''Drainland'' is the debut solo studio album by American musician

Michael Gira Michael Rolfe Gira (; born February 19, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, author and artist. Now based in New Mexico, he founded the band Swans, in which he sings and plays guitar, in New York City in the 1980s at the height of ...

. It was released on June 9, 1995, through

Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 by Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra and guitarist East Bay Ray in San Francisco, California, with the intention to release the Dead Kennedys' self-produced single " C ...

. Using spare arrangements recorded in August 1994 at musician

Bill Rieflin William Frederick Rieflin (September 30, 1960 – March 24, 2020) was an American musician. Rieflin came to prominence in the 1990s mainly for his work as a drummer with groups (particularly in the industrial rock and industrial metal scen ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

home, the album features contributions from Rieflin and Gira's

Swans Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...

bandmate

Jarboe Jarboe Devereaux, (born January 30) known mononymously as Jarboe (), is an American singer and musician who came to prominence as a member of the New York City experimental rock band Swans in 1985. Jarboe and Michael Gira, the founder of Swans ...

. Jarboe released her 1995 solo studio album '' Sacrificial Cake'' as an accompaniment to ''Drainland.'' In April 2017, the record was remastered and re-released together with ''

The Great Annihilator ''The Great Annihilator'' is the ninth studio album by American experimental rock band Swans. It was released on January 23, 1995, through frontman Michael Gira's own record label, Young God. The album has been described by Gira as a compani ...

'' by Swans, which has since been described as an accompanying record to ''Drainland''.

Music and lyrics

The album's sound is characterized by its "hypnotically strummed guitars, chiming bells and eerie swirls of synthesizer and sound effects." The tracks "Where Does Your Body Begin?", "Unreal" and "Your Naked Body" are primarily acoustic-based and feature various extra instrumental touches, including keyboards and samples. Lyrically, the album explores Gira's "self-delusion of alcoholic detachment," as well as humorous interpretations of "rock star culture and expectations" on tracks such as "Fan Letter." The song "Where Does Your Body Begin?" has the same lyrics as the song "Where Does A Body End?" from ''

'', linking the two "companion albums" together. The track "Blind" is originally a Swans song and was taken from the recording sessions for the ''

White Light from the Mouth of Infinity ''White Light from the Mouth of Infinity'' is the seventh studio album by the American band Swans. It was released in 1991, through the record label Young God. The band supported the album with a North American tour. In 2015, it was remastered ...

'' (1991) sessions, and would appear on the 2015 reissue of the album.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

critic Ned Raggett compared ''Drainland'' to accompanying Jarboe piece '' Sacrificial Cake'', describing the album as "a less of a mixed bag than Jarboe's own musically varied solo efforts, yet it has distinct strengths." Raggett further wrote: "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." ''

SF Weekly ''SF Weekly'' is an online music publication and formerly alternative weekly newspaper founded in the 1970s in San Francisco, California. It was distributed every Thursday, and was published by the San Francisco Print Media Company. The paper ha ...

'' wrote: "Whether they're strumming sweet melodies on acoustic guitars or banging large metallic objects together, Gira and dulcet-toned partner Jarboe turn sunshine into something sinister." Philip Sherburne of Wondering Sound described the record as a "bitter and at times bilious album, an unsparing self-portrait of the artist as an ugly man."

Track listing

Personnel

– vocals, electric and acoustic guitar, samples, production, engineering, design, arrangement *

– keyboards, electric bass guitar, samples, programming, production, arrangement, engineering *

– backing vocals, sounds, keyboards, samples, production, arrangement * John Yates – layout * Wim Van De Hulst – photography Additional personnel on "Blind": *

Kristof Hahn Kristof Hahn (also known as Christoph Hahn; born 6 February 1959) is a German guitarist, composer and translator. Hahn is best known for his lap steel guitar playing in the New York experimental rock band Swans. He joined the band in 1989 to t ...

– guitars * Clinton Steele – guitars * Jenny Wade – bass guitar * Anton Fier – drums

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1995 debut albums Michael Gira albums Alternative Tentacles albums Albums produced by Michael Gira Albums produced by Jarboe Sub Rosa Records albums