Coil are once again searching for two instruments: a Hohner CLAVIOLA which was released about 4 years ago in a limited edition. And also a Hohner HARMONETTA, which possibly dates back to the 70's. Balance says "We will buy them from people or swap rare stuff."

Thighpaulsandra's album "I, Thighpaulsandra" is out Jan 22nd on Eskaton and is a double digipack CD. It features John Balance on text and vocals, Julian Cope, members of Julian Cope Band, and members of Spiritualized.

The Solstice Collection is now titled Moon's Milk (in four phases) and should be out soon. It is being advertised as a "Double CD constaining all the tracks from the now deleted Solstice & Equinox singles, plus new unreleased material." It will aslso come in a numbered gatefold white vinyl edition of 1000.

In addition to all this,... There should be a NEW COIL album in January. One of these sporadic and incidental 'pink-clam-shell' releases we shall be peppering the coming year with. The NEW one will be called "Wounded Galaxies Tap At The Window." It's a WS Burroughs quote! Its a very tripped out 'spacey' workout.

November, 2000

EMRE [Dark Matter] has been released by Source Research and features a new composition from Coil, "Broken Aura." Other contributors on the disc include Andrew Poppy, COH, Cyclobe and Leif Elggren. The disc is distributed through World Serpent.

6th October, 2000

Balance here.

"Thanks to everyone who turned up for the Royal festival hall concert. A few facts. David Sefton and Liz McCudden asked us back after Time Machines as they liked us so much. Atari Teenage Riot were supposed to be on the same bill which I would have love but they couldn't commit. It was great to see Jim Thirwell as I hadn't seen him for 15 or so years.He is a very wonderful and intelligent man who has been extremely influential for many bands.As for all the comments about Foetus as boring rock. I caught a few moments of him doing panther like movements as I was out front in the foyer.Rock is Dead. period. For me and what my hearing brain accepts via my thinking ear anyway.even Marilyn Mansons flirtation with this concept makes it even more laughably dead. I felt more akin to LaMonte Young than to anything else.

Our line-up was Tom Edwards on Marimba, a 21 year old 6ft 3" classical percussionist who is also works with Spiritualised, Thighpaulsandra, Sleazy, Mice-Elph and Simon Herne aka Norris. Peter and I designed the video piece especially for the Persistence Is All concert. I designed the stage set and lighting and it was realised by Paddy Farr who is a genius. Tim Sunderland did the sound.Hes worked with Spiritualised and Hawkwind in the past as has Paddy.Gavin Wall was our roadie....COIL have a roadie.He often works for Julian Cope.I designed the costumes along with the fabulous and very hard working David Cabaret.

set list was: Something
Higher being Command
Amethyst Deceivers
Titan Arch
Blood From the Air
I am The Green Child
Constant Shallowness Leads To evil

I think all the items from the concert ie the 2 new T-shirts and the CD and two different button badges/ decals and stuff are available from World Serpent up until Christmas.

Next for us is the release of the Solstice/ Equinox album and CD compilation including 2 new tracks. There will be a deluxe edition with a bonus CDR in it as well as original artworks.

I'm thinking of a 12" before Christmas called "Anarcadia" too.

Thighpaulsandra will have his album out on CD and LTD double LP by Oct 31st. Its called "I,Thighpaulsandra" on Eskaton.

We MAY be playing in Berlin as ELpH in late December.

The whole RFH concert was an invocation to Pan. IO PAN!!!!!!!!!!

love Balance"

12th September, 2000

Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil. ESKATON24: This new album by Coil deals with the threat of lavishness and responds with noise. It's trial by musick. This intense density of energetic anger explores areas that Coil have threatened to open out into in the past, but rarely have pursued with such hallucinatory ferocity.
6 new tracks still fresh with blood and electronics.

1. Higher Beings Command
2. I Am The Green Child
3. Beige
4. Lowest Common Abominator
5. Freebase Chakra
6. Tunnel Of Goats

Back by popular demand and by special request:
COIL are playing their second major concert this year at the prestigious and enormous Royal festival Hall venue on London's South bank complex co-headlining with Jim Thirlwell aka Foetus. On Tuesday the 19th of September 2000 ev. Doors open at 7.30pm and please note that COlL have chosen to play first so don't be late!

The overall title for the event is "Persistence Is All" and there will be new t-shirts, enamel badges and more things available on the night on the World Serpent stall. A limited edition album, in a pink clam-shell, is being recorded and released to coincide with the concert. It's called "Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil". In marked contrast to the recent Time Machines piece this COIL outing will be more extreme, more musickal, more vocal..It will be louder, faster, darker, luminous, poisonous, kinetic, frenetic, energetic, epileptic (?) positively oscillating with deep darkness.

Warning: Please note. There will be extensive use of strobe lighting.

book online here or call +44 (0) 20 79604242

IMPORTANT!!! - please mention it is COIL you are booking for as they tally these things up.

15th August, 2000

Coil are no longer accepting orders for Musick to Play in the Dark, either volume. Please order through World Serpent Distribution.

9th August, 2000

From the World Serpent HQ: MTPITD Volume 1 now gets a full domestic release for the first time; this album was previously only available as a mail order release and came in both CD and vinyl versions.
The second issue is CD only and comes in a different digipak cover than the mail order edition.

1st July, 2000

There will be a special extra limited edition of the double vinyl for MTPITDv2 with one 12" green and the other blue.

29th June, 2000

Subject: Barcelona

The set list was:

Everthing Keeps Dissolving
Circulating
Amethyst Decievers (version)
Chasms
The Universe Is A Haunted House
Elves (version)

We had a fantastic time.Wonderful city with gorgeous and great spirited people. we met up wih V/VM people, Matmos, La Bradford.Larry Thrasher and Bryin Dall of Thee Majesty, (avoided GPO himself) Russell Haswell, Autechre.,Vicki from People lLke Us, hung out with Radiohead and Marc Almond. MET STOCKHAUSEN after his performance of Hymnen which started the Festival off. Bill asked if he would be an honourary member of COIL and he agreed.
We'd like to thank all the great people who put so much effort into it. And to the people who came to see us from all over the USA and Europe. Sorry about the near riots to get into the COIL gig. It was massively overwhelmed, beseiged is more the word Im looking for.

Please feel free to harange the NME for the more superficial and non-present review of a great event that I have read in a long time. Arsewipes.Its in the issue dated 1st July. The so called review was by Piers Martin. angst@nme.com

The recent/ current WIRE review of Musick To Play In The dark vol 2 was a short, dissapointing and confused affair as well.Ken Holling mixed up the Queens Of The Circulating Library official CD with the free Festival Hall set CD.Again feel free to e-mail them. c/o info@thewire.co.uk

To recap and clarify:

we are not accepting any more orders for the vinyl or CD of Musick to Play In The Dark vol 1 or 2. World serpent will be selling CD copies of both these from now on. Marked as a second edition and with a revised textured cover.We will be honouring any previous orders. Vinyl copies are going out daily. It is a very heavy double vinyl set and postage to the USA is £9.00.At our cost. So we are loosing money on the vinyl this way but hope to make up with the CD re-issues. PLEASE be patient.

27th June, 2000

MUSICK TO PLAY IN THE DARK VOL. 2 is SOLD OUT!!!
All the copies that Coil have are no longer in stock so please hold on to your money. Sorry for any inconveniences.

Sonar pictures have already started circulating. Check out the photos Derek Leep has taken and scanned in at www.users.uswest.net/~daleep/coil/. Thanks Derek!!!

15th June, 2000

Sonar Fest 2000:
The Coil/Time Machines performance in Barcelona will consist of Jhon Balance, Peter Christoperson, Thighpaulsandra, and Bill Breeze. The set list will include everything at the last live show PLUS a new (unnamed as of yet) song, AND "Elves," from Backwards.

29th April, 2000

Dark Details:
The vinyl version of will Dark, vol. 2 will be on 3 sides (with an etched image on the remaining side) and will contain the same music as the CD. The track listing is as follows:

1. Something
2. Tiny Golden Books
3. Ether
4. Paranoid Inlay
5. An Emergency
6. Where are You?
7. Batwings (A Limnal Hymn)

7th April, 2000

Coming out of the dark:
Musick to Play in the Dark Vol 2 has been finished since Feb, and the free CD for early orders has now been dispatched to the pressing plant. Says Coil, "We expect to receive finished copies by the first week of May and we will begin shipping orders as soon as we get them. Copies will be sent out in the order we received the orders (ie: those that ordered last year will be sent first)."

Please stop emailing Coil about where their CDs are, THEY ARE COMING SOON!

Photos are starting to come in from the live event and are currently being stored in the /images/live directory for future use. There will most likely be a new page added to the site devoted to live events and appearances featuring images, reviews and possibly even sound samples.

In case you didn't know, Balance is on the cover of the April issue of The Wire. There's an in-depth interview and some excellent photos taken on the shores of Brighton.

6th April, 2000

The show was a success. Thanks to everyone who showed up. Some of the special merchandise is being sold through World Serpent.

Now available is the "Queens Of The Circulating Library CD." Thighpaulsandra's mother Dorothy Lewis (a trained opera singer now retired) recites the lyrics especially written for her by John Balance; and for mothers everywhere.
This was released on April 2nd for mother's day and for the Coil show at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
Synthesized by Thighpaulsandra and John Balance. Part one of a continually mutating series of circulating musickal compositions. Anyone can become a Queen Of The Circulating Library. Just Plant A Tree. The CD comes in Pink coloured plastic C Shell packaging.

Also released at the show was Eskaton 21, "Some Head" ep by Thighpaulsandra, featuring John Balance on vocals.

22nd March, 2000

Danny Hyde speaks - and we were there to listen. Check out his mucho updated biography page now with a picture, his CV and the cover of the last album he had pressed up (in limited quantities).

Andrew Shires has submitted some more photos from that in-store event at Rough Trade.

• Up Close and Personal w/Balance and Sleaz
• Mixing it up at the tables

Many thanks to Craig Joyce for the pictures from Coil's in-store event at Rough Trade.

• DJ Sleaz
• signing autographs (somewhat obscured)
• in front of some registers
• Sleaz signing more autographs (Balance obscured)

Coil came into the store at about 2:40pm and were playing from about 2:50 to 3:50. The store was stinking hot because of the amount of people in it and British heating, but as the set progressed more people moved to the back of the room (or out altogether) and anyone could have taken the opportunity to have a chat to John and Peter at will.

Quite a nice selection of tunes were played. I was surprised how much the set they put in sounded like a David Thrussell (Snog, Soma et al) radio show set.

John and Peter were very approachable and amiable. They signed a ton of records / CDs for all present and were very excited about their upcoming live show (which I'll be in fucking Australia for).

It was really nice to meet them, and it was even nicer to find them to be *nice* people."

18th February, 2000

Balance sounds in expanding on the official news of events:

We are doing a 45 minute performance as part of the South Banks 2 day CORNUCOPEA event. Featuring Queen Elizabeth, Julian Cope, The Universal Pansies, The Groundhogs, Kluas Schultz, Brain Donor,Ash Ra tempel. and Time Machines which is COIL's Hard-Core minimalist project. Our piece is called "The Industrial use Of semen Will revolutionise The human Race". We are Thighpaulsandra, Peter christopherson, Simon Norris and myself, John Balance.

We are releasing a special 2000 edition new COIL CD called "Queens Of The Circulating Library" which will be available first at the concert as well as new Time Machines T-shirts and Coil shirts. Thighpaulsandra will also release a new CD especially in time for the event called "Some Head". Both CDs are on the Eskaton label. Eskaton 020 and 021 respectively.

Hope to see you there. It will be pure electronics, minimal,very loud, colourful and fluorescent!

COIL are recording "Queens Of The Circulating Library" as the special CD for the Royal festival Hall Cornucopia event. Cat No. Eskaton 020. There will be 2000 pressed up. Thighpaulsandra is also releasing a special Eskaton CD for the 2 day festival, an album called "Some Head". Eskaton 021. 1000 copies only.

Balance adds:

"We are really working hard to finish Musick Vol 2. Thighpaulsandra was over yesterday and today to record piano and harpsichord for 2 new tracks. Darker. weirder. Definately Musick to play in the dark this time. Put out those lights!"

Happy Birthday, John Balance!

CORRECTION:
The DJ set at Rough Trade is Saturday, 19th February - NOT 19th March as previously stated! Sorry, please attend still...

The official reason for the delay of musick 2 is that Thighpaulsandra has been having to nurse his Father through a long and difficult illness. He died last week. We will finish the record inthe next 10 days and it will be out in CD and ltd vinyl form within 6 weeks.

The piece we will be performing at The Royal Festival Hall is entitled "The Industrial Use Of Semen Will Revolutionise The Human Race". We will be making available a specially recorded CD for sale at the event as well as new COIL and Time Machine T-shirts."

"Musick cures you of Time"

We will swap rare COIL items for VINTAGE ie 50's and 60's paint by Numbers. I have over 100 already. I love landscapes and water related ones. We are doing a Paint by Numbers artwork cover to something very soon. "Pain by Numb-ers"?

Also, check out the Astral Disaster page as there's now descriptions of each song. Enjoy!

Coil and The Wire Sound System (Rob and Anna from The Wire) will be playing their favorite tunes down at the Rough Trade shop at Neal's Yard on Saturday, 19th February at 2PM.

Says Balance:

"I cannot bring myself to use the phrase 'DJ-ing,' it's just putting CDs and records on. I suppose it will also be a chance to meet and greet. Or Mate and Grate? As we are working on an album called POP CONCRETE I thought it would be nice to play some of the things we love and have loved in those areas. see you there!"

The tickets for Julian Cope's Cornucopea event (featuring Time Machines) at the Royal Festival Hall, London are on sale now. They are available from the box office on 0171-960-4242 or from the 24hr booking online at www.sbc.org.uk.

Time machines will feature Simon Norris from Cyclobe as well as Coil full-timers Jhon, Peter and Thighpaulsandra. They will perform for one hour. It will be dense minimal and colourful. A Magickal event as well as Musick.

According to Julian Cope's website:

Day 2 is Sunday April 2nd, and will take place at the Royal Festival Hall. Here, we have a performance of mythological proportions when Ash Ra Tempel re-form for their first ever British show. Featuring Klaus Schultze and Manuel Gottsching together for the first time in 25 years, this is a stellar rock'n'roll event. Also on the same stage, Coil are finally presented at the South Bank in a performance of their marvellous Time Machines - and rumour has it that they'll all be wearing one gigantic outfit! I'll introduce the evening and play a series of new and ancient electro-acoustic songs on doubleneck guitar, Mellotron 400 and the enormous Festival Hall organ.

Yesterday Eskaton signed a band called Drum Machine. The signing took place in the presence of the band, John Balance and Thighpaulsandra on top of Glastonbury Tor in a highly hazardous force 8 gale.

Sleazy is in LA finishing off a Henry Rollins video after shooting for 2 weeks in Calcutta, India - pretty in yr face as you can imagine (India and Henry). He will be doing a net-radio show early Monday am (3-6am PST) at www.spikeradio.com.

Coil nearly killed themselves over Christ mass time. They nearly completed recordings on Musick To Play in the Dark Volume 2 - 7 tracks much like the first volume. Lots of vocals, lots of weirdness. The performers were Balance, Thighpaulsandra and Sleazy. (Bill Breeze has been in Paris and Drew MacDowell has been in NYC.) The songs still need to be mixed down, however. This is estimated to take about a week, and the production/manufacturing of the CDs themselves may take up to three weeks, thus unfortunately there will be a delay on this release. There have been over 2,000 pre-orders for this release, all orders received before 1st January will get a bonus CD of about 25 minutes of unreleased stuff. (The first edition will be much more than 500 copies, after all,...)

Astral Disaster should be out and available now. A vinyl release is anticipated but might not be realized for another month. It will be a "Transparent Black /grey" - with a tiny edition in another colour.

Coil will also be restarting the Equinox/Solstice series again starting this spring. 4 to be done. Look for the original series as a double mid-price CD for Midsumers day. Title to be announced soon.

Coil will indeed be doing a Labradford remix, due out sometime in the near future.

Time Machines will be performing live in April at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London as part of Juilian Cope's music fest. They also plan to perform at the Sonar Event in Barcelona coming in June and the Beachy Head event too. Other performances are also in the works around the world in possibly NY and a few other North American locations. Details on all these events will be posted once they're finalized.

Backwards probably will not see the light of day until Christ Mass time 2000 at the earliest now.

Mayhem Accelerator is the semi-official working title for what was once semi-unofficially known as Acid Jam.

Astral Disaster CD edition is being released through World Serpent on 24th January. Here's the note from their website:


Astral Disaster is the new album from Coil. It features radically reworked and restructured material originally recorded for, and released by, Prescription Records in a limited edition of 99 12" vinyl copies only in 1999. This new edition also includes material not on the long unavailable original album.
Astral Disaster was recorded by John Balance and Peter Christopherson with the glamorous assistance of the multi talented Thighpaulsandra (Spiritualized & Julian Cope), also with contributions from Drew McDowall and Gary Ramon. The original was recorded at Samhain under the level of the river Thames at Southwark. Amongst the track titles are The Sea Priestess, The Avatars; The Mothership and the Fatherland and Muur are two long instrumental pieces, whilst the other tracks feature John Balance on vocals. The cd comes in a full colour digipak with artwork specially sculptured for the album by Steven Stapleton (Nurse With Wound).


There's still no Credit Card ordering for Musick To Play in the Dark Volume 2. It should be ready to send out shortly.

elph.zwölf - the December edition of Noton's 20' to 2000 series has been released in limited quantities. Get it while you can.

Other things Coil hope to release this year include:

Time Machines 5CD box
Backwards
ELpH: Santaplasm 7" pic-disc
The Star Shaped Individual In Society compilation

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