Anhedoniac [Limited Edition, Original recording remastered]

Jarboe | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 31, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Limited Edition, Original recording remastered
• Label: ATAVISTIC
• ASIN: B000667GVO
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,599 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Anhedoniac

2. The Cage

3. Sinner

4. Forever

5. Rage

6. Not Noah's Ark

7. Sacred Disciple Wannabe

8. Mississippi

9. Burnt

10. Anhedoniac Bottle

11. Under Will

12. Circles In Red Dirt

13. Panasonic In Red Dirt

14. Honey

15. I'm A Killer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An incredible surprise!, May 17, 2005

By 

Scott Bresinger (New York, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anhedoniac (Audio CD)

For those of you unfamiliar with Jarboe, she was a member of the semi-legendary NYC band Swans for over 10 years, playing the ego to Michael Gira's id. Before she came along, the Swans were a pounding headache, ceaseless brutality married to funeral dirges. Not that this was a problem; some of us like that sort of thing. Jarboe, however, entered the fold and immediatly humanized the group, adding melody and just a little bit of light to the proceedings. This isn't to say she was Mary Poppins; her vision was almost as dark as Gira's, just not as much so, or as cartoonish. Gira's stentorian growl got ponderous pretty quick, and Jarboe added some color to Gira's monochromatic world.
It was inevitable that Swans would dissolve, because that much tension for so long needs a release. Now free, Jarboe left New York for the deep south, where she was raised among the most extreme of fundamentalists (we're talking about snake handlers here, folks). Here she renewed a solo career that began during the Swans days, though always with Gira present (one of those, "Sacrificial Cake," is worth seeking out). "Anhedoniac" represents the first of her post-Swans releases, and even for fans, it's quite a surprise. This album, originally released in 1998 but now remastered and reissued with bonus tracks, is a severe but multifaceted gem. She throws in a head spinning array of styles, from experimental sound collages and noisy rock to a capella rants (think Bjork's "Medulla" in hell) and even some psychedelic pop! This could have all been a disaster, but "Anhedoniac" (the name means one unable to experience pleasure) hangs together beautifully, even when a remix by the Finnish electronica duo Pan Sonic is inserted. Some of the lyrics flirt with by-the-numbers goth--"the malignancy grows with fibrous insistence" begins "Forever"--but she always saves herself by making you realize this stuff is deeply felt and personal (the song "Mississippi" for instance).
While I admit I can be a sucker for a certain kind of "high end" goth (Joy Division, the Birthday Party) "Anhedoniac" took me by surprise. I went in expecting at best a pale reminder of the Swans and went out absolutely floored. If you're a fan of Siouxsie & the Banshees, Diamanda Galas, and even Neurosis (who recently collaborated with Jarboe) "Anhedoniac" is an essential listen. If it seems kind of obscure now, remember, that's what they said about the Velvets, too.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Out of Print collector's edition of 1500, October 3, 2010

By 

qvimby "vidmonger" (indy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anhedoniac [RARE] (Audio CD)

Anhedoniac is a giant leap forward in the musical odyssey undertaken by Jarboe, former vocalist, songwriter and keyboardist with Swans and the World of Skin. Jarboe possesses a lovely contralto normally, but she's not content to croon. In fact, she's always been interested in limits, the pushing, breaking, and transcending of them as she expands her own aesthetic universe. For all of its strange and obsessive darkness, Anhedoniac is not merely an exercise in transgression. Rather, it is an aesthetic polemic musically and lyrically. With aid from friends like Lary Seven, Brian E. Castillo, Joseph Budenholzer, Michael Evans, and Bill Bronson, Jarboe goes through the sonic wall she created on Red and Thirteen Masks. The vocal extremes are still here. They range from the edgy, near-insane whispers and whimpers (the title cut) to thunderous, possessed, caterwauling roars and screeches ("Not Noah's Ark") to clear, dignified near-plainsong ("Forever") to restrained yet malevolent spoken word ("Rage") to tribal roots chant ("Sacred Disciple Wannabe") to heart-rending wordless crooning ("Circles in Red Dirt"), but they are more disciplined, deliberate, and razor-sharp. In the grain of her voice, Jarboe holds the fury, willingness, strength, and heartbreak inherent in each of these songs taut against the labyrinthine textures in the music. Her voice is an instrument in the mix, but it is a separate one; it rides above and/or below the maelstrom and hush of the sonic swirl. It roots out the shapes and shades of meaning in any song's dynamics and gives it limitless depth and dimension, creating an intoxicating, nightmarish highway through archetypal and psychosexual tales of plagues and carnivals.

Unique fetishized and treated packaging. Hand assembled, featuring photographs of Jarboe by Richard Kern (NEW YORK GIRLS) with 'horror' cuts, gashes, and blood - makeup by KEMBRA (Voluptuous Horror Of Karen Black).

Recording for Anhedoniac began August 1997, ended May 1998
Mixes: Jarboe/Seven, Jarboe/Castillo

Soundscape contributors: Mark Spybey, Ignis Fatuus, Jerry Blue
Other related items include: Jarboe: X /Extremly Rare Limited Edition VHS Video - Jarboe: Over (Audio CD -2000) Limited Edition - Jarboe: [-related project] Karma /The Trance EP CD Single - Swans: Feel Good Now /Rare Import (Original 2/LP Import Release)