COIL Vinilo y CD

Review: Originally issued in skeletal form as a CD-R in 2004 and completed posthumously by Peter Christopherson and Danny Hyde in 2006, this reissue captures Coil's final studio-era transformation i leaner, sharper and pulled into strange rhythmic shapes by live performance energy and Ableton-era experimentation. The Weston-super-Mare collective, once studio-bound, now wrangle blown-out beats, sampled horns and hurdy-gurdy into ceremonial, fractured pop. 'The Gimp (Sometimes)' and 'Teenage Lightning (10th Birthday Version)' hum with unstable joy; 'Sex With Sun Ra (Part One - Saturnalia)' becomes a dense, writhing invocation; its sequel folds in eerie pipe drones and Christopherson's heavy edits. The 'Wraiths and Strays' pair trace the evolution from rehearsal to stage, adding field recordings, live vocals and modular sprawl. Even their lullaby cover, 'All the Pretty Little Horses', feels raw and revelatory. This is Coil at their most vulnerable and direct, embracing rhythm and song form without compromising strangeness i a defiant, dreamlike document of a band pushing forward even as time ran out.

Review: Formed from the ashes of Throbbing Gristle in the early 80s and later based in Weston-super-Mare, Coil remain one of the UK's most enigmatic experimental outfitsicombining ambient electronics, industrial rhythm and spoken-word surrealism into something ritualistic and deeply unclassifiable. This 2xLP reissue revives their final studio work, first issued in incomplete CD-R form in 2004 before being completed by Peter Christopherson and Danny Hyde in 2006 following the death of Jhonn Balance. Compared to the sprawling mysticism of their earlier catalogue, these tracks are leaner, sharperishaped by the influence of live performance and Christopherson's then-new fascination with digital production. 'The Gimp (Sometimes)' creeps through looped distortion and narcotic drone, while 'Teenage Lightning (10th Birthday Version)' refracts a prior track into a marimba-laced polyrhythmic pulse. The two-part 'Sex With Sun Ra' threads jazz reverence through throbbing synthesis, balancing paranoia and humour. 'All the Pretty Little Horses' is perhaps their most unexpected coveria whispered lament based on a traditional lullaby that closes the circle on Coil's fragile, feral grace. This isn't an archival exercise, but a document of Coil's transformationiwhere live-band muscle, software trickery and deep emotional currents pull their sound somewhere new. The result is bleak, bold, and eerily accessible by Coil standards.

Review: This clear vinyl edition offers a new window into Coil's final evolutionary phaseibased in Weston-super-Mare during the early 2000s, their output here feels tighter and more tactile than ever. What began as a limited CD-R release during the 2004 "Even an Evil Fatigue" live series was ultimately completed in 2006 by Peter Christopherson and Danny Hyde after Jhonn Balance's death, turning what was once described as an "album-in-progress" into a posthumous masterwork. Unlike Coil's early abstract work, this material pulses with live-band energy and digital precision. 'Sex With Sun Ra (Part One - Saturnalia)' slinks through throbbing synths and sci-fi mysticism, while its sequel, 'Part Two - Sigillaricia', filters York's pipes through glitching software landscapes. Thighpaulsandra's signature synthesis courses through 'The Wraiths And Strays Of Paris', now reborn from live tapes, while 'Teenage Lightning (10th Birthday Version)' spins its ritualistic rhythm into something surprisingly euphoric. The clear pressing suits this materialitransparent, crackling with ghosts, and shimmering with light. It's Coil at their most direct and perhaps most emotionally affecting: a group confronting mortality and rebirth through sound, retooling their vision with software, breath, and loss.

Review: Queens Of The Circulating Library stands as a post-industrial masterpiece alongside Time Machines and Soliloquy For Lilith and is a sensory-warping long-form drone. Created by Thighpaulsandra and John Balance, the 49-minute track flows in cyclical waves which echo the minimalism of La Monte Young. Released in 2000, it marked the beginning of a series of evolving compositions and its theatrical opening features Thighpaulsandra's opera-singer mother delivering a dreamlike, declamatory monologue, setting the stage for the trip that ensues. The music shifts like slow-motion surf and is a fine example of Coil's unique ability to embrace extremes and mutation.

Review: Originally released as a double CD in 2002, Moon's Milk (In Four Phases) is a collection of four EPs Coil issued seasonally in 1998 via their Eskaton imprint. Featuring John Balance, Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson, Drew McDowall, and William Breeze, it was recorded in their Chiswick, London home studio before they relocated to Weston-Super-Mare. This pivotal work has long been considered a high point in Coil's discography, though it was never reissued or pressed on vinyl at the time. Arranged around the equinoxes and solstices, Moon's Milk captures Coil's deep dive into improvisation, ritualistic sound design and mystical atmospheres and stands proud as a testament to their individuality.

Review: Coil's comprehensive compilation Moon's Milk, based on the four annual seasons and the overpoweringly doomy moods they inspire, comes reissued 18 years after its initial 2002 release. With a strong Coil member base in tow - John Balance, Peter Christopherson, and Thighpaulsandra included - the Four Phases are once again called to mind, and seem to pierce the unconscious with their incisive quietude and unsettling (dis)inhibition, most often totally electronic and droning, but occasionally peppered with faintly hollering vocals and chromatic electric viola interspersals, the latter performed by the now notable occult cleric, William Breeze aka. Tau Silenus.

Review: First compiled as a double CD in 2002, Moon's Milk (In Four Phases) is a suite of four EPs that Coil released seasonally via their in-house Eskaton imprint across 1998. The line-up for these sessions were John Balance, Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson, Drew McDowall and William Breeze. Recorded primarily at their home studio in Chiswick, London on the eve of a permanent relocation to the small seaside town of Weston-Super- Mare, the collection has long loomed as a pivotal and pinnacle work in the group's discography, but has never been officially reissued, or re-pressed on vinyl. Time has only ripened its tapestry of regal strangeness. Arranged sequentially in tribute to the equinoxes and solstices, Moon's Milk captures Coil at a revelatory crossroads, leaning deeper into improvisation, spontaneity and sound design. 'Moon's Milk or Under an Unquiet Skull' initiates the proceedings on 'Spring Equinox', a two-part netherworld organ seance woven from vocal drones, cathedral keys, seasick strings, and opiated undertow. From there, 'Summer Solstice' skews lighter but no less incantational, with Balance embracing his voice- as-instrument across lucid dream torch songs ('Bee Stings'), purgatorial spoken word ('Glowworms/Waveforms'), sultry chamber pieces ('Summer Substructures'), and falsetto ravings ('A Warning From The Sun (For Fritz)'.

Review: Coil arguably were in their best form as the new millennium dawned as well as being already deep into their career. Musick To Play In The Dark not only lived up to its name, it marked a transition both sonically and astrologically for the band as they declared a new era as a lunar rather than solar group. Mixing gently melodious ambient motifs and immersive aural textures with more experimental sounds, spoken and sung vocals and a variety of unobtrusive rhythms, the album remains one of the most vivid and enjoyable outings in their vast, action-packed catalogue. Whether it's spooky distorted sounds on 'Strange Birds', 'Red Queen''s strange droning late-night piano soul, or the yearning ambient pop on 'The Dreamer Is Still Asleep', this is a subtly bold record packed with exceptional ideas.

Review: There are echoes of Coil's mid-1980s cult classic album 'Horse Rotorvator' in 'The Ape of Naples' in that it has such a wide variety of sounds and styles. This one first came back in 2005 and is a go-to for fans as it is just a great example of the band's singular sonic world. The album was put together by Peter Christopherson a year after Jhonn Balance's deadly fall and it features re-workings of the live favourites like 'Amethyst Deceivers' and Love Secret's Domain album track 'Teenage Lightning' plus a numb of tunes first meant for the ultimately ill-fated Backwards long player. Grammy-nominated engineer Jessica Thompson has remastered all the originals for this new reissue.

Review: As part of the ongoing Coil reissue program, this classic album has been remastered and now arrives on CD. There are echoes of the band's mid-1980s cult classic album Horse Rotorvator in The Ape of Naples in that it has such a wide variety of sounds and styles. This one first came out back in 2005 and is a go-to for fans as it is just a great example of the band's singular sonic world. The album was put together by Peter Christopherson a year after Jhonn Balance's deadly fall and it features re-workings of the live favourites like 'Amethyst Deceivers' and Love Secret's Domain album track 'Teenage Lightning' plus a numb of tunes first meant for the ultimately ill-fated Backwards long player.

Review: Perhaps only dedicated avant-garde electronic heads will know about The New Backwards, the final project from the seminal industrial band Coil. But that doesn't make this 2008 masterpiece worthy of this new gory, visceral reissue; far from it. Limited to just 555 copies and splattered with the murderous blood of listeners who didn't survive the album's first incarnation from beginning to end, this one contains 8 additional tracks, including an exclusive live 'work in progress' track ('Backwards'), documenting the many criminally insane production choices Peter Christopherson and co. would make in real time.

Review: First released 22 years ago at the turn of the millennium, Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil has been described as one of Coil's most "mind-altering creations"; given the fiercely experimental and often otherworldly nature of their catalogue, that's some going. The album, which has now been fully remastered, was one of the first things Coil recorded following their relocation to Weston-super-Mare, and sonically it's as bleak, windswept, and barren as the town itself seems out of season. It's full of droning tones, modular blips, metallic melodies, slowly shifting ambient textures and musical motifs that lap in and out like waves. Furthermore, the album's standout moment, the near 14-minute 'I Am The Green Child', is like some mutant, experimental sea shanty crossed with a hypnotic ambient-industrial raga.

Review: Musick to Play in the Dark Vol. 2 was the 2000 studio album from Coil and, as Part 1, it was described by the band as "moon musick." This contrasts to earlier work which was solar rather than lunar inspired, but either way, it was another classic from Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson and John Balance. Their partnership remains one of electronic music's most magically alchemic and after a quiet start, this album slowly but surely takes its hold on listeners. 'Ether' and 'Paranoid Inlay' are confessional tone in tone while the final two 'Where Are You?' and 'Batwings (A Limnal Hymn)' are brilliantly haunting. Fact fans might know that the latter was actually played at John Balance's funeral service.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


This 30th-anniversary reissue of a key experimental release is a journey into the darker realms of electronic music, showcasing the duo's exploration of ambient, industrial and glitch-inspired soundscapes. The release features a stark contrast between the rhythmic, almost club-ready track, infused with danceable energy and the more experimental, glitch-heavy compositions that delve into an unsettling, ritualistic atmosphere. The latter, considered one of the duo's most daring works, uses manipulated sounds, haunting textures and a pervasive sense of sonic unease to create a deep listening piece. The reissue compiles rare material, including previously unreleased tracks, alongside the duo's final appearance under this project. Fans of avant-garde electronic music will appreciate the unique blend of rhythmic elements and abstract textures. While some may prefer later works from the duo, this collection remains a fascinating piece for those drawn to experimental, atmospheric music that pushes the boundaries of sound and composition.