Released as a between-albums teaser for fans, as well as being an initially cryptic statement regarding the planned but not yet publicly announced end of Swans as a musical unit (the German title phrase translates as "the door is shut"), Die Tür Ist Zu combines recordings from a variety of sources, including live shows and radio sessions. It's a little less than a unified album but more than an EP (especially considering it happens to be close to an hour long!). As on the immediately preceding release The Great Annihilator, Gira and Jarboe work with a core musical band, in this case the Swans touring lineup from 1995, with Larry Mullins on percussion, American Music Club veteran Vudi on guitar, and Joe Goldring on bass. At over 20 minutes, the lead song -- the cinematic mood-out "Ligeti's Breath/Hilflos Kind" -- remains the longest thing ever done by Swans. It's an extended German-language version of the Soundtracks for the Blind standout track "The Helpless Child." Various samples and drones lead into the band's performance of the epically scaled and arranged piece, at once providing another classic Swans moment and pointing the way to Gira's future work in instrumental experimentalism with the Body Lovers. Other reworkings crop up: A track from Gira's Drainland album, "I See Them All Lined Up," is also translated into German and given a notably different, explosive full-band treatment; the White Light album track "You Know Nothing" becomes "You Know Everything," an especially lovely version with a child's taped conversation standing in for the vocals. Even more intriguing, however, is the live take of the very early Swans song "Your Property," here called "Yrp" and sung beautifully by Jarboe instead of Gira over a much more restrained (mostly!) musical reworking of the original.
© Ned Raggett /TiVo