Back catalogue: Experimental/Electronic

Review: According to legend, Coil's Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson and John Balance recorded Musick to Play in the Dark in a Victorian mansion in Weston-Super-Mare whilst in the midst of a "drug blur". That could have resulted in a hopeless sonic mess, but instead - as this remastered reissue of the 2000 album proves - the pair somehow managed to craft one of their most alluring, accessible, versatile and poetic albums. Mixing gently melodious ambient motifs and immersive aural textures with more experimental sounds, spoken and sung vocals and a variety of unobtrusive rhythms, the album remains one of the most vivid and enjoyable outings in their vast, action-packed catalogue. Given their track record, you can't get higher praise than that.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve, also the record has light surface marks/scratches, but otherwise in excellent working condition***


While so many bands start losing steam after 15 years and nine albums, Coil arguably were in the opposite frame of mind as the millennium approached. Musick To Play In The Dark not only lives up to its name, it marked a transition both sonically and, err, astrologically for the band, as they declared a new era as a lunar rather than solar group. God bless the 1990s, eh?

Digressions aside, what's here is weird and wonderful in equal measure, like walking around a darkened stately home on a still night, silver streaks of light illuminating various rooms, all of which are thick with atmosphere. Whether it's spooky distorted sounds on 'Strange Birds', 'Red Queen''s strange droning late-night piano soul, or the yearning ambient pop on 'The Dreamer Is Still Asleep', it's a subtly bold record packed with exceptional ideas built to last another two decades at least.

Review: The CD version of the Queens Of The Circulating Library re-release from Dais. This album once more cements the everlasting reputation of monarchic industrial-drone-ambient outfit Coil. This nearly 50-minute project has verifiably made its subjects quiver and shake with fear; the stern voices of the 'queens' who guard this seemingly infinite sonic bank of knowledge are narrated by the opera singer Dorothy Lewis, who takes a break from melismatic belting and trilling to play the role of totalitarian info-guardian. A deep, menacing psychedelic journey, not for the faint of spirit.

Review: First released 22 years ago at the turn of the millennium, Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil has been described as one of Coil's most "mind-altering creations"; given the fiercely experimental and often otherworldly nature of their catalogue, that's some going. The album, which has now been fully remastered, was one of the first things Coil recorded following their relocation to Weston-super-Mare, and sonically it's as bleak, windswept, and barren as the town itself seems out of season. It's full of droning tones, modular blips, metallic melodies, slowly shifting ambient textures and musical motifs that lap in and out like waves. Furthermore, the album's standout moment, the near 14-minute 'I Am The Green Child', is like some mutant, experimental sea shanty crossed with a hypnotic ambient-industrial raga.

Review: Dais has described Luke Younger's ninth album as Helm as a "liberating return to his roots". It was certainly produced in a more DIY manner than some of his recent sets, with Younger adding contributions from guest musicians (vocals, cello, guitar, violin) to wonderfully woozy, atmospheric and alluring backing tracks crafted from a mixture of "primitive equipment, contact mics, cheap FX and noise boxes". The results are surprisingly dynamic - partially a result of the project's roots as a soundtrack for a dance performance that never took place - with industrial-fired ambient soundscapes being joined by crunchy, beat-driven electronica and gravelly, foreboding, guitar-laden experimental workouts.