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| | The Body Lovers/The Body Haters | | | Music Artist : | | The Body Lovers | | Music Style : | | General | | Record Label : | | Young God Records | | Release Date : | | 2005-05-03 | | Discs : | | 2 | | Store Price : | | $21.98 | | Artistopia's Price: $21.98 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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Other Artist Albums
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 Love-hate, hate-love, ze soughts zey bubble und collide ...*
Submitted on: 2008-07-28 |
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This 2-disc set combines the Body Lovers & Haters albums that were released separately in 1998. The repackaged Body albums offer lots of illustrations, particularly of private parts and pigs. The Lovers album, Michael Gira's first project after the dissolution of Swans, takes one on a 73-minute journey through sulphurous, scary & ecstatic dreamscapes where industrial passages and mechanical drones alternate with swirling symphonic textures and simple acoustic segments. The word "movement" is the more apt since it is one piece of music uninterrupted by the division into 10 tracks, although these are helpful for describing the chronological progression.
The first is a maelstrom of polyphonic drones, synths & stringed instruments plus ghostly vocals that may be samples or synthetic constructions. The promising beginning of the second, a bucolic blend of gentle chimes & accordion, is cruelly aborted by the sudden intrusion of sobbing which is harrowing in its authenticity. When the weeping stops the track reverts to a somewhat chastened pastoral state with an acoustic guitar, flute and simple melody. The pattern of high-pitched chimes & drones in the 4th movement is disturbed by manic eruptions of drumming resembling machine-gun fire in its rapidity.
Cohesion is maintained by consistently undulating rhythms & a vague pattern of rising & falling cadences. The music occasionally enters areas reminiscent of artists like Popol Vuh, in particular Brüder des Schattens, Söhne des Lichts, Can, Psychic TV, Michael Nyman, Tangerine Dream and Peter Baumann but never lingers long in any particular place. The insectoid noises occurring throughout sound mechanical to me but Jarboe is credited with "trapped insect vocal" in the sleeve notes.
Sometimes a familiar spectrum of Swans sounds is discernable as in the 5th movement which calls to mind Jarboe's spectral vocals in those dreamy, ethereal songs like In My Garden on Children of God, Song for Dead Time on White Light from the Mouth of Infinity or Dream Dream & A Mystery of Faith on Ten Songs for Another World. When compared to the total Swans output Body Lovers most closely resembles Soundtracks for the Blind in its dependence on drones, while diving much deeper into uncharted waters "where be dragons."
I doubt that "dark ambient" correctly characterizes the style; there are also episodes of tranquility and outbursts of exultation. The variety of voice samples includes a Yippy Hi Hey chant, plus the wailing of an infant (during circumcision as the sleeve notes obligingly inform us) on the penultimate track. Perhaps the little thing's pain is what prompts Gira to drawl some half-spoken vocals weary with Weltschmerz which is the only singing on the album. The instruments on Body Lovers include accordion, bells, Celtic harp, dulcimer, drums, percussion, acoustic & electric guitars, flugelhorn & harmonica. They are seldom individually discernable except during the aforementioned acoustic interludes. Body Lovers is a challenging work which will reward the listener after repeated spins.
The same cannot be said of the harsh Body Haters album which starts with the shriek of a banshee. There is little trace of humanity in its relentless rhythms and stark industrial cacophony of metallic mayhem that are eventually replaced by disturbing drones that I suspect are deliberately calibrated to inspire doom & dread. Imagine the worst moments of metal merchants like Frontline Assembly, Throbbing Gristle or Front 242 to get an idea. So switch on the psychic self-defense before exposing yourself to this half hour of malevolence & dehumanization. The barren exercise is however redeemed by a 10-minute bonus track, a multi-layered "medley" of Swans song snippets brilliantly tossed, stirred and blended.
*Dr Greta Penterschloss in the 1st Addams Family movie
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Decent, for ambient material
Submitted on: 2005-08-11 |
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Not half as dynamic or haunting as the work Michael Gira did with Swans, "Body Lovers/Body Haters" is still a worthwhile listen for fans of dark ambient and followers of Gira's career.
"Body Lovers" is the better of the two albums: an hour of instrumentals with occasional sound clips, the work is fascinating, delving into the swamp of sound that Swans' later albums explored so well, replete with drones and creative instrumentation.
Then comes "Body Haters", 40 minutes of processed snippets of sound from previous songs by Swans. Lacking the organic feel of "Body Lovers", this isn't quite as compelling a listen, but does the job quite nicely if used as ambient noise.
If you've found your way to this album, you're probably already interested in the genres it encompasses, of which it's a fine example. Recommended for anyone who's after a challenging listen. |
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