Foxtrot - review

by John Siddique - jowonio_productions@netmatters.co.uk

foxtrot:graal cd001
this album was put together to raise funds for john balance of coil to help him through a bad period of alcohol problems, that had seen him having to have treatment in a private clinic. here the serpent world of coil, current 93, john balace's partner and nurse with wound come together in support of their friend.

it seems a shame though when people put together a benefit lp there are so few new pieces of music on them, bands prey on their collectors market and the dutiful fans often go along slightly unsatisfied with live versions or another remix. if you are a follower of these bands this lp is half like that and half generous new music. if you are new to all this you should mostly enjoy a dive into this strange river of sound

in my head a crystal spere of heavy fluid - peter christopherson
a lovely spinning india raga style guitar loop over slow ritual percussion and street sounds from some eastern market place, perhaps. this piece is dedicated to ws burroughs and is possibly peter's sonic representation of interzone/tangiers

bone frequency - the inflatable sideshow
who are bone frequency, well they are nurse with wound really, with an astonishing piece that makes the lp, if you can imagine a surrealist take on black sabbath by black sabbath you are part of the way there. there is fun and joy in this music, it is the sound of stapleton and chums at play

think jazz, think punk attitude - nurse with wound
a solo voice parenthesised by robert sandall from mixing it, bbc radio 3's avante garde music program talking about the strangeness of nww. the voice is operatic, eratic and lovely

spooky loop - nurse with wound
this droney piece built from what seems like guitars played in a sawmill. it moves and floats around and draws you into a folding revolving version of itself, bringing the world and your environment into focus.

blue rats(blue cheese mix) - coil
here the albums weaknesses show through, blue rats is just a stripped down and much lesser version of the track of the same name on coil's black light district album. this is the weakest track on the whole album and really is just filling space with the name coil on it

heartworms - coil
this too has seen the light of day before on the world serpent compilation lp "terra serpentes" it is not a bad track, the vocal built around a bit of an english joke that "there is too much blood in my alcohol" but the fact that it is john balance talking about his struggle with this deamon lends some weight to it

a dream of the inmost light - current93
another remix. this time of "the inmost light itself" form c93's wonderfull lp "all the pretty little horses"
if you have not heard that lp. this is a lovely affecting drone piece. built out of fripp style guitar with children calling the inmost light to be and a hymn rising slowly through the long chord. if you know the c93 lp. then it is still a lovely remix but one finds onself wanting something new, some new ideas, some challenge from the very talented mr. tibet

feb 1st 1998
john siddique of jowonio productions
theories, abstractions, rotations, things and afew records for sale at users.netmatters.co.uk/jowonio_productions