Coil, "Black Antlers"

All the Pretty Little Horses (trad.)

Hush-a-bye, don't you cry
Go to sleepy, little baby
Go to sleepy, little baby
When you wake, you shall have
All the pretty little horses
All the pretty little horses

Blacks and bays, and dapples and greys
All the pretty little horses

Way down yonder in the meadow
Lies a poor little lamby
Bees and butterflies flit around his eyes
Poor little thing is crying "mammy"
(Poor little thing is crying "mammy")
(Poor little thing is crying "mammy")

Go to sleep, don't you cry
Rest your head upon the clover
Rest your head upon the clover
In your dreams, you shall ride
While your mummy watches over

Blacks and bays, and dapples and greys
All the pretty little horses
All the pretty little horses

Go to sleep, don't you cry
Rest your head upon the clover
Rest your head upon the clover
In your dreams, you shall ride
While your mummy watches over
In your dreams, you shall ride
While your mummy watches over

Blacks and bays, and dapples and greys
All the pretty little horses
All the pretty little horses
All the pretty little horses

Sex with Sun Ra (Part 1 - Saturnalia)

Sun Ra was here in his element
He invited me back for a ride
I smiled, agreed, and we left for the place
That is full of the reasons for time and for space
He said he was leaving last tide

Sun Ra was here in his element
He invited me back for a ride
I agreed and left for the places
He said he was leaving last tide

In a spaceship powered by natural sounds
I smiled, agreed, and we left for the place
That is full of the reasons for time and space
He said, "I dream of colour music,
And the intricacies of the machines that make it possible"
I said, "You are nothing if not inconsistent"
He said, "I rely upon being insistent
I'm almost never forever
I'm almost never for now
I implore you, explore all the people you meet
I implore you, explore all the people you meet"

Sun Ra was here in his element
He invited me back for a ride
He said, "I will be all right if you kiss me
And I will be all right if you hold me
It will be all right if you kiss me
It'll be all right if you hold me"

He said, "Now is the time to relaunch the dream weapon"
He said, "Now is the time to relaunch the dream weapon
Relaunch the dream weapon
We worship at the shrine of the thylacine
We worship at the shrine of the thylacine
We worship at the shrine of the thylacine"
And we worshipped at the shrine of the thylacine

I thought, priceless, bloody priceless
Priceless, bloody priceless
Petals pleated
Tear droplets repeated
Sepals, ssss... separate
We hydrogenerate in the basin of a black pan
I see acid free, not an ideal homeland for you or me
With desert venom and military temples
Black wings flying over without management
Without management or plan
Where resonators rub against the delinquent and the compliant
I will be all right if you kiss me
I will be all right if you hold me
When I see the great black light
When I see the grey-black light
That shines in the eyes of animals
When I find you I will remind you
Most accidents occur at home
Most accidents occur at home
Or in Harry Smith's room in the Chelsea Hotel
Or in Harry Smith's room in the Chelsea Hotel
Where we relaunch the dream weapon
Where we relaunch the dream weapon
Where we relaunch the dream weapon
All will be forgotten, all will be forgotten
All will be forgotten, and all will be well
All will be forgotten, and all will be well
Priceless, bloody priceless
I will be all right if you kiss me
I will be all right if you hold me
I'll be all right if you kiss me
I will be all right if you hold me
In Harry Smith's room in the Chelsea Hotel
Harry Smith's room
In Harry Smith's room in the Chelsea Hotel

Sex with Sun Ra (Part 2 - Sigillaricia)

I see acid free
Not an ideal homeland for you and me
Desert venom
Military temples
Black wings flying out without management or plan
Where the resonated rubs
Against delinquent and compliant
I will be all right if you kiss me
I will be all right if you hold me
I said "Next time I see you, I'll remind you
Most accidents occur at home
Most accidents occur at home"

All will be forgotten, and all will be well
Things We Never Had

Wise words from the (repeated)

...???...

Wise words from the (repeated)

The Wraiths and Strays of Paris
Wraiths and Strays (from Montreal)

For I will follow you in (repeated)

Ra, bai, be, om, uyi, ucha, beyom, om... (repeated)

Jhon Balance and Sleazy are no longer partners. Sleazy's moved to Thailand, and Jhon's moved to London. The physical location of Threshold House, where Coil used to live and record their music, has been abandoned. Jhon Balance has a new lover and collaborator, artist Ian Johnstone, he's grown a D.H. Lawrence-style beard, and seems to have fallen once again into a vortex of substance abuse and insanity. Both Jhon and Sleazy have announced that they are now working on non-Coil side projects. Despite all evidence to the contrary, however, Coil have continued to insist that they are not breaking up. The first evidence of this came with their recent mini-tour through a handful of European cities, their so-called "Even An Evil Fatigue" tour. At each of their concert dates, they've been selling this CD-R entitled Black Antlers. With the exception of a new version of "Broccoli" and a song called "Tattooed Man," (apparently destined for inclusion on the long-ago scrapped Dark Age of Love LP), the songs on this disc mirror the setlist of the recent concerts. In fact, the barebones packaging and low-fidelity recording of Black Antlers leads me to suspect that it is nothing but a glorified concert rehearsal captured on record. According to various sources, Coil have plans to re-record and re-mix this material, and will eventually give it an official release. Therefore, I should probably withhold final judgment on these songs. However, it's hard not to notice the under-produced, impromptu nature of the music and vocals. There is a loose, improvisatory feel to these tracks that I'm not altogether convinced is the final word for these songs. Jhon Balance's vocals are given too much prominence in the mix, overwhelming the Sleazy's laptop programming and Thighpaulsandra's vintage synthesizer squalls. However, approached as a series of "works in progress," the album has quite a lot to recommend it. "The Gimp (Sometimes)" is a spooked, melancholic lament by Balance, set against an eerie backdrop of distorted synthesizers and scattered percussive elements. "Sex With Sun Ra (Part 1 - Saturnalia)" is the best song on the album, Balance narrating an erotic fantasy partly based on Sun Ra's "black folks in space" prophecies as explicated in John Coney's film Space is the Place: "He dreamt of color music and the machines that make it possible/He took me for a ride on a space ship powered by natural music." The music bears no resemblance to the cosmic free jazz of Sun Ra, veering closer to Musick to Play in the Dark-era Coil: gurgling synthscapes with slow, percolating rhythms. "All The Pretty Little Horses" is an unexpected cover of the traditional British folk song made famous (to Brainwashed readers) by Current 93. Coil's version is quite lovely, with expertly played marimba as accompaniment for Balance's best attempt at crooning. "Teenage Lightning (10th Birthday Version)" resurrects and expands the LSD track, giving it a more open-ended, organic feel than the original. "Black Antlers (Where's Your Child)" ends the disc on a high note, a druggy rave-up full of queasy samples and chopped, distended vocal samples. With a little finessing, this album has the potential to be one of Coil's finest. - Jonathan Dean, Brainwashed