The Blind" & many other Swans/Gira projects), Mystery of Faith offers over 140 minutes of prime material from 1986-1997- and features humorous, obscure- and sometimes revealing- personal recordings of Swans performances rehearsals, sound checks & more. A completely distinctive take on one of the great avant-garde rock bands of all time- and a must-have historical document for all Swans fans.

    “... powerful stuff that is easily misinterpreted. SWANS ... are part of the template for so much to come in popular music -- Merzbow, Godflesh, Slipknot, industrial, avant-noise, post-punk, metalcore, Ministry, Neurosis, Sonic Youth, Marilyn Manson... Let pretenders beware. SWANS were real to the most frightening extent possible before self-extinction. Too real, almost -- the formula is repeated and watered down even today by lesser hands. SWANS music goes straight to the heart and body, rather than the head. Nothing is calculated.”

    --INK19

  • The Conduit

    ALP175

    Artist: Jarboe

    Label: Atavistic

    Coming as it does on the heels of the Men Album -- a mere eight months, which is a brief period for -- The Conduit is a collection of untitled songs that Jarboe collaborates on with Nic LeBan using words written by poet and artist Joshua Fraser on the first eight tracks, and the remaining three cuts written by members of her subscription list. Jarboe has been cutting away everything unnecessary from her music since Anhedoniac. The Conduit speaks to a kind of minimal approach that is not so much stripped down as stripped away. Here the artist gets to her poetic voice, reached through both spoken word and sung vocals, LeBan's guitar -- doing his best David Gilmour very convincingly -- is the bridge between her various keyboards and noise and the sprite that floats throughout these "songs." The Conduit is modern art song, full of the kind of spirit and dark passion that needs no rhythm but that of the human -- and living -- voice. Jarboe's sense of dynamic, drama, and texture create an atmosphere for the listener to be seduced by and fall into. Her organ on the second part recalls everyone from Messiaen to Bach to early Pink Floyd. The droning chords shimmer but they shake, too, as her vocal whispers and then mournfully moans before overlapping itself in a dreamy landscape that is neither ethereal nor safe. In these gorgeously wrought pieces, it's as if Jarboe states over and again that in personal revelation, in unconscious urge, nothing is safe. It is the price of living fu...

  • The Men Album

    ALP167

    Artist: Jarboe

    Label: Atavistic

    Jarboe is well known for her ability to whisk through multiple styles over the course of a few songs ever since Swans disbanded and the singularly-named siren went solo. The consistency of the music’s versatility has always been her voice, a frightening and beautiful satin sheet that chokes and caresses the ear. The Men Album is the six-year project spread over two discs and backed by a strong list of collaborators. Jarboe explains the concept as a woman’s dreams and identity interpreted through the masculine gaze, an idea enforced by its primarily male musicians (members of Icehouse, Foetus, Revolting Cocks, Bauhaus, Neurosis, etc.). This is perhaps the most fascinating aspect of The Men Album: the extent of true collaboration between a man and a woman and the point in which one gender dominates the process. While I wouldn’t go as far to say that Jarboe wants to make some brilliant social commentary, I will say that the results sometimes confirm our suspicions.

    Disc one, appropriately subtitled Guitars, is the more engaging and more natural half. "This Is Life," which is reprised in two other songs, opens as a two-chord radio rocker, one I unfortunately imagine a more mature Evanescence fan might enjoy with its operatic vocal delivery overpowering, yes, "swirling guitars." Despite the shaky beginning, her duet with Alan Sparhawk (Low) that immediately follows is a haunting love song actually sounding a bit like the one-off "Half Light" from the Mothman Prophecies sound...

  • Anhedoniac

    ALP154

    Artist: Jarboe

    Label: Atavistic

    For those of you unfamiliar with Jarboe, she was a member of the semi-legendary NYC band Swans for over 10 years, playing the ego to Michael Gira's id. Before she came along, the Swans were a pounding headache, ceaseless brutality married to funeral dirges. Not that this was a problem; some of us like that sort of thing. Jarboe, however, entered the fold and immediatly humanized the group, adding melody and just a little bit of light to the proceedings. This isn't to say she was Mary Poppins; her vision was almost as dark as Gira's, just not as much so, or as cartoonish. Gira's stentorian growl got ponderous pretty quick, and Jarboe added some color to Gira's monochromatic world.
    It was inevitable that Swans would dissolve, because that much tension for so long needs a release. Now free, Jarboe left New York for the deep south, where she was raised among the most extreme of fundamentalists (we're talking about snake handlers here, folks). Here she renewed a solo career that began during the Swans days, though always with Gira present (one of those, "Sacrificial Cake," is worth seeking out). "Anhedoniac" represents the first of her post-Swans releases, and even for fans, it's quite a surprise. This album, originally released in 1998 but now remastered and reissued with bonus tracks, is a severe but multifaceted gem. She throws in a head spinning array of styles, from experimental sound collages and noisy rock to a capella rants (think Bjork's "Medulla" in hell) and even s...

  • Thirteen Masks

    ALP152

    Artist: Jarboe

    Label: Atavistic

    Thirteen Masks contains an impressive mix of musical styles showcasing the many moods of Jarboe, one time female vocalist of the remarkable Swans and World Of Skin. The sinister cover art, thirteen facial expressions, some hideously contorted, reflects the theme of multiple personalities. The first track, Listen, is a piece of ethereal pop with chiming bells and xylophones. Red is a pounding techno-industrial dance number listing a dizzying number of red images where Jarboe's voice is at times distorted by a vocoder. A Man Of Hate is an eerie ballad with strange whispers whilst The Believers is a spacey ballad with a funky rhythm and The Lonely Voyeur is a deceptively gentle ballad. Wooden Idols is a jazzy number with breathy vocals. Shotgun Road (Redemption) is an exquisite torch song and is followed by I Got A Gun, a dissonant blend of spacey vocals, heavy drums and electric guitar. I love the folky song Of Ancient Memory (The Oblivion Seekers) with its lilting melody and weird vocal mix. Freedom has the same sound as I Got A Gun, whilst Cries For Spider) is a dreamy ballad with chilling imagery. Overall, the arty arrangements remind me of Jarboe's work with Beautiful People Limited; Thirteen Masks may not automatically appeal to fans of Swans.

    - Amazon.com