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Spike | 15 YEARS OF BOOKS, MUSIC, ART, IDEAS | www.spikemagazine.com generating an otherworldly atmosphere through sound textures and patterns where their voices and their stark yet beautiful words could finally be heard. Both were classic 3am-on-your-own albums – songs which made the world feel a little less cold. By comparison, the Swans next album was a positive riot of colour. The Burning World saw Gira and Jarboe completely embrace acoustic guitars and even a cover version of Blind Faith’s ‘Can’t Find My Way Home’. The fact that it was their own release on a major label (MCA) caused cries of “sell-out” and Gira has recently admitted to feeling ambivalent about this period, although after hearing tracks like ‘God Damn The Sun’ it’s difficult to see how anyone thought Swans were somehow making a deliberate bid for heavy rotation on MTV. Now that all rights to the music have reverted to his ownership, Gira plans to reissue an edited version of The Burning World along with numerous tracks that weren’t allowed onto the original album. But it was from this point that Swans became impossible to define. Already thrown by their transformation from sonic terrorists to subversive acoustic tunesmiths, many people didn’t know what to expect next. Instead of building a fanbase, Gira had seemingly wilfully destroyed it with his restless experimentation. Reviewers continually harked back to their early days in order to find something about the band they could understand. Meanwhile, Swans continued to produce masterworks BUY Swans music online from and on the same epic scale as Children Of God into the 90s, refining and redefining their sound each time. Love Of Life, White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity, The Great Annihilator – with each album Swans became more isolated from everybody else, pursuing their own unique vision. The final Swans album, Soundtracks For The Blind, almost entirely eschewed song structures in favour of sprawling ambient montages of voices and music. Assembled mainly on computer, it’s as if the technology has finally caught up with the vision of what Gira and Jarboe wanted to do with the Skin project 10 years ago, generating an atmosphere and a space for their words rather than being tied into The Song. It’s easy to see why Gira considers the Swans moniker an albatross around his neck – during their 15 years of recording, the name Swans seemed to define nothing except who Swans *were* rather than what they had become – it’s a virtually useless term of reference. Seeing as Gira is only interested in producing what he considers worthwhile – to the point of physical collapse and financial ruin – using the same name to try and embrace his wildly differing output makes little sense anymore. Already he is at work under a new name The Pleasure Seekers, which promises an all-acoustic intimacy reminiscent of Vic Chesnutt, while there is also the Body Lovers project which will generate CD length ambient tracks. Hearing Gira discuss his current listening 508 More Spike email RSS Facebook Twitter A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Spike | 15 YEARS OF BOOKS, MUSIC, ART, IDEAS | www.spikemagazine.com choices indicates his restless eclecticism: “Everything from Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Pink Floyd and Nico to more recent stuff like Low, Lambchop, Panasonic, Gastr del Sol … I tend to like stuff that’s sonically interesting but has some kind of emotional intensity to it. In the van I’ll listen to Hank Williams … Howlin’ Wolf is a constant favourite of mine. Big influence on early Swans. I’ve also been listening to a lot of stuff from Table of the Elements, this experimental label that’s been releasing stuff by Tony Conrad, Faust, Keiji Haino … and that new Vic BUY Swans music online from and Chestnutt album is pretty great, too.” Despite his unhidden joy at their demise, Gira is undoubtedly proud of Swans. Their website carries detailed information about the series of re-releases currently planned of Swans material, which he is intending to edit and add to. Even in death, Gira doesn’t play by the rules – while Swans may be gone, he refuses to merely reissue each album untouched. They remain in flux, perpetually changing – a fitting testament to a band which always took the risk of refusing to remain static. � 509 More Spike email RSS Facebook Twitter A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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