Guilty By Association – Swans / Body Lovers / Body Haters

Body Lovers / Body Haters were both guises of Michael Gira (Swans, Angels Of Light) under which he created “psycho ambient” instrumental/imaginary soundtrack music.

Compiled, edited, mangled, fed back, mutated and morphed from high quality recordings of a dizzying array of musicians using acoustic and electric instruments -performed in the studio – as well as loops and fragments generated from these sessions, found cassette recordings, sine waves and drones, live Swans recordings, electronic noise and the occasional insect, weeping woman, or a touching recording of a baby in the process of being circumcised. Gira’s archive of early (from as far back as 1982) analog synth, tape loop experiments and “slabs of sound” mingle and interact here with contemporary studio performances . Originally composed/recorded in 1998, this prescient collage epic summed up Gira’s 15 year (Swans) obsession with music as raw, mutable sound – alternately dreamy and abrasive, drifting from sweet acoustic melodies to music concrete in one breath. Sound-source contributions from Pan Sonic, Deathprod, Origami Rebulika, Swans and many more. The Body Haters disc contains a new track recorded specifically for this re release. Ultra lush (and expanded new) artwork by Nicole Boitos.

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Discography

Body Lovers – Number One Of Three (Atavistic, 1998 / Young God, 1998)

Body Haters – 34:13 (Young God, 1999)

Body Lovers / Body Haters – Number One Of Three / 34:13 (Fringecore, 1998)

Body Lovers / Body Haters – Body Lovers / Body Haters (Young God, 2005)

Audio Samples: Young God Records

Reviews: Pitchfork | Assorted Reviews

Misc: Rocktropolis | Swans Fan Site