COIL - ANS @ 20

 

Released in September of 2004, Coil's sprawling ambient monolith, ANS, is marking its 20th anniversary this month. The primary release of the album consisted of a box set including three audio CDs and a DVD with abstract visual accompaniment. The initial run of the box set included art prints, though some purchasers, myself included, never received their art prints due to issues with manufacturing that were further complicated after the death of Jhon Balance in November of that year.

All sounds on the album were created utilizing the ANS synthesizer, "a photo-electronic musical instrument created by Russian engineer Evgeny Murzin from 1937 to 1957. The technological basis of his invention was the method of graphical sound recording used in cinematography (developed in Russia concurrently with USA), which made it possible to obtain a visible image of a sound wave, as well as to realize the opposite goal—synthesizing a sound from an artificially drawn sound spectrogram." It was built around half a century ago and still to this day sits where it was originally conceived; in the Moscow State University.

At the time of its recording, Coil consisted of Jhonn Balance, Ossian Brown, Peter Christopherson, Thighpaulsandra, and Ivan Pavlov, all of whom contributed to the creation of the album, to some degree, in terms of the creation of the etched transparent plates that were passed through the machine to create the album's sounds. None of the participants understood the exact mechanism for composition when it came to creating etchings, so they essentially created doodles that did not adhere to any fixed musical notation theory specific to the device. It was all a bit of an experiment to see what would happen. Images of the sound plates were included in the graphics package for the box set.

Prior to the full release of the box set, a single CD, identical in content to the first disc in the finished set, was issued in a limited edition, black clam-shell case version in 2003, which was sold at various live shows throughout that year, with the fully packaged box set issued in September of 2004. The album, while perhaps lacking in clear intent, offers up some interesting ambient tonalities. It's a bit like an abstract audio seance, conjuring sounds from the ether in a manner that yielded some unexpected and surprising results.

COIL - MUSICK TO PLAY IN THE DARK VOL. 1 @ 25

 

Marking a quarter century on the shelves, at 25 years old this month, is Coil's Musick to Play in the Dark Vol. 1, which was released in September of 1999. The album represented a striking thematic shift for the group and, despite its genesis within the womb of excessive drug use, manifested as some of the most cohesive and intentional music from that era of their existence.

Given the group was primarily the purview of two gay men, their initial conceptual focus was decidedly "solar", or masculine. Solar symbolism was frequently in play, whether it was the Black Sun logo, or the references to gold, an element distinctly connected to solar imagery, though both are also decidedly scatological in nature as well. Their 1984 debut EP release, How To Destroy Angels, was specifically dedicated to Mars and the "accumulation of males sexual energy", deliberately excluding and avoiding female influence as a matter of process. Yet with Musick to Play in the Dark, a realignment had occurred. Jhon Balance specifically announces on the album that this is "Moon Musick", aligning the group's focus with intentionally feminine energies, like tides and cycles of nature. The result in the music is something entirely more atmospheric and ephemeral than much of their prior work.

The album was recorded at a sprawling Victorian manor that Peter Christopherson had purchased in the coastal community of Weston-super-Mare in the UK. He and Balance had set up a recording studio in their new home, and the group, at this time, were augmented by Thighpaulsandra and Drew McDowall.

Their social scene was heavily involved with the consumption of large quantities of MDMA (Ecstasy), the semi-psychedelic party pill popularized by the rave scene of the preceding decade, so the process of recording was done in something of a barely remembered blur of intoxication. It's something rather perfectly captured in the album's opener, Are You Shivering, a reference to the distinct teeth chattering & grinding that occurs with sufficient indulgence in the aforementioned substance. If you've ever taken enough, you will recognize the sensations intimately.

Technically, they were working with some of the latest digital tools that were changing the shape of music making for electronic producers at the time, with Christopherson always keen to work on the cutting edge of the available tech, though there was some balance as well with the use of older gear. Advanced recording software like ProTools and more versatile and sophisticated samplers and synthesizers were combined with vintage gear, like their collection of old rhythm boxes and an Optigan, a keyboard from the 1970s which replaced their unwieldy and unreliable Mellotron and it's tape loops with a much more stable optical flexidisc sound library interface.

Given the nature of the substance abuse involve in the production of the album, one might expect them to have done the obvious thing and delved into the electronic dance music genre, inspired by their late nights at raucous rave-ups, but nothing could be further from the results that came about for this album. The style of the music was predominantly in the ambient vein, though with bizarre intersections through Krautrock influences, similar to early Tangerine Dream, or elements of cocktail jazz, spaced out and slowed down to capture the sense of deep, chill-out late-night altered state listening.

The Lunar conception for the album was intended to be pursued in a series of recordings, with a "Vol. 2" of Musick to Play in the Dark issued the following year, though these were both preceded by the Moon's Milk series of EPs, released in 1998. Collectively, these recordings represent Coil reaching a new peak of creative inspiration, and they have gone on to be valued as some of the group's most accomplished and effective works. They would also provide the momentum for them to take their unique sound on stage in the early 2000s, where they performed many of these pieces in concerts that have since become legendary. Most were documented on video and issued on the limited edition DVD box set, Colour Sound Oblivion.

Unfortunately, this era would be sadly abbreviated by the tragic accidental death of Jhon Balance in 2004, when he tumbled off a balcony in their aforementioned Victorian home. His struggles with substance abuse had taken their toll on both his physical and mental well-being, as well as his relationship with Christopherson, who had recently relocated to Thailand where he would remain based until his own tragic passing in December of 2010.

With both of the group's principal creatives now gone, there has been some confusion in terms of the plethora of reissues that have appeared and who, exactly, has the authority to manage their catalogue. Regardless, the group has left an astonishing canon of work in their wake, with this album sitting among the top of the heap in terms of its significance.

COIL - HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS @ 40

 

Recorded on February 19th, 1984, Coil's debut EP, How To Destroy Angels, turns 40 years old today. As an example of functional music intended for practical application, it set the standard for the band's uncompromising approach to sound and structure.

At the time of its recording, Jhon Balance and Peter Christopherson were still part of Psychic TV (PTV) and the Temple of Psychick Youth (TOPY), and this project was seen as furthering the exploration of sound as a functional tool, rather than a mere source of entertainment and distraction. Many of the ideas present here were also used when recording the Psychic TV, Themes, bonus LP, which was included with the first pressings of PTV's debut, Force The Hand of Chance. These were sound works that had no concern with standard song structures, an approach that could be rather confusing to listeners who were expecting them to adhere to recognizable conventions of rhythm, melody and verse-chorus-bridge, song structures. None of that was relevant here, which often had these recordings sounding like random noises, devoid of meaning or purpose. The reality was quite the opposite.

For this particular project, the fact that Balance and Christopherson were gay and involved in a relationship with each other became essential elements in the thematic essence of the recording. The intent of its creators was to incite and harness specifically male sexual energy. No offence nor disparagement to females was intended, but this work was simply NOT designed for feminine energy. This requirement during production was even taken to the strictest conditional extremes, where any women at the studio were kindly requested to vacate the building during recording. For this, manly Mars was the focus for the session and it was crucial that nothing diffuse or dissipate that energy. Venus wasn't invited.

For instrumentation, a selection of gongs, cymbals and bells were employed, along with a large corrugated whirling tube, known as a lasso d'amore, corrugaphone, or Bloogle Resonator. The resultant recording was 17 minutes of ritualistic ambience, suitable for personal or group ceremonial use. The original plan was to release it along with another PTV recording, Silence and Secrecy, but Balance & Christopherson had a falling out with TOPY and Genesis P-Orridge over his "cult of personality" and the direction TOPY was going, so any PTV works or resources were now unavailable, including the label imprint, Temple Records. The EP was instead released by L.A.Y.L.A.H. Anti-Records as a standalone, with the B-side initially occupied by an unplayable "noise" side called Absolute Elsewhere. On subsequent repressing, the B-side was repeatedly changed, first to offer a selection of closed loop tones and then a totally blank side.

Although How To Destroy Angels is not typical of Coil's subsequent output, it remains as one of their most enigmatic and effective creations. It's certainly one of my personal favourites when it comes to music with the power to summon distinct and powerful energies. To put it plainly, it's a great record to fuck to, especially if you're gay.

THE THRESHOLD HOUSEBOYS CHOIR - FORM GROWS RAMPANT @ 15

Released on April 19th, 2007, the first and only fully realized solo project from founding Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV & Coil member, Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson is celebrating its 15th anniversary today. Produced under the project name, The Threshold HouseBoys Choir, Form Grows Rampant offered a double disc set with an audio CD and video DVD capturing images from the Thai GinJae Vegetarian Festival accompanied by Peter’s original musical score.

THC was Sleazy’s first major post Coil project following the tragic death of creative and life partner, Jhon Balance (Geoff Rushton), after a drunken fall from a balcony at their UK home in 2005. Peter had relocated to a compound in Thailand after that and began to enmesh himself into the local culture, capturing the details of the sometimes graphic rituals performed during the GinJae Festival. These include various acts of self mutilation, piercing and scarification which, though seemingly severe, usually left nearly no noticeable marks on the bodies of the participants afterwards. Peter had used some of this material as video backing for live performances prior to this release.

The music created for the album utilized many of the latest computer based audio production tools that Sleazy had started experimenting with at the time. In particular, this involved software which generated voices from scratch. These were not sampled vocals, but sounds built up entirely by the computer software. This became the “choir” referred to in the name of the project. Threshold House was the record label Coil had used to release their recordings prior to the passing of Balance. The “houseboys” component was a reference to the small stable of young Thai men with whom Christopherson kept company at his compound.

The set has recently been reissued and is available on vinyl and digital download for the first time since its initial 2007 limited release. While it is the only solo work that was completed before his death in 2010, there are other THC releases which include a 4 mini-CDR set of demos (Amulet Edition) and a few other odds and ends. Form Grows Rampant also sits alongside a series of Throbbing Gristle related releases from all the members of the group, who were in the middle of a reunion phase at the time. 2007 also saw the releases of new works by TG, Charter Tutti, Psychic TV and Thee Majesty, making it a banner year for the group and its fan base.

COIL - LOVE'S SECRET DOMAIN @30

 

Thirty years ago today, on March 3rd, 1991, Coil released their third proper studio album, Love’s Secret Domain. For this project, core members Peter Christopherson and John Balance were joined by Stephen Thrower and Otto Avery with production & engineering helmed by Danny Hyde. The album also featured a significant list of guest performers including vocals by Marc Almond, Rose McDowall and Annie Anxiety.

Prior to the album’s release, Coil released a single of Windowpane in 1990, which was a song clearly displaying the influence of the electronic dance music scene that had become popular since the emergence of Acid House in 1988. In the ensuing years, “rave” culture had swept the underground and both John & Peter became deeply ensconced in it and its attendant mind altering substances. Indeed, the entire recording process for the album became steeped in psychedelic drugs, as indicated by the album's “LSD” acronym. As a result, some of the recording sessions became pretty mad affairs with conflicts frequently arising during production that could lead to days-long debates between members.

Stylistically, the sound of the dance floor can be clearly heard infiltrating the album as evidenced by the Windowpane single and The Snow, which is fully submerged into the transcendental rhythm of trance techno, though displaying production sophistication that was far beyond the aesthetics of most other contemporary producers of the era. But this was not the sole concern of the album as its styles diverged in a wide array: from sleazy nightclub jazz to deep, dark ambient passages to Spanish flamenco guitar flourishes and more. Yet the whole somehow manages to come together into a relatively coherent, trip-worthy soundtrack.

As far of the packaging, the cover features a gorgeous painting by Nurse With Wound main man, Steven Stapleton, who created the painting on a piece of wood from an old outhouse door that he had kicking around his property in Cooloorta. The image is an ingeniously multifaceted crypto-mystical phallic crest that resolves into a lion’s face when you look at it just the right way. It’s the kind of graphic that continues to reveal new elements within itself every time one takes a closer look. I’ve seen it for 30 years and I still keep finding new subliminal content emerging from its depths.

The production of this album was so intense that it left Coil in somewhat of a quandary in terms of how to follow it up. Struggling throughout most of the proceeding decade, the group didn’t start to produce fully realized albums again until the turn of the millennium. It’s not that they didn’t release anything, but what did get released was mostly experiments and idiosyncratic indulgences. They were certainly not without merit, but it wasn’t until the Music To Play In the Dark albums that they returned to writing “songs” in a more concise manner. Attempts were made to do another album as a continuation of LSD. They even went to the US and worked at Trent Reznor’s studio in New Orleans in the early 1990s on an album, Backwards, but they struggled to get what they wanted and the album that emerged from these sessions ended up shelved for many years. It wasn’t until after John’s death that these recordings surfaced in a remixed and reworked form on the Ape of Naples/New Backwards sets from 2007. Their original form didn’t get released until after Peter’s death on a 2015 remastered version of the Backwards album, though bootlegs of it had been making the rounds for two decades. All of this just means that LSD was a tough act to follow and left a legacy that many Coil fans consider the band’s peak.

For me, personally, the album certainly holds a special place in their canon of recordings, particularly Windowpane and its accompanying video, which I was fortunate enough to get to see shortly after it was produced in 1990. I have distinct memories of seeing it while high on acid myself and being completely blown away by its psychedelic majesty. It’s a simple concept; John, sporting a silver lamé jacket, flouncing around in the water against a golden sunset, overlaid with mirrored video FX, but it’s so beautifully rendered and it captures the experience of that altered state with remarkable accuracy and emotional resonance.

Since it’s original release, LSD has been reissued several times with at least two remastered editions including a brand new one to celebrate its 30th anniversary. So if you’re looking to discover it for the first time or bring it back into your life after a long absence, now’s the time to set the controls to go Further Back and Faster and grab a bottle of some Teenage Lightning!

INFLUENTIAL ALBUM - LED ZEPPELIN, PRESENCE

While we're on the subject of influential albums and their covers, I wanted to talk about one of my favorites from one of the most important design houses of the 1970s, Hipgnosis. Hipgnosis was stared in 1968 by friends Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell. The duo was later joined in the mid 1970s by a young Peter Christopherson, who would go on to gain acclaim and recognition making his own music as a member of Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Coil and Soisong, as well as releasing solo work as Threshold Houseboys Choir.

Hipgnosis was responsible for many of the most iconic covers of the decade, working with the likes of Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel and Led Zeppelin, just to name a few. It's their 1976 cover for Led Zeppelin's Presence which I want to bring to your attention today. 

 

One of the common traits of Hipgnosis covers, which always drew me to them, was that they usually had some sort of subversive "twist" to them. They were generally photo-real artworks that often relied on in-camera effects to create their surreal auras, though they would also use collage cut-&-paste techniques, something common with Photoshop these days, but much more demanding back then when it was done with physical photographs, blades and glue.

The "hook" with the Presence LP cover was the "object". Designed by Christopherson, it was an enigmatic looking black twisting obelisk type form that appeared to defy normal geometry. Its shape and proportions looked to be at odds with physical space and the cover depicted it in a variety of seemingly benign, mundane contexts of superficial, idyllic mid-century, middle class life. Yet its presence in these scenes lends each of them a nebulously sinister edge. It's obtuse, but it sinks in, almost subliminally, suggesting some kind of conspiratorial plot is taking place. Like some sort of "invasion of the body snatchers" scenario, normality is being subverted here. 

 

I recall seeing this in the shops and being constantly drawn to it. I'd stare at the photos and try to imagine what could be going on. Why was this thing in all these pictures? What was it? What did it do? Its blackness and confounding shape only implied something nefarious. A truly ingenious concoction for an album cover. The record itself wasn't Zeppelin's best, though I find it often unfairly criticized as I quite like most of it, but it's a cover that stays with me after all these years contemplating that "object" and its mysterious purpose...

INFLUENTIAL ALBUM - L.A.Y.L.A.H. ANTIRECORDS, THE FIGHT IS ON

Compilation albums can be a bit like buffets in that there's usually a few things you really like, but a lot of stuff you just gotta pass by.  But the advent of the independent label culture in the wake of the punk/industrial/new wave movements of the late 1970s energized the concept of the compilation album as a critical means of exposing new talent and artists who may have otherwise had too much niche appeal to justify their own dedicated releases to start. 

During an era of abundant notable experimental music compilations, one of the most influential for me remains the 1985 release from L.A.Y.L.A.H. Antirecords, The Fight Is On.  L.A.Y.L.A.H. were a Belgian boutique indie label ran by Marc Monin from 1983 until 1989.  The label was responsible for the initial promotion of a number of renowned experimental artists including Nurse With Wound, Coil, Current 93, The Hafler Trio, Organum, Robert Haigh and and others.  The Fight Is On gave me some of my first exposure to several of those artists, nearly all of which subsequently became collecting obsessions. 

L.A.Y.L.A.H. releases always presented themselves with extremely high production values and refined design aesthetics.  Seeing that imprint on any piece of vinyl or CD was generally a guarantee that you'd be getting your hands on something unusual and distinctive for collectors with the most discerning tastes. 

The Fight Is On, as a collection, has never seen a reissue of significance since its initial release, which is unfortunate as it does offer an invaluable cross section of the prime movers of the post industrial experimental music scene at that time.  The intersection of "noise" music with Neo-classicism and Neo-folk's early tendrils provides an essential foundation for comprehending the roots of where these genres would develop in the ensuing decades.

INFLUENTIAL ALBUM - COIL, HOW TO DESROY ANGELS

Among the many groundbreaking releases put out by Belgian lable, L.A.Y.L.A.H. Antirecords, one of the most unusual and controversial was the debut release by the Psychic TV offshoot project, Coil.  Originally conceived as the inaugural release for the newly established Temple Ov Psychick Youth label, Temple Records, plans for its release via that outlet were scuttled when relationships between Genesis P-Orridge​ & Coil founders, John Balance (Geoff Rushton) and Peter Christopherson soured when the pair became increasingly concerned that TOPY was becoming too much of a "cult of personality" around P-Orridge.  Amid a somewhat acrimonious parting of ways, John & "Sleazy" decided to pursue Coil as their main creative outlet and took the recording of How to Destroy Angels with them. 

Intended to further the work begun with the PTV release, Themes, which was intended as practical accompaniment for ritual practices, How to Destroy Angels was recorded under a very strict set of guidelines to abet very specific intents.   Conceived around the symbolism relative to the Martian element, it was designed to facilitate the accumulation of masculine sexual energies.  To this end, all care during the recording process was taken to ensure these energies were intensified, even so far as to ensure the entire building was cleared of any conflicting elements or energies.  Those who do not understand basic principals of ritual may not comprehend the value of such acts and may interpret them as potentially sexist, but this is not in any way meant to disparage or denigrate other types of energies.  It is merely and experiment in focusing on a particular type of force. 

The result of this effort was a 17 minute abstract tonal piece consisting of various gongs, bells, cymbals and certain other acoustic sources.  The B-side of the album was left, ostensibly, blank, though there are several pressing variants, one with a constant tone throughout, another with the side appearing to have been sanded down to destroy whatever sound was pressed there (which I had), another had some layered tones and another had a series of locked grooves.  One pressing had completely blank grooves, which was the original intent.  All variations on this were called Absolute Elsewhere. 

I picked this up shortly after the first Coil full LP, Scatology, in 1985.  Personally, it has always been and remains one of my all time favorite releases by this project.  It's a clear example of how music can be created for practical application, beyond mere "entertainment", with abilities to aid certain processes.  I've had several practical experiences of using it which were extremely efficacious.  On the other hand, I've played this for people who were completely unable to comprehend it as anything but a bunch of rattling noises with no intent or purpose.  It certainly doesn't exist for "easy listening".