Swans - 1991 - White Light from the Mouth of Infinity
MUSCIANS:
Michael Gira - voice, acoustic guitar, sounds, samples, keyboards, arrangements
Jarboe - voice, keyboards, background vocals, choral / orchestral arrangements
Christoph Hahn - acoustic and electric guitar
Clinton Steele - acoustic and electric guitar
Jenny Wade - bass guitar
Anton Fier - drums, drum programming
Nicky Skopelitis - acoustic and electric guitar, baglama, bazouki, banjo
Vincent Signorelli -percussion
Hahn Rowe - violin
Steve Burgh - mandolin, 12-string guitar
Norman Westberg - electric guitar
SONGS:
Better Than You
Power And Sacrifice
You Know Nothing
Song For Dead Time
Will We Survive
Love Will Save You
Failure
Song For The Sun
Miracle Of Love
When She Breathes
Why Are We Alive?
The Most Unfortunate Lie
Crawling
out of the same noisy, arty New York underground , Swans created a
dark, abrasive, murky, slowed-down noise rock that served as a starting
point for their ruminations about alienation, depression, depravity,
and the disturbing side of human nature. Singers Michael Gira and
Jarboe have been the group's only constants over the years.
The
opening track "Better Than You" almost says it all: Starting with the
wail of an infant, then suddenly crashing into surging music that mixes
quick, energetic drums with bells and other instruments, the song turns
into a dramatic acoustic guitar/percussion piece with Gira's brooding
voice and Jarboe's haunting backing; after some re-developments of the
themes, it ends with a beautiful restatement of the sung section with
additional guitar and bell sounds. At once incredibly destructive and
astoundingly life-affirming — and worth the entire Burning World album
several times over — "Better Than You" demonstrates that Swans had
emerged even more powerful and artistic than before, aiming for an
awesome, all-encompassing majesty in their music that the admittedly
hypnotic earlier versions of the band, in their brute forcefulness,
simply could not have achieved. Interestingly, a number of players from
Burning World and other Bill Laswell associates participate on White
Light, but hereas sole producer marshals everyone's collective efforts
to heights that Laswell either was unwilling or unable to do. Also
notably, Westberg is all but absent on guitar, with new arrival Clinton
Steele taking the fore as the major instrumentalist after Gira and
Jarboe themselves. Picking out all the highlights from such a stunning
disc is practically impossible, but three of the flat-out classic
marvels here are: "You Know Nothing," with its simply lovely
introduction and Gira's commanding singing; "Song for Dead Time," a
gentle Jarboe-sung number filled out by a simple but effective
string-synth arrangement; and "Failure," carried by a buried guitar
strum, Gira's Sisyphean lyric, and brief, lush choruses. Simply put,
this is out and out brilliant as the clear starting point for the
second half of Swans' unique career.