World of Skin
Encyclopedia
The World of Skin was a project springing out of the American group Swans
, and was a collaboration between the core Swans members Michael Gira
and Jarboe
. The project was initially called Skin, with the first two albums being released under that name, the last one being released under the name the World of Skin. The musical style was similar to The Burning World
and the other later Swans releases, although it shed most of its rock influences to play a mostly acoustic goth-folk style with electronics. In the UK, the first two albums were released by Product Inc., an imprint of Mute Records
, while the last was released on Gira's own Young God label.
. The work performed as Skin was initially in marked contrast with the less overtly melodic but contemporaneous Swans work, but later Swans work integrated the two aspects.
Blood, Women, Roses (1987) was the project's first release and featured vocals entirely by Jarboe, who had previously mainly been performing backing vocals. Many of the tracks on this album were covers of show tunes and other popular songs (for example "Cry Me a River" and "The Man I Love"). Many of the tracks still featured the monumental use of percussion that was common in earlier Swans work, but combined this with a greater use of melody ("Red Rose" is typical of this).
Blood, Women, Roses was followed in 1988 by Shame, Humility. Revenge, which featured vocals by Michael Gira (although Jarboe did perform some backing vocals). Gira's flatter vocal style (nearly spoken word on many songs on the album) sometimes seems at odds with the musical style of the album, and in particular makes the acoustic cover of Iggy Pop
's "I Want to be Your Dog" sound distinctive. The first two albums were released only in Europe, but they were combined in the US release World of Skin (released under the band name World of Skin), which was followed by the final World of Skin release, Ten Songs from Another World. This album featured vocals from both performers, including a cover of Nick Drake
's "Black Eyed Dog" performed by Jarboe.
Of the many Swans album releases, the one that is stylistically most similar to the World of Skin work is The Burning World, with which Gira indicated that he was least satisfied. The release that most significantly raised the profile of the project was "Girl: Come Out," which was briefly a hit in some European gay clubs.
Swans (band)
Swans are an influential American post-punk band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York No Wave scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in...
, and was a collaboration between the core Swans members Michael Gira
Michael Gira
Michael Rolfe Gira is an American musician, author, and artist. He is the main force behind the recently reformed New York City musical group Swans and fronts the Angels of Light...
and Jarboe
Jarboe
Jarboe is an American singer, songwriter, and keyboardist.Jarboe is a solo artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with the New York City based group Swans. With founder Michael Gira, the duo was the core of Swans until the group broke up in 1998...
. The project was initially called Skin, with the first two albums being released under that name, the last one being released under the name the World of Skin. The musical style was similar to The Burning World
The Burning World (album)
The Burning World is an album by the American rock band Swans. It was released in 1989 on Uni Records, and it was its only major label release and only album featuring production by Bill Laswell....
and the other later Swans releases, although it shed most of its rock influences to play a mostly acoustic goth-folk style with electronics. In the UK, the first two albums were released by Product Inc., an imprint of Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
, while the last was released on Gira's own Young God label.
History
The Swans album Greed began a trend toward greater use of melody, and this trend continued with the later Children of GodChildren Of God (album)
Children of God is the eighth album by the American band Swans, released in 1987. It was re-released along with some songs by World of Skin on CD in 1997, as Children of God/World of Skin. On this re-release, the original album version of Our Love Lies was replaced with the version included on the...
. The work performed as Skin was initially in marked contrast with the less overtly melodic but contemporaneous Swans work, but later Swans work integrated the two aspects.
Blood, Women, Roses (1987) was the project's first release and featured vocals entirely by Jarboe, who had previously mainly been performing backing vocals. Many of the tracks on this album were covers of show tunes and other popular songs (for example "Cry Me a River" and "The Man I Love"). Many of the tracks still featured the monumental use of percussion that was common in earlier Swans work, but combined this with a greater use of melody ("Red Rose" is typical of this).
Blood, Women, Roses was followed in 1988 by Shame, Humility. Revenge, which featured vocals by Michael Gira (although Jarboe did perform some backing vocals). Gira's flatter vocal style (nearly spoken word on many songs on the album) sometimes seems at odds with the musical style of the album, and in particular makes the acoustic cover of Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
's "I Want to be Your Dog" sound distinctive. The first two albums were released only in Europe, but they were combined in the US release World of Skin (released under the band name World of Skin), which was followed by the final World of Skin release, Ten Songs from Another World. This album featured vocals from both performers, including a cover of Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
's "Black Eyed Dog" performed by Jarboe.
Of the many Swans album releases, the one that is stylistically most similar to the World of Skin work is The Burning World, with which Gira indicated that he was least satisfied. The release that most significantly raised the profile of the project was "Girl: Come Out," which was briefly a hit in some European gay clubs.
Group members
- Michael Gira - vocals, guitar, keyboards, samples, sounds (1987-1990)
- Jarboe - vocals, keyboards, sounds (1987-1990)
- Norman Westberg - guitar (1988)
- Harry Crosby - bass (1988)
Studio releases
- Blood, Women, Roses - (1987)
- Shame, Humility, Revenge - (1988)
- Ten Songs From Another World - (1990)