Body Lovers
Number One Of Three
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Body Lovers
Number One Of Three
God/Atavistic, 1998
RiYL: Swans, Angels Of Light, World Of Skin, Lab Report, Main, Robert Rich |
Unlike previous side projects, such as the World Of Skin, here Gira shuns the dour songwriting so characteristic of The Swans. Gira's incredibly low-toned voice is barely audible, as he prefers to instead explore the rich wall of sound which can be found accentuating the Swans' engaging dirges on such releases as Soundtracks For the Blind and White Light From The Heat Of Infinity.
Number One Of Three is essentially ambient music -- "psycho-ambient" as the attached promo sticker warns. Gira's brand of ambient is indeed consequential, which cannot be said about the majority of snooze music passed off as ambient.
Gira has always been able to leave the listener with a strong impression. The Body Lovers' first release is no exception. The Swans' dramatics continue, though in an altered format. The third track on the album (no titles are provided) is a piece to accompany a regal march through an unnatural forest, replete with horn-sounding noises and down-tempo, complementary drums (courtesy of Bill Rieflin of Ministry and RevCo). Then the track winds down into nothing but a few taps by Rieflin until, unexpectedly, a dramatic outburst of organ intrudes upon the scene like a series of voices crying out in unison.
The fourth track (puts the psycho in psycho-ambient. The piece begins with someone hammering away at the low end of a piano seemingly at random. Then a series of shrill electronic sounds take over the mix, followed by the Einsturzende Neubaten-esque sound of a jackhammer.
Most of the album, though, is fairly sedate, merely evocative instead of demonstrative. Much of it is simply a series of carefully-woven tones. Gira seems to have a knack for finding these low-end tones, which come across as boisterous and vital rather than frail and unnecessary, as can be the case with much ambient music.
The opening track is also the album's longest. It starts unobtrusively, then leads the listener through a fascinating journey guided by Gira's skillfull melding of tones and random sounds, which include stifled whale song, pterodactyl wailing, and any other explanation one could invent for the eerie-yet-convincing montage of sounds Gira has presented.
The fifth track is straight out of the Swans songbook. It's a guitar-driven piece with Gira's former Swans partner Jarboe contributing a series of "la's." Old habits die hard, but Number One Of Three is definitely an album that can stand to have a sequel.
MICHAEL CHAMY |