Coil "Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil" Eskaton 24 2000 (61:41)
Higher Beings Command (4:10)
I Am the Green Child (13:45)
Beige
Lowest Common Abominator
Freebase Chakra
Tunnel Of Goats
This is the second (see also "The Queens of the Circulating Library") in what looks to be an ongoing series of pretty pink clam shell cased discs from Coil, here being the trio of Thighpaulsandra, John Balance and Peter Christopherson.. "Constant.." coincided with Coil's second Royal Festival Hall concert late last year dubbed 'Persistence Is All' and according to the press release it is a 'trial by musick' that 'deals with the threat of lavishness and responds with noise'. Six titles are given upon the disc itself (as well as the amusing warning "do not play while driving or operating heavy machinery") but the disc is actually indexed into 23 tracks. "Higher Beings Command" sets the tone with waves of synth drone and subtle background clankings. "I Am the Green Child" is a mysteriously magical mix of sound swirl, muffled and mutated vocals, hysterical laughter, human howls and a playful percussive melody. Simply put, it's wonderfully bizarre, like much of Coil's recent output. Some lyrics I can make out besides the title are "we're swimming in a sea of occidental vomit" and "color, sound, oblivion". Tracks 3 through 5 (~15 minutes total) feature a continuous electronic power surge that fluctuates in intensity and drifts about the stereo field. Track 6 begins anew with a more chaotic and intriguing assault of sound, especially in the left channel, and Balance's haunting vocals appear briefly during tracks 10-12 like an incantation over the mayhem. The attack then continues uninterrupted, the ~15 minutes total inexplicably indexed into 2 and 1 minute, then 51 seconds of silence and 16 seconds of laughter bring everything to a close. Much of "Constant.." is more tedious than abrasive really, but it's well worth the extended listen. It's another fine example of Coil's genuine eccentricity and diversity. More prolific than ever, the next in the series is "Wounded Galaxies Tap At The Window", a tribute to William S. Burroughs, due out later this month ...
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via Forced Exposure.