THE BEGGAR

CD 1 (69:08) 1. "The Parasite" (8:21) (17/20) 2. "Paradise Is Mine" (9:23) (17.25/20) 3. "Los Angeles: City of Death" (3:29) (8.5/10)

4. "Michael Is Done" (6:08) 'tron, female b vox, whispered vocal but it's all about attaining orgasm (in order to be finished with ? life?). The second, instrumental motif is like music from a 1960s pop song. (Is that Michael's idea of Heaven/Nirvana?) At least this makes it mildly more entertaining than the previous 20 minutes of the album. (8.6667/10)

5. "Unforming" (5:55) is Michael even really trying to sing? The C&W sound palette works okay for this song--making it mildly more interesting than the album's first 20 minutes--and there's even a climax at the end with the "freedom" proclamation. (8.66667/10)

6. "The Beggar" (10:15) nice foundation laid down from the opening.. Even Michael's forceful singing of his ominous lyrics is somehow engaging. The ramp up at the very end of the fourth minute is great (despite its CURE/COCTEAU TWINS sound and feel). The final ramp up at 8:00 is awesome and powerful. A top three song for me. (18/20)

7. "No More of This" (6:55) the music is a little dull and dirgey, but the vocal(s) is compelling. (13.25/15)

8. "Ebbing" (11:04) music supporting a Buddhist chant fest. (17.5/20)

9. "Why Can't I Have What I Want Any Time That I Want?" (7:38) the most engaging, compelling, creative, fully- developed, articulate, and lyrically-impressive song on the first disc. I love the eerie arrangement of the background vocalists and the fuller-musical weave of multiple instruments each adding their own important and distinctive thread to the song. A top three song. (14/15)

CD 2 (52:29) 10. "The Beggar Lover (Three)" (43:51) (Not on the LP) - Constantly morphing orchestral chordal discord over the first three minutes is so awesome! So much like the music I came to know and love from my first Swans acquisition, The Seer. Then we move to tubular bells, droning harmonium-like sound, and gentle seaside Brian Eno-like tuned percussion hits before and while a female voice recites (as if from a film soundtrack) a soliloquy about what life after death will be like. At the five-minute mark we move into an earthquake of percussion play. Steel-bending saw guitar and synth sounds soon join in. Drumming ends as church organ, orchestral bass notes, and an eerie chord is sung by a female choir for a minute or so before synths and other orchestral instruments provide a chilling PRESENT-like fabric over which Michael begins speaking lullaby words like "milk" and "sleepy close your eyes" in the eleventh minute. In the 12th minute fast-drummed metallic tuned percussives somehow supplant the organ-bass-choir motif with their own disturbing "alarm." This, in turn, is seemlessly supplanted 90 seconds later by a more space-industrial motif of synths and robotic rhythm instruments. These ghost-like synths are awesome over/with the plodding, relentless momentum supplied by the bass, synths, cymbals, and voice samples. Great section! At 18:00 a long, pulsing, CURE-like instrumental passage takes over, carrying us to the 22:00 mark where all instruments cut out leaving us only the mostly-female vocal choir to carry the song in its own constantly-morphing chordal flow. At 24:00 a bird-like screeching violin takes over, a cappella, for a full minute before a vocal diction coach enters to teach us vocal sounds before a different drum cascade provides the background for infant/baby vocalizations followed by toddler words & nursery rhymes ("This Old Man") as recited by a young boy. At 27:30 there is another transition led by droning guitar note before finger-picked acoustic guitar arpeggi and synth notes weave together to provide a kind of monotone carpet roll while a young child interjects an occasional "Da-ad!" or squeal. After reaching the 30-minute mark adult voices make their appearances over the guitar-synth carpet roll: first with adult male vocalizations then with a long rolling drone of sustained female choir notes (lasting about 90 seconds). Then, at 32:05, everything shifts again, back to a rolling drumming sequence from some tympanic-like drums. At 33:30 a single strummed guitar arpeggi begins a long repeat (loop) as jazz double bass and drum play (mostly cymbals and rim shots with the occasional bass drum and snare hits) join in. At 35:40 Michael joins in with his two-tone voice reciting a kind of DAVID BYRNE/ADRIAN BELEW-like list of things he "can" do with "it." Keys/synths and smooth/relaxing runs from tuned percussion join in as the jazz foundation and droning voice-list continue into the 44th minute--right to the song's end. I'm so glad Michael decided to give the listener something peaceful and relaxing to sink into! It is so difficult to sustain high-quality music, complete with tension and engaging melody or interesting components, over the length of 44 minutes, but this song does so fairly well--which I was not expecting after the inconsistent (and often maudlin simplicity of the) first CD (especially the first three songs). And what makes this long epic even more exceptional is the way it is always flowing and morphing into something totally fresh and new about every 90 seconds--which means there are about 30 palettes or motifs to the tapestry! Definitely another top three song for me and one of the best long-playing prog epics of 2023. (86/90)

11. "The Memorious" (8:38) old rhythms and pacing with "Da-ad" vocal epithets from a toddler and undistinguishable adult vocalizations open this one. At 1:30 a male voice begins a recitation of some poetry over the top of everything else. This is old, classic Swans with some simple King Crimson-like guitar patterning and Iggy Pop-like spoken vocals. The bursts of choir chords in the background are this time male-dominated. A decent but not outstanding song. (17.66667/20)

Total Time 121:37

Would that lyrics/words were my reason for listening to music I might like this album more. Musically those first three songs are so boring, simplistic, and repetitive--and so lyric-dependent--that I felt lost--forlorn that there was no way in hell that I could possibly end up liking this album. But, thank goodness I kept going as the music and songs gradually began to get better, become more engaging and interesting, so that I was drawn back to try all of the first songs over again. (I still don't like them.) The choir of female background vocalists helps but it's often just not enough to elevate these songs into engaging above monastic chants. Thank goodness for everything after "The Beggar" and especially the 44-minute "The Beggar Lover (Three)"--one of the best long-playing prog epics I've heard in a long time. IN short, this is an inconsistent album that really pays off big time if you stick with it (yes: all the way through its 121 minutes).

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of progressive rock music--highly recommended to any prog lover to try out for themselves.

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