The Body Lovers and The Body Haters were

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

projects led by composer

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 ...

between 1998 and 1999 following the breakup of

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 ...

in 1997. Both projects served as an outlet for Gira's loop experimentation within the

drone Drone or The Drones may refer to: Science and technology Vehicle * Drone, a type of uncrewed vehicle, a class of robot ** Unmanned aerial vehicle or aerial drone *** Unmanned combat aerial vehicle ** Unmanned ground vehicle or ground drone ** Unma ...

and

dark ambient Dark ambient (referred to as ambient industrial especially in the 1980s) is a genre of post-industrial musicReed, Alexander: ''Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music'', Oxford University Press, 2013, , p. 190 that features an ominous, ...

genres and were compared to the compositions comprising Swans' final pre-breakup album '' Soundtracks for the Blind''. The music was built around samples and

found sound Found objects are sometimes used in music, often to add unusual percussive elements to a work. Their use in such contexts is as old as music itself, as the original invention of musical instruments almost certainly developed from the sounds of nat ...

s, some of which dated as having been recorded as far back as 1980.

History

The Body Lovers/The Body Haters was conceived as a studio only project after the dissolution of composer Michael Gira's band

in 1997. Swans had been active since 1982 and had come to serve as Gira's primary musical outlet. The project featured input from former Swans contributors, such as

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 ...

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 ...

, Bill Bronson,

Norman Westberg Norman Westberg (born June 27, 1958) is an American guitarist from Detroit best known for his work with Swans, joining the band for the recording of their 1983 debut album '' Filth'' and appearing on every album except the 1992 album ''Love of Li ...

and Clinton Steele. The name Body Lovers was inspired by a composition on Jarboe's '' Sacrificial Cake'' titled "The Body Lover". A trilogy was planned and two albums were released, '' Number One of Three'' in 1998 and '' 34:13'' the following year. The music was built on samples and found sounds, with Gira drawing inspiration from composers such as

Glenn Branca Glenn Branca (October 6, 1948 – May 13, 2018) was an American avant-garde music, avant-garde composer, guitarist, and luthier. Known for his use of volume, scordatura, alternative guitar tunings, minimal music, repetition, drone (music), dronin ...

and

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in p ...

. After 1999, Gira turned his attention to his song-oriented project The Angels of Light. In 2010, Gira reformed and began touring Swans.

Discography

;Studio albums *'' Number One of Three'' ( Young God, 1998) *'' 34:13'' (Young God, 1999) ;Compilation albums *''The Body Lovers / The Body Haters'' (Young God, 2000)

References

External links

The Body Lovers
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

The Body Haters
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Body Lovers The Body Haters American ambient music groups American industrial music groups American noise rock music groups American experimental rock groups Musical groups established in 1998 Musical groups disestablished in 1999 Young God Records artists