A Tier III

World of Skin.

American duo · Michael Gira and Jarboe · the quieter, song-shaped side project of Swans, first as Skin · 1987–1990

filed under
Experimental · gothic torch song · the acoustic and electronic counterpart to Swans' weight, built around two voices
A Swans side project · Gira and Jarboe as a duo · first two albums as Skin, the last as the World of Skin · UK releases via Mute's Product Inc., the last on Young God
WhoThe duo of Michael Gira and Jarboe, the two core members of Swans · begun in 1987 as simply Skin, renamed the World of Skin for the final record
SoundGothic torch songs, jazz inflection and electronic experiment · the melodic, intimate material that ran in parallel to Swans' turn toward scale, and a vehicle for the two voices alone
ReleasesThree albums between 1987 and 1990 · Blood, Women, Roses the first · UK issues on Product Inc., an imprint of Mute, the last on Gira's own Young God
ContextOf a piece with the period when Swans were opening from brutalism toward melody, around Children of God · the duo let Gira and Jarboe pursue the quiet end of that turn on its own terms
Why filedA documented side project of two Tier I artists and a piece of the Swans story · tradition-internal position met · filed at Tier III
Filed atArtists · Tier III · cross-referenced at Swans, Michael Gira, Jarboe and the Lexicon

Editorial.

The song-shaped side project where the two voices of Swans worked alone, quieter than the band and stranger for it.

World of Skin is the duo of Michael Gira and Jarboe, filed by the Bureau at Tier III as the intimate counterpart to Swans. It began in 1987 as simply Skin and took the fuller name the World of Skin for its last record, running until 1990. The three albums sit in gothic torch song, jazz inflection and electronic experiment, the quiet end of the turn the parent band was making at the same time, around Children of God, away from pure weight and toward melody.

The point of the project was the two voices alone. Where Swans was a band and an apparatus, World of Skin was Gira and Jarboe in close focus, and the records have a confessional intimacy the parent group rarely allowed. UK issues came through Product Inc., an imprint of Mute, with the final album on Gira's own Young God.

The Bureau's reading. World of Skin is filed at Tier III as a documented Swans side project and a small, essential part of the Gira and Jarboe story.

Filed by Bureau editor · VAGO · c. the Anthropocene · last revised c. the Anthropocene

Cross-references.

ARTSwans · the parent band · Michael Gira · Jarboe · the duo
LBLMute · via Product Inc. for the UK issues
LEXLexicon · Swans · torch song · side project · term-level cross-reference

Coda.

Filing held open. The Bureau will close this note when the catalogue settles.

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