The Last Amethyst Deceiver...

Transparent (1984...a) [Zos Kia/Coil...CD]

2008-07-08T01:22:00.019+02:00

01 Sicktone [Zos Kia. Berlin Atonal. 3.XII.1983]
02 Baptism Of Fire [Zos Kia. Berlin Atonal. 3.XII.1983]
03 Rape [Zos Kia. Berlin Atonal. 3.XII.1983]
04 Poisons [Zos Kia. Berlin Atonal. 3.XII.1983]
05 Truth [Zos Kia. Berlin Atonal. 3.XII.1983]
06 Sewn Open [Coil/Zos Kia][Rehersal 5.X.1983]
07 Silence & Secrecy (Section)[Coil/Zos Kia][Live At Magenta Club, London 5.VIII.1983]
08 Here To Here (Double Headed Secret)[Coil/Zos Kia]
09 Stealing The Words [Coil/Zos Kia][3.VIII.82]
10 On Balance [Coil/Zos Kia][5.V.82]

Notes...

The first five tracks ("Sicktone" to "Truth") form Side 1 of the cassette version, which is labelled "Zos Kia. Berlin Atonal. 3.XII.1983". The remainder of the tracks form Side 2, which is credited to "Coil/Zos Kia", and were recorded in 1982/83. The line-up of Coil and Zos Kia were basically identical at this time:

John Balance
Joan D'Arc [John Gosling]
Min
Peter Christopherson

CD version: "Rape" is the same as "Violation" from the cassette release. "Silence & Secrecy" is shorter than the version on the cassette.

The dates listed for "Sewn Open" and "Silence & Secrecy" are incorrect. They should be 5.X.1983 and 5.VIII.1983 respectively (corrected).

The disc is packaged in a mini LP style cardboard slipcase, and includes a booklet with photos from Coil/Zos Kia performances, text of a Coil Manifesto written by John Balance in 1983, and a transcript of a coversation between John Balance and Peter Christopherson regarding the Coil/Zos Kia performances and recordings.

Reviews...

This is a historical tome in the Coil discography that the pioneering U.K. industrial group released as a cassette-only album on Nekrophile Records. Performances of early Coil as a harsh industrial noise/performance art group are captured in various live settings during 1983, including Berlin and London concerts, as well as studio/rehearsal room sessions that predate the Coil of the legendary 1984 album Scatology, which subsequently became a massively influential recording in the post-industrial movement. Here are the earliest Coil recordings, exhibiting the band as it develops a fierce noise music that later became some of the most poetic and elegiac of the era. Whether reshaping electro, new wave, hyper-minimalism, or futuristic folk, Coil remained one of the most vital groups of the '80s post-punk movement. For fans of the group, this early archival material is essential listening. The disc is packaged in a mini-LP-style cardboard slipcase, and includes a booklet with photos from Coil/Zos Kia performances. A text of the Coil manifesto penned by John Balance and a transcription of a conversation between founders Balance and Peter Christopherson are included in the booklet. Newcomers to the group are advised to explore first the albums Scatology, Horse Rotorvator, and Love's Secret Domain, though Coil fans and collectors will not be disappointed by this obscurity. Transparent provides a much-needed insight into the very early work of the extraordinary industrial music institution. - Skip Jansen...From Allmusic

Discussion...

* DLK says:

My first impression was in the store before I even heard the CD. I don't like the cardboard CD single type packaging. The first thing I'll need to do is find a jewel case for it. I hope it's not an indication of things to come.

Upon listening: Since I prefer early (pre-LSD) Coil albums over the more recent ones, I like the noisy/rough nature of the tracks on this CD. There's lots of noise and screaming so it's probably not for everyone though. Also, the hiss level makes it sound like they may have used one of the original 1984 cassettes for the CD master.

There is a nice booklet inside which explains the pieces and has pictures of the events they were recorded at as well as the posters for those events. It also includes "The Coil Manefesto" circa 1983. It was interesting to see how much of the text of the manifesto eventually made it's way into the lyrics of later songs.

This disc is important for it's historical documentation of that period of Coil's history, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone except completionist/rabid/insatible fans. If there are any other Coil albums that you don't already have, you should probably get them first before this one.

* John Deek says:

WARNING : Do not listen to Rape on headphones with the volume turned up loud.....I was listening to this CD on headphones.. track 3 came along and I said "ooh a live version of 'here to here'...I wonder why they call it 'rape'?"...then Min came in with some spoken word and I said "ah that explains...still a pretty harsh name for such a mellow song...."just then the phone rang, and a split second after I took the headphones off a pierching shriek ripped from the headphones...they were nearly a foot away from my ears and I was still deafened...had I been wearing them my ears would probably be bleeding...deafened in the pursuit of ultimate sound.....how ironic..."

Images...

frontcover
bookletimage 1
bookletimage 2
bookletimage 3
bookletimage 4
bookletimage 5

How to Destroy Angels (1984...b) [Coil...12'']

2008-07-08T01:11:00.013+02:00

01 How to Destroy Angels
02 Absolute Elsewhere

Notes...

This release is subtitled "ritual music for the accumulation of male sexual energy".

"How To Destroy Angels" was originally intended to be the b-side to the track "Silence & Secrecy" on a clear vinyl 12" released by Temple Records. This release was aborted, presumably due to Balance and Sleazy's departure from Psychic TV who ran the Temple label.

The b-side, "Absolute Elsewhere", is intended to be non-playable, and according to Coil:

* first pressing had unplayable noise-filled grooves
* second pressing had playable multi-layered music
* third pressing had a smooth, grooveless surface as originally intended.

However, there's also evidence of two other versions existing (perhaps the 1988 edition?):

* playable b-side with a constant tone for around 15 minutes.
* playable b-side with a series of "test tones" in unconnected locked grooves

A pink vinyl edition exists, although it's unclear how many copies of this edition were pressed. This may be a bootleg.

First pressing included an A3 black & white poster.

This track also appears on the Unnatural History anthology in mono form, and various reworkings of the track appear on the How to Destroy Angels (Remixes And Re-Recordings) CD.

Review...

Here we have the very first Coil oil change. The engine in question would be the pop culture of the early '80s and how performances such as this, basically an extended duet for percussion and electronics, were perceived as inspirational and cutting edge. The moody trance this piece immediately evokes and clings to like a life raft was, to the newly exposed, something of a real alternative to drowning in a wave of groovy rock bands with packaged presentations and looks. Removed from any such sociological discussion and placed in comparison with the entire history of electronic music, percussion music, avant-garde improvisation, or any other related field of activity, this EP retains a surprising charm. An obvious hurdle to leap would be the "duh" factor -- the title track is as much about banging on gongs as destroying angels, although these are actions that could be connected. Anyone who has ever spent time making noise on a gong will have done everything on this record. The contrasts arising instantly from the instrument's built-in dynamic range are the main motivating factor in how the music develops, rather than any creative invention of the performers. The performance requirements of bringing these dynamics into play on a gong also require very little skill of any kind, meaning that most of the praise that can be directed at this recording has to do with the concentration displayed, both intense and impressive. The B-side of the recording is blank, creating an instant and quick composition entitled "Absolute Elsewhere" that might just be the more successful conception of the two. At least the person who said "I don't have time to listen to this stuff anymore" about the first side wouldn't be able to make the same comment!. - Eugene Chadbourne...From Allmusic

Images...

front cover
close-up of cover text
labels: side 1, side 2

Dolbied (The Melancholy Mad Tenant) [This Version Was Reissued & Expanded In 2005] (1984...c) [Coil/The New Blockaders/Vortex Campaign...CD]

2008-07-07T23:30:00.003+02:00

01 Coil / The New Blockaders / Vortex Campaign, "Dolbied 1"
02 Coil / The New Blockaders / Vortex Campaign, "Dolbied 2"
03 Vortex Campaign, "Untitled"
04 Vortex Campaign, "The Melancholy Mad Tenant Part 1"
05 Vortex Campaign, "The Melancholy Mad Tenant Part 2"

Notes...

Track 1 and 2 originally released on the "Dolbied" cassette (VC, Belgium 1984) in an edition of 50.
Track 3 originally released on the "Slaughter Of The Innocent" cassette (Private, UK 1983). Track 4 is previously unreleased.
Track 5 is listed as previously unreleased on the cover, but was previously released, in a slightly shorter version, on the "Slaughter Of The Innocent" cassette (Private, UK 1983).
Edition of 500, including a special cloth bag edition of 100.

Nightmare Culture (1984...d) [Sickness of Snakes/Current 93...12'']

2008-07-07T23:03:00.015+02:00

01 Killy Kill Killy (A Fire Sermon)[Current 93]
02 Various Hands [Sickness Of Snakes]
03 The Swelling of Leeches [Sickness Of Snakes]
04 The Pope Held Upside Down [Sickness Of Snakes]

Notes...

Sickness Of Snakes Is John Balance & Peter Christopherson + Boyd Rice

Sickness Of Snakes's Songs appear also in Unnatural History (Compilation Tracks Compiled)

Scatology [This Version Was Reissued In 2001] (1984...e) [Coil...CD]

2008-07-07T06:39:00.016+02:00

01 Ubu Noir
02 Panic
03 At The Heart Of It All
04 Tenderness Of Wolves
05 The Spoiler (Unreleased Alternative Version)
06 Clap
07 Restless Day
08 Aqua Regis
09 Solar Lodge
10 The S.W.B.P.
11 Godhead=Deathead
12 Cathedral In Flames
13 Tainted Love [Soft Cell]

Notes...

The working title for this album was Poisons, and John Balance originally intended to release it on his own Hearsay And Heresy label.

The track "The Sewage Worker's Birthday Party" was originally intended for release as a single-sided flexidisk to be included with an issue an Italian magazine called "Free". This release never took place.

"Restless Day" is taken from the compilation album Devastate to Liberate. "Aqua Regis" and "Tainted Love" are taken from the Panic/Tainted Love single.

"The S.W.B.P." is the same track as "The Sewage Worker's Birthday Party" from the LP release.

Remastered by Thighpaulsandra, and fully authorized by Coil.

It features a different cover from the Some Bizzare edition, with the text "Stevo, Pay Us What You Owe Us!" printed on the cover and spine, in reference to the fact that Stevo at Some Bizzare has not paid them for the many CD reissues he has released. The cover also states that this is Volume 1 in a series of remastered reissues, with Volume 2 being Horse Rotorvator and Volume 3 being Love's Secret Domain. The spine mistakenly has it printed as Volume 2.

Review...

Coil's first official full-length album, Scatology, is one of the essential landmarks in the group's discography and, moreover, one of the '80s industrial scene's more vital and influential recordings. This is the first part of the essential Coil trilogy that also includes Horse Rotorvator and Love's Secret Domain. The 1984 album exhibits the group at its early industrial stage, in transition to the undefined genre of astral noise psychedelia that Coil would inhabit for the following decades without peer or precedent. The core duo of Peter Christopherson and John Balance are joined by Clint Ruin (aka Jim Thirlwell), whose role in the production cannot be underestimated, as well as Stephen E. Thrower, Throbbing Gristle's Alex Ferguson, vocalist Gavin Friday of the Wolfgang Press, and one Raoul Revere (who is in fact British camp pop legend and Soft Cell vocalist Marc Almond). "Restless Day" is a haunting rumination that defies description, other than being an utterly essential self-defining moment in the Coil paradigm, with an atmosphere hanging in the tense space between harsh noise and harmony that apparently causes time to cease. "The Tenderness of Wolves" features the vocals of Friday in one of the more poetic moments of the '80s post-industrial sound. At the album's somber end, this outstanding work finishes with a rendition of "Tainted Love" featuring Almond, who had made the track a new wave hit with Soft Cell. Here, however, the tune is given a bleak slow-motion version that could be read as a tragically suggestive commentary on the AIDS epidemic of the era. The album was originally released on Force & Form/Some Bizzare, and was the subject of numerous bootlegs and illegitimate versions. For the record, the 2001 version on Threshold House/ World Serpent is the only version authorized by the group. Maybe the numerous LP and CD versions that have appeared since its original release are suggestive of just how vital the album is, not only in the Coil discography but to the industrial electronica scene as a whole. Scatology is nothing short of essential. - Skip Jansen...From Allmusic

Discussion...

* In his "Coil Album Guide", Dave Piniella writes:

Coil's first full-length album, Scatology is part of the backbone of Coil's great albums (along with Horse Rotorvator and Love's Secret Domain). This is Coil at their early, industrial stage. The album is about making good music from shitty sounds, hence the title. Most of the songs are harsher and less polished than more recent releases. "Restless Day" and it's description of a mundane life filled with ennui is accented by strange tickings and a throbbing bass. "The Tenderness of Wolves" features vocals by Gavin Friday and the album ends with a somber rendition of "Tainted Love", which was originally released as a single with two album cuts ("Aqua Regis" and "Panic") was later added to the CD reissue. Coil's cover and subsequent video of "Tainted Love" was their reaction to the AIDS epidemic of the era (mid-to-late 1980's). Originally released on Force & Form/Some Bizzare, (along with Horse Rotorvator), the illegitimate repressing of these albums has been the cause of much anger and frustration on Coil's part. The short version: Stevo (from their old label) kept on releasing the album(s) and screwing Coil out of their share of the profits.

Images...

front cover
back cover
tray card
disc

Panic/Tainted Love (1985) [Coil...CD EP]

2008-07-07T06:22:00.017+02:00

01 Aqua Regis
02 Panic (Remix)
03 Tainted Love [Soft Cell]

Notes...

"Panic" is different from the version on Scatology. This version also appears on the Unatural History III anthology release.

"Aqua Regis" and "Tainted Love" also appear on the CD editions of Scatology.

All profits from the sale of this release were donated to the Terrence Higgins Trust AIDS charity.

Review...

Coil had only been around a couple of years by the time the material on this EP was considered of interest for an American pressing courtesy of Wax Trax. A comparison between this and the previously released How to Destroy Angels EP is like the difference in view between a basement apartment with no windows and a balcony panorama of an entire neighborhood -- although in the latter case it might be located in a city such as Houston, TX, in which there is no such thing as zoning and people just do whatever they want. It is part of the appeal of this set of three tracks that such disparate elements come into the mix, some of them expected and some of them not. Dreary, depressed vocals and purloined drum and keyboard beats of noxious simplicity are associated with this musical style and era, but a player such as acoustic bassist Bill McGee adds something special. "Panic" is a performance that is full of the stimulating joy of collaboration, factors assuming varying relationships of importance as if someone had the courage to make a sandwich with his eyes closed. Several decades later a listener can pick out accomplishments that were imitated literally to death as well as details too idiosyncatic or original to pass into general useage. The much-heralded cover version of the Soft Cell hit "Tainted Love" is pretty boring, unfortunately. - Eugene Chadbourne...From Allmusic

The Anal Staircase (1986...a) [Coil...12'']

2008-07-04T01:18:00.008+02:00

01 The Anal Staircase (A Dionysian Remix)
02 Blood From The Air
03 Ravenous

Notes...

Some copies came with a card advertising the upcoming release of Horse Rotorvator. Some copies came with an insert advertising the Hang Loose With Coil fanzine published by R&D Group 28.

"The Anal Staircase (A Dionysian Remix)" also appears on the cassette edition of Horse Rotorvator.
"Blood From the Air" also appears on Horse Rotorvator.
"Ravenous" also appears on the cassette and CD editions of Horse Rotorvator.

Record Vox, the label which released Horse Rotorvator in Germany, distributed this release as well. The record is identical to the UK edition, they just imported copies and put a Record Vox address sticker on the back cover.

Images...

front cover
labels: side one, side two
Horse Rotorvator card insert
Hang Loose With Coil insert - art side
Hang Loose With Coil insert - text side

Horse Rotorvator [This Version Was Reissued In 2001] (1986...b) [Coil...CD]

2008-07-03T09:53:00.013+02:00

01 The Anal Staircase
02 Slur
03 Babylero
04 Ostia (The Death Of Pasolini)
05 Herald
06 Penetralia
07 Ravenous
08 Circles Of Mania
09 Blood From The Air
10 Who By Fire [Leonard Cohen]
11 The Golden Section
12 The First Five Minutes After Death

Notes...

Remastered by Thighpaulsandra in 2001, and fully authorized by Coil.

It features a different cover from the Some Bizzare edition, with the text "Stevo, Pay Us What You Owe Us!" printed on the cover and spine, in reference to the fact that Stevo at Some Bizzare has not paid them for the many CD reissues he has released. The cover also states that this is Volume 2 in a series of remastered reissues, with Volume 1 being Scatology and Volume 3 being Love's Secret Domain.

Review...

The title Horse Rotorvator is explained in the liner notes as a device large enough to "plough up the waiting world," created from the bones of the horses of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The Bay City Rollers this isn't. On the group's second full album, Coil continue the refinement of brute noise and creepily serene arrangements into a truly modern psychedelia, from tribal drumming and death march guitars to disturbing samples and marching band samples and back. Balance shares the same haggard, mystic vocal delivery common to fellow explorers of the edge like David Tibet and Edward Ka-Spel, but he has his own blasted and burnt touch to it all. His lyrical subjects range from emotional extremism of many kinds to blunt, often homoerotic imagery (matched at points in the artwork and packaging) and meditations on death. As a result the cover of Leonard Cohen's "Who by Fire" isn't as surprising as one might think. Past guest Marc Almond appears again on the track with backing vocals, as well as adding them to "Slur," which is composed of an unsettling mix of harmonica, bells, percussion and whatever else can be imagined. Other guests include Almond's then-musical partner Billy McGee, adding a haunting, sometimes grating, string arrangement to "Ostia," which is about the murder of radical Italian filmmaker Pasolini, and Clint Ruin, aka Foetus, adding his typically warped brass touches to "Circles of Mania." Paul Vaughan narrates the lyrics on "The Golden Section," creating a stunning piece that in its combination of demonic imagery and sweeping, cinematic arrangements holds a common ground with In the Nursery. All the guests help contribute to the album's overall effect, but this is Coil's own vision above all else, eschewing easy cliches on all fronts to create unnerving, never easily digested invocations of musical power. - Ned Raggett...From Allmusic

Discussion...

* In his "Coil Album Guide", Dave Pinella writes:

Coil’s second full-length continues in the industrial vein as evidenced by the opener "The Anal Staircase," which was originally released as a 12" in a different mix. The album is full of the excesses of Roman times, full of sex, horns, drugs and death. Aside from the military motif, the album also brings to the forefront the music’s homoeroticism, with tracks like "The Anal Staircase" "Slur" and "Penetralia" all stressing the point. "Ostia (The Death Of Pasolini)" is the album’s centerpiece, with soothing insect-like percussion and strings over a plaintive vocal by Balance. Like Scatology, the album features a cover (this time it’s a totally sick, drastically reworked version of Leonard Cohen’s "Who By Fire") as well as problems with Stevo over the money from the reissue(s) of it.

* Mark Coleman says:

The song "Ostia" is about the death of Pier Pasolini, an Italian filmmaker. The only Pasolini I have seen is "Salo: 120 Days in Sodom," his adaptation of Sade's libertine classic set in the days of the Italian Fascists. It is an excellent work, even though it features graphic coprophagia (shit eating) and child sex. Apparently (correct me if I err, I probably will) Pasolini had finished filming "120 Days" and picked up a boy prostitute and took him to his coastal villa in Ostia on the Italian Coast. The prostitute (an Italian government agent I've heard) ran Pasolini over in his own BMW and left him dead in a ditch. This is as much as I know, but the crickets at the beginning were recorded at the Aztec Ruins of Chichen Itza (sp?) where Aztec priests made human sacrifices. I could also be wrong about Aztec, it could have been Mayan.

* Nisus submits:

Aside from your general moral issues, he was rather straightforward in his political attacks against the system in essays and articles he wrote. But as I understand it, the thing that really brought up the possibility of there being more to his murder than it seemed was inconsistency in the story of the boy who supposedly committed it coupled with statements made by other "hustlers" regarding another car following them with four men in it. There is an interesting documentary about Pasolini's death called "Whoever Says The Truth Shall Die" if anyone wishes to pursue the matter, and it is also discussed a bit in Enzo Siciliano's biography of Pasolini.

* In reference to the lyrics of Ostia, Matt Bartels says:

This is from Judges chapter 14, vs. 14.: And he said unto them: Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.

It is from the the story of Samson. He had killed this lion on his way to meeting his soon to be first wife, Timnath the Philistine. After hitting it off with her, passed the lion's carcass on the way home and found a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass. Samson eats the honey and gives it to his family to eat without men-tioning its source....

Later his family is throwing a feast for Timnath and 30 of her Philistine friends and Samson poses the lines in question as a riddle, telling them if they figure it out he'll give them 30 sheets and 30 garments. and if not vice versa. Samson's wife begs the answer out of him and tells her 30 friends. Samson is pissed that he lost, and his response is first to say "If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle". Then 'the spirit of the Lord came upon him' and he went out and killed 30 people to take their sheets and garments to pay off his debt.

So, is the idea here the parallel of betrayal by their lovers suffered by both Pasolini and Samson, or is it elsewhere? The golden sticky trickles seem to also stand on their own with nice multiple meanings....

Lyrics...

The Anal Staircase

And the angels kiss
Our souls in bliss
Measure the extent of a dizzying descent
Down the Anal staircase.
Put just one foot on the staircase
And the next step you're down here
On this face.
And the rapids
Of my heart
Will tear your
ship of love apart
And we'll
End up wrecked
We'll end up
at the start
Of the Anal Staircase.

And the angels kiss
Our souls in bliss
Measure the extent of a dizzying descent
Down the
Anal staircase.
Take a hollowpoint revolver
Shoot down the rapids
Of your heart
Blow the fucking
Thing apart
Blow the fucking
Thing apart.
One step
Two step
Three step
Four Step.

Slur

Roman land
Of Roman sands
And Roman sons.
As I watch the sun sink down
On the bloodred edge
Of the bloodred town
There are shadows for sale
On the edge of town
At the edge of the night
Is a darkness seen
From the side of the light
(From the side of the night).
And the winds blow round
this sleeping town
This sleeping town
This Roman land
Of Roman sands
And Roman sons.
And it seems to me
That when I close my eyes
All the lights in the world
Go out
And the night passes by
And you whisper to me
A thousand lies
I stare in surprise
Towards the desert's warm black
And the desert stirs
And the desert stares back
With a thousand eyes
Piercing eyes
Ancient eyes
And I ask my lover
"Do you know
Where the desert roses bloom and grow?"

Ostia (the Death of Pasolini)

There 's honey in the hollows
And the contours
of the body
A sluggish golden river
A sickly golden trickle
A golden, sticky trickle
You can hear
the bones humming
And the car reverses over
The body in the basin
In the shallow sea-plane basin.
And the car reverses over
And his body rolls over
Crushed from the shoulder
You can hear the
Bones humming
Singing like a puncture
Killed to keep
the world turning
Throw his bones over
The White Cliffs
of Dover
Into the sea
The Sea of Rome
And the bloodstained
coast
Of Ostia
Leon like a lion
Sleeping in
the sunshine.
Lion lies down.
"Out of the strong
Came forth sweetness."
Throw his bones over
The White Cliffs
of Dover
And murder me
In Ostia.
The Sea of Rome.
You can hear his bones humming.
Throw his bones over
The White Cliffs
of Dover
And into the sea
The Sea of Rome
Then murder me,
In Ostia.

Circles of Mania

Nero's long hot tongue
Nero's long hot
tongue licks....
This is the sound
Of the world
turning round
The underground
sound
This is the sound of the w
orld turning round
The world
spinning round.
You get eaten alive
By the perfect lover.
I fell in
to a burning ring
A burning ring of
knives
And the knives
slide in
They slide deep
into my skin
And they open me
so wide
That you stick your
head inside
You get sewn
inside alive
You get eaten alive
By the perfect lover
When you've
swallowed one
You just
swallow another
To drive away
this hunger
You stay in
there forever
Caught in the centre
Of a circle of manias
Chemical Angel
Enters arena
Toro D'Or
falls to the floor
Fucking the ground
The hole in the ground
And hot wires sing
Deep in my skin
I'm writhing...
perspiring...
Like Dutch Schultz at
106 degrees...
And I wake up licking
I wake up licking the
bedsheets clean
Licking and
sucking........

Blood from the Air

A sleeping explorer
his wandering mind
crossed over the border
a mind like a cemetery
where the corpses
are turning
where the bodies
twist deep
in the frozen grip
of a dreamless sleep
then the lowest
comes up
like a wreck
from the depths.
He hears night calling
and has dreams
of waking
here in this brightness
that burns like
slow lightening
he sees words
burnt in ice
reads, "The World is
a Wound
In the Body of Christ".
Effects of the animal -
Animal sound effects
He says, "Death,
he is my friend
He promised me
a quick end".
Says, "The world is
in pain
and should be
put down
and God is a sadist
and that he knows it".
The depths of the
night sky
reflects in his eye
He says,
"Everything changes
And everyone dies".
And the night
slits her veins
and the
darkness drains
and the void
rumbles in
like an
underground train...
Forever comes closer
the world is in pain
we all must be shown
we must realise
that everyone changes
and everything dies.

Who By Fire by Leonard Cohen

And who by fire, who by water,
who in the sunshine, who in the night time,
who by high ordeal, who by common trial,
who in your merry merry month of may,
who by very slow decay,
and who shall I say is calling?

And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate,
who in these realms of love, who by something blunt,
and who by avalanche, who by powder,
who for his greed, who for his hunger,
and who shall I say is calling?

And who by brave assent, who by accident,
who in solitude, who in this mirror,
who by his lady's command, who by his own hand,
who in mortal chains, who in power,
and who shall I say is calling?

Images...

front cover
back cover
traycard
disc

Gold Is The Metal (Returning To The Purity Of The Current) [This Version Was Reissued In 1996] (1987...a) [Coil...CD]

2008-07-03T09:34:00.014+02:00

01 Last Rites Of Spring
02 Paradisiac
03 Thump
04 For Us They Will
05 The Broken Wheel
06 Boy In A Suitcase
07 Golden Hole
08 Cardinal Points
09 Red Slur
10 ...Of Free Enterprise
11 Aqua Regalia
12 Metal In The Head
13 Either His Or Yours
14 Chickenskin
15 Soundtrap
16 Hellraiser
17 The Wheal
18 The First Five Minutes After Violent Death

Notes...

From the liner notes: "This release is not the follow-up to Horse Rotorvator... but a completely seperate package - a stopgap and a breathing space - the space between two twins. Presented here are thoroughbreds that escaped the Horse Rotorvator - discarded shards, distortions, disappointments, scrambled and disassembled stages. Remnants of what once was. This record is a chance for us to release some otherwise placeless pieces of music."

Reissued in 1996 with all-new artwork, subtitled "Returning to the Purity of the Current."

Review...

This album is basically a collection of odds and sods that did not make it onto Horse Rotorvator, as well as some tracks from elsewhere (including stuff intended for The Dark Age of Love which became Love's Secret Domain). Despite the fact that it is a compilation, it manages to come together as a cohesive whole quite nicely.
The album opens with "The Last Rites of Spring" and ends with "The First Five Minutes of Violent Death". The former sounds like the dark forces are banging on the door, forcing it open to run manically around screaming and chanting. The later is about the most resigned sounding Coil track, the corpse being well and truly gutted. In between we have premium late 80's Coil, that combines a flair for esoteric melody with chaotic noise and seemingly random samples. As a link between Horse Rotorvator and Love's Secret Domain it is perfect.
Stand out tracks include: "For Us They Will", a Scatalogical digging, and one of the more intensely atmospheric tracks on the album. John Balance (I think) rambles on a bizarre rabid monologue concluding that "You have to burn to shine". Reminds me of "Tenderness of Wolves". "Boy in a Suitcase" is perhaps the best track on the album. It is a relic of early Coil sessions and features a rare performance by Peter Christopherson. It sounds quite reminiscent of Psychic TV, and features a nice quirky brass insert by Andrew Poppy. Unfortunately it is too short. "Cardinal Points" is a fantastic film score that evokes images of lakes, fog and towering Monoliths rising out of the gloom. Very filmic, sweet yet driving at the same time. This tracks points towards the Hellraiser score, as well as "Chaostrophy". "...Of free enterprise" and "Aqua Regalia" include the live takes of the Acapulco brass band heard on "Herald", mixed in with a minor key reversion of "Greensleeves". This works really well as ominous Orwellian theme music. "Either His or Yours" is an alternative mix to a John Giorno/Coil collaboration and becomes a rather groovey little tune as it slowly builds steam. "The Wheal", with a rather unCoil-like fuzz guitar improvisation courtesy of Alex Fergusson (PTV). It reminds me of a New Order outake and is quite sweet.
Overall, I'd say that, while it doesn't have the greatest tracks, it is perhaps the most cohesive sounding of the Compilation Coil stuff. Rather like a soundtrack to some piece of Inner Cinema, motifs and sounds revolve, disappear and return. Essential for the completists and a good intro to their soundtrack stuff as it is a little more abrasive than Hellraiser. 3 1/2 out of 5 - Jonathan Barrett

Discussion...

There is a song on Horse Rotorvator titled "Herald" and there is a song on Gold is the Metal titled "...of Free Enterprise." The Herald of Free Enterprise was a passenger ferry belonging to one of the various ferry lines that provide daily services across the English Channel. On March 6th, 1987 in the early evening just outside of Zeebrugge the ferry sank. 193 people died on that night. The accident was put down to the bow doors having not been totally closed (they were in the process of doing so) and an unusual current caused a relatively small amount of water to come on board. A capsize occurred - the crew didn't make a habit out of anything.... they were under unbearable pressure from the company (then Townsend Thoreson - now amalgamated into P&O Stena Line) over timetabling and this was how they were expected to shave off a couple of minutes in their turn around time - close doors as you set off. Inevitably, one man was found as the one who should have actually physically closed the door on that trippage - the captain is always ultimately responsible as the one in charge of the vessel - however the verdict was one of corporate manslaughter - i.e. practices encouraged by the company had caused the thing to turn over, not an individuals negligence. Associations were set up for the families to try to come to terms with things. The annual service that was held was discontinued after 10 years to try to help people get on with life.

Sometimes abbreviated as GITMWTBS (more often shortened to Gold Is The Metal), this is a "stop-gap and breathing space" between proper albums, which is noticeable as it doesn’t have the obvious unity that Scatology and Horse Rotorvator have. It features unreleased tracks from the Horse Rotorvator era, including alternate versions and unreleased tracks. GITM also continues HR’s "Herald" with it’s sister track, "...of Free Enterprise". "Cardinal Points" and "Hellraiser" are also otherwise unreleased demo versions of the main theme from Clive Barker’s Hellraiser film. Various versions of this album have been released on LP and CD: five different LP versions and two CD versions, all with different artwork. Several of the LPs editions include with deluxe packaging and bonus 7" single(s) (originally "The Wheel" b/w "The Wheal", then "Keelhauler" b/w "The Wheal" -- making this particular release a pain in the ass for collectors. The title comes from an early work of a favorite poet of Balance’s. The disc is also worthwhile for the liner notes, which include details and insights regarding some of the origins of the songs. Also of note is one of Sleazy's rare vocal turns on "Boy in a Suitcase". - Dave Piniella

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The Wheel (1987...b) [Coil...7'']

2008-07-02T01:27:00.029+02:00

01 The Wheel
02 The Wheal

Notes...

Came free with first 500 copies of Gold Is The Metal LP.

Lyrics...

When the storm clears and the sun shines
We'll see the country beyond the garden
I was dragged here by an angel
Against my weak will the stronger dictate.

Now I stand here, I've scaled the mountain
That led from function to forms of glory.
And when our hands touched like worlds colliding
A star exploding
Then I knew that the wheel is turning.

Rust transmuted to gold and silver
By strength of true will no more resistance
Just perfection
The wheel is turning.

01 The Wheal
02 Keelhauler

Notes...

Came free initial copies of Gold Is The Metal LP.

01 The Wheel
02 Keelhauler

Notes...

In 1996, 23 remaining copies of the 7" were found in a closet by John and Sleazy who made them available via the rec.music.industrial newsgroup.
Each copy came with a handmade sleeve that reads: "This so-called special edition of Coil's Keelhauler single is one of 23 copies found at the back of a wardrobe and offered for sale via rec.music.industrial at the outrageous price of $20." (This message is meant to poke fun at the fact that several r.m.i subscribers commented that they felt the price was too high, triggering a heated debate regarding the ethics of limited edition releases.)
The other side of the sleeve features John & Sleazy's photos, signatures and fingerprints (another poke at the supposed "criminal nature" of the release). Each copy also included several stickers as inserts.

Hellraiser Themes [This Version Was Reissued In 1990] (1987...c) [Coil...CD EP]

2008-07-01T00:13:00.014+02:00

01 Hellraiser
02 The Hellbound Heart
03 Box Theme
04 No New World
05 Attack of the Sennapods
06 Main Title

Notes...

The Unreleased Themes for Hellraiser (The Consequences of Raising Hell) is the original title.

The Consequences of Raising Hell... is printed on the spine of the record, and is generally considered to be an alternate title for this release.

The first 3 tracks (Side A) are taken from Coil's soundtrack to the Clive Barker film "Hellraiser" which was rejected by the film studio. (The following quote from Barker appears on the cover: "The only group I've heard on disc whose records I've taken off because they made my bowels churn.")

The remainder of the tracks (side B) are a selection of short peices that were commissioned for use as music for advertisements on British television. They also appear on the anthology release Unnatural History III under the group title of "Music For Commercials". These tracks were originally planned to be released as a limited edition 7" EP on R+D Group 28.

side a: the Unreleased Themes for Hellraiser

1. Hellraiser
2. Box Theme
3. Main Title

side b: music for commercials

1. Airline 1
2. Liqueur
3. Perfume
4. Video Recorder
5. Airline 2
6. Natural Gas
7. Cosmetic 1
8. Cosmetic 2
9. Analgesic
10. Road Surface
11. Accident Insurance

Title changed to Hellraiser Themes for CD edition (1990).

The commercial tracks from the 10" and CS releases were dropped for the CD, and replaced with three more tracks from the Hellraiser sessions. All of these tracks, plus additional tracks from the same sessions, appear on the anthology release Unnatural History II.

The first pressing of the CD had black lettering on a blue background, while the next few pressings had black lettering on a silver background. After switching to a different manufacturer, the colours changed again to black lettering on a white background.

Discussion...

Clive Barker and Coil were friends during the early 1980s and it's been frequently noted that he was inspired to write "Hellraiser" from some of the literature and art Coil used to collect. Naturally he wanted Coil to do the score but while initial reports claim their music was "too scary" for the film, the reality is closer to that of the Hollywood studio wanting their own chums to do the work.

Wrong Eye/Scope (1990...a) [Coil...7'']

2008-06-28T22:33:00.010+02:00

01 Wrong Eye
02 Scope

Notes...

Both tracks appear on The Portable Altamont compilation CD and the anthology release Unnatural History III along with "Meaning What Exactly?", another track recorded around the same time.

Discussion...

"Wrong Eye" is described by Coil as being a "rough sketch" of the track "Windowpane" (from Love's Secret Domain).
Coil has also stated that speculation about "Scope" being an early version of "Her Friends The Wolves" (from Stolen and Contaminated Songs) is false, and that the track was actually a "studio jam" fueled by "experimenting with MDMA".

Images...

white cover
yellow cover
green cover

Unnatural History (Compilation Tracks Compiled) (1990...b) [Coil...CD]

2008-06-28T21:31:00.011+02:00

01 Various Hands
02 The Swelling of Leeches
03 The Pope Held Upside Down
04 His Body Was a Playground for the Nazi Elite
05 Homage to Sewage
06 Here to Here (Double Headed Secret)
07 S is for Sleep
08 Dream Photography
09 Comfortable
10 Never
11 Penetralia II
12 Sicktone
13 How to Destroy Angels

Notes...

A collection of tracks that originally appeared on various compilations and limited edition releases along with some previously unreleased material.
"Penetralia II" is mistakenly listed as being taken from a limited 7" on the Shock label. This 7" was actually Wrong Eye / Scope, so "Penetralia II" is presumably unavailable elsewhere.
The version of "How To Destroy Angels" is in mono whereas the original 12" is in stereo.
Early pressings of this release are succeptable to the disc rot problem that has been striking many discs pressed by PDO in the early 1990s.

Discussion...

Subtitled "Compilation Tracks Compiled", this is the first of three UH volumes, this disc is made up of unreleased and otherwise unavailable tracks, including a pre-Christopherson Coil track. Early releases were susceptible to the infamous PDO Disc Rot, but this has been fixed with recent releases. UH also features four collaborations with Boyd Rice, three of which were originally released under the name A Sickness of Snakes as the split LP (with Current 93, with whom Coil have worked before), Nightmare Culture. Current 93’s half of the Nightmare Culture LP can be found on the CD edition of the C93 album In Menstural Night. - Dave Piniella

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Windowpane (1990...c) [Coil...CD EP]

2008-06-26T03:52:00.012+02:00

01 Windowpane (Minimal)
02 Windowpane
03 Windowpane (Astral Paddington Mix)

Review...

The single of another of Coil's mid-tempo odes to LSD, "Windowpane" contains the original mix and a pair of instrumental remixes. Only one remix appears on the vinyl version. The LP version is the only vocal mix presented. Of the two remixes, the minimal mix is exactly what it claims to be -- a stripped-down version, utilizing an almost dub style in its reduction to drums and bassline. The Astral Paddington mix adds lots of swirly pads, but little else. Excellent music, but you're better off obtaining the Windowpane/The Snow re-release, which contains both the entirety of this single and the single for "The Snow. - Joshua Landau...From Allmusic

Discussion...

I have a mental picture that I get every time I listen to window pane and It's a ship moving over a turbulent sea----The backing vocals are the sky, the little percussion sounds and processing on J. Balances voice are the rigging creaking in the wind, and the bass line and bass drum & snare are the action of the ship moving over large rolling waves. - Arik Tillman

Love's Secret Domain [This Version Was Reissued In 2001] (1991...a) [Coil...CD]

2008-06-25T20:17:00.019+02:00

01 Disco Hospital
02 Teenage Lightning 1
03 Things Happen
04 The Snow
05 Dark River
06 Where Even The Darkness Is Something To See
07 Teenage Lightning 2
08 Windowpane
09 Further Back And Faster
10 Titan Arch
11 Chaostrophy
12 Lorca Not Orca
13 Love's Secret Domain

Notes...

Remastered by Thighpaulsandra in 2001.

Working titles for this release included:

* TO EAT HIS OWN (mentioned in a 1987 Coil newsletter)
* 120 DALMATIONS IN SODOM (from 1987 newsletter)
* THE DARK AGE OF LOVE (mentioned in the liner notes of GOLD IS THE METAL)
* THE SIDE EFFECTS OF LIFE (from notes on WRONG EYE single)
* STOLEN AND CONTAMINATED SONGS (from 1987 newsletter; later used for a "companion" release to this album)

Review...

1991's LSD is commonly referred to as Coil's House record. Other styles are featured, but the album as a whole leaves no doubt that Coil had left their industrial days a little further behind. LSD is consistently cited by fans as Coil's "best" album, and with good reason. It is very dancy with moments of trance, house, goth ("Titan Arch"), classical guitars, live drums, electronics and guest vocals by Marc Almond (ex-Soft Cell, on the aforementioned "Titan Arch"), and Annie Anxiety (the drunken "Things Happen"). Although it's a lighter effort than earlier albums, this is more a reflection of the previous albums' heavyness rather than LSD's character; it's still an amazingly heavy album. Regardless of personal opinions in the vinyl-vs.-CD debate, this is an album you'll want to own on CD, as it has four extra songs (including the magnificent digeridoo-drenched "Where Even Darkness Is Something To See") and longer versions of songs, shorter on the LP and cassette versions. This is a headphone record, and the one of the first to extensively feature "sidereal sound" (look up sidereal in a dictionary, for answers w/r/t sidereal objects.) The title track quotes from William Blake's "The Sick Rose"; Blake is another poet that Balance has made reference to in the past. At one point, LSD was released through Wax Trax! in the U.S., which may help explain it's popularity (compared to other Coil albums,) in the U.S. The cover features another fantastic Steven Stapleton painting. - Dave Piniella

"LSD" literally changed my life, I'd never heard anything quite like it prior and since. The diversity and care put into this album is remarkable. From the bizarre sample assault of "Disco Hospital" to the swirling sounds and vocoded vox of "Teenage Lightning" to the stream of conscious vocal of "Things Happen" to the gentle beat of "The Snow" to the beautiful ambience of "Dark River" and "Chaostrophy" to the driving bass line of "Windowpane" to the wonderful Marc Almond vocal of "Titan Arch" to the vocal groove of "Love's Secret Domain" ... you really must *hear* this album in order to understand, the sound just can't be put into words. Everything is perfect, the effects, the lyrics, the vocals, the programming, the instrumentation (includes orchestral arrangements, spanish guitars, live drums, etc). I consider this album an extension of Coil's previous albums ... sort of a "90's update" to the technique and sound, but quite unlike the recent "drone" work of "Time Machines" and "Moon's Milk". Also, the artwork (wood painting by Steven Stapleton) is brilliant ... a perfect compliment to the lyrics and music. Unfortunately, "Love's Secret Domain" is no longer in print and has become rather difficult to find ... but be sure to keep an eye out for it in the used bins (note - the cd has several bonus tracks that the cassette doesn't). It's a must have album. There were also 2 must have singles from the album, "The Snow" and "Windowpane" and the "Stolen & Contaminated Songs" compilation also has several alternate versions of songs found on "Love's Secret Domain". - Mark Weddle

You've either got it or you've heard about it. Maybe you downloaded all the tracks online, paid tons on an auction or found it kicking around used or some cut out bin. Any way you slice it, this album cannot be ignored. Now, ten years to the month after its original release, one of my favorite albums of all time is back in print. (With a few minor adjustments of course,...) The cover is the first difference I see: the front shows a little bit more of the legendary painting Steven Stapleton did on his outhouse, including his signature down at the bottom right corner, never before seen. The back is amazingly more legible than the original release - which simply blew up a bit of the cover and used gold text - black background, gold text and a previously unissued image. The back of the booklet is graced by the back photograph of the LP edition, but open the booklet up and sadly, there are no lyrics included this time around.
The most noticable musical difference is about four seconds missing from the opening chopped up sampling bit, but those sounds do get repeated over a few cycles however,... Enough of the nitpicking!
The recordings contained were completed in 1990, pulled from over two years of studio work, which is quite noticable. Back then, electronic musicians didn't have anywhere near as much software, Coil had to do much of this by hand. This is observed right from the opening seconds where a cut-up mishmosh of samples were tossed into a bucket and taped back together. Over the course of an hour, the group pummels the listener with whacked-out stereo separation, mind-bending low-end frequencies and ghostly voices which move in three dimensions around the room -without- the aid of a 5-point surround system! It's genre-defying, electronic based with dabbles of jazz, techno, with flamenco guitars and orchestral arrangements. Guests on this record include vocal contributions from Little Annie Anxiety Bandez, Marc Almond and Rose McDowell, as well as Charles Hayward on drums, and Mike McEvoy's trippy 'ecstatic keyboards' on "The Snow". While songs like "Windowpane" and "Love's Secret Domain" are instantaneously catchy favorites, tracks like "Further Back and Faster" are so amazingly ahead of their time in terms of sound and structure. The multiple layers, samples and sections must have taken many late nights in the studio, the result is a mindfuck which has taken many listens to truly get. People accuse this record of being a techno record, but in actuality, "The Snow" is really the only fast-paced techno dancefloor anthem, and not a bad one indeed with incredible playing, sampling and subliminal vocal manipulations. The record is multi-climactic, and builds a couple times before the end, with the calm and disturbing "Titan Arch" featuring Marc Almond's guest vocals over a chilly throb, "Chaostrophy" where an orchestra fights for center stage with a barrage of white noise, the explosive flamenco guitars of "Lorca Not Orca" into the finale, the title track, snaking lines from William Blake and Roy Orbison. - Jon Whitney

Discussion...

Steven Stapleton was responsible for the cover painting. The alleged story is that it's painted directly onto an old wooden outhouse door Stephen somehow appropriated. He created the image by sanding down several layers of accumulated paint, painting the coat of arms, then sanding again. That he could achieve such a psychedelic effect from organic materials is to me a perfect compliment to the nature of the recordings it graced.
Something of a litmus test for the psyche, the cover imagery itself is multilayered in such a way that if you interpret the sheild as a broad, flat nose and the curling banners as lips and mouth, you realise that the entire coat of arms is also quite deliberately the head of a lion! - John G. Dennett

Whenever i listen to "Dark River", it reminds of this time my friends and i went out to this bridge over a river. the moon was out, and the sky was totally clear. we were all pretty high, and we put these candles on boats made of newspaper and set them adrift in the river. the "boats" all blew off to one bank of the river and sat there in the grass on the bank. it looked like the bridge was several hundred miles above the water, and the boats were little houses, with light coming from fires in their fireplaces. it was quite beautiful, but also very sad for some reason...that song is inexorably tied to that memory for me. - "The Black Sun"

Lyrics...

Teenage Lightning

Don't be alarmed
It will not harm you
It's only lightning
Teenage lightning.

It's real
Unbelievably real
Teenage lightning
Don't be frightened.

This is the way we do it
This is the way we do it.

Don't be alarmed
It will not harm you
Its only me pursuing
Something I'm not sure of
It's only lightning
Teenage lightning
Don't be alarmed
You can't be harmed
Teenage lightning
It's real?
Can you steal
Teenage lightning?
It is the lightning's
Deep, dark love.

Things Happen
Lyrics by Annie Anxiety-Bandez.

Sssssst ! Ssssssst !
(Kill the creator.
I send them the bomb)

Daddie, do you have a
Cigarette for me, I think
Maybe is getting late
Maybe time is running out
You know, I knew somebody once
Rifled through his drawers
I wasn't that suspicious, but...
You know these things
They happen
But... munyeca
Do you have a towel?
See those people gather round
Baby, do you have a light?
What's it like in Ohio?

What d'you want to call me,
Munyeca?
Honey, do you like my dress?
You know, I think the colour pink
Suits my complexion
Or is it a reflection
Of the sky outside, you know
Why those people
Crowding round?
You know I think your time
Is running out
What was your name anyway?

No lipstick on his collar but
Maybe it was blood
I don't know to this day, Dear
Do you have another, uh.
Did you light
That cigarette for me? Oh!
Did you leave that on the side?
Do you have another
Cigarette for me. You know?
Well I had somebody once
You know we used to cook a lot
It was a...
Do you like chillies in Ohio?

Munyeca. Yo te ciaro.
Yo te ciaro Ohio. Muy bonito.
Where did I leave my matches?
I thought they were on
The table there
By the way did you...?
Do you have some cash for me
Because you know I have to get a
Cab somewhere after here.
You know, I don't want to push you.
But.. uh
You know I've got to go somewhere
There's something burning
In the kitchen
Did I put the peppers in?
I don't... uh... uh... Oh dear...
Why are these people crowding
Round me in the street
You know you have to watch
Yourself, don't you?
Just a bit.
It's a bit of commotion
It must be like that for you
A little bit
Nice meeting you...
I have no regrets...but
I did feel a little bit bad
You know
It's kind of like.....
You know what it's like.

Titan Arch

Crown the dark animal
Black Jackal crawling
Eternal returning
An end to the waiting.

There are thrones underground
And monarchs upon them
They walk serene
In spaces between.

At the head of the storm
Darkness is rising
In the Garden Of Jaws
His wounds are shining.

Angels are poisons
In rotting pavilions
Under shivering stars
The sickness is gilding.

Love's Secret Domain

Oh rose, thou art sick
Seduce... let loose
The vision and the void
Blood sickle... honey suck

In little children's heavy heads
My dreams erupt while in my bed
Innocence is dripping red.

In dreams I walk with you
In dreams I talk with you
In dreams...
You're mine
All of the time.

Heads on fire and drunken lights
Days devoured by hungry nights
In love's secret domain
This is mad love
This is mad love
In love's secret domain.

Sweet tortures fly on mystery wings
Pure evil is when flowers sing
My heart,
My heart is a rose
This is mad love, Oh
This is mad love
In love's secret domain...

Give sanity a longer leash, but
Some of us have sharper teeth
In love's secret domain...

In dreams I walk with you...
In dreams I talk with you...
In dreams...
You're mine
All of the time.

Oh rose, Thou art sick
The invisible worm
The vision and the void
The blood sickle cuts.
And the honey sucks.

Oh rose, thou art sick !

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The Snow (1991...b) [Coil...CD EP]

2008-06-25T19:01:00.010+02:00

01 Driftmix
02 Answers Come in Dreams I
03 Out in the Cold
04 As Pure As?
05 Answers Come in Dreams II
06 The Snow

Notes...

Jack Dangers - Remixes named "Answers Come In Dreams"

Stolen And Contaminated Songs (1992...a) [Coil...CD]

2008-06-25T05:42:00.019+02:00

01 Further
02 Original Chaostrophy
03 Who'll Tell?
04 Omlagus Garfungiloops
05 Inkling
06 Love's Secret Domain (original mix)
07 Nasa Arab
08 Who'll Fall?
09 The Original Wild Garlic Memory
10 Wrim Wram Wrom
11 Corybantic Ennui
12 Her Friends the Wolves...
13 Light Shining Darkly

Notes...

This CD is a collection of outtakes and unreleased songs from the Love's Secret Domain sessions.
The original mail-order (1992) version was limited to 2000 numbered copies and came without any tracklist, only a slip of paper with the number and a Coil sticker.
The retail version of the 1992 edition came with a sticker on the back for song titles, originally name the first song "As It Really Is."
The 1993 edition had a back cover with song titles printed, track one being misspelled as "Futher," however.
The 1992 version has been known to rot.

Review...

Overall impression: excellent! This CD is essentially a compilation of "Love's Secret Domain" era outtakes and alternate versions. Bizarre, beautiful and experimental in nature, this cd is as varied as "LSD", if not more. From the cool jazz of "Omlagus .." to the bass and drum groove of "Nasa Arab" to the classy orchestral arrangements of "The Original ..", "Who'll Tell?" and "Corybantic .." to the drones of "Wrim .." to the slow sample buildup of "Her Friends .." ... you definitely know you're listening to Coil. "Who'll Fall?" may be one of the most beautifully sad pieces ever committed to tape. The track features the telephone recording of a friend of Coil's explaining that a mutual friend had recently committed suicide ... very eerie. Unfortunately, this cd is a pretty expensive import ... but well worth the cost. Another must have release from Coil. - Mark Weddle

Discussion...

The sample ("Now John! You must never, never tell / Who's to tell") is from "Night of the Hunter", but not the movie. Rather, its from an old album where Charles Laughton (who directed the movie) narrates the story, possibly reading passages right out of the Davis Grubb novel.
A different sample from the same source ("See his hands - look at the fingers / Tattooed fingers / The fingers of the left hand spell - love, those of the right spell - hate") is used on "Further Back and Faster".

The original idea was to do S&CS as a limited edition available by advance mail-order only. This turned into something of a fiasco, with John & Sleazy's inevitable delays in finishing the project, exacerbated by poor record keeping of orders. A lot of people didn't end up getting their copy (though it was usually cleared up if people got in touch directly and complained) and Coil ended up distributing it to stores in spite of their original intention not to. (Coil have since given up direct mail order, except for the occasional rare single that turns up behind a bookshelf.
The combination of Coil's doing some of their strongest work ever on a limited edition and the above fiasco made bootlegging almost inevitable. In response to this, they ended up doing a unlimited edition of S&CS with different cover art and actual song titles, etc.
The first edition was like what you described; I have no idea if the bootlegs were made to look like the original or if they had a different design. - Pete Werner

Some copies had stickers on the back with a tracklisting, others had a small numbered card in it with the title of the CD as well as some some stickers. Although the artwork & songtitles are different from the later (commercial) re-release, the music is identical (and as far as I can tell from the matrix numbers, they were pressed off the same master). There are bootlegs that look more or less identical, and the only way to identify an original copy is by checking the inner ring on the CD, which should read "LOCICD4 10204341 01 &" and "MADE IN THE U.K. BY PDO". - Maarten D. Schemer

Images...

Coil sticker

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How to Destroy Angels [Remixed and Re-Recordings] (1992...b) [Coil...CD]

2008-06-23T19:43:00.012+02:00

01 The Sleeper
02 Remotely
03 The Sleeper II
04 Tectonic Plates
05 Dismal Orb
06 How to Destroy Angels II
07 Absolute Elsewhere

Notes...

As on the original vinyl 12" singles release, the track "Absolute Elsewhere" is blank - in this case, it is a one second track of silence.
1,3 and 4 were mixed by John Balance
2 and 5 were mixed by Peter Christopherson
6 was mixed by Steven Stapleton and forms part of the soundtrack of the film "Lumb's Sister"

Discussion...

"Dismal Orb" reminds me of southwestern swamp, virginia in winter...dead trees standing in blackish cold water..." - The Black Sun

I was listening to the CD and relaxing while in bed. All I can remember then is a period of total blackness, and then suddenly coming to consciousness some time later, probably an hour or so, and listening to a steady soft scraping sound, very rhythmic, and far louder than anything my meagre computer speakers could have produced. It continued for about 10 or 20 seconds, and then ceased. I couldn't sleep the rest of the night. - Tzu-Jan Spontaneous

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Airborne Bells/Is Suicide A Solution? (1993...a) [Coil...7"]

2008-06-23T04:52:00.011+02:00

01 Airborne Bells
02 Is Suicide a Solution?

Notes...

Number 22 (Nov/93) in the "Clawfist Singles Club" series.
"Airborne Bells" is spelled "Airbourne Bells" on the label.
"Is Suicide A Solution?" is a reworking of "Who'll Fall" from Stolen and Contaminated Songs, but is slightly remixed and features an opening which speaks "I am the loneliest link in a very strange chain," and an ending which, when spun backwards plays "When the gods want to punish you, they answer your prayers..."

Themes From Derek Jarman's 'Blue' (1993...b) [Coil...7"]

2008-06-19T05:31:00.008+02:00

01 Theme 1
02 Theme 2

Images...

sticker 1
sticker 2

The Angelic Conversation (1994...a) [Coil...CD]

2008-06-17T02:50:00.014+02:00

01 Ascension
02 Enochian Calling
03 Angelic Stations
04 Finite Bees
05 Cave of Roses
06 Sun Ascension
07 Madriiax
08 Escalation
09 Never
10 Enochian Calling II
11 Montecute

Notes...

Music for the Derek Jarman film of the same name from 1985.
"Ascension / Enochian Calling" is another mix of How To Destroy Angels.
"Montecute" is a version of the track "At The Heart of it All" from Scatology.
First pressing has disc printed black with a clear blackground on gold CD, limited to 1000 copies. All subsequent discs are printed black with a white background.

Review...

This album is an extraordinary chapter in the Coil discography, a soundtrack to the 1985 film by Derek Jarman, The Angelic Conversation. Coil took the approach of remixing and reconfiguring orchestral samples; the sound of an orchestra tuning up is used frequently, expanding on the bleak and desolate sound as a perfect accompaniment to Jarman's film. Incidentally, Coil's Peter Christopherson worked as a leading sound designer in the film and created its incidental music -- much of which is included here to fill out the CD. Given that the film's sound was made with the Coil touch throughout, the album stands as an entirely cohesive work. The Angelic Conversation features the gorgeous Coil anthem "How to Destroy Angels," a song that becomes a central theme and diverts the largely ambient atmospheres. - Skip Jansen...From Allmusic

Lyrics...

Dame Judith Olivia Dench reads Shakespeare's sonnets...

I. Ascension - (Sonnet LVII)
Being your slave, what should I do but tend
Upon the hours and times of your desire?
I have no precious time at all to spend,
Nor services to do, till you require.
Nor dare I chide the world-without-end hour
Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you,
Nor think the bitterness of absence sour
When you have bid your servant once adieu;
Nor dare I question with my jealous thought
Where you may be, or your affairs suppose,
But, like a sad slave, stay and think of nought
Save, where you are how happy you make those.
So true a fool is love that in your will,
Though you do any thing, he thinks no ill.

III. Instrumental

II. Enochian Calling - (Sonnet XC)
Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now;
Now, while the world is bent my deeds to cross,
Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow,
And do not drop in for an after-loss:
Ah, do not, when my heart hath 'scoped this sorrow,
Come in the rearward of a conquer'd woe;
Give not a windy night a rainy morrow,
To linger out a purposed overthrow.
If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last,
When other petty griefs have done their spite
But in the onset come; so shall I taste
At first the very worst of fortune's might,
And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,
Compared with loss of thee will not seem so.

IV. Finite Bees - (Sonnet XLIII)
When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,
For all the day they view things unrespected;
But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,
And darkly bright are bright in dark directed.
Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright,
How would thy shadow's form form happy show
To the clear day with thy much clearer light,
When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so!
How would, I say, mine eyes be blessed made
By looking on thee in the living day,
When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade
Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay!
All days are nights to see till I see thee,
And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.

V. Cave of Roses - (Sonnet LIII)
What is your substance, whereof are you made,
That millions of strange shadows on you tend?
Since every one hath, every one, one shade,
And you, but one, can every shadow lend.
Describe Adonis, and the counterfeit
Is poorly imitated after you;
On Helen's cheek all art of beauty set,
And you in Grecian tires are painted new:
Speak of the spring and foison of the year;
The one doth shadow of your beauty show,
The other as your bounty doth appear;
And you in every blessed shape we know.
In all external grace you have some part,
But you like none, none you, for constant heart.

VI. Sun Ascension a - (Sonnet CXLVIII)
O me, what eyes hath Love put in my head,
Which have no correspondence with true sight!
Or, if they have, where is my judgment fled,
That censures falsely what they see aright?
If that be fair whereon my false eyes dote,
What means the world to say it is not so?
If it be not, then love doth well denote
Love's eye is not so true as all men's 'No.'
How can it? O, how can Love's eye be true,
That is so vex'd with watching and with tears?
No marvel then, though I mistake my view;
The sun itself sees not till heaven clears.
O cunning Love! with tears thou keep'st me blind,
Lest eyes well-seeing thy foul faults should find.

VI. Sun Ascension b - (Sonnet CXXVI)
O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power
Dost hold Time's fickle glass, his sickle, hour;
Who hast by waning grown, and therein show'st
Thy lovers withering as thy sweet self grow'st;
If Nature, sovereign mistress over wrack,
As thou goest onwards, still will pluck thee back,
She keeps thee to this purpose, that her skill
May time disgrace and wretched minutes kill.
Yet fear her, O thou minion of her pleasure!
She may detain, but not still keep, her treasure:
Her audit, though delay'd, answer'd must be,
And her quietus is to render thee.

VII. Madriiax - a - (Sonnet XXIX)
When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deal heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

VII. Madriiax - b - (Sonnet XCIV)
They that have power to hurt and will do none,
That do not do the thing they most do show,
Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,
Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow,
They rightly do inherit heaven's graces
And husband nature's riches from expense;
They are the lords and owners of their faces,
Others but stewards of their excellence.
The summer's flower is to the summer sweet,
Though to itself it only live and die,
But if that flower with base infection meet,
The basest weed outbraves his dignity:
For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.

VIII. Escalation - a - (Sonnet XXX)
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.

VIII. Escalation - b - (Sonnet LV)
Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;
But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than unswept stone besmear'd with sluttish time.
When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword nor war's quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory.
'Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room
Even in the eyes of all posterity
That wear this world out to the ending doom.
So, till the judgment that yourself arise,
You live in this, and dwell in lover's eyes.

VIII. Escalation - c - (Sonnet XXVII)
Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,
The dear repose for limbs with travel tired;
But then begins a journey in my head,
To work my mind, when body's work's expired:
For then my thoughts, from far where I abide,
Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee,
And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,
Looking on darkness which the blind do see
Save that my soul's imaginary sight
Presents thy shadow to my sightless view,
Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night,
Makes black night beauteous and her old face new.
Lo! thus, by day my limbs, by night my mind,
For thee and for myself no quiet find.

IX. Instrumental

X. Enochian Calling II - a (Sonnet LXI)
Is it thy will thy image should keep open
My heavy eyelids to the weary night?
Dost thou desire my slumbers should be broken,
While shadows like to thee do mock my sight?
Is it thy spirit that thou send'st from thee
So far from home into my deeds to pry,
To find out shames and idle hours in me,
The scope and tenor of thy jealousy?
O, no! thy love, though much, is not so great:
It is my love that keeps mine eye awake;
Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat,
To play the watchman ever for thy sake:
For thee watch I whilst thou dost wake elsewhere,
From me far off, with others all too near.

X. Enochian Calling II - b (Sonnet LVI)
Sweet love, renew thy force; be it not said
Thy edge should blunter be than appetite,
Which but to-day by feeding is allay'd,
To-morrow sharpen'd in his former might:
So, love, be thou; although to-day thou fill
Thy hungry eyes even till they wink with fullness,
To-morrow see again, and do not kill
The spirit of love with a perpetual dullness.
Let this sad interim like the ocean be
Which parts the shore, where two contracted new
Come daily to the banks, that, when they see
Return of love, more blest may be the view;
Else call it winter, which being full of care
Makes summer's welcome thrice more wish'd, more rare.

XI. Montecute (CIV)
To me, fair friend, you never can be old,
For as you were when first your eye I eyed,
Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold
Have from the forests shook three summers' pride,
Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turn'd
In process of the seasons have I seen,
Three April perfumes in three hot Junes burn'd,
Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green.
Ah! yet doth beauty, like a dial-hand,
Steal from his figure and no pace perceived;
So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand,
Hath motion and mine eye may be deceived:
For fear of which, hear this, thou age unbred;
Ere you were born was beauty's summer dead.

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Nasa Arab/First Dark Ride (1994...b) [Coil vs. The Eskaton...12'']

2008-06-17T02:11:00.009+02:00

01 Nasa Arab
02 First Dark Ride

Notes...

Nasa-Arab is a slightly extended version of the track from Stolen and Contaminated Songs.

Discussion...

"For unfamiliar rhythms, my fave example is "Nasa Arab" -- just listen attentively to those rhythmic patterns; they're layered with an amazingly _alien_ sort of odd syncopation. Extra brain-pain points if you try and contrain it within some kind of time signature. A heavy 4/4ish drum beat does come in mid-song, but it is amidst other rhythim patterns all speaking thier own languages. Balkanized beats, if you will. That one always blows me away, in both visceral and intellectual ways..." - Thom S. Heileson

Images...

center label image

Born Again Pagans (1994...c) [Coil vs. ELpH...CD EP]

2008-06-16T08:17:00.011+02:00

01 Protection
02 Glimpse
03 Crawling Spirit
04 pHILM #1

Notes...

"Protection" is allegedly taken from the upcoming release The Sound of Music and is credited to Coil.
The other three tracks are credited to ELpH.

Discussion...

I do like Protection for what it's worth. The melody that opens up in the second half of the song is why i listen to it. I think there *is* indeed a lot going on in the percussion side of it, too, only i like the sequenced staticy sounds used as percussion better than any of the specific drum sounds they used. And that cascading bubbley water sound is nice too, gives you something to do you know? The three track *after* Protection are what really grab me, however. Very nice layers in those. Makes for a nice 15-20 minutes listening session in the vast bright deep. - Noah Jurcin

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pHILM #1 (1994...d) [ELpH...10'']

2008-06-16T08:16:00.006+02:00

01 pHILM #1 (vox)
02 Static Electrician
03 Red Scratch

Notes...

First pressing was limited to 2000 numbered copies which included a poster of the cover of Born Again Pagans with catalog number ESKATON 004.
Red Scratch" runs out into a locked groove.

Worship The Glitch (1995...a) [ELpH vs. Coil...CD]

2008-06-16T08:14:00.012+02:00

01 Dark Start
02 Opium Hum
03 Caged Birds
04 The Halliwell Hammers
05 Clorax Hurd
06 The Halliwell Hammers (2)
07 We Have Always Been Here
08 Manunkind
09 Bism
10 Hydlepark
11 Hysteron Proteron Jewel
12 Decadent & Symmetrical
13 Mono
14 The Halliwell Hammers (3)
15 Anything That Flies
16 Ended

Notes...

Initial pressing of CD limited to 500 "special edition" copies which included a reflective cover.

Review...

Overall impression: good. Coil confronts themselves once again, or rather the sometimes accidental results from their equipment (from Coil site at Brainwashed - "ELpH is the entity Coil use to describe what musical compositions come out of the equipment that are sometimes unrehearsed or consciously thought of." ) This album is essentially a collection of minimal instrumental sound pieces, not to say that the tracks are random noise, but rather snippets of "glitch" that Coil often use throughout their work. Bits and pieces of sound, some electronic/samples and some acoustic, but all often heavily effected and/or affected via computer. A few highlights: the 3 "Halliwell Hammers" tracks are the most structured and "song-like", with their beautiful echoing bell-like melodies and "Bism" is a minimal but roomy ambient track with a gentle white noise and a far away water and calling of birds. Subtle but relaxing, "Worship the Glitch" is not my favorite disc from Coil, but is a welcome addition to my Coil collection that will be listened to every now and then. Very cool mosaic artwork too. As always, this album is unique when compared to Coil's other work, but I'd say it's a first cousin of "Time Machines" and "Coil Presents Black Light District: A Thousand Lights in a Darkened Room", and is similar to various segments of "Unnatural History II" and "Unnatural History III". - Mark Weddle

Discussion...

"Halliwell" refers to the late English playwright Joe Orton's flatmate, [can't remember his first name] Halliwell, who murdered Orton in what one supposes was a fit of jealous rage. Orton and Halliwell were classmates at the Royal Academy of the Dramatic Arts, and after they left the Academy Orton's star began to rise rapidly while Halliwell failed to make much of a mark in the theatre world. One night, apparently, Halliwell took a hammer and bashed Orton's skull in; according to some sources, Halliwell and Orton had been lovers at one time but were no more, and H. was driven to the breaking point by Orton's promiscuous lifestyle (Orton was a toilet-trader) and professional success. Hence the name, "The Halliwell Hammers." - Matthew Weber

"Headphonaut investigators may be interested in a few discoveries myself and a friend of mine have made in Worship the Glitch. Both dark start and ended are the same song. If you listen to the lady singing "...down this dusty road again..." over and over until you auditory memory bank is firmly established, then flip quickly to dark start and you will hear "down this dusty road again" and if you really know ended well, you can actually follow the lady's words through the song. Parts of ended are repeated through the swimming dark start effects. "...for all we know..."
...I once was playing Worship the Glitch on a fine, summer afternoon. It got to track 3 called "Caged Birds" and i walked out into our sunroom and there on the windowsill (read windowpane) was a small bird. I looked at the plump feathery creature and wondered when it was going to fly away. It didn't. It just looked at me curiously. I live in urban Chicago and it is *quite* rare for any bird to have any curiousity in us humans, whether it's a dirty ol' pigeon or not (this was not, it looked like a baby owl). I walked back into the kitchen, got some bread and came back to the sunroom windowsill, where the uncaged bird was still standing. Caged Birds still coming from my room down the hall, mind you. I opened the window, which took considerable strength and noise because they're kinda jammed. Any *normal* bird would definitely have flown away at this time, since my jerky movements would surely have scared it. But this bird just watched me the entire time. With the window open, i reached out and held the bread slice near his or her head and it didn't respond, it just kept looking at me with its large, dark, bulbous eyes. I even pushed the bread slice *against* its head and caused the birdy to move over one step...it *still* didn't fly away...! I had time to have a 10 minute telephone conversation and i came back and it was still there. I even took a photo. Shorty after that, it flew away. I haven't seen him since... perhaps he's seen me, though..." - Noah Jurcin

Images...

eskaton006b

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Windowpane/The Snow (1995...b) [Coil...CD]

2008-06-14T23:09:00.010+02:00

01 Windowpane (Minimal)
02 Windowpane
03 Windowpane (Astral Paddington Mix)
04 Driftmix
05 Answers Come in Dreams I
06 Out in the Cold
07 As Pure As?
08 Answers Come in Dreams II
09 The Snow

Notes...

A Threshold House release of the Windowpane and Snow singles.

Review...

This legendary 12" was released and re-released many times, and remains a landmark in the Coil discography. With numerous variations on Coil's most distinctive club track, John Balance and Peter Christopherson cut the recording in 1990 and the work marks a period when the group had all but vanished from the eye of the industrial scene, but was resurfacing in the post-acid house nexus. Vocalist Rose McDowell and programmer Danny Hyde push the track to extraordinary blissful peaks. The original 12" Windowpane release was published in a limited-edition picture disc of 5,000 copies, of which -- according to possible Coil myth-making -- more than a third were destroyed deliberately as an act of performance art. The release was possibly the most mainstream work that the group produced, with the 12" released widely in the U.S. on Wax Trax. In addition to the regular mix of "Windowpane," this CD version features the track's "Minimal Mix," "Astral Paddington Mix," and "Driftmix." With the addition of the limited-edition EP The Snow, which features the club tracks "Answers Come in Dreams," "Out in the Cold" "As Pure As?" "Answers Come in Dreams II," and "The Snow," this CD is a great representation of the electro side of Coil. - Skip Jansen...From Allmusic

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Unnatural History II (Smiling In The Face Of Perversity) (1995...c) [Coil...CD]

2008-06-09T06:25:00.015+02:00

01 Red Weather
02 Theme From "Blue" 1
03 Airborne Bells
04 Another Brown World
05 Contains a Disclaimer
06 The Hellraiser Theme
07 In Memory of the Truth
08 Unquiet Rest
09 Wait, Then Return
10 The Hellbound Heart
11 The Box Theme
12 No New World
13 Vanishing Point
14 The Main Title
15 Theme From "Blue" 2
## The Hills Are Alive

Notes...

A collection of tracks that originally appeared on various compilations and limited edition releases along with three previously unreleased tracks ("In Memory of the Truth", "Unquiet Rest", "Wait, Then Return") recorded during the same sessions as the Hellraiser material.
"Vanishing Point" is a retitled version of "Attack of the Sennapods" from Hellraiser Themes.
"The Hills Are Alive" is not listed on the cover, and appears on the same CD track as "Theme From Blue II" following several moments of silence.

Review...

The Unnatural History series puts obscure, collectable, and out of print singles, compilation tracks, and soundtracks on CD, making those ultra-limited works available all in one place. On the stunning second edition of the series, three tracks are previously unreleased: "In Memory of the Truth," "Unquiet Rest," and "Wait, Then Return" are outstanding Coil rituals that were recorded during the same sessions as the Hellraiser soundtrack. "Vanishing Point" appears to be an unknown title, yet in fact it is a version of "Attack of the Sennapods" from Hellraiser Themes. To make things even more mysterious (in typically enigmatic Coil fashion), the last track, "The Hills Are Alive," is not listed on the cover, nor is it given a CD index. This track appears on the same index as "Theme From Blue II," following an extended silence. However, the highlights of the collection are the tracks "Another Brown World" and "Contains a Disclaimer," which are both recordings Coil made in Burma. Coil captured an extraordinary field recording of a monk singing chants, which they worked into the Coil miasma. Perhaps one of the single most influential voices in post-industrial music of the '80s and '90s, Coil seems to create sublime poetry in its music that is never short of brilliant, regardless of whatever diversions the group may take. - Skip Jansen...From Allmusic

Discussion...

Regarding Another Brown World and Contains a Disclaimer, according to Coil, the recordings werde made in Birma/Burma at a place called Pagan (believe it or not) which is basically a field of animistic cult sites and temples. There is one mountain/hill called Popo on whose top there is a temple and which has a spiralling pathway upwards to that temple which is spotted with sacrificial plattforms and cult places all of pre-buddhist origin. The temple has been taken over by buddhist but, the older religions are still held to be valid. On the day Coil were there an old monch was singing these animistic magical verses and they asked whether they could record his voices if they were to donate something to the temple. He agrees and so he appeared on Another Brown World.... This could be a rather rare recording being taken in 1987 before the stronger influence of the military forces in Birma molding buddhism into the state religion......

Images...

postcard

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A Thousand Lights In a Darkened Room (1996) [ Black Light District...CD]

2008-06-09T06:11:00.017+02:00

01 Unprepared Piano
02 Red Skeletons
03 Die Wolfe Kommen Zuruck
04 Refusal Of Leave To Land
05 Stoned Circular I
06 Stoned Circular II
07 Green Water
08 Cold Dream of an Earth Star
09 Blue Rats
10 Scratches and Dust
11 Chalice

Notes...

This is the first in a planned trilogy of Black Light District releases. A boxed set featuring reworked versions of all three releases was hinted at once the series is complete.
The text on the spine of the CD release was switched between yellow and white on different pressings.
The Russian edition on ArsNova is unofficial. A logo printed on the cover claims that it is limited to 500 copies.
The name Black Light District is taken from a track by Boyd Rice recorded for the Bethel cassette out by John Balance on his Hearsay And Heresy label in 1984.

Review...

The Coil project Black Light District debuted with an album of broad, minimalistic textures and beatless ambience. Though the vibes are similar to the duo's past work, there are no vocals and few beats; what remains is the restless exploration of sound which Coil have always made a prime concern. - John Bush...From Allmusic

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Unnatural History III (Joyful Participation In The Sorrows Of The World) (1997) [Coil...CD]

2008-06-08T05:58:00.015+02:00

01 First Dark Ride
02 Baby Food
03 Music For Commercials:

1. Airline 1
2. Liqueur
3. Perfume
4. Video Recorder
5. Airline 2
6. Natural Gas
7. Cosmetic 1
8. Cosmetic 2
9. Analgesic
10. Road Surface
11. Accident Insurance

04 Panic [12" version]
05 Neither His Nor Yours
06 Feeder [With Chris & Cosey]
07 Wrong Eye
08 Meaning What Exactly?
09 Scope
10 Lost Rivers of London

Review...

Overall impression: excellent. The 3rd installment of the Unnatural History series, this one covers compilation and outtake material from 1985 - 1996, 6/10ths from the 90's. The amazing diversity of this always intriguing band is again put on display here. The 80's material is similar to the 80's albums, such as "Horse Rotorvator" and the 90's material is much like the "Stolen & Contaminated Songs" cd. A little bit of every style Coil has touched on is represented on this cd; beats, ambience, vocals, noise, misc sounds, orchestral, etc, etc. "First Dark Ride" and "Baby Food" are amazing journeys in sound, "Music for Commercials" are short and interesting, "Panic" is crude, "Neither His Nor Yours" is quirky, "Feeder" is a beautifully stark and noise filled collaboration, "Wrong Eye" is an early sketch of "Windowpane", "Meaning What Exactly" is an extended intro for "Things Happen", "Scope" is noisy and "Lost Rivers of London" is an almost spoken piece by John with intriguing musical backing. I think I like this one better than the previous one, UH II, but both are very good. Really good artwork on this one by Nick Blinko and Coil. It's hard to say if this is a good place to start a Coil collection, due to the diversity of the back catalogue and this collection itself, but it's certainly a must for any devoted Coil fan. Plus, it's easily attainable (but rather price-y) unlike the out of print "Horse Rotorvator" and "Love's Secret Domain" albums. - Mark Weddle

Time Machines (1998...a) [Time Machines...CD]

2008-06-07T06:28:00.010+02:00

01 7-Methoxy-ß-Carboline: (Telepathine)
02 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-Ethyl-Amphetamine: (DOET/Hecate)
03 5-Methoxy-N, N-Dimethyl: (5-Me0-DMT)
04 4-Indolol, 3-[2-(Dimethylamino)Ethyl]' Phosphate Ester: (psilocybin)

Notes...

First 3000 came with stickers.
According to John Balance, the premise behind this release is that hallucinogens act as time machines - they can conjure up histories of yourself and/or act as predictors of the future. In any case, they can remove you from "temporal reality". These tracks on this disc are not only formulas for hallucinogens, but the tracks have been tested, retested, rejected, et cetera.
There are two links listed inside the disc: www.fungi.com and deoxy.org/deoxy.htm.

Review...

Overall impression: excellent. The line on the back of the cardboard two-fold sleeve probably says it best: "4 tones to facilitate travel through time." The four track names are all chemical names for hallucinogens. The music is drone-based, deep ... very deep ... sub-bass drones that somehow seem to entangle with your very thoughts and emotions as they carry you. I listened to this disc twice with headphones while at work earlier this evening, and although I didn't travel through time, feel like I was traveling through time or achieve an instantaneous erection ... it did give me a strange emotional sensation. I really can't explain it .. the drones maintain a similarity throughout each track, but they shift and become altered without you really realizing what's taking place. They remain what I would call "beautiful" drones, they never become too distorted or resonant ... very haunting yet affirming and all consuming. This disc is another welcome tool, alongside the likes of Aphex Twin's "Selected Ambient Works II", Dead Voices on Air, Propeller, and of course, many Brian Eno and Coil discs, in my collection of ambient and/or ambient/drone works. I sometimes think that JB and PC have come across some greater plane of knowledge that allows them to subliminally communicate with your psyche through sound. Their work is remarkable. Also, be sure to check out the latest single, "Spring Equinox: Moon's Milk or Under an Unquiet Skull". Note: I have not, nor do I intend to use the above disc in conjuction with hallucinogens. I'll leave that to you . - Mark Weddle

Discussion...

John Balance says "Telepathine is one of the constituent compounds of Yage, the complex hallucinogenic Shamans drink that can be brewed in as many ways as there are Shamans.I think Telepathine was on of the first to be identified as being present in the brew and as one of Yage's powers is to bestow telepathy on participants thats how it got its name."

Clay Pinn says, "I once blanked out for about 20 mins. while listening to time machines. when i came through, i was extremely disturbed, because, as far as i remember, before i blanked out, i was sitting on the floor in my room, but afterwards, i was standing in my closet, with the door open, and the television was on. one other time, i decided to remain awake throughout the night, and i was listening to moon's milk... it was on repeat. i started having very slight and suggestive hallucinations (this was about 2 in the morning, and, in case you ask, i was not sleepy at all.) soon, i had this very stimulating feeling. i was extremely happy, but totally fucking wierded out (i had to say that). i had these ideas streaming through my head, and i could have sworn that i heard rain falling in my room. it was beautiful... truley one of the best experiences (sans chemicals, as well) i have ever had."

Images...

telepathine sticker
hecate sticker
phosphate ester sticker
DMT sticker
persistence is all (with monad)
persistence is all (without monad)

Spring Equinox (Moon's Milk Or Under An Unquiet Skull) (1998...b) [Coil...CD EP]

2008-06-07T06:02:00.014+02:00

01 Moon's Milk Or Under An Unquiet Skull (Part One)
02 Moon's Milk Or Under An Unquiet Skull (Part Two)

Notes...

Collected on Moon's Milk (In Four Phases).

Review...

Overall impression: excellent. This is the first of a 4 part series to be released this year in conjuction with the 4 seasonal equinoxes. It will cease to be available on June 21, the Summer Solstice, at which time the new single "Bee Stings" will become available. This disc continues in the same vein musically as the preceeding Coil oriented release, "Time Machines". The music is essentially instrumental drone based pieces, Parts 1 and 2 being much alike, except that Part 2 has the wonderful addition of electric viola melodies. Very organic and relaxing in nature. My only complaint is how short the running time is. I understand that it's a single, but just when you're starting to really get into it, it's over. However, it's a wonderful companion to the "Time Machines" disc. I'm really looking forward to the next 3 (and anything else Coil decides to release during that time period). - Mark Weddle

Discussion...

MAY: the Planting Moon or Milk Moon. The full moon in May this year just happens to be on the 11th at 14:29GMT (and it's in Scorpio if you care). Also found was the following obsolete definition in the OED: Milk of the Moon: A white, porous, friable, insipid earth, frequently found in the form of white farinaceous powder, but sometimes concreted into a mass, not unlike agaric. (Chambers Cycl. 1727-52) And as if that wasn't enough, there was also the reference to Italo Calvino's story in Cosmicomics titled "The Distance of the Moon," in which two men periodically travel to the moon when it's orbit brings it close enough to the earth for them to climb on and gather Moon Milk. For those who are curious about the other names of the full moons they are listed below:

* JANUARY - the Old Moon, or Moon After Yule
* FEBRUARY - the Snow Moon, Hunger Moon or Wolf Moon
* MARCH - the Sap Moon, Crow Moon or Lenten Moon
* APRIL - the Grass Moon or Egg Moon
* MAY - the Planting Moon or Milk Moon
* JUNE - the Rose Moon or Flower Moon
* JULY - the Thunder Moon or Hay Moon
* AUGUST - the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon
* SEPTEMBER - ..the full moon of September is called the Fruit Moon. Usually it is also the Harvest Moon..
* OCTOBER - As the full moon nearest to the autumn equinox [in 1982], this is called the Harvest Moon.. Other versions of the rule are that the Harvest Moon is the full moon at or after the equinox, or that it is always in October...Farmers at the climax of harvest can work late into the night by the light of the moon...
* NOVEMBER - the Frosty Moon or Beaver Moon. As the full moon after the Harvest Moon [in 1982] this is called the Hunter's Moon...Since the fields have been reaped, hunter can ride across the stubble, and can see the fox more easily; also other animals which have come out to glean and can be caught for a thanksgiving banquet after the harvest..
* DECEMBER - the Moon Before Yule, or Long Night Moon. In a December with two full moons, the second of these title should apply to the second of them.

- Tim J. DuFour

Summer Solstice (Bee Stings) (1998...c) [Coil...CD EP]

2008-06-06T06:56:00.016+02:00

01 Bee Stings
02 Glowworms/Waveforms
03 Summer Substructures
04 A Warning from the Sun (for Fritz)

Notes...

"A warning from the sun" is dedicated to a friend Fritz who commited suicide in May of 1998.
Collected on Moon's Milk (In Four Phases).

Review...

Overall impression: excellent. This is the second installment in the equinox/solstice series by Coil. Once again, this cd is limited, and is available only until the Autumnal Equinox, September 23rd. This disc continues in the minimal vein, like "Spring Equinox: Moon's Milk or Under an Unquiet Skull", but each of these tracks has vocals. "Bee Stings" begins with an electric viola melody (courtesy William Breeze), which continues throughout, as Balance's spoken vocal, more misc sounds and a subtle beat are added. "Glowworms/Waveforms" is comprised of various bizarre effected sounds, loops and drones as Balance asks various questions, such as "where's the bells?", "where's my corn field?", "where's my breeding ground?" and "where's my horse head?" "Summer Substructures" is a moody vocal, electric viola and keyboard piece. "A Warning .." begins with a noisy barrage of distorted/effected sounds that give way to one crunchy, distorted loop (reminiscent of Autechre) and what sounds like a slide guitar as Balance sings in a high-pitched, nasal, operatic voice. An odd, but very intriguing batch of new stuff from Coil. Two more singles to go. - Mark Weddle

Discussion...

Bees seem to have enjoyed a long tradition in history and mythology. The ancient Egyptians believed bees were born of the tears of the sun-god, Ra, dropping to earth. In Greece they were a symbol of the soul and Plato believed that the souls of the righteous are reincarnated as bees. Christians associated bees with resurrection and the three month winter season when bees seem to vanish into the hive was compared with the three days when Christ's body vanished after the crucifixion only to reappear at the resurrection. Bees produce their young from their lips just as Christ proceeded from the Father's mouth. The honey and the sting make bees an emblem of Christ, the former for his mildness and mercy, the latter for his role in the Last Judgment.

The Effects of Bee Stings on the Human Body:

Bee venom has many different effects on the human body. This is based on the total effect of the bee venom. The person who is not hypersensitive to bee stings can tolerate one to five stings at a time. This is followed by minimal local symptoms accompanied by swelling, redness and itchiness of the skin. Initially, the symptoms are little painful but later change to a pleasant and warm sensation. Fifty to one hundred stings can cause a cramp, temporary shortness of breath, the skin turns blue or rapid pulse and symptoms of temporary paralysis follow. Two hundred or more bee stings can cause paralysis of the respiratory system. Some people can tolerate more than 1,000 stings.

Product Selection for bee sting treatment listed in order of most effective:

Lobelia Cayenne Formula, Black cohosh, Oatstraw Shavegrass Formula Echinacea, Goldenseal Myrrh Formula, Plantain Wild Lettuce Scullcap Formula, Yellow dock

Curing Malaria With Bee Stings In Sudan:

KHARTOUM, Sudan (PANA) - A former employee of the Sudanese ministry of agriculture has gained fame here since he started treating patients with chloroquine-resistant malaria by using bees. For immunization against malaria, a patient takes eight stings every week for one month, if the patient happens to be coming from an area infested with anopheles, the mosquitoes causing malaria. Other diseases treated with bee stings include lymphatic gland inflammations, rheumatism and recurrent miscarriages.

Multiple Sclerosis pain alleviated with bee stings:

At first, one patient started with just a few stings a day. Now, she gets as many as 22 stings in one sitting and has been stung more than 1,000 times. The honeybees' stingers are kept inside the skin for up to 15 minutes. According to Downs, the venom inside the stinger enters the body, producing a chemical reaction. It's that reaction that helps MS patients move their muscles with less pain and discomfort, he said. - Tim J. DuFour

"In some traditional Catholic and Anglican Easter ceremonies (I don't know about Eastern Orthodoxy, although I could probably look it up), a blessing for bees remains in the Exsultet (i.e., the blessing of the candle). Part of the reason for this, as Tim said, is that bees were thought to procreate asexually and served therefore as a symbol for the Virgin Birth of Christ. Another reason is that they were responsible for the wax that made the Paschal Candle itself. The line -- which some churches delete in modern services, much to my chagrin -- goes something like this:

"In the grace of this night, then, O Father, receive for an evening sacrifice this burning light, which holy Church renders unto Thee at the hand of her ministers in the solemn offering of this candle of wax, wrought by bees. Though divided into parts, yet it suffers no loss from the light which it imparts. For it is fed from the melted wax which the mother bee wrought for the substance of this precious lamp." - Ayse

I just got Bee Stings yesterday and here's what happened last night: Last night, well actually this morning about 3:30 am, I was sitting in my den listening to Bee Stings on the headphones. I had a bunch of red candles lit and I was gently fading in and out, when all of the sudden, this black bird comes flying out of my chimney. It scared the shit out of me! I jumped up so quick I forgot to take off my headphones, which were jerked off of my head. I chased the creature around for almost half an hour before I caught him and sent him on his way out the window. The bird was chirping at me the entire time I was trying to rescue it. What made it all the more strange was that I could still hear Bee Stings playing quietly on the headphones, while the bird chirped along (seemingly to the music) in horror. I don't who was more scared, the bird or myself? And I'm not sure whether the bird was more frightened of Coil or me?? I felt sorry for the bird, but he also had me quite frightened. It was all very surreal. - Chad Price

I listen to talk radio and a guy named Ed Dames who does something called technical remote veiwing (a controled government devoloped psychic process) said that there would be a warning from the sun within a month from now that will be followed by a lethal kill-shot from the sun in '99. He also said, before science confirmed it, that the ozone depletion is changing the color of flowers and the bees can't find them anymore so they are starving to death. Only way to survive is to live underground and eat worms. I bought this guy's tape trust me he knows what he's talking about, maybe Coil knows something too...if interested go to: www.trv-psitech.com. - Arian Otto

Autumn Equinox (Amethyst Deceivers) (1998...d) [Coil...CD EP]

2008-06-05T19:13:00.017+02:00

01 Regel
02 Rosa Decidua
03 Switches
04 The Auto-Asphyxiating Hierophant
05 Amethyst Deceivers

Notes...

Rose McDowell - vocal on "Rosa Decidua"
Robert Lee - vocal on "Rosa Decidua"
Collected on Moon's Milk (In Four Phases).

Review...

Overall impression: good. Ahhh ... the warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing that a new twenty-ish minutes of Coil is forthcoming every 3 months! Coil aren't ones to repeat themselves, but I do hope they do something similar to this solstice/equinox singles series in 1999, or at least manage to put out as much material as they did this year in future years. "Amethyst.." is, naturally, the third in the 1998 single series (see also: "Spring Equinox: Moon's Milk or Under an Unquiet Skull" and "Summer Solstice: Bee Stings") and it is the most musically varied of the 3 so far. Track by track: "Regal" is a short Balance vocal mantra piece with a minimal background of animal-like howls and some sort of keyboard sound (difficult to explain ... the kind of sound you'd only hear on a Coil record). "Rosa.." is a spacy mixture of Balance's spoken words with the vocals of Rose McDowall and Robert Lee of Sorrow, synthesizer and William Breeze's heavenly electric viola. "Switches" is comprised of very minimal pressure changes as composed via a synthesizer, this one would fit right in on ELpH vs Coil "Worship the Glitch". "The Auto.." harkens back to mid-80's Coil due to it's distorted orchestral sound combined with whispered and effected male and female vocals. "Amethyst.." features utterly beautiful swirling sounds, plucked acoustic instrumentation, and synth bass accompanied by whispered and/or effected chants of "Amethyst Deceiver" throughout ... truly one of the finest tracks I've ever heard by Coil. Again, this single is very minimal and similar to the other two, but at the same time completely different. All the tracks have the "Coil sound" as I like to call it ... a comfortable, meaningful, warm and welcoming sound. A good single, but overall I prefer "Bee Stings" to "Amethyst..". Once again, very nice artwork ... this time warping an image similar of that of the previous singles. The 7" version of this single features slightly different versions of just "Amethyst Deceivers" and "Switches". I'm looking forward to the final chapter, the winter solstice single on Dec. 22. - Mark Weddle

Discussion...

The tracks are different in feel from the Summer Soltice EP. We started last year with a session of treated vocals and an ARP 2600 synthesiser. William Breeze came over and added mandolin and guitar and viola. There are Balance vocals and Louise Weasel vocals, and Galactic calls to Star Forms. Counter-point, Confessionals and Rose as an Elizabethan boy. - Coil

Winter Solstice (North) (1999...a) [Coil...CD EP]

2008-06-05T04:21:00.013+02:00

01 A White Rainbow
02 North
03 Magnetic North
04 Christmas is Now Drawing Near

Notes...

The CD has an extended version of "A White Rainbow"
"Christmas Is Now Drawing Near" is a traditional, performed here by Rosa Mundi.
Collected on Moon's Milk (In Four Phases).

Review...

Overall impression: excellent. The fourth and final of the 1998 seasonal singles, "North" continues in the same vein as the previous three: "Amethyst Deceivers", "Bee Stings" and "Moon's Milk". Once again Coil create a minimal yet deep, emotive aural environment for Balance's interesting words. "A White Rainbow" is centered around John's double tracked sprawling vocals and William Breeze's electric viola. Balance's lyrics on this song seem to tie the whole equinox/solstice singles series together. The last 3 minutes or so are essentially instrumental and the song ends in a chaotic jumble of sounds (similar to "A Warning From the Sun" from "Bee Stings"). "North" is comprised of washes of sound, a hushed spoken 2 line vocal from Balance and a heavily chorused, subtle beat. "Magnetic North" is more drone-y ... flowing synth lines form the background for Balance's quietly spoken words. "Christmas.." is sung by Rose McDowall with a glorious backing of disorted snyths and viola ... only Coil can transform a traditional Catholic song into something so achingly beautiful. The artwork is similar to the previous singles, except that this time it appears energy is exploding outwards from the oval. "North" evokes the same sort of feelings in me as most other music by Coil ... a sense of otherworldliness and unsettling familiarity, and an impression of a great importance that is beyond my ability to fully comprehend. This is emotion drenched music. All good things must come to an end though, so I eagerly await the next project by Coil. - Mark Weddle

Astral Disaster (1999...b) [This Version Was Reissued, Touched Up & Revisited In 2.000, With Bonus Track] [Coil...CD]

2008-06-05T02:15:00.015+02:00

01 The Avatars
02 I Don't Want To Be The One
03 2nd Sun Syndrome
04 The Sea Priestess
05 The Mothership And The Fatherland
06 MÜ-ÜR [Bonus Track]

Notes...

The songs "The Sea Priestess," "I Don't Want to be the One," and "2nd. Sun Syndrome" have been remixed or extended.
"MU-UR" is a remix of "The Mothership and the Fatherland."

Review...

Some tones, some drones, beautiful soundscapes and even a guitar bit on here. Most unmistakably Coil, however, this is the CD release of an LP originally recorded back around Halloween 1998. The recordings took place outside Coil's studio however, and were produced in part by Gary Ramon of the Prescription label. The LPs were made in a quantity of 99 and only given to those who had subscribed to this series released on Prescription. The original recordings seemed rather different from Coil's work, almost without the absolute quality control work that Coil put into everything. Coil have rearranged the running order, reworked most of the songs, added one song, and left a couple untouched on this release - stretching the 45 minute-long LP into a 72 minute-long CD. The electro-glitchy looped bits "The Avatars" and "2nd Sun Syndrome" along with the haunting epic, "The Mothership and the Fatherland" remain almost completely untouched, while in "I Don't Want to Be The One," the song gets extended about 3 minutes, Peter's voice gets added subtly and an unrecognizable voice (could it be Thighpaulsandra?) appears in a brand new part tagged on at the end. The new track "MU-UR" sounds like altered takes from "The Mothership & the Fatherland" with the pulsing tympani, mesmerising scapes and Maggot Brain-era Funkadelic organ. Also added is a vocal whose effects echo those of "Amethyst Deceiver." Perhaps the most drastically changed tune is "The Sea Priestess," where a droney sitar has been completely removed. Beautiful choral voices are added along with brilliant droning Tibetan vocal samples. Pretty chimes paint an aural picture of the water glistening in the moonlight and the vocals are mixed much better and prominent sounding. - Jon Whitney

"Astral Disaster" was originally released in 1999 as part of a subscription only series in a ridiculously limited edition of 99 vinyl copies (I was not one of the chosen few). Now it has been re-released on CD via Threshold House with a few tracks re-done/extended/re-mixed, 1 extra track and fantastic digipack artwork by Steven Stapleton (Nurse With Wound) and photos by Coil. Unfortunately, this album still sounds unfinished to me and is no where near as enthralling as the album recorded after this one, "Music to Play in the Dark Vol. 1". "Astral.." is composed of 3 lengthy minimal pieces, 2 short synth pieces and 1 short song which further explore lunar magick. "The Avatars" and "2nd Sun Syndrome" are little more than aimless synth noodlings that aren't all that interesting in comparison to similar work from the recent past. "The Mothership & the Fatherland" is tediously long with a plodding beat, minimal synth pads, effected sounds here and there, some drifting female backing vocals and Balance quietly speaking in tongues near the end. "The Sea Priestess" features Balance's forthright spoken words over and through synths and effects with the most intriguing lyric: "if it goes any faster there will be an astral disaster." "I Don't Want to be the One" is a poorly recorded 'song' with Balance's vocals, guitar pluckings and swirling synth atmospheres ... not bad until Balance begins wailing in the final few minutes. "MU-UR" is similar to "The Mothership & the Fatherland" with the same sort of synth pads, drones and effected sounds floating about for 20+ minutes and a brief passage of Balance's vocals transformed into a female tone. All in all, this is the first time I can honestly say that I've been disappointed by a new Coil (or related) release. "The Sea Priestess" and "MU-UR" are my favorites and are really the only two that bear repeated listening. The rest of the album contains fragments of great ideas and sounds but fails to expand upon them properly to capture the 'magick' ... it simply doesn't meet Coil's usually high quality control standard. I'm surprised they bothered to re-release it on CD, especially after the release of Music to Play in the Dark Vol. 1. - Mark Weddle

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

2008-06-03T20:46:00.018+02:00

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

Buy Here

Zwölf/20' To 2000 (1999...d) [ELpH...CD EP]

2008-06-03T20:28:00.012+02:00

01 Zwölf

Notes...

On December 14 1999 Coil performed Elph.zwölf at Volksbuehne in Berlin. Although the performance lasted just under eighteen minutes, it marked the beginning of a new era of live performances. Coil would go on to perform close to fifty additional concerts, with varied set lists as well as performers.

20' To 2000 (Zwölf) was the creation of Carsten Nicolai.

Nicolai is a German installation artist whose installations are influenced by both cybernetics and John Cage. His audio installations employ "music" of a special kind, music which is not meant to be music in the traditional sense of the word. Rather than a musician, Carsten views himself as a "manufacturer of sounds", his main (and sometimes only) instrument being a computer.
He was the instigator behind the audio journal "20' to 2000": a series of CDs designed by a team of design artist and performed by artists of Carsten choice to provide a snapshot of the state of the art at the end of the millennium, including his own contribution, the EP Time..dot (Noton, 1999).

Queens of the Circulating Library (2000...a) [Coil...CD EP]

2008-06-03T00:57:00.011+02:00

01 Queens of the Circulating Library

Notes...

Thighpaulsandra's mother Dorothy Lewis (a trained opera singer now retired) recites the lyrics especially written for her by John Balance; and for mothers everywhere.
This was released on April 2nd for mother's day and for the Coil show at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
Synthesized by Thighpaulsandra and John Balance, this is part one of a continually mutating series of circulating musickal compositions.
The CD comes in a pink C Shell case but was in a clear package for the show.
"Anyone can become a Queen Of The Circulating Library. Just Plant A Tree."

Review...

This disc is dedicated to mothers everywhere as it was released for Mother's Day and initially available at the highly anticipated and acclaimed Time Machines (aka Coil) Royal Festival Hall Cornucopia event in London this past April. Now it's available to us lesser beings who weren't fortunate enough to attend, courtesy of World Serpent Distribution. The disc itself has sperm swirl artwork and comes in an oh so pretty pink clamshell case. The single 49+ minute track is apparently the first of 'a continually mutating series of circulating musickal compositions' featuring Coil members John Balance and Thighpaulsandra as well as the recitation of Balance's lyrics by Thighpaulsandra's mother Dorothy Lewis. Mrs. Lewis proclaims herself the Queen of the Circulating Library and tells us the virtues of books and trees for about 5 minutes near the beginning of the piece. After that ... it's simply the drone. A soft, warm synthesized drone that slowly sweeps in and out and back and forth through space and time with only the most subtle of changes through it's duration. It's gorgeous. If I could explain why it never becomes tedious for me, even after 50 minutes, I would. But I can't really. It simply relaxes me and seems to work for any type of listening (attentive, headphone, background, etc). It is essential that you have a *long* attention span and are appreciative of this aspect of Coil's work before you plunk down the ~$19 import price for this one. I'm very happy I did. - Mark Weddle

Musick to Play in the Dark Vol. 2 (2000...b) [Coil...CD]

2008-06-03T00:46:00.015+02:00

01 Something
02 Tiny Golden Books
03 Ether
04 Paranoid Inlay
05 An Emergency
06 Where Are You?
07 Batwings (A Limnal Hymn)

Notes...

Coil Presents Time Machines live CD given away to all initial mail orders.

Review...

Coil return with more moon musick. This is volume 2 of a hopefully neverending series begun last year with the well received volume 1. Here Coil are the trio of Balance, Sleazy and Thighpaulsandra, with the addition of some vocals by frequent collaborator Rose McDowall. "Something" welcomes us back to the moonlit night with swooshes of digital air and Balance's deadpan recital of the title back and forth across the stereo field. "Tiny Golden Books" churns through bits of digital sound and digitzed vocals during a lengthy bass throb fed journey. "Ether" sets Balance's effected vocals to Thighpaulsandra's melancholy drenched piano until he turns his mind off in a slow motion spoken wind down. "Paranoid Inlay" is an unsettling mix of digital glitch bits with an almost too cute synth melody and Balance eerily declaring "serenity is a problem". "An Emergency" is a brief, creaky interlude with Rose angelically singing the question "are you bathing in moonlight?" "Where Are You?" imitates the crackling of fire with pops and clicks as background for a music box-like melody motif. Here Balance's lyrics are the most evocative: "are you still looking for things that no one else can see?", "is the cage you love the home you also hate?", "I'll wrap my last kiss in a bandage", etc. "Batwings" continues the feel of the previous track but culminates in a mysterious medley of male voices in strange tongues. All in all volume 2 is another masterpiece just as strong as the first volume. This is moon musick ... bizarre, beautiful, spiritual, tidal, suicidal. How do they keep doing it? Who knows? Who cares? What's next? The very latest album out now is "Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil". - Mark Weddle

Buy Here

Coil Presents Time Machines (2000...c) [Time Machines...CD]

2008-06-03T00:16:00.012+02:00

01 Everything Keeps Dissolving
02 Queens of the Circulating Library
03 Chasms

Notes...

Recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall on April 2, 2000.
Came free with mail order copies of Musick to Play in the Dark Vol. 2 (CD).
Reissued as the first disc of Live One.
The performance was called "Time Machines from the Heart of Darkness."

Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil (2000...d) [Coil...CD]

2008-06-02T20:38:00.013+02:00

01 Higher Beings Command
02 I Am The Green Child
03 Beige
04 Lowest Common Abominator
05 Freebase Chakra
06 Tunnel Of Goats I
07 Tunnel Of Goats II
08 Tunnel Of Goats III
09 Tunnel Of Goats IV
10 Tunnel Of Goats V
11 Tunnel Of Goats VI
12 Tunnel Of Goats VII
13 Tunnel Of Goats VIII
14 Tunnel Of Goats IX
15 Tunnel Of Goats X
16 Tunnel Of Goats XI
17 Tunnel Of Goats XII
18 Tunnel Of Goats XIII
19 Tunnel Of Goats XIV
20 Tunnel Of Goats XV
21 Tunnel Of Goats XVI
22 Tunnel Of Goats XVII
23 Tunnel Of Goats XVIII

Notes...

Mistakenly shares the same catalogue number with Time Machines Live.
Comes in a pink C-shell case.

Review...

A sly and nasty riposte to domestication, Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil is a bloody-minded record, at times sounding like a cattle-prod surge delivered directly to the spine. A stocktaking of the previous four decades of outsider blare -- from La Monte Young, to Metal Machine Music, to even the earliest Butthole Surfers -- Coil soils their pawn-shop electronics in blood and sweat, a muscular return to industrial roots. The nominal normal track, "I Am the Green Child," stumbles along like Krautrock coupled with the Exorcist soundtrack. Singer John Balance intones a pretentious and portentous text, voice almost drown in a thick gauze of processing. After this wheezing discourse crawls to a halt, several tracks follow like the lament of a dying washing machine. Finally, in a curious silence thrown into even sharper relief by what follows, Balance sings a few more lines about death and all hell breaks loose, a torrential downpour of upended machine jabber. From the opening of gallows sine waves to the final 16 minutes of revolving noise loops, Coil are implacably devoted to proving their aphorism "persistence is all.". - Jess Harvell...From Allmusic

Press Release...

This new album by Coil deals with the threat of lavishness and responds with noise. It's trial by musick. This intense density of energetic anger explores areas that Coil have threatened to open out into in the past, but rarely have pursued with such hallucinatory ferocity. 6 new pieces still fresh with blood and electronics.

It is released to coincide with Coil's 2nd Royal Festival Hall concert this year; an event which Coil are calling Persistence Is All. Points of reference? Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music, Can, LaMonte Young, Flipper, Butthole Surfers, Supermarket Sweep. Composed & arranged by John Balance, Peter Christopherson & Thighpaulsandra. Set for worldwide release on September 25th (or sooner!)

A Guide for Beginners: A Silver Voice [Anthology] (2001...a) [Coil...CD]

2008-06-01T04:44:00.014+02:00

01 Amethyst Deceivers
02 Lost Rivers of London
03 Are You Shivering?
04 Ostia (The Death of Pasolini)
05 Where Are You?
06 At the Heart of it All
07 A Cold Cell
08 Batwings (A Limnal Hymn)
09 Who'll Fall?
10 The Dreamer is Still Asleep

Notes...

The first of two anthology CDs created to mark Coil's first live performance in Moscow.
This volume features a selection of aggressive and noisy pieces from throughout Coil's career, to coincide with Volume Two - A Guide For Finishers: A Golden Hair, which features more melancholy and melodic tracks.
Both were compiled on one double CD release, The Golden Hair with a Voice of Silver.
The English title given above is a loose translation of the Russian title devised by Ivan Pavlov of COH. The Russian word for "finisher" suggests both suicide and cumming.
The tracks "Are You Shivering?" and "Ostia (The Death of Pasolini)" are listed in the wrong order on the cover. The track listing above is the correct one.

Review...

This 2-CD set is a widely available reissue of two Russian collections released by Feelee in 2001: A Guide for Beginners -- The Voice of Silver and A Guide for Finishers -- A Hair of Gold. Only two of the 20 tracks, "A Cold Cell," and "A.Y.O.R.," were previously unavailable at the time ("A Cold Cell" soon turned up on The Wire Tapper, Vol. 6 released by the British magazine The Wire), although some were a bit hard to find. Seasoned fans will feel the repetition (after all, this is not the first Coil "best of" to hit the stores) but newcomers will be treated to a first-class tour of John Balance and Peter Christopherson's realm. Disc one focuses on ambient tracks, the melodic, murmuring, slightly frightening kind Coil do so well. It draws heavily on the two volumes of Musick to Play in the Dark (including the grippingly beautiful "Batwings"), but also goes back to early efforts like Scatology ("At the Heart of It All") and Horse Rotovator ("Amethyst Deceivers"). Disc two presents the flip side, throwing together more aggressive, noise-based pieces that are often upbeat. The rough industrial stance of "Panic," "The Anal Staircase," "Solar Lodge," and the like, make this disc more difficult to listen to, if only because it leaves little chance to breathe. The set concludes marvelously with "The First Five Minutes After Violent Death." Every fan will have one of his or her favorite tracks missing, but the casual listener will find in The Golden Hair With a Voice of Silver the perfect place to start. There is one downside to this collection though: the total lack of liner notes means that you will have to plough your way through the All-Music Guide database to find where each track was taken from. - François Couture...From Allmusic

A Guide For Finishers: A Golden Hair [Anthology] (2001...b) [Coil...CD]

2008-06-01T04:37:00.015+02:00

01 Panic
02 First Dark Ride
03 Further Back and Faster
04 The Anal Staircase
05 Red Skeletons
06 Scope
07 Solar Lodge
08 Blue Rats
09 A.Y.O.R.
10 The First Five Minutes After Violent Death

Notes...

The second of two anthology CDs created to mark Coil's first live performance in Moscow.
This volume features a selection of aggressive and noisy pieces from throughout Coil's career, to coincide with Volume One - A Guide for Beginners: A Silver Voice, which features more melancholy and melodic tracks.
Both were compiled on one double CD release, The Golden Hair with a Voice of Silver.
The English title given above is a loose translation of the Russian title devised by Ivan Pavlov of COH. The Russian word for "finisher" suggests both suicide and cumming.

Review...

This 2-CD set is a widely available reissue of two Russian collections released by Feelee in 2001: A Guide for Beginners -- The Voice of Silver and A Guide for Finishers -- A Hair of Gold. Only two of the 20 tracks, "A Cold Cell," and "A.Y.O.R.," were previously unavailable at the time ("A Cold Cell" soon turned up on The Wire Tapper, Vol. 6 released by the British magazine The Wire), although some were a bit hard to find. Seasoned fans will feel the repetition (after all, this is not the first Coil "best of" to hit the stores) but newcomers will be treated to a first-class tour of John Balance and Peter Christopherson's realm. Disc one focuses on ambient tracks, the melodic, murmuring, slightly frightening kind Coil do so well. It draws heavily on the two volumes of Musick to Play in the Dark (including the grippingly beautiful "Batwings"), but also goes back to early efforts like Scatology ("At the Heart of It All") and Horse Rotovator ("Amethyst Deceivers"). Disc two presents the flip side, throwing together more aggressive, noise-based pieces that are often upbeat. The rough industrial stance of "Panic," "The Anal Staircase," "Solar Lodge," and the like, make this disc more difficult to listen to, if only because it leaves little chance to breathe. The set concludes marvelously with "The First Five Minutes After Violent Death." Every fan will have one of his or her favorite tracks missing, but the casual listener will find in The Golden Hair With a Voice of Silver the perfect place to start. There is one downside to this collection though: the total lack of liner notes means that you will have to plough your way through the All-Music Guide database to find where each track was taken from. - François Couture...From Allmusic

Moon's Milk (In Four Phases) (2001...c) [Coil...2xCD]

2008-05-31T02:41:00.021+02:00

disc 1

01 Moon's Milk or Under an Unquiet Skull (Part One)
02 Moon's Milk or Under an Unquiet Skull (Part Two)
03 Bee Stings
04 Glowworms/Waveforms
05 Summer Substructures
06 A Warning from the Sun (For Fritz)
Amethyst Deceivers (Unlisted)

disc 2

01 Regel
02 Rosa Decidua
03 Switches
04 The Auto-Asphyxiating Hierophant
05 Amethyst Deceivers
06 A White Rainbow
07 North
08 Magnetic North
09 Christmas is Now Drawing Near

Notes...

Collects the four singles: Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox, and Winter Solstice.

Review...

Most fans have probably collected each one of the seasonal Solstice & Equinox singles back when they were released in 1998. Now that they're long out of print, a reasonably priced collection takes their place. With one slight addition: a live version of "Amethist Deceivers" recorded somewhere in Europe in 2001. The first phase: the Spring Equinox single, "Moon's Milk or Under an Unquiet Skull," was their first release with then full-time member, violist Bill Breeze. It's comprised of two drone-a-licious 8+ minute parts which sound pretty much like different takes on the same track. The next single, the Summer Solstice is made up of four vocal songs featuring viola and mad electronics. "Glitch" artists could easily learn something about song composition and using the laptop noise as a piece of the puzzle rather than isolate it and bore the listener. Disc two features phases three and four, with guests like Rose McDowell on the dark masterpiece, "Rosa Decidua" and their version of "Christmas is Now Drawing Near". Autumn's five songs to me don't seem terribly seasonally thematic, not nearly as much as songs "Summer Substructures" and "Bee Stings" from the summer EP and "A White Rainbow" and "Christmas" from the winter EP. I distinctly remember being the most excited about the Autumn release songs. Over three years later, "Switches" and "Amethyst Deceivers" still bring chills to my spine. Here, the group ran the spectrum from electric charges to thunderous percussion holding nothing back. The roar of the dark winter rolls in for the winter EP, which lyrically almost attempts to tie a connection as Balance sings, "Moon's milk spills from my unquiet skull and forms a white rainbow." Once again, the music also jumps around from styles, through glitch and viola vocal tracks to a reverberant sound collage, a serene digital bubblebath with spoken word, ending up on the string heavy Christmas song with Rose. It's a pain indeed to buy these all over again, and Coil have alluded to a live release so the bonus track could very well surface somewhere else. It's nice to have all the songs together without having to switch CDs every 25 minutes. - Jon Whitney

Buy Here (disc 1) [Digital Format + Images]
Buy Here (disc 2) [Digital Format + Images]

Moon's Milk (In Four Phases) [Bonus Disc] (2002...a) [Coil...CD-R]

2008-05-30T03:43:00.012+02:00

01 Copal
02 The Coppice Meat
03 Ü pel (Insense Offering)

Notes...

Intended to be limited to 300 copies included with initial mail orders of Moon's Milk (In Four Phases), although some copies were made available seperately.
Each CD comes in a cardboard sleeve that is hand painted, signed and inscribed. Most are numbered, although some numbers were used more than once. Most include a signed Polaroid photo as an insert.
The inscriptions include the following:
7 - Urban Legends Discussed Over Higuids
13 - The Sound Of The Waves Lulled Him Into A Deep Blue Revery
13 - Witches Dance In Colours Through My Dreams
15 - Never Sits Down Nor Sleeps At Night
19 - Care Should Be Taken Not To Give A Second Dose
31 - Sleepiness And The Dazed State Combined (In The Dream Of The Flightless Turkey Bird)
33 - We Marvelled At The Moss Under The Pier
48 - My Demon Brother
53 - Dreams Before Bedtime
54 - When Everything Seems To Go Round
56 - 2 Telephone Calls
59 - Chinese Mountain Range
60 - Bright Lights And Cats With No Mouths
61 - Fantastic And Ants - Naturalistic
61 - Marakesh Mouthfulls
64 - Jealousy
65 - Careful What You Wish For (Black Sun Over Vesuvius)
66 - The Owl Service
67 - Is Nichola Bowery Pregnant Again?
70 - The Ghost Of A Carrier Pidgeon
75 - The King Is Dead
80 - It Just Is...
82 - Ploughed Fields Of Benzedrine
83 - My Bloodstream
85 - Hallucination Mass, Hallucination
86 - Standing Stone, Whirling Dervish
94 - You Can't Let Go
134 - Manoevering To Extract The Unique Mineral
135 - Spirits Of The Whispering Forests Or A Place To Bury Strangers
136 - It's In The Trees, It's Coming
151 - Falling Spirits (Descent From Hell)
156 - Scooby-Doo Skinned & Nailed To An Oak Tree
no number - Off The Coast Of Northern California, Kelp-Storms

Review...

After months of agonized waiting and much hand wringing, Coil has mailed out all 300 copies of the special edition of "Moon's Milk (In Four Phases)" double CD set with a bonus, exclusive CD-R of brand new material. This bonus disc was recorded last Winter Solstice - December 21, 2001 ev. The special sets were supposed to be burned over that weekend and shipped out before X-Mas, however, all of us that ordered have had to show the ultimate patience to wait until early March to see the package. One begins to feel a tad pathetic, looking forlornly at the mailbox every day waiting for the treasure to arrive. The sinking feeling sets in that perhaps the music will not have been worth all of the build-up and anticipation; what if it's totally worthless and anticlimactic? Can you justify having paid $85 for this stupid CD-R? Have you become obsessively insane?
Then, all at once, the package arrives, like an enormously belated X-Mas present. You hold your breath as you tear open the package with the trademark Threshold House stamp affixed to it. Inside: a plastic sleeve housing the white cardboard slipcase the CD-R is housed in. On the outside of the package, thick mottled paint forms abstract patterns. Bright colored splotches and dark, veiny paint traces cover its surface. Each sleeve is an original artwork created by Coil. Inside each sleeve is a poloroid taken during Coil's Winter Solstice musick ritual. Yours probably contains a sunrise, a plastic reindeer, a church steeple, electrical high-wires, or maybe even a UFO...who knows? Each copy has a different name; mine is called 'It Dries Up Everything It Comes Across." Maybe yours is called "Harry Potter's First Dose of LSD" or "Marrakech Mouthfuls." So far, so good...
The CD-R is completely blank, no art or track names printed; just translucent iridescent plastic. Track one begins: your fear and anguish immediately subside with the rise of warm, attenuated bell tones. This sixteen-minute ambient track sounds like wind chimes slowed down a modulated for maximum pleasurable drone. Then suddenly, Jhon Balance darkly intones: "You look on it with a sense of dread." His voice shifts positions and replies: "Gazing upon it with a sense of dread." Then the bell tones are drawn out for an eternity, it seems, while Balance weaves his beautiful and disarming monologue about edible birds. The second track begins with profoundly haunting orchestral synthesizer drones overlapping as Balance dramatically interprets a mystical/existential poem by Angus MacLise. Incredibly haunting. Track three is all instrumental, with some playfully cosmic vintage synth melodies, reminiscent of Kraftwerk's "Spacelab." This track develops in a complex, kaleidoscopic way towards its ghostly conclusion.
Bottom line: Coil has not disappointed in the slightest with this release. They continue to reward their devoted listeners with some of the most innovative and inspiring electronic experimental music being made today. This CD-R is worth the money and the wait. Coil is very aware that the total exclusivity of projects such as these adds an extra, "occult" esotericism to the experience that makes the musick that much more amazing. Bravo. - Jonathan Dean

The Remote Viewer [This Version Was Reissued & Expanded In 2006] [2 CD's] (2002...b) [Coil...CD-R]

2008-05-30T00:54:00.016+02:00

disc 1 [The Remote Viewer - Original Version]

01 Remote Viewing 1
02 Remote Viewing 2
03 Remote Viewing 3

disc 2 [Bonus CD Of Unreleased/Reworked Material]

01 Remote Viewing 4
02 Remote Viewing 5

Review...

Published as a limited CD-R to be sold at their recent European appearances, Coil's latest EP is a beautiful and stunning piece of work. It consists of a nearly 20 minute instrumental piece in two versions—a "prepared" improvisation with their current tour lineup: Michael York on breton pipes, Cliff Stapleton on hurdy gurdy and a subtile, percussive groove underlayed by various electronic devices of Mr's. Balance, Christopherson and Norris. The main feeling this recording conjurs up for me is one of an unexperienced nostalgia—like an unsure longing for life during an ancient time. Danny Hyde returns to Coil's mixing desk to collaborate on "Remote Viewing 3" and the interlude, "Remote Viewing 2," which seems to be constructed mainly out of parts of the original recording session with added and altered sounds and vocal snippets. "2" works perfectly as a bridge between the two lengthy parts when listened in one go, but doesn't stand out as a strong piece when singled out. Coil have easily managed to surpass any expectations and leave me anticipating the next 'proper' release. It would be a loss, however, if the music on this release wasn't reissued in another form for more to hear. - carsten s.

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Live Four (2003...a) [Coil...CD]

2008-05-29T07:22:00.025+02:00

01 I Am Angie Bowie (Sine Waves)
02 Last Rites Of Spring
03 Are You Shivering?
04 Amethyst Deceivers
05 A Warning From The Sun
06 The Universe Is A Haunted House
07 Ostia
08 I Don't Want To Be The One
09 Bang Bang [Sonny Bono]
10 An Unearthly Red

Notes...

Recorded in Prague on October 29 and Vienna on October 29, 2002.
Also issued in the Live Box.

Review...

This documents the Coil concerts that took place throughout Europe in the fall of 2002. As such, it is the most eclectic of the four discs, containing four songs that have never been on an album, and several other songs rarely performed in their live shows. "I Am Angie Bowie (Sine Waves)" opens the disc, with its mind-scraping oscillations and Balance's absurd shouts of "I am Angie Bowie! No!" For the next song, Coil resurrect the long-discarded track "Last Rites of Spring" from Gold is the Metal, and expand it into a 10-minute excursion paying homage to the author of Naked Lunch and Electronic Revolution: "William S. Burroughs is hallucinating is space," intones a confident Balance. "Are You Shivering?" and the omnipresent "Amethyst Deceivers" are more or less faithfully reproduced here. John Balance's playful audience-baiting is in rare form on "The Universe is a Haunted House" as he darkly intones "I'm not here..." out of the left stereo channel, then answers "I am there..." from the right. The song unexpectedly mutates into a shattering reprise of Coil's acid rave classic "Windowpane." The mix is just right on this disc, with vocals and music well-balanced and reproduced crisply for home listening. "Bang Bang" is the rare instance of Coil covering someone else's song, in this case a Cher (!) ballad penned by the late Sonny Bono. Balance's delivery is solemn and haunting, turning the song into an icy murder ballad, although I can't help but be amused by Coil's outrageously campy choice to cover this song. The disc ends with the scary bombast of "An Unearthly Red," a noisy, industrial invocation of war: "I didn't want to do it!" screams Balance, "God told me to do it!" A computer-animated flight simulation ending with a harrowing crash into the World Trade Center accompanied this song in concert. - Jonathan Dean

Live Three (2003...b) [Coil...CD]

2008-05-29T06:00:00.017+02:00

01 Anarcadia: All Horned Animals
02 Amethyst Deceivers
03 Slur
04 A Cold Cell
05 Broccoli
06 Paranoid Inlay
07 Sick Mirrors (Version)
08 A.Y.O.R.
09 Backwards

Notes...

Recorded in Bologna, April 6, 2002.
Also issued in the Live Box.

Reviews...

This documents a Spring 2002 show performed in Bologna. It was an interesting period for Coil performances, as Thighpaulsandra temporarily left the line-up to tour with Spiritualized. To make up for his noticeable absence, Peter and John enlisted Mike York and Cliff Stapleton to fill in with hurdy-gurdy and Breton pipes. This new, exotic instrumentation adds an unstable, organic element to the performance that works well with the setlist chosen for these shows. The disc opens with the ritualized workout of "Anarcadia: All Horned Animals." If you've heard The Remote Viewer EP, these ethnic-inflected drones will sound very familiar, not entirely dissimilar from Taj Mahal Travellers or The Magic Carpathians at their most psychedelic. "Amethyst Deceivers" is here again, one of four slightly variant versions available in the box set. The classic track "Slur" from Horse Rotorvator is given a faithful rendition, but Balance's voice is not quite equal to the job of singing this one, and Marc Almond's backing vocals are sorely missed. Balance dedicates "A Cold Cell" to all the prisoners of the world, as well as those "in prisons of their own making." It's always been a haunting song, and the live version enhances its lonely, melancholic atmosphere. Track six is an accomplished recreation of "Paranoid Inlay" from Musick To Play in the Dark 2, even though the tracklisting on the back of the digipack omits it completely. "Sick Mirrors (Version)" is a meditation on the concept of remote viewing utilizing dense Middle Eastern melodies. The song seamlessly segues into a frighteningly intense version of "A.Y.O.R.," the second of three songs in this set that may have been destined for Coil's long-promised-but-never-delivered Nothing Records album, now referred to as The World Ended a Long Time Ago. "Backwards" ends the set, a joyous psychosexual EBM bacchanalia, with Balance uttering some of his most transgressive lyrics: "Fuck me in reverse/Normal is perverse/Everything's backwards." This disc would be perfect were it not for a rather nagging problem with the mixing, which seems to favor Balance's vocals and pushes much of the music into a muddy, nebulous background. Even with the technical difficulties, Live Three is an essential chronicle of one of Coil's most inspired shows. - Jonathan Dean

Coil's Live Three is a show from Bologna, in 2002. At the time, Thighpaulsandra was on leave from Coil, touring with Spiritualized. In his place, John Balance, Peter Christopherson and Ossian Brown brought in Mike York and Cliff Stapleton. York's Hurdy Gurdy and Stapleton's Breton Pipes bring a wonderful new element to Coil's sound, a subtle feeling that everything is slightly unstable or askew. This time, three otherwise unavailable tracks appear, making this album essential for fans. "Anarcadia: All Horned Animals" is a ritual invocation to the muse, a dark-ambient beginning to the show, similar to the "Zwolf" EP by Coil's alter-ego ELpH. "Sick Mirrors (Version)" is a tribal percussion piece with Middle Eastern melodies and Balance's signature spoken-sung vocals. "Backwards, " the title track to the lost album that was to appear on Trent Reznor's nothing label, is a great groover, with a bouncing bassline and an absolutely ranting Balance in full-command of the stage. Of the unreleased tracks on all four live tracks, this is the best. Definitely worth picking up for both casual and hardcore fans. - James Mason...From Allmusic

ANS (2003...c) [Coil...CD]

2008-05-28T20:34:00.017+02:00

01 Untitled
02 Untitled
03 Untitled

Notes...

First sold at Mutek 2003 concert in Montreal, Canada
Originally came in a black C-shell case.
Came in the Live Box.

Review...

In addition to some suitably odd printed art cards and scrying mirrors, every live box set also includes a black plastic clamshell containing this, a tour-only CD available at some of Coil's most recent shows. ANS contains three long tracks of about 20 minutes each, consisting solely of tones made with the Russian ANS synthesizer. Invented by Eugeny Murzin in 1938, only one ANS synthesizer has ever actually been built, and it sits neglected and obscure, collecting dust in the basement of Moscow State University since 1958. Coil were given access to experiment and record with the strange machine, and their experiments are chronicled on this disc. ANS is a "photoelectric" instrument that produces music via a completely unique process. The user must inscribe a series of line drawings that represent visible sound waves onto a series of glass discs. The shape, location and nature of the drawings determines the sound that the synthesizer produces, which encompasses the entire range of audible sound, 720 pure tones. Unfortunately, the fascinating history and musical theory behind the ANS instrument is ultimately far more interesting than the music Coil has managed to make with it. While there are many dramatic points of convergence buried within these abstract, long-form compositions, the overall effect is of dilettantes noodling around with an unfamiliar piece of equipment that reportedly takes years to properly master. Though there are some parts of ANS that are reminiscent of Time Machines, none of these pieces has the trance-inducing intensity of that album's minimalist drones. Reportedly, Coil are remixing and expanding ANS into an official double album release scheduled for later this year. Perhaps with a bit of the signature Coil touch added to these naked tones, this material will come alive. As it stands, ANS is a fascinating but musically non-compelling tangent into the avant-garde realm of theoretical music. - Jonathan Dean

The Restitution Of Decayed Intelligence (2003...d) [Coil...10'']

2008-05-28T06:33:00.016+02:00

01 Untitled
02 Untitled

Review...

If anyone could make something as dry and academic as Musique Concrête into intense, ferociously sexy ear candy, it would have to be Peter Cristopherson and John Balance. This release is the duo's contribution to Beta-Lactam Ring Records' terrific Lactamase series: a subscription series of twelve 10" vinyl records by some of today's best and brightest underground, avant-garde and esoteric musical projects. The series has included some amazing releases from Edward Ka-Spel, Volcano the Bear and Tony Conrad, but the most highly anticipated release is certainly Coil's masterful grand finale to the series. Coil's two-sided 10" occupies a unique place in their discography. It is a truly awe-inspiring tangent into the rarefied realm of musique concrête abstractionists such as Iannis Xenakis, Tod Dockstader and Luc Ferrari. There has always been an element of these musical progenitors in Coil's musick, but their penchant for structured, vocal-driven "songs" have prevented them from ever fully engaging their abstruse tendencies. Both sides of the 10" use the same basic sounds and techniques, but the sculpturing takes different forms on either side. Side A, or "The Restitution of Decayed Intelligence I," introduces the sound palette: a chorus of digital buzzes, stutters and skips that occupy the soundfield at different pitches and volumes. This music is very dimensional, seeming to fly into one's ears at a myriad of different angles. Soon, the high-end stutters are joined by a series of quasi-rhythmic metallic throbs, like the alternating whirr of a flying saucer engine. These elements are then edited, overdubbed and sculpted into dramatic convergences of sound that alternately pierce, arouse and frighten. So many faintly recognizable sounds can be heard in this midst of these abstractions, but the listener cannot discern which are placed there intentionally and which are an accident of subjectivity. A chorus of bone saws, a squeaking hinge, high-pitched shrieking, a mutated voice, swooping metallic shards, granular static: all of these sounds sneak out of the noise over the course of the piece. Side B, or "The Restitution of Decayed Intelligence II," uses the same set of aural phenomena, but this time snatches of recognizable melody become obvious as the piece unfolds. Jhon Balance's warped vocal hiccups from track two of The Remote Viewer are re-used, albeit in a completely inscrutable form, sounding like a swarm of bees frantically trying to communicate with the human race. Halfway through, there is a shocking increase in volume and intensity as the piece gains momentum. It is here that we see Coil's personality come through; this piece, however chaotic, has the same epic sweep as their Love's Secret Domain-era acid house excercises, and all of the dark, hedonistic atmosphere. This 10" manages to be both a brilliantly mature dip into abstract electronic music, and twisted, uber-Pagan ritual musick. After more than 20 years, Coil is still perfectly balancing this strange dichotomy and creating something wholly unexpected and wonderful with each new release. - Jonathan Dean

Live Two (2003...e) [Coil...CD]

2008-05-27T10:33:00.014+02:00

01 Something / Higher Being's Command
02 Amethyst Deceivers
03 What Kind of Animal Are You?
04 Blood from the Air
05 The Green Child
06 Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil

Notes...

Recorded in Moscow on September 5, 2001.
Also issued in the Live Box.

Review...

Coil's Moscow performance in the Fall of 2001 is documented here, soon after their brief stateside visit. Like the NYC show, the Moscow performance went under the banner "Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil," a tight, energetic performance highlighting Coil's most confrontational material. This is my personal favorite of the four periods of Coil's live shows, simply because Coil seemed at this stage to be perfectly in control of their audience, skillfully heightening tension and confounding expectations, all the while subliminally projecting their bizarre brand of personal empowerment propaganda onto the unwitting observers. This Moscow performance seems to be the absolute zenith of the "Constant Shallowness" show, which is why the bad mix on tracks like "What Kind of Animal Are You?" is very disappointing indeed. The officially sanctioned bootleg CD-R recording of the NYC show actually boasts superior audio, which is surprising considering Coil's usually scrupulous attention to their production fidelity. Still, this performance is very impressive, especially the pitch-perfect rendition of Horse Rotorvator's "Blood From the Air." The final, apocalyptic blowout of "Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil" begins with Balance satirically answering some vicious rumors printed in a Russian publication: "We've heard that some of you may have read that we eat human flesh. However, we only do this on religious holidays." Coil then launch into a lengthy noise assault specifically formulated to exorcise you of demons and brainwash you of all your previous learning, leaving you vulnerable for Coil's subliminal psychobabble. "God please fuck my mind for good!" screams a wrecked Balance, stealing a line from Captain Beefheart's "Making Love to a Vampire With a Monkey on My Knee." If you manage to make it to the end of this exhausting set with your sanity intact, you may truly grasp Coil's final motto "Persistence is All." - Jonathan Dean

Buy Here

Live One (2003...f) [Coil...2xCD]

2008-05-27T09:37:00.015+02:00

disc 1 [Recorded At The Royal Festival Hall, 02-04-00]

01 Everything Keeps Dissolving
02 Queens Of The Circulating Library
03 Chasms

disc 2 [Recorded At Sonar Festival in Barcelona, 17-06-00]

01 Everything Keeps Dissolving
02 Amethyst Deceivers
03 Circulating
04 The Universe Is A Haunted House/Chasms
05 Elves

Notes...

Disc A recorded at the Royal Festival Hall on April 2, 2000.
Disc B recorded at Sonar festival in Barcelona on June 17, 2000.
Also issued in the Live Box.

Review...

The last in the live series is a 2-CD set beautifully packaged in a foldout digipack. The two discs document the first two Coil performances of the new millennium, focusing on their Time Machines material. It must have been terribly exciting for the audience at the Royal Festival Hall in April of 2000 to hear the opening tones of "Everything Keeps Dissolving," this being Coil's first true live concert other than some sallow, abortive attempts made in the early 80's. Coil no doubt practiced for months, as they show no signs of unease in unveiling their polished live presence. Disc one originally saw limited release as Time Machines Live only available with mail order copies of Musick to Play in the Dark 2. It's swell for this material to be widely available, as it is truly a great concert and a flawless recording. At this early stage in Coil's performances, John Balance had not yet adopted the dancing, screaming, extroverted lunatic personality he was to unveil in later shows. Therefore, the three tracks that make up the London show contain no live singing, just a series of enraptured electronic oscillations that twist around the brain, wiping out all thought but an extreme sense of dislocation and confusion. "Queens of the Circulating Library" utilizes samples of Thighpaulsandra's opera-singing mum Dorothy Lewis, together with digital arpeggiations and sexy purrs from a wounded synthesizer. "Chasms" flirts close to Tangerine Dream territory, a swirling circulation of warm synthesizer tones that unfold like a Russian science fiction film. Disc two comprises Coil's terrific performance at Barcelona's Sonar festival in June of 2000. It repeats the same songs from disc one, but adds three new songs to the setlist, including the fourth and final permutation of "Amethyst Deceivers." Bill Breeze plays viola throughout the entrancing set, adding some beautiful neo-classical flourishes. "The Universe is a Haunted House," a line taken directly from Burroughs' Naked Lunch, is present in a much more nascent version than the one heard on Live Four. Unfortunately, this disc suffers from two problems. First, the audio source used for this release was not made from the soundboard, but is rather a recording by a member of the audience. While pains have been taken to clean up the sound, the audio does suffer from the technical problems inherent in bootleg recordings, including annoying audience chatter and trebly distortions. Second, although the digipack lists six tracks, the CD only contains five tracks, the last two apparently having been accidentally merged. Still, this is a rather impressive bootleg recording, and these problems can easily be forgiven and the concert still enjoyed. We hear Jhon Balance step to the front for the first time, delivering a series of blood-curdling screams on "Elves," once again making a play for the title of the most warped vocalist in music today. - Jonathan Dean

Images...

bootleg [cd 2]
inlay [cd 2]

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

2008-05-27T09:24:00.015+02:00

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

Megalithomania! (2003...h) [Coil...CD-R]

2008-05-23T18:58:00.023+02:00

01 Megalithomania!

Notes...

Recording of Coil's live appearance as part of the Megalithomania! Festival
on October 12th 2002 at The Conway Hall, London.
The single track is a 40 minute variation/permutation
on "The Universe is a Haunted House".

This limited edition release was available only as part
of a mail order box set of the Live series.
The box also included the ANS tour edition CD and various art objects.

Review...

With each box set, Coil includes a CD-R of their performance at the Megalithomania! Festival. This disc cannot be purchased separately, and is available only as part of the limited edition box. It's a very nice bonus indeed, as this performance is unique among Coil's live history, and marks a sort of turning point for the group. Megalithomania! was a celebration of sacred sites and standing stones as expressed through history, folklore, art and sound. Basically, everything that Julian Cope was on about in his mammoth tome "The Modern Antiquarian." For this special event, Coil performed a long, drawn-out permutation on "The Universe is a Haunted House," turning the piece into a slowly evolving ambient sound sculpture involving the ghostly sound of water droplets, quietly droning synths, and a particularly spectral vocal improvisation from Balance. As reported by many people who attended the event, there seemed to be a strange rift between Balance and Sleazy, evidenced by John's agitated screaming: "Why are you here? Why are you here?" Balance's statement that "we are the alien" could be read as a tribute to the extra-terrestrial builders of Stonehenge, or as a further statement of his growing alienation from his long-time partner. A few days after this performance, Peter and John announced that while Coil would continue, they would no longer describe themselves as a couple. Sad, indeed, but these personal matters cannot overshadow a very unique and powerful performance. As the tension and mutation compounds over the 40-minute length, Balance's alien incantations fight for prominence with Thighpaulsandra's thick slabs of stoned-Druid synthesizer. The recording is spotless, highlighting all of the ghostly minutiae of this one-of-a-kind Coil show. - Jonathan Dean

Black Antlers [This Version Was Reissued, Expanded & Touched Up In 2006][2 CD's] (2004...a) [Coil...CD-R]

2008-05-22T10:00:00.035+02:00

disc 1 [Black Antlers - Modifified & Expanded Version]

01 The Gimp (Sometimes)
02 Sex With Sun Ra (Part One - Saturnalia)
03 The Wraiths And Strays Of Paris
04 All The Pretty Little Horses [Traditional]
05 Teenage Lightning (10th Birthday Version)
06 Black Antler's (Where's Your Child)
07 Sex With Sun Ra (Part Two - Sigillaricia)

disc 2 [Bonus CD Of Unreleased/Reworked Material]

01 Departed
02 Things We Never Had

Review...

Jhon Balance and Sleazy are no longer partners. Sleazy's moved to Thailand, and Jhon's moved to London. The physical location of Threshold House, where Coil used to live and record their music, has been abandoned. Jhon Balance has a new lover and collaborator, artist Ian Johnstone, he's grown a D.H. Lawrence-style beard, and seems to have fallen once again into a vortex of substance abuse and insanity. Both Jhon and Sleazy have announced that they are now working on non-Coil side projects. Despite all evidence to the contrary, however, Coil have continued to insist that they are not breaking up. The first evidence of this came with their recent mini-tour through a handful of European cities, their so-called "Even An Evil Fatigue" tour. At each of their concert dates, they've been selling this CD-R entitled Black Antlers. With the exception of a new version of "Broccoli" and a song called "Tattooed Man," (apparently destined for inclusion on the long-ago scrapped Dark Age of Love LP), the songs on this disc mirror the setlist of the recent concerts. In fact, the barebones packaging and low-fidelity recording of Black Antlers leads me to suspect that it is nothing but a glorified concert rehearsal captured on record. According to various sources, Coil have plans to re-record and re-mix this material, and will eventually give it an official release. Therefore, I should probably withhold final judgment on these songs. However, it's hard not to notice the under-produced, impromptu nature of the music and vocals. There is a loose, improvisatory feel to these tracks that I'm not altogether convinced is the final word for these songs. Jhon Balance's vocals are given too much prominence in the mix, overwhelming the Sleazy's laptop programming and Thighpaulsandra's vintage synthesizer squalls. However, approached as a series of "works in progress," the album has quite a lot to recommend it. "The Gimp (Sometimes)" is a spooked, melancholic lament by Balance, set against an eerie backdrop of distorted synthesizers and scattered percussive elements. "Sex With Sun Ra (Part 1 - Saturnalia)" is the best song on the album, Balance narrating an erotic fantasy partly based on Sun Ra's "black folks in space" prophecies as explicated in John Coney's film Space is the Place: "He dreamt of color music and the machines that make it possible/He took me for a ride on a space ship powered by natural music." The music bears no resemblance to the cosmic free jazz of Sun Ra, veering closer to Musick to Play in the Dark-era Coil: gurgling synthscapes with slow, percolating rhythms. "All The Pretty Little Horses" is an unexpected cover of the traditional British folk song made famous (to Brainwashed readers) by Current 93. Coil's version is quite lovely, with expertly played marimba as accompaniment for Balance's best attempt at crooning. "Teenage Lightning (10th Birthday Version)" resurrects and expands the LSD track, giving it a more open-ended, organic feel than the original. "Black Antlers (Where's Your Child)" ends the disc on a high note, a druggy rave-up full of queasy samples and chopped, distended vocal samples. With a little finessing, this album has the potential to be one of Coil's finest. - Jonathan Dean

Images...

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Selvaggina - Go Back Into The Woods (2004...b) [Coil...CD-R]

2008-05-22T09:31:00.028+02:00

01 The Gimp (Sometimes)
02 Sex with Sun Ra
03 All the Pretty Little Horses [Traditional]
04 Tattooed Man
05 Teenage Lightning
06 Wraiths And Strays
07 Black Antlers
08 Bang Bang [Sonny Bono]
09 Amethyst Deceivers

Notes...

Recorded live in Jesi, Italy on June 11, 2004. Offered as a download from Threshold House.

Review...

Selvaggina, Go Back into the Woods is a limited-edition live album, recorded on June 11, 2004 in Jesi, Italy. This appears to be the full set of the concert, and contains a new version of every track from previous studio effort Black Antlers. As such, the question of which has more value to the listener is to be considered. Selvaggina is well-recorded and excellently performed, and some of the kinks of the Antlers versions of the tracks have been ironed out. For example, opener "The Gimp (Sometimes)" is here a more vibrant and shorter version than its counterpart, but retains its aura of goofy menace. "Sex with Sun Ra" retains the vibe of the Antlers version, but with more urgent vocalizations from John Balance, and animated work from Tom Edwards on the marimba. There's a telling bit of stage banter from Balance about this concert: "We're truncating, we're making shorter the things tonight because we haven't got enough time unfortunately to do the long versions we wanted to do, so apologies for that, but maybe you're being saved from our indulgences, I don't know." The editing that the band does on the songs here is very noticeable, sounding refined and worked-on, improving on the studio versions in every way. Of all of the live albums that Coil released in the last few years of its existence, this is the best, hands-down. This may be one of the harder pieces of the Coil catalog to track down (this was limited to a mere 230 copies), and it is undoubtedly one of the best. How perverse of them, to do that to their fans. - James Mason...From Allmusic

ANS (Box) (2004...c) [Coil...3xCD/1xDVD]

2008-05-22T09:12:00.035+02:00

disc 1

1. Untitled
2. Untitled
3. Untitled

disc 2

1. Untitled
2. Untitled

disc 3

1. Untitled
2. Untitled

dvd (not yet)

Notes...

First mail order edition comes with limited edition prints.

Review...

At first listen, COILANS seems like Exhibit A for the sort of experimental audio that functions as more of an intellectual or conceptual pleasure, rather than the sort of viscerally satisfying music I've come to expect from Coil. It clocks in at well over four hours of entirely unstructured, rhythm-less high-frequency sine-waves and subtly shifting AC hum. Tracks have no beginning or end, no point-counterpoint or resolution, and no tonal consistency. This new three-disc set also includes a DVD of synchronized digital animations for four of the tracks. It's a reissue and expansion of ANS, a limited edition, tour-only CD released last year, minimally packaged in an unmarked black plastic clamshell. This new boxed set comes in a beautiful foldout cardboard package (identical to the recent reissue of Nurse With Wound's Soliloquy for Lilith) decorated with pictures of the disused ANS machine itself, sitting neglected in a basement room of the Moscow State University, rarely used and in dire need of a radical overhaul. It was built in 1958 by Evgeny Murzin, who set out to create a synthesizer capable of producing the full range of audible frequency via a unique photoelectric process. The composer inscribes his visual "score" onto a glass plate covered with sticky black mastic, slides it through the machine, which reads the inscribed plate and converts the etchings into sound produced by a system of 800 oscillators. In the liner notes, which provide further technical information about the machine, Coil acknowledge that it takes a lot of practice and skill for the user to relate the marks on the plate to the resultant sounds. Soviet composer Alfred Schnittke (whose name is misspelled in the notes) spent an entire year of intensive work with the machine to produce his one and only piece of electronic music entitled "Flow." However, Coil spent only a few days with the ANS, so by their own admission, the sounds on these three discs cannot be described as "compositions" in any sense. Instead, the sounds represent an accidental interpretation of Coil's visual art into audible electricity. As such, it is pointless to assess the musical merit of any of these pieces. The soundpieces in the set are the work of various solo and group alignments of Jhonn Balance, Peter Christopherson, Ossian Brown, Thighpaulsandra and Ivan Pavlov of COH. The notes do not identify which track features which personnel, either because they can't remember or they think it doesn't matter. The CD wallets (and the prints included with the first edition of the set) feature some of the line drawings that were used to make these pieces, but once again, the listener is given no indication which drawings produced which sounds. The drawings operate as Spare-style magical talismans, where occult symbols and "alphabet of desire" glyphs representing words or phrases (such as the tautological "IT JUST IS" on the back of disc B) exist as arcane sigillizations. But the ANS is able to take these occult strategies a step beyond the usual, by transforming them into an entirely exotic lexicon of ghostly electric frequencies. This relation of visual image to sound had the effect of a strange form of synaesthesia on me as I waded through these four discs of unprocessed analog tones; I began to form novel mental connections between sound and vision, thoughts and symbols. Halfway through the third disc I had become like Nikola Tesla, obsessively listening to electronic signals trying to pick out messages he was certain were being transmitted by extraterrestrials. Is it possible for the mind to subconsciously decode this esoteric system of pulsations, throbs, clicks and whirrs? It's impossible to say with any certainty, but the mere suggestion that it might be so makes the sound entirely compelling. At first glance, the DVD animations seemed no more inventive than WinAmp visuals, but I soon noticed the subtle psychedelic abstractions present in each perfectly synchronized schema. By the end of my COILANS adventure, I was tuned into a heretofore unexplored magickal current, a current that sparks and buzzes with vibrations of the manifest spirit. Electricity has truly made angels of us all. - Jonathan Dean

...And the Ambulance Died In His Arms (2005...a) [Coil...CD]

2008-05-22T06:46:00.040+02:00

01 Triple Sun Introduction
02 Snow Falls into Military Temples
03 A Slip in the Marylebone Road
04 Triple Sons and the One You Bury
05 The Dreamer is Still Asleep - The Somnambulist in an Ambulance

Notes...

Recorded at All Tomorrow's Parties, April 4, 2003.

Review...

This is the first new Coil release (and also possibly the last) to surface since the untimely passing of Geoff Rushton AKA Jhonn Balance last November. As we are assured that the title for this release was already decided upon before Balance's death, it's hard not to read it as strangely prophetic, just as it is difficult to listen to any Coil music nowadays without hearing signs, omens and harbingers of death everywhere. For a group whose music is so implicative of a rich esoteric heritage, the death of Jhonn Balance, while certainly tragic and accidental, seems somehow wholly appropriate, a corporeal sacrifice in pursuit of some higher pitch of magickal experience. These omens and beckoning mythologizations are all over ...And the Ambulance Died In His Arms, which documents a unique Coil performance at the Camber Sands Holiday Centre, part of the Autechre-curated All Tomorrow's Parties festival, weekend of April 6, 2003. I was in the audience during this performance, and have been repeatedly listening to a fan-recorded bootleg of the show in the two intervening years, so this material is very familiar to me, and brings back gloriously hallucinogenic memories. This official release is superior in many ways to both my memory and the bootleg, boasting a higher quality soundboard recording, song names, track separations and packaging containing fantastic photos from the performance. The front cover is a particularly choice snapshot of Jhonn Balance in his Victorian madman costume, sporting a D.H. Lawrence/Will Oldham beard and hair combed sharply sideways. After a brief introduction of the now-familiar Coil-trademarked electronics—all shuddering gurgles, ripples, dimensional buzzes and distorted analogue melodies—the lengthy, seemingly improvised "Snow Falls into Military Temples" begins. The song is all icy ambience: a chillingly glacial combination of distorted, sidereal synths, unidentifiable percussive clatter and irregular trills on the marimba. Jhonn Balance pipes in with a series of nonverbal ululations and incantations, eventually settling on the mantric repetition of the song's title. Then Jhonn reveals the guiding principle behind this uniquely understated Coil performance: "We're doing a quiet set today...we've had too much shouting over the past year." And a quiet set it is, at least when compared to the Constant Shallowness-era, baptism-through-noise set I'd witnessed a couple years earlier in NYC. However, quiet in this case does not suggest that it is any less powerful, and in fact, there is a simmering, deliberate intensity to this material that brings it closer to the group's Musick To Play in the Dark phase than any of their other live appearances. "A Slip in the Marylebone Road" is an aural dowsing rod, Jhonn Balance recounting hazy memories of a drugged robbery near the aforementioned tube station that left him bereft of a valuable green notebook full of ideas and song lyrics. The story is told in freeform style over a quiet rhythm punctuated by Sleazy's sampled Speak-and-Spell spitting out computerized nonsense syllables. The last two lengthy tracks seem the most prophetic of all, "Triple Sons and the One You Bury" ("I drank a cup of mercury...If you're going to bury him, bring him home first.") and a radically retooled version of "The Dreamer Is Still Asleep." Subtitled "A Somnambulist in an Ambulance," a reference to Balance's alliterative mantra, impossible not to read as an eerie portent of tragic events to come. This is an indispensable live document, a set of songs never performed before or since, with a uniquely atmospheric mood steeped in morbid augury. - Jonathan Dean

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The Ape of Naples (2005...b) [Coil...CD]

2008-05-22T06:40:00.094+02:00

01 Fire Of The Mind
02 The Last Amethyst Deceiver
03 Tattooed Man
04 Triple Sun
05 It's In My Blood
06 I Don't Get It
07 Heaven's Blade
08 Cold Cell
09 Teenage Lightning 2005
10 Amber Rain
11 Going Up

Review...

A lot of these songs have surfaced before in previous versions but these versions are entirely unreleased. Aside from the obvious updates of "Teenage Lightning" and "Cold Cell," "I Don't Get It" is an evolved version of "Spastiche" - originally circulating on the Backwards demos bootleg and appearing as a Song of the Week at one point.
During an interview in 1997, John Balance claimed the title of this album was going to be Fire of the Mind (both a Louis Wain painting and a Stapleton [Nurse with Wound]/Tibet [Current 93] song).
"It's In My Blood" doesn't resemble "AYOR" very closely and "Heaven's Blade" does not resemble the "Heaven's Blade" on the Backwards demos bootleg.
"Going Up" is a tribute to the theme from Are You Being Served?, it was the last song performed during Coil's last live performance and featured Francois Testory on vocals.

Featuring songs recorded in final days of Jhonn's life, as well as material originally recorded at Trent Reznor's studio in New Orleans, and now substantially re-arranged by Peter Christopherson, this album is sure to be seen as the 'classic' Coil album of all time, and is not to be missed under any circumstances!
Ian Johnstone, whose work graces the cover of the cd edition, is currently completing on an extremely limited and deluxe hand-made and painted Wooden Box Edition of The Ape of Naples. Limited to 23 in number, and measuring some fourteen inches square and several inches deep, the Boxes will open to reveal framed original artworks, and paintings, as well as the album itself, cut onto three single sided 12" laquers or acetate discs. These discs are individually cut on a lathe in a cutting studio, with all the tracks from the album - while the reverse of each the discs remains obsidian black in best Coil/Time Machines tradition. As soon as the first of these Boxes is complete, we will be advertising it here and you will be able to Subscribe to the Edition via our (the Threshold House) Shop.

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Live In Porto (2006...a) [Coil...CD]

2008-05-21T10:49:00.016+02:00

01 Blue Rats
02 Triple Sun
03 Radio Westin
04 Drip Drop
05 The First Five Minutes After Death

Notes...

An "authorized bootleg" of Coil's live performance in Porto, Portugal on June 21st, 2003 was released on CD in September via unknown sources. Sleazy confirmed that he gave approval for the release as long as it did not exceed the original edition of 600 copies.

From Threshold House...

"We have obtained a small number copies of this unusual Coil live CD - an "authorised bootleg" - of an unusual show Coil played in Porto, Portugal on June 21st, 2003 at the Casa da Musica Festival. Coil for that show were Peter Christopherson, Thighpaulsandra & Ossian Brown (ie as with Mutek, in Montreal, Balance was too sick to attend, so the show has a one-of-a kind sound, inspired in part by the venue, which at that time was a half-completed shell of an extremely futuristic arts centre). These cds came in three variations of semi-transparent hand-made packaging. The run of each variation was quite limited and we believe these are the only new copies still available anywhere."

Images...

design 1 - pink
desing 2 - purple
design 3 - blue

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Absinthe Boxset (2006...b) [Peter Christopherson / Coil...1 Track]

2008-05-21T10:48:00.006+02:00

01 Animal Are You?

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Absinthe!!!

The New Backwards (2008...a) [Coil...CD]

2008-05-21T07:38:00.017+02:00

01 Careful What You Wish For
02 Ayor
03 Nature Is A Language
04 Fire Of The Green Dragon
05 Algerian Basses
06 Copacaballa
07 Paint Me As A Dead Soul
08 Backwards
09 Princess Margaret's Man In The D'Jamalfna

Notes From Threshold House...

The New Backwards, contains material with the same pedigree as The Ape - In other words tracks that were originally recorded at Trent Reznor's New Orleans studio in the 90s and held back at the time for some reason not immediately clear, though the original roughs were available on the Net for years since. These remaining tracks - the last remaining major unreleased work by Coil, yet unused on The Ape, were reworked in Bangkok last year by Peter Christoperson & Danny Hyde.

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