COIL

This is certainly one album i got the right introduction to. In fact i can't think of a better way to become acquainted with one of COIL's most mind-blowing and alienating freakfests of its entire career. Back in my party days i let my naughty friends influence me into the occasional night of overindulgence where i didn't hold back and went for it with all the youthful nonchalance and gleeful intoxication that one would expect from someone in their early 20s. One fateful night my friend who prided himself on trying and turning everyone on to his favorite new intoxicant of choice gathered his friends for a drunken drug-fueled night of excess. Oh yeah! Those were the days :D

Having always been a lightweight in the drug and alcohol department i ended up passing out on the couch with the party still in tact only to wake up after most guests either puked their guts and and passed out elsewhere or just went home. Upon waking up in the pitch dark only with the music still playing, bizarre sounds were oozing out of the hi-fi speakers and exposing me to one of the absolute strangest sound journeys i had ever encountered at that period. This was the music of a friend who introduced me to the vast array of electronic music that i was rather clueless about at the time being a metalhead primarily at that age. To make it even more transcendental my buddy who worked at a hi-fi music store in the San Francisco Bay Area had one of the best sound systems that existed in the early 2000s.

Upon awakening my mind was blown into a million pieces as i sat there and listened to the most uncategorizable musical sound clips which in the morning i discovered was coming from the album WORSHIP THE GLITCH under the moniker ELPH VS COIL. Laying there soaking in the album in my state of mind with nowhere to escape i merely became one with the music that was specifically designed to showcase an unthinkable array of sound effects that can only be heard on the absolute best recording systems. While no album sounds as good on a YouTube video or regular stereo system, this was on a whole other level with an entire spectrum of sound effects that could only be detected on a hi-fi sound system that offered a wider spectrum of sound than the average.

Of course this experience affected me profoundly and although i had already known of COIL, nothing sounded like this one except perhaps a few early tracks that were compiled onto the first compilation of "Unnatural History." The ELPH VS COIL in reality refers to COIL itself given that ELPH was a pseudonym that John Balance, Peter Christopherson and Drew McDowall used for two releases that utilized computer mistakes from their own equipment and used as the sound effects that were organized into creepy, ethereal and eerie melodies that excelled at taking your mind on the wildest journey possible in the context of experimental glitch electronica. Following in the footsteps of the 1994 EP "Born Again Pagans" which itself was released under the moniker COIL VS ELPH rather than ELPH VS COIL, WORSHIP THE GLITCH polished the imperfections of that production into a serious gem of mind [%*!#]ery.

By mixing the sounds of computer glitches and forging them into bizarre samples and instrumental rhythms, the album is almost exclusively instrumental except for the rare vocal samplings of Aleister Crowley's wife Leah HIrsig which adds an even more bizarre sense of esoteric abstruseness to the mix. These guys even managed to include the track "Mono" which is a highly processed and unrecognizable cover of Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down." Esoteric references lurk around every corner but nothing is really more relevant than the music itself which represented some of the most creative expression of sound mistakes ever recorded and taken to such extremes. The holographic cover art pretty much symbolizes what you get as the bizarre worlds of dark ambient and glitch mix and meander with sound collages and electroacoustic psychedelia. Easily the most influential glitch album to spawn the genre that followed.

While it may be tempting to conclude that the album is only good under the conditions of my first exposure, i have often revisted this one over the years to see how it holds up on its own without the ample use of a drug high experienced in the dark on the best stereo system of the day. I'm happy to say that the ingenuity alone guarantees that for anyone seeking the most wildly experimental and creative fertile soundscapes conceivable, WORSHIP THE GLITCH more than holds up under the scrutiny of my now completely sober brain primarily judging its qualities on intellect rather than emotional impact. For me it works on multiple levels and although this is hardly the place for COIL newbies to begin their journey, for those well indoctrinated into the COIL cult who crave their most wild and unapologetic visions of true sound freedom, this will surely please them immensely if they take the time to really examine this beyond the initial alienation effect. Personally this one ranks very high in the mighty COIL's canon and although a bit too abstract to pull out on a regular basis, totally hits the spot like no other when such musical excess is needed.

One of the more awkward releases in COIL's massive discography, the music on THE ANGELIC CONVERSATION included some of the earliest recordings of John Balance, Peter Christopherson and Stephen Thrower around the same time as the band's debut "Scatology." The music was created exclusively for the soundtrack of the 1985 film titled THE ANGELIC CONVERSATION, an arthouse drama film directed by Derek Jarman. The film featured homoerotic images and served as a visual quest that was supposed to represent a dream state and the daily rituals of navigating the violence of the real world in order to transcend into some sort of perceived paradise.

The music eventually found its way onto CD in 1994 but obviously lost a lot of the effect without the intended visuals. COIL mixed various orchestral samples with dark ambient atmospheres and surreal musical soundscapes that merged the world of musique concrète with neoclassical darkwave and nature recordings. The soundtrack also featured recurring spoken word recitations of Shakespeare sonnets read by Judi Dench. COIL also used samples from the debut EP "How To Destroy Angels" and the track "Never" was previously released in a shorter form on the "Unnatural History" compilation.

This is a rather lengthy album at nearly 70 minutes and never seems to really go anywhere. It's primarily an incessant flow of abstract swirlies that float around like amoebas in a petri dish and while the ambience aspects with snippets of orchestral embellishments is a nice way to drone out for an hour's run, the incessant poetic prose of Judi Dench constantly contrasts with the otherwise surreal and detached nature of the musical flow which for my tastes ruins it. Not that the music itself varies much at all as it sounds like the ultimate recycling of snippets and tidbits that never really coalesce into anything other than aimless ambience.

I've personally never seen the film the soundtrack accompanies but usually these types of film scores are only relevant in conjunct with the visual aspects and / or dialogue that they accompany and that is definitely the case with THE ANGELIC CONVERSATION. This is probably my least favorite album in COIL's entire discography but yet it isn't totally awful either. I really only pull this out and listen to it every few years after i totally forget what it sounds like only to be reminded why i didn't care for it much in the first place. The ultimate collector's only edition but since i'm a huge rabid fan of COIL's insanely experimental electronic sounds i couldn't possibly live without this mostly unheard album in my collection. Worthy of hearing once in a while but it really fails to engage in any meaningful way whatsoever.

As a huge fan of 80s-90s Swans, Throbbing Gristle, and Bauhaus, I'm surprised that I never gave Coil much thought before.

The instrumentation is industrial in parts (think TG's 20 Jazz Funk Greats), and in other parts reminds me of Jarboe era Swans such as Soundtracks for the Blind.

The singing style and negative lyrics feel somewhere between Throbbing Gristle, Neurosis, and Bauhaus. They are unmistakeably English in style, with little of the American drawl or low register associated with Michael Gira.

This album would have been a difficult sell back when I listened to 70s-derived prog, but it very much clicks when starting from a love of no-wave, industrial, and avant-garde.

Five stars from me - this is an instant essential within my library.

I have never actually listened to any works of Coil. I have heard of them and I definitely seen their album covers, but I never actually listened to their albums, at least not fully. But on one day someone on Discord recommended this album to me since I liked more weird music. I thought, why not, how about I listen to something new for a change. I didn't know what to expect from the album, but I was eager to find out. One thing I have noticed with the album is that it had a very morbid and almost grief like sound to it (probably enhanced after the death of John Balance). It also has a really pretty experimental edge to it in the vocals and production value. It really feels like a album for the dead and for those beyond the grave. But the album also feels like a sort of 7 stages of grief in it's sound where some songs sound like they are sad, in denial, angry, and soon, accepting. This is definitely an interesting album and definitely one worth checking out if you like more experimental music.

COIL's ambitious recording work ethic led to many tracks being rerecorded, remixed or completely reinterpreted over the years and one of the first of these collections of new inspirations emerged with the 1992 version of HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS only with the tagged on subtitle "(New Remixes and Recordings)" to distinguish it from the 1984 EP of the same name.

While the original EP only consisted of the 17 minute title track and the one second of silence at the end titled "Absolute Elsewhere," this remix album contains six tracks that reimagine the same track in various different ways. This album was the collaborative effort of COIL itself meaning John Balance and Peter Christopherson along with Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound.

Balance remixed "The Sleeper," "The Sleeper II" and "Tectonic Plates," Christopherson remixed "Remotely" and "Dismal Orb" and Stapleton remixed "How To Destroy Angels II." "Absolute Elsewhere" remained the same unmixed silence as on the original EP :D Generally speaking the tracks are so radically different from one another that's it's almost impossible to tell that they are indeed spawned from the same source.

HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS Remixes is an extremely dark and bleak journey through the deep darkened harshness that evokes the chilling sounds of some terrifying underworld. While it may be difficult to even call this music due to the incessant industrial droning effect and the wild and unpredictable synthesized sounds that simulate everything from beastly breathing to hydraulic systems having a very bad day, this collection of reinterpretations does hit the spot if you are seeking some of the most sadistic sounds possible.

This 1992 Remix album is almost always one of the lowest rated and under appreciated COIL releases when you gaze upon the lengthy canon list that spans four decades of releases and i can totally understand the reason for this. Firstly, there's relatively little to grasp on to and much less to relate to in any sense of musical structures or patterns. This one is all about freaky unnerving sounds that are designed to terrify.

For that it works quite well but even though COIL is one of my favorite artists of all time, i have to admit that i rarely play this one but when i do i am utterly in awe as this instantly makes me feel as if i'd been transported into a virtual reality set of an H.R. Giger scene from Necronomicon and although my desire to go there often rarely occurs, when i do have the urge to experience the bleakest existence possible in terms of sound then an album like HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS is exactly what Dr Evil ordered.

3.5 rounded down

John Balance mumbles and intones dark little thoughts as synthesisers twinkle like stars in the night sky in this second volume of Coil's Musick To Play In the Dark. As with its predecessor, the album captures Coil following a transition from the "sun music" of their earlier career - with its more aggressive, boisterous aspects - to the "moon music" captured here, with its roots deep in the subconscious and its approach almost ambient in its gentleness. Double meanings abound - "Ether" could refer either to the titular narcotic, or more ethereal spiritual ideas, or the idea of the luminiferous aether, and Balance seems to be talking about at least two of these at any particular point in the composition. A puzzlebox to contemplate when the lights are out.

HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS (EP)

Amongst the earlier techno flavored albums released by COIL, this first extended play release HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS focused on a meditative otherworldly mix of ritual ambient and droney industrial textures that conspired to create a bizarre amalgamation of sounds that transcend 3D reality. Subtitled "Ritual Music For The Accumulation Of Male Sexual Energy," this collection of two lengthy tracks that still extends to a near 40 minute playing time was originally intended to be the B-side to the track "Silence & Secrecy" by Psychic TV but due to John Balance and Peter Christopherson leaving became an early aspect of the COIL universe.

As with most of COIL's early output this one is mired in mystery and ambiguity. Originally released on L.A.Y.L.A.H Antirecords in 1984 it was later repressed in 1988 but never found its way onto any other format than vinyl 12", however remixes were crafted and the HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS "New Remixes and Recordings" emerged in 1992 on CD format. Add to that of the the two lengthy tracks that swallow up each side of the original vinyl, the second side "Absolute Nowhere" varies during the repressing. It started out as simple noise-filled grooves on the first edition and then became multi-layered music on the second.

This two track EP takes the cosmic otherworldliness of early progressive electronic acts such as Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze and creates bizarre soundscapes outside of the Berlin School continuum. The title track sounds most like a mix of a Tibetan Bhuddist ceremony with a steady percussive flow of metal percussion such as on cymbals, gongs and other metallic devices that make nice resonance. The synthesized parts are more ambient and flow like gentle clouds in the skies above with no rhyme or reason but still offer a subtle exchange of tones, timbres and dynamics that never get too wild.

The second side consists of the lengthy "Absolute Elsewhere" which clocks in near 24 minutes and is eerily hypnotic and will only be accessible to those who have mastered the ability to meditate for long periods of time. A droning sound that sounds like a dial tone on 20th century telephones before dialing is accompanied only by what sounds like the scratchy end of a record where the loops of staticky contact are in a perpetual loop for eternity. I can understand why the monotony of this one will not appeal to all but for me this experience is literally transcendental. It's almost like a bridge between the third and the fourth densities of consciousness and the portal to get there with a high pitched soundtrack.

Coil's infamously rejected dark ambient soundtrack work for Hellraiser has been released in various forms over the years - first as a highly abbreviated EP, then with further bonus material from other soundtrack jobs added, then as tracks on the Unnatural History series of compilations.

The best release of the material so far is the 2015 one - reverting to the title The Consequences of Raising Hell (a subtitle used for some earlier releases of The Unreleased Themes For Hellraiser), it includes the 9 surviving Hellraiser tracks, a series of short pieces produced for commercials to pay the bills, and a clutch of untitled tracks which represent early instrumental working versions of pieces that ended up on Gold Is the Metal.

On the whole, it's as good a collection of Coil's mid-1980s soundtrack and similar instrumental work as we're likely to get. A little reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails' soundtrack to Quake in places, the Hellraiser material is just as spooky as the movie demanded; meanwhile, the remaining tracks explore other moods, with the advertising jingles offering a sort of interval before the more disquieting material creeps in on the concluding untitled tracks.

COIL's third collection of stray tracks that found their way onto various formats including limited edition releases, various artists comps and B-sides. UNNATURAL HISTORY III: JOYFUL PARTICIPATION IN THE SORROWS OF THE WORLD collected another ten tracks and was released in 1997 and essentially captured the last of the odds and sods of the first fifteen years of COIL's existence. As with all COIL material, the core duo of John Balance and Peter Christopherson were responsible for the development of the tracks but a few friends such as Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Drew McDowall, J.G. Thirlwell, Andrew Poppy, Bill McGhee and Martyn Phillips contributed here and there and added their personal touches.

Once again, UNNATURAL HISTORY III displays a wealth of forgotten mind trips that didn't make it onto the official album releases and honors the wealth of diversity that COIL implemented as they transcended the boundaries of ambient, darkwave, industrial and the avant-garde to create sound collages unlike any other. While the material is surprisingly diverse in its approach, a few factors carried on from the previous UNNATURAL HISTORY compilations. Firstly, the love of lazy mid-tempo almost trip hoppish beats that provide the basic groove for all the wild and woolly experimental touches to swirl upon and a healthy love of bizarre multi- dimensional trips that incorporated various sound samples. "First Dark Ride" displays this perfectly as a big fat beat allows chimes and other bizarre synthesized sounds to compound around.

Danny Hyde aka Aural Rage is credited for writing some of the tracks and his stylistic approach appears on tracks like "Baby Food" which eschew an overt beat and instead implement an overlapping series of bizarre musical scales with different timbres. Sort of like alien church organs on a world with a helium based atmosphere. It's also one of the band's more known tracks as it appeared on the 1993 compilation "Chaos In Expansion" which appeared on the underground Sub Rosa label. "Music For Commercials" sounds unlike anything COIL had done before. It's perhaps the most cheery and uplifting music they ever could have imagined. While originally the B-side of the "Hellraiser 10," the short run of various melodic developments that change it up often were supposedly used in real TV commercials.

Tracks like "Panic 12" Version" show perfectly how COIL was starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel with these stray tracks as it is somewhat weak. It's essentially the Dionysian remix of the B-side of their single "Tainted Love." It's basically a boring industrial beat with some screams and cheesy synthesizer sounds thrown in. Skinny Puppy without the inspiration so to speak. One for the dance floor but not one that matches their high quality musical marksmanship. "Neither His Nor Yours" is a cool Japanese sounding track that mixes some cool polyrhythms. It was donated to raise money for AIDS projects in New York City. It's also quite industrial with a heavy percussive drive and bleak atmosphere. "Feeder" is one of many avant-garde classical sounding tracks. Sort of like John Cage with a slight beat and random sound effects.

There are many more industrial beats on UNNATURAL HISTORY III: JOYFUL PARTICIPATION IN THE SORROWS OF THE WORLD compared to the previous compilations. While i've always considered this third installment of the trilogy the weakest of the three, this is by no means a bad collection of disparate material existing side by side. While some tracks are filler and could've been left in the vaults, the majority is a killer mix of the usual surreal intricate compositional constructs with that unmistakable Balance / Christopherson mix of lunacy while some of the tracks that imbibe the industrial nectars were clearly intended to be one offs for various projects that wouldn't be associated with COIL's main body of work. While all tracks are not created equal the first side is as good as anything on the other comps and nothing on the second side is bad per se, just not as OMG exceptional either.

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Here is the extensive UNNATURAL HISTORY III (JOYFUL PARTICIPATION IN THE SORROWS OF THE WORLD) of each track's previous release:

Third in a series of anthology discs collecting tracks that originally appeared on various compilations and limited edition releases.

"First Dark Ride" was originally released on the Coil vs. The Eskaton 12″ "Nasa Arab". "Baby Food" was originally released on the compilation Chaos in Expansion. "Music for Commercials" originally appeared on the 10″ & cassette versions of The Unreleased Themes for Hellraiser. According to John Balance, "Panic" was mislabeled in the CD booklet as being the 'Dionysian' remix, commenting, "But then again, isn't everything Dionysian."[1] "Neither His nor Yours" was originally released on the compilation A Diamond Hidden in the Mouth of a Corpse. "Feeder" was originally released on the album Core - A Conspiracy International Project by Conspiracy International, a label run by Throbbing Gristle members Chris & Cosey. "Wrong Eye" and "Scope" were originally released on the 7" single "Wrong Eye/Scope". These two songs were released along with "Meaning What Exactly?" on the compilation The Portable Altamont in 1993. "Lost Rivers of London" was originally released on the Ptolemaic Terrascope benefit compilation Succour. The song was later remade and released as "London's Lost Rivers" on the vinyl release of the Black Light District album A Thousand Lights in a Darkened Room.

Once COIL established itself as a viable act in the underground world of musical oddities, the synergizing combo effect of John Balance and Peter Christopherson along with a few friends here and there proved to be quite prolific as the albums started cranking out, however there was also a wealth of loose fodder that didn't quite make it onto full albums per se but found themselves on 7" singles, B-sides, various artists comps or remix EPs. Enough of this material was compiled to release three stuffed to the gills compilation albums and none were better than the UNNATURAL HISTORY trilogy. While the first edition focused on the short timespan of COIL's nascency from 1983-86, this second edition with the clever title UNNATURAL HISTORY II (SMILING IN THE FACE OF PERVERSITY) captured a larger chunk of time covering 1985-1996 which found the noise worshippers evolve from relatively non- musical mind trips to the world of more melodic ambient, industrial, darkwave and extremely experimental electronica.

UNNATURAL HISTORY II (SMILING IN THE FACE OF PERVERSITY) is not only a much more diverse compilation than its predecessor but also features a wealth of different projects that weren't meant to be but didn't quite make it, such as the tracks from "The Unreleased Themes For Hellraiser" which include "The Hellraiser Theme," "The Main Title" and "The Box Theme" which appeared on an EP that due to its obscurity has been all but impossible to find. This compilation also contains three unreleased tracks ("In Memory of the Truth", "Unquiet Rest", "Wait, Then Return") which were recorded during the Hellraiser sessions. This collection also displays COIL's evolution through a decade's time which showcases how COIL became the masters of creating organic emotional responses from their errant devious displays of darkened robotic and detached synthesized sonic terror. While the recurrence melodic loops was a staple sound early on, beginning in the mid-80s where this comp begins, the Balance / Chistopherson formulaic approach of dubbing over the repetitive motifs began to incorporate a wealth of sound samples, guitar riffs and eerie processed musical pastiches.

While many of the tracks revolve around the repetitive industrial themes that add layered elements, the Hellraiser tracks are less rhythmic and based in more eerily macabre settings as if a more depressed version of Goblin's cranked out a soundtrack in depressed somnambulation. In fact, much of COIL's music on their compilations revolves around a very gloomy despondent pessimism and stark doleful resignation through pure escapism. The unreleased track "In Memory Of The Truth" is downright scary as ghostly voices haunt the horizon while a synthesized violin and whirled dark ambient backdrop casts a darkened overcast where the light finds a continuous diminishing return. "Unquiet Rest" another unreleased track takes it even further as the percolating background static seems is struggling to keep a lugubrious melodic series of synthesized notes from coalescing into something even remotely cheerful. "The Box Theme" is super creepy as it captures the innocence of a child's music box and creates a sonic storm of depression to suppress any chance of happiness from emerging into the world. Another gift from the Hellraiser tracks and a perfect example of how COIL could juxtapose the disperse elements of youthful innocence with a darkened overcast.

Perhaps the strangest moment on this album is when the final track 
"Theme From Blue II / The Hills Are Alive" starts off with as disco funk but then quickly shifts into a dizzying reverberation of audio effects but brings back da funk periodically. This perfectly demonstrates COIL's uncanny ability of obfuscation, how these guys can doctor up a recognizable style and distort it into a bizarre concoction of unrecognizability. UNNATURAL HISTORY II (SMILING IN THE FACE OF PERVERSITY) is another excellent collection of disparate free floating tracks of COIL's ridiculously productive 80s and 90s run. Overall, this second phase of the band's existence embraced more melodic principles albeit drenched in melancholy and darkness. While the earlier material was brilliantly composed, the tracks on this show a clear sign of increased sophistication that augments COIL's ability to tackle the synthesizer and mixing effects like Mozart dominating the piano. While personally i prefer the first UNNATURAL HISTORY comp to this as it's more surreal and detached from reality, for those who want a thread of melodic musicality, then this one will suit you better. It's hard to believe that an album this good was constructed of free radical tracks that bounced from one underground reality to the next but thankfully they were all compiled to create one of experimental electronica's most memorable moments.

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Here is the extensive UNNATURAL HISTORY II (SMILING IN THE FACE OF PERVERSITY) of each track's previous release:

This is a compilation of tracks that have previously been available elsewhere plus some unreleased tracks.

"Red Weather" - From the 1983 release "Bethel". Power Focus / Datenverarbeitung limited edition cassette. "Theme From Blue I & II" originally released 1993 as a Threshold House 7" single (LOCI S1). 1000 numbered on blue vinyl, and 23 signed and numbered on canary yellow vinyl. "Airborne Bells" was the B side to "Is Suicide Solution?" - a 1993 Clawfist 7" single release. An edition of 1400 copies. (XPIG22) "Another Brown World" was featured on "Sinople Twilight In Catal Huyuk" on the Belgian Sub Rosa label (LP - SUB 33004, CD - SUB CD007) "Contains A Disclaimer" - was released on the Pathological Compilation. (Cat no. Path 1) - 1989. (LP/CD) "The Unreleased Themes For Hellraiser" (aka "The Consequences Of Raising Hell") - "The Hellraiser Theme", "The Box Theme" & "The Main Title" were originally released on Solar Lodge Records as a 10" 1987 (Coil 001). The original pressing was on black vinyl, with a second pressing on coloured vinyl (500 clear and 500 pink). The CD release with additional tracks - "The Hellbound Heart", "No New World", & "Vanishing Point" (originally called "Attack Of The Sennapods") - was released in 1990 on Solar Lodge / Torso (Torso CD161). "In Memory Of The Truth", "Unquiet Rest" & "Wait, Then Return" are previously unreleased pieces recorded at the same sessions and subsequently lost until now. Track 15 contains the hidden track "The Hills Are Alive" (15.3), taken from the compilation Macro Dub Infection Vol. 1. Track 15.1, "Theme From Blue II", lasts for 2:17 before a period of silence.