If you know the musick of Coil, then you may recognize where the name of this blog was borrowed from. If you have made that connection, then you may have suspected that I am a big fan of Coil. You would be correct. I first heard Coil in 1991 and it was through my rabid affection for Wax Trax! Records that I was lucky to discover Love’s Secret Domain. I bought that album (on cassette) knowing nothing about them but this was typical behavior for me since I had that much faith in Wax Trax! as a label. I listened to LSD and it was unlike anything I’d ever heard before. Coil was quite different from the sound that I had grown accustomed to with Wax Trax!. Love’s Secret Domain was rich, and it was so layered. It did not have the aggressive industrial sound that many other Wax Trax! artists had and every time I listened to it, it was like a great tapestry unraveling and revealing something new with each listen. I had a hard time taking it all in but from that very first listen, I was an immediate fan.
Here I stand so many years later and if you asked me to name my favorite “band”, I would not be able to give an answer. I simply have too many favorites. Now, if you told me that I was only going to be able to listen to one band for the rest of my life, I would eagerly choose Coil. Their output was so diverse over the years. That being said, it was 8 years ago today that I was saddened to learn of the death of the great Jhonn Balance. While his legacy can never die, even today it still saddens me to know that I will never be able to hear new musick from Coil…
Here is Further Back And Faster which is one of my personal favorites from LSD. It was hard to choose a favorite on this sad anniversary but I do know that Jhonn is still with us, forever spiraling out.
Wonderful – and not surprising – to still find Coil affecionados knocking around. Their influence on people was and continues to be profound.
Profound indeed. Coil have always been and continue to be one of my greatest inspirations of creative output no matter what the current medium is. The music of Coil has driven many of my own paintings, writings, and music and I simply cannot think of any other group of musicians that have had that profound of an affect on me. I just wish I could repay them for what they have given me. I guess honoring the memory of Jhonn and Peter is the best I can do.
Honouring their memory and acknowledging their influence – absolutely. I’m sure they would be happy with that, wherever they are now. ‘Horse Rotorvator’ was a springboard for many, many stories I’ve written over the years and most of what they did forms a backdrop to my fiction writing. All power to you.