STOLEN AND CONTAMINATED SONGS

STOLEN AND CONTAMINATED SONGS is the second album from COIL in 1992 and is in reality a collection of alternate versions of tracks that appeared on "Love's Secret Domain," various outtakes and other unreleased tracks that didn't make the final cut on that one, however it took me the longest time to even realize that that was the case as even the tracks that are supposed to be related seem totally different and a million miles away in terms of sound and mood. So in effect this bizarre and wild electronic album sounds quite unique in the COIL universe and one which i find to be even better than the original track releases on "Love's Secret Domain."

It all starts off with one of my all time favorite COIL tracks, the mondo-bizarre "Further" which begins with a processed Stephen Hawking type vocal effect and then slinks and slithers through very strange electronically processed sound dynamics with a cricket- like sounding percussive accompaniment. This track should be played on a high quality stereo that can distinguish subtle sounds and will startle and invade the listener's soul as this music is literally unlike anything ever created even amongst the vast circulating library of Jon Balance and Peter Christopherson, themselves. The mood drastically changes as "Original Chaostrophy" comes off like a stab in the heart and the seeming soundtrack to a mortally wounded soul as lugubrious string sections (all electronic i presume) pull all the proper heart strings and yank them until the listener feels like a total mental collapse. The symphonic type construction is mercifully short and to the point. Next up "Who'll Tell?" returns to a more familiar type of COIL sound with recurring spoken narrations, tribal percussion and strangely woven electronic riffs that create separate but dynamic parts. Then appears the original mix of "Love's Secret Domain" which probably stands out the least with more spoken word narration and a darkened synth pop type of style that appeared on their earliest releases. Sort of a industrial goth type of sound.

"Omlagus Garfungiloops" begins with a strange vocal reading of the title track and then breaks into some kind of back alley jazzy night club sound that makes me think of some speakeasy dive in a strange parallel universe that includes as much electronica as super sexy swinging melodies. "Inkling" is just plain freaky. It sounds like a harp sweep of some sort with gurgling electronics sputtering out. As bizarre as it it is, still manages to conjure up an addictive ear worm of a melody. One of my faves of the COIL- sters. "Nasa-Arab" is yet another stand out and a near 11 minute spaced out trip into a very bizarre sonicscape that captures wild undulating electronic noises, tribal like drumming and a recurring hypno-groovy bass line that recurs pulling the listener into an ever deepening trance. "Who'll Fall?" is yet another wild melancholic concoction with heart wrenching undulating strings, clicking static sounds and spoken word narration. "Who'll Fall?" is a narrated tale about a friend committing suicide with melancholic freakiness. "The Original Wild Garlic Memory" continues the "Who'll Tell?" type sound only in a different way with the same groove but with a lot more chaos and noisy effects.

"Wrim Wram Wrom" has an industrial sounding machine repetition and a jarring hum and unrelenting synthesized keyboard keeping the beat while a cello dances around in the background while strange noises pop in and out. "Corybantic Ennui" sounds more like a folk track with flute sounds and is very short. "Her Friends The Wolves" is another near 11 minute track that jumps back into extremely dark and foreboding industrial sound effects without any melody or beat, simply imposing growling muffled noises that make me think of being drowned in the digestive track of a monster and the ensuing noises are my body being digested alive! Once the electronic beats begin it induces a frenetic sense of dread. Cool stuff! "Light Shining Darkly" is more like a swirling space journey where the synth sounds are ethereal and feel like the whizzing plunge into a worm hole in hyperdrive with a slightly catchy accompanying melody trying to catch up. It ends with even more strangely processed vocals that sound like entities trying to cross over into our dimension but due to interference keep vibrating back and forth between from whence they come and our world. Very strange stuff!

This is actually one of my favorite COIL releases. I tend to like these compilations of unrelated weirdness that didn't fit in on any proper album. This one is very eclectic in every way and takes the listener through one extended torturous experience to the next. These guys were simply whacked out beyond belief for i can't imagine what it takes to come up with this kind of experimental alchemy that it requires to create such unique soundscapes. COIL's output has been nothing less than remarkable in their ability to continuously deliver otherworldly "musical" expressions and on STOLEN AND CONTAMINATED SONGS they unleash some of their harshest and most demanding bouts with the electronic avant-garde of their career, yet most of these tracks manage to muster up at least one element that keeps it somewhat catchy and accessible from the get go. This is a brilliant album with only the spoken word segments a little lackluster.

4.5 rounded down