Michael Gira - Drainland

Given how Gira made Swans such a personal and broad-ranging vehicle for his art over the years, it would have been more than understandable if Drainland, released as a complement to Jarboe's album from the same year Sacrificial Cake, turned out to be Swans redux album as a result. As it happens, it's less of a mixed bag than Jarboe's own musically varied solo efforts, yet it has distinct strengths. Assisted by Jarboe and late-period Swans member Bill Rieflin, at whose Seattle home most of the album was recorded, Gira brings his expected bleak, alienated but still heartfelt lyrical visions to the fore, steering away from the full, epic grind of Swans and towards a variety of more restrained musical visions. Read More