Musick to Play in the Dark vol. 1

Throbbing Gristle, as the Velvet Underground, Kraftwerk or Joy Division, have all been forerunners in their specific epoch, and still stand as a reference nowadays.
Now Throbbing Gristle rest in peace, the direct lineage turns out to be deserving of the family heritage, and proceeded with famous projects such as Psychic TV, Chris & Cosey and Coil which easily belong to the most innovative bands within the last twenty years. Coil, as Current 93 and Nurse With Wound, bring out one of the most subversive and modern music there is. After the wonderful release of the 4 e.p. celebrating the solstices and equinoxs, "Musick to play in the Dark vol.1" turns out to be one of the best Coil album for years. First of all, there's this chilly sleeve'spicture with a wintry moon. Along the 60 minutes of the album are six majestic tracks in which John Balance's mystic and pagan preoccupations exorcise his lunar demons. Long sheets of keyboards on which apocalyptic samples and Balance's haunted vocals build up an impressive cathedral of sounds.
These six sublime pieces link up each other in an exalting and ringging magma. The album starts with the hallucinated "Are you shivering ?" and ends with the masterly "The Dreamer is still Asleep". Essential and brilliant. Even a great sense of humour comes out of a title like "Red Birds will Fly out of the East and Destroy Paris in a Night" which sends bastards like Paco Rabanne or Elisabeth Teissier into the sewers, so rats also have the opportunity to have a good laugh.
This record is a pure jewel, which is terribly limited in quantity, so if you don't own a copy yet, forget about getting one. The second part "Musick to Play in the Dark vol. 2" will only be available through Coil's mailorder.
And of course these two records are highly recommended.

Contacts :
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England

Web : http://www.brainwashed.com/coil
 

November 1999