Musick To Play In The Dark, Vol. 1 (1999...c) [Coil...CD]

01 Are You Shivering?
02 Red Birds Will Fly Out of the East and Destroy Paris in a Night
03 Red Queen
04 Broccoli
05 Strange Birds
06 The Dreamer is Still Asleep

Notes...

This album was originally supposed to be available only via personal mail order from Coil or World Serpent, but it was later given a more general release.

First CD edition is limited to 2000 copies. Those ordered directly from Coil (around 1000 copies) include certificate of provenance, numbered and signed by Peter and John.

Second CD edition is unlimited and features slightly different artwork. The catalog number GRAALCD2 appears on the back cover of this edition by mistake.

Review...

Coil return with exactly sixty minutes of new music. Moon Musick that is. As of January 26th of this year Coil are 5 with the addition of classically trained musician Thighpaulsandra (aka Tim Lewis). This is his first appearance on a recording, whereas electric violist William Breeze is not present due to geography and work commitments. "Musick.." began as a subscription release (direct from Coil with signed certificate of provenance) but small quantities will also be made available through World Serpent. With "Musick.." Coil continue to move forward with new ideas and new sounds. Most of the tracks feature vocals to some extent, usually spoken by Balance. "Are You Shivering?" utilizes drone-y organ chords, vocoded vocal snippets, static-y pops and crackles, watery thumps, a slow, steady beat, angelic backing vocals, drippings of sound and Balance's spoken words. A very haunting, liquidy (musically and lyrically) introduction to moon musick. "Red Birds.." is an instrumental track, mostly the work of Thighpaulsandra, comprised of a long series of flowing arpeggio patterns. This track has a constant sense of motion as the notes gain density and speed, interplaying and morphing their tones. It gets rather abrasive in the final minutes as swirling effects go into overdrive. "Red Queen" has a slow, jazzy feel to it: beautiful piano playing (courtesy of Thighpaulsandra), brushed snare, a swooping drone-y background and Balance's spoken words about the lies of media. This is a side of Coil I'd love to hear more of. "Broccoli" is pretty minimal: watery drips, static-y clickings and pops, deep bass notes and vocals by both Balance and Christophersen. The lyrics seem to suggest preparing oneself for the death of one's parents and to take heed of their words of advice. "Strange Birds" is also fairly minimal. It's primarily instrumental save for 1 quiet, spoken line from Balance. Again, static-y pops and crackles are used along with bird sounds, dogs barking and various natural environment sounds. It gives me the sensation of standing on a rocky coastline as hundreds of birds are about on the shore and in the air. "The Dreamer.." is like "Red Queen" in that it has a strong "song"-based format. A throbbing bass rhythm is the heartbeat of the song as a gentle keyboard melody, a subtle percussion loop and Balance's spoken and sung vocals express the lament of the lucid dreamer. Wow! All in all, this is yet another fantastic piece of work from Coil. The sound is nice and varied and Thighpaulsandra has proven to be an excellent addition to the lineup. The cd (with moon graphic) comes in a digipack which has a fractal, nightime winter/forest/mountain-horizon graphic. Inside, opposite the cd, is a rainbow circle with the four band members names around it. Very sharp. "Musick.." deserved an unlimited, domestic distribution via Nothing Records, but ... what are you gonna do? Get this while you can. It was well worth the $20 and the wait. This is going to get a lot of spins in my players in light *and* dark times and will definitely be in my top ten for 1999. I patiently await Volume 2 due in January of 2000. Thanks guys. - Mark Weddle

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