A Mystery of Faith: Unreleased Pieces - Swans + World of Skin

A Mystery of Faith: Unreleased Pieces - Swans + World of Skin Artist: Jarboe
Label: Atavistic Records
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 2


UPC: 735286115529
EAN: 0735286115529
ASIN: B000784X0S


Release Date: 2005-01-25

A Mystery of Faith: Unreleased Pieces - Swans + World of Skin


Related Categories:

General General
Categories | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Avant Garde & Free Jazz Avant Garde & Free Jazz
Categories | Jazz | Styles | Music
General General
Categories | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop Rock Pop Rock
Categories | Pop | Styles | Music
Experimental Music Experimental Music
Categories | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Tracks:

  1. Song For Dead Time - (mix)
  2. Beauty's Punishment
  3. Everything For Maria
  4. Blackmail - (live)
  5. Still A Child - (live)
  6. Man I Love, The - (version)
  7. Come Out - (mix)
  8. Dream Dream - (original demo)
  9. Dream Dream Seque - (version)
  10. I Put A Spell On You - (live)
  11. She Cries - (for spider)
  12. Mystery Of Faith, A
  13. Wayfaring Stranger - (rehearsal)
  14. Wayfaring Stranger - (live)
  15. Can't Find My Way Back Home - (live)

Tracks:

  1. Incidentals
  2. Mother Father - (segments)
  3. Mother Father - (live)
  4. My Buried Child - (live)
  5. Black Eyed Dog - (live)
  6. Love Will Tear Us Apart - (live)
  7. Mother's Milk - (live)
  8. Hypo - (rehearsal)
  9. HypoGirl - (live)
  10. Man I Love, The - (live)
  11. Come Out - (mix)
  12. Song For A Buried Child - (mix)
  13. Mother's Milk - (mix)
  14. I Crawled - (live)

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Album Description

This double CD contains recordings from Swans with Jarboe on lead vocals - all previously unreleased and remastered by Chris Griffin (who also recorded and mastered "Soundtracks For The Blind" and other Swans projects). Over 140 minutes of prime material from 1986-1997, with humorous, obscure, and sometimes revealing personal recordings of Swans performances, rehearsals, sound checks, and 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 A completely distinctive take on one of the great avant-garde rock bands of all time, and a must-have historical document for all Swans fans.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars The breathtaking anima of Swans.......2005-04-24


This compilation consists of live recordings in Reykjavik, Tilburg, London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Brussels, Manchester, New York and Tokyo, plus studio recordings in Chicago, New York, London and Atlanta. The rehearsing sections are from Atlanta and New York. The material covers the period 1986 to 1997 in which Swans and World Of Skin were active. The track listing on my copy does not correspond to the song sequence on the CD but it doesn't matter.

Representing eleven years of Jarboe's vocals, keyboards and found sounds, and songs by herself and Michael Gira (separate and together), this impressive album also includes compositions by Nick Drake, Ira Gershwin, Joy Division and Screamin' Jay Hawkins. There is thus plenty of variety in style and presentation, from torch songs like The Man I Love and Song For Dead Time to searing rock such as Mother Father and Black Eyed Dog live.

The general tone of the album varies from atmospheric, even eerie moments, to raw and powerful live performances. Of the former, highlights include the awesome look at the death of Callas called Everything For Maria, the oneiric Dream Dream, and the slow version of Mothers Milk. Live tracks that stand out include Love Will Tear Us Apart, two other versions of Mother's Milk, Can't Find My Way Home with its spookily churning rhythm, and the awesome Wayfaring Stranger.

There are also some snatches of conversations and quarrels between band members during rehearsals, which add to the charm and atmosphere of the album. Although it spans more than a decade and various changes of direction in the sound of Swans, plus the WoS side project, Mystery Of Faith is quite cohesive and serves as a breathtaking display of the anima of Swans.

This collection is in many ways also more accessible than a lot of Jarboe's subsequent solo work. Her magnificent voice with its evocative timbres and superb interpretive skills make Jarboe one of the greatest virtually unknown vocalists, in rock and other genres. For more of this amazing music, I highly recommend the Swans albums Various Failures, Soundtracks For The Blind, The Burning World and Children Of God/World Of Skin. And of course Jarboe's solo albums, if you think you're strong enough!

4 out of 5 stars

Music Album:

  1. Hide Behind the Sun ~ Roky Erickson
  2. Action ~ Action
  3. Through the Basement Walls ~ Kelly Moneymaker
  4. The Collection ~ Talk Talk
  5. Onanie Bomb Meets Sex Pistols ~ The Boredoms
  6. The Official Fiction ~ Something for Kate
  7. Instro Hipsters a Go-Go, Vol. 3 ~ Various Artists
  8. The Tain ~ Horslips
  9. Driving Rain ~ Paul McCartney
  10. We Are Quiet in This Room ~ Hurl

Music Album

Music Album

Music CD

Ocean Drive ~ Debbie Spring

1936-1946 ~ Frankie Trumbauer

Whispers ~ Phoenix Rising

Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall ~ Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, Roy Hargrove

Bolero! Be Happy Live ~ Kotaro Oshio

Orange and Blue ~ Al di Meola

Boot Legged ~ Kenz

Electheque ~ Gts

1812 Overture ~ Tschaikovksy

Fortschritt ~ Melotron