5.27.2008

Live Box (2003...g) [Coil...6xCD/1xCD-R]




















Contents...

Live One [2XCD]
Live Two
Live Three
Live Four
ANS
Megalithomania! [CD-R]

Review...

When it was announced that Coil would play their first live show in North America on August 18, 2001, I was shocked by what seemed like an incredible series of synchronicities. I had long considered Coil to be one of my favorite bands, but I thought there would be little or no chance of ever seeing them play live. Though they had recently begun playing select concerts at some classy venues and festivals in Europe, they just seemed far too shadowy, eccentric and English to ever grace American shores. Strangely, the day announced for the concert was not only my birthday, but my 23rd birthday, a number commonly involved with synchronicity, and a number often mythologized by Coil themselves. Also, before hearing the announcement, I had already planned a trip to New York City to celebrate my birthday. It seemed as if mysterious forces had aligned in to make certain that I would not miss this Coil performance. However, I did not have very high expectations for the concert itself. Sure, Coil were mind-bending and transcendent on record, but how could their complex, studio-hermetic sound possibly translate into a meaningful live show? Coil's live performance is a revelation; a powerful, dramatic explosion of dynamic energy, every bit as impressive as their recorded output, but somehow even more potent and overwhelming. The absolutely massive sound achieved by Sleazy's digital programming, Thighpaulsandra's soaring synthesizers and Jhon Balance's possessed outbursts clearly needed proper documenting on record. Recently, Coil inaugurated a backwards-unfolding series of four live CDs, each documenting a different "age" of their constantly evolving live show. To those willing to shell out nearly $200, Threshold House also offered a limited box set of all four discs, together with two extra CD-Rs and "art objects" allegedly "loaded with magickal intent". - Jonathan Dean

Images...

box spine
box underside

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we miss you Jhonn...