Coil s/d c/d etc

Search: the twisted sound collages, the idiosyncratic approach to house, the chilly ambience.

Destroy: the crypto-sexual conspiracy theorizing, the gothic growling, the big gated eighties drum sounds.

Coil's disco steps and Ministry's distorted barre chords weaned a lot of listeners from industrial dance's cold and wizened teet. All the A students started sneaking out of the Wax Trax School of Spooky Chain Rattling.
Some fled to a more cheerful dance floor, while others turned to Am Rep and/or Earache for more guitar-based ugliness.

That being said, there are still plenty of clubs which function as industrio-gothic Greenfield Villages, and I'm sure they're very meaningful to their black-clad regulars.

this inspired me to check out the recent stuff & jesus christ it's good. i can't stop playing "batwings" (off musick... vol 2). it's going to take an age to listen to all the mp3s i've just downloaded (sometimes slsk just give you too much), but i'm loving it all so far.

It all makes sense when you see the video -- best cameo ever in that too, BTW.

Al was bending the brim of his cowboy hat, and Coil were putting on their boogie shoes, so second-string tin pounders like Meat Beat Manifesto and MC 900 Foot Jesus were left with the thankless task of recording hip hop records for white guys in black clothes.

You could have finished your routine by doing the robot with Kraftwerk. Those androids were burning up every dancefloor, cardboard or otherwise. It's no good trying to explain musical genres to dancing robots. They'll just stare blankly at you as they continue to shake their mechanical booties.

also i heard a track off "plastic spider thing" and it's fantastic, much to my surprise. i might have to check the rest of the album out.

yes, it is a bit oh dear. i'm sure i'll have gone off coil again in a few days, don't worry.

(I just said Oh Dear because I've had two days worth of gossip about Coil from two different people in the past week. Oh dear on all levels, really.)

Yeah, the four EPs were collected as 'Moon's Milk', which I recommend if you've got time to focus on them, as they move pretty slowly. I like to listen to them while I go to sleep, although there are extremely nutty and frightening tracks at the end and start of the two CDs, so if you're not asleep by them it's pretty fucked.

Other than that I only have 'ove's Secret Domain' which is awesome. I'm always loking for more Coil.

Has anyone heard that track they made featuring a guy's phone message whose boyfriend was a huge Coil fan and topped himself by jumping off a cliff? What's it called?

Also what's with them throwing half their releases off cliffs and things?

So, like, I've been entirely steeping myself in COIL these days, trying to catch up. I picked up the re-mastered Horse Rotorvator (though I had the Some Bizarre edition -- which the band has since renounced). I also picked up the Unnatural History II disc in order to finally hear the aborted tracks from Hellraiser (I really wanted them to be scarier, truthfully, but there's a lot of other great stuff on the disc). The stuff I was really looking for but couldn't seem to find, however, was Love's Secret Domain and Musick to Play in the Dark Vol.1. I'd looked all around the likely shops in NYC, but came up empty, and their official site (Threshold House) has closed the shop for now. Failing everything else, I went to eBay, and won a used copy of L's.S.D (at no great savings to me), figuring I'd never find it anywhere else. It hasn't arrived yet.

So, today, on a lark, I pop into Tower Records on Broadway looking for nothing in particular. Once upon a time (in the days of vinyl), if you were looking for a record and Tower didn't have it, there was a good chance that said record simply didn't exist. But, that was then. In the ensuing years, Tower has fallen into a decline that recalls the fall of the Roman Empire. They're a lost cause teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. But sure enough -- push me down the anal staircase! Their in the import section are more COIL releases than I've ever spotted in any locale...including Musick to Play in the Dark Vol.1 (which I instantly snapped up) and....rotorvate my damn horse...Love's Secret Domain...WRAPPED, PRISTINE AND FACTORY SEALED...unlike the used version I'm waiting to arrive in the mail, which -- for all I know -- may have been used as a coaster. I suck.

I really dig the first vol. of Unnatural History, some really strange sounds on there.

Only got it today, so haven't had a chance to listen to it (it's tough with a little person in the house....I've ripped it to my iPod, so shall listen intently to it soon enough).

I'm well into Musick to Play in the Dark 1, though I'm not wild about "The Dreamer is Still Asleep". Love's Secret Domain isn't what I expected at all, but I'm quite enjoying it. I love the title track and the two "Teenage Lightning" tracks. Been downloading some of their other stuff (and oof is there a lot of it). I agree with whomever said it above that much of it is just far too abstract (notably the stuff fom the COIL-ANS box), but none of it is dull, at the very least.

Secondly, the General Store at the Threshold House site is back open...czech it out! http://www.thresholdhouse.com/

http://www.brainwashed.com/common/images/covers/loci15_traycard.jpg

When I was a teenager and heard their version of Tainted Love it cracked me up completely. I thought it was the funniest thing. But my friend was able to take it seriously and said that the video led him to believe they were tying it into AIDS. I guess I was supposed to feel guilty at that point but even if I heard it today I think it would still have me chuckling. The sheer difference between the Soft Cell hoppy boppy pop song vs. the Coil slow trudge through molasses is something I still find funny.

http://www.brainwashed.com/coil/main.html

Look in the "music" section under videos.

REVIVE!

Franky, I'll disagree with Callum on their live work. I really like that period of their act. "Ostia" doesn't hold a candle to the original, but "Warning from the Sun", "I Don't Want to Be the One", and "Are You Shivering?" are classics.

However, that particular show most certainly does not reflect on their entire catalogue. The 2003 ATP show, 2004 in Paris, and 2001 in Moscow are all enthralling and totally different (but all have marimba, interestingly).

Search: Pretty much everything, if you are adventurous.
Destroy: Nothing, but approach Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil with EXTREME caution. Also, beginners should avoid anything that started with a run of less than 500 copies until sufficiently experienced... (And even that has exceptions.)

Destroy: Angelic Converstaion

this is SO wrong. i've only seen the film once, but the soundtrack is amazing, especially the judy dench bits.

'dark river' from love's secret domain is my favorite coil track
― Amon (eman)

^^^ this

can we talk about our favourite coil side projects? been listening to the black light district album alot recently, as well as the time machines album and worship the glitch.

black light district is incredible. the highlight for me is the track "red skeletons", gotta be one of the creepiest pieces of electronic music ever made

Has anyone heard Sleazy's new stuff?

(non-TG that is)

yes. the album is pretty great in parts. i saw him do it live a few weeks ago. it was so so and was accompanied by some very controversial film footage.

"being articulate, self-effacing, polite and so on - with some fantastic tunes under his belt - should not mean he can foist explicit footage married to lame notions of mystical altruism upon everyone without getting a pasting. it is irrelevant whether or not he made the footage himself or obtained it. even if i believe those "men" were "over 18", the context in which something passed off as a "charitable act" was presented - ie audiovisual lounge exotica vs An Evening with Les Dawson - was enough to make my stomach churn."

"i don't want to equate him with Gary Glitter by any stretch... and i'm not making any allegations over "legality"... and i love some of his productions dearly... but the context was disturbing me, along with the "knowing" sniggers from the audience. i maintain that if these "over 18"s were female, from any country in the world, Thailand or otherwise, there could well have been a national outrage following even minor exposure from a review in a shitty local rag like the List."

the hushed reverence and complicity of the audience present was the most interesting thing about the evening. the number of people taking photos of the screen was very strange, even those with SLRs who appeared to be press.

this was all a little too "comfortable" given the nature of the content, and the context under which it was presented. such is the man's influence and musical legacy that none dare challenge him aloud over the frankly ridiculous and misguided expressions of "hope" expressed during the first video. his demeanour was equally too disarming and magnanimous for any serious attempt to challenge him.

now i like some TG and Coil tracks enormously. sicker and more objectionable people have made better music, too. Sleazy is not shy about his "interests", for which i would commend him. i am also completely confident he has the intelligence to realise what is and what isn't acceptable in terms of legality and performance, especially in this country. he is clearly a consummate professional in many fields.

the overriding feeling i was left with, as noted above, was that i cannot for the life of me believe that anyone, anywhere, in any country would have easily accepted the same footage and sentiments transposed to a situation where a man of his age - or indeed a woman - would receive such an "easy ride" screening imagery of very young members of the opposite sex in public, under the banner of "art", dressed up in a partially "charitable" terms.

this all reminds me of William Bennett's recent talk at the CCA where he seemed to take an easy option by equally praising "non-Western" notions of "not having to answer questions once they are posed", rather being interested in "standing in the space that positing the question would create".

http://www.flickr.com/photos/biotron/3263652364/

the value of being shocking for the sake of being shocking is quite tired but occasionally valid, imho. it takes on a fairly different tone when some sort of loudhailer apology is superimposed upon proceedings.

can we search late period coil? i'm thinking post Love's Secret Domain. this is their best shit imo. of what i've heard search:

Black Light District - A Thousand Lights In A Darkened Room: deep electronic music, "red skeletons" is a lurching sickly dub beast and a total career highlight; balance's voice appearing on "green water" after 40 minutes or so of weirdness is revelatory

Time Machines: completely stunning old skool analog ambience; one of the best drone albums ever made imo

...And The Ambulance Died In His Arms: a live recording from the group's final performance. this was my introduction to coil, john balance's affable inter-song banter seemed totally incongruous to the darkness of the music. love the narrative in "A Slip In The Marylebone Road"

Musick To Play In The Dark 1 & 2: some of the greatest music ever created by man, need i say more

anyway, out of a fairly dense catalogue what else should i be paying attention to?

I remember eying Time Machines for a long time but never got it. I heard that the acoustics on that one are off the wall.

this is their best shit imo.

they were incredibly prolific in their late period but i don't think they were necessarily better. 'musick to play in the dark 1' is an absolute masterpiece although i think volume 2 is quite weak. of the later recordings, apart from those you mention, the solstice singles, compiled on cd as 'moons milk in four seasons' and the 'ape of naples' and the 'new backwards' (recorded way back but only latterly made available) are highly recommended. 'going up' from the 'ape of naples' reduces me to a quivering mess every time.

the 'foxtrot' benefit comp. contains, imo, one of the finest and most prophetic coil tracks and is key and essential.

for me, 'horse rotorvator' remains their finest moment. i think 'ostia' is one of the top 5 greatest recordings of all time. i have recently spent a lot of time re-listening to 'nightmare culture', their collaboration with boyd rice and am blown away all over again by it.

on reflection, everything they ever recorded is worth at least a cursory investigation and i continue to discover new riches. for me, the greatest 'band' that ever existed. my beatles.

the above post posted in a john balance state of intoxication.

r1o you should check out Live 3 and Live 4 if you haven't yet, they have some amazing moments on them. Also search the versions of "A.Y.O.R." and "Cold Cell" that were on those Russian-only compilations, they are soooo good and not available elsewhere.

Just got my preordered http://www.thedarkageoflove.com/ CD in the mail today!

i would very much like a reissue of the remote viewer next!

Thighpaulsandra releases:

COIL LIVE ONE - The legendary performance in April of 2000 at London's Royal Festival Hall.​ Released 8th August 2025, available for pre-order on vinyl & CD now!

vinyl: https://www.thighpaulsandra.co.uk/store/p247/COIL_LIVE_ONE.html
CD: https://www.thighpaulsandra.co.uk/store/p245/COIL_LIVE_ONE.html

+

Free download:

COIL LIVE - Coil's performance at the Sonar Festival, Barcelona, June 17th 2000. Newly remastered and available as a free download!
https://www.thighpaulsandra.co.uk/store/p231/COIL_LIVE_-_Barcelona_2000.html

Weird, wonder why he didn't just go and rerelease the double CD with Barcelona on it.

^^^

I have a perhaps silly question. Is it possible the gimp (sometimes) was inspired by Michael hutchence’s chorus here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEAnP9T7ASw

wasn't it a remix (cover?) of a People Like Us track originally? From the "Hate People Like Us" album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icXhcrzmLdg

the vinyl is sounding so nice! in particular 'things we never had', what a track!

this has honestly become one of my favourite coil tunes over the last week, it's just superb

Oct 30th:

https://infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/astral-disaster-definitive-edition

The usual arguments are raging (see the Vinyl on Demand page on facebook) as to whether this release is authorised, or what authorised even means these days in relation to Coil. The principal charge seems to be that Infinite Fog have not cleared the rights with the Balance and Christopherson estates, which are then not being paid.

it's all previously available material too

Perhaps right this thread should be revived the day stirmonster’s passing was announced. It won’t be the same without him here.

A WAY TO DIE: THE SHORT-FILMS OF COIL

After paying tribute to and introducing the photographic and pictorial work of Peter Christopherson (1955-2010) and John Balance (1962-2004) to a larger audience, founding members of the cult formation COIL, Timeless editions have had the duo’s filmed archives restored, from their early films in adolescence in the early 1970s to the more accomplished works of the 1980s/90s, uncovering a first-rate cinematic body of work. Alternating between medical art, homoerotic performances, and body horror, these short films and other moments immortalized on 8mm and 16mm film are firmly rooted within an aesthetic sense that resonates with the concerns of the emerging industrial scene in England. At the intersections of Eros and Thanatos, these images assembled by Maxime Lachaud and Reivaks Timeless into a raw, hallucinatory, and immersive film evoke the spectres of Georges Bataille, J.G. Ballard, Jean Genet, Derek Jarman as well as the Viennese Actionists. Underpinned by a number of previously unpublished compositions by the duo, A WAY TO DIE is a unique document, sensual, disturbing, and profoundly haunted.

https://www.docnrollfestival.com/films/a-way-to-die-the-short-films-of-coil/

Gee, I'd love to see this. Unfortunately I live nowhere near any of these screenings.

https://www.thighpaulsandra.co.uk/store/p250/Coil__...and_the_ambulance_died_in_his_arms.html
remastered, CD only (for now?)

Great news! Been wanting a copy of this for years

Some Bizzare is apparently still a thing and reissuing Scatology

https://somebizzarerecords.bandcamp.com/album/scatology

Who knows how “authorized” this is; my guess is “not especially”

They don't mention any remastering in the announcement below, only "reissue" - but the download will be in 24bit on Bandcamp?

https://www.somebizzare.com/post/scatology-reissue-announcement

Stevo might as well just go piss directly on their graves

They'd appreciate that.

lol well played

Wonder if there will be anywhere to get this in the states. Increasingly reluctant to spend $30 (accounting for shipping) on a single CD

yeah I mean you could just get an original Force & Form CD for $45 from a US seller

Also worth noting Thighpaulsandra's site has three more live sets available for free:

https://www.thighpaulsandra.co.uk/store/c5/FLAC_%2F_MP3.html

thank you!

the Russians keep going:
https://www.kontaktaudio.com/shop/coil-astral-disaster-prescription-versions-3lp/
https://www.kontaktaudio.com/shop/coil-astral-disaster-tth-edition/

A supposedly expanded edition of the Hellraiser release per Danny Hyde

https://mentalgroove.bandcamp.com/album/the-unreleased-themes-for-hellraiser-expanded-ritual

There's some drama over this on the Coil subreddit; I'm not a member but found it while I was trying to reconcile the tracklist with previous releases on other formats (10" and CD). They're upset about the text completely omitting any mention of Stephen Thrower, and and the last track ("Unearthly Hell") being a much later remix by Hyde putting some of the original tracks over "An Unearthly Red," a weird inclusion that's kind of padding out the LP.

I knew he was pulling some shit like that here

instrumental set (without Jhonn Balance) at 2003's Supersonic festival

https://www.thighpaulsandra.co.uk/store/p256/Coil_-_Supersonic.html