Coil
Stolen and Contaminated Songs

LA RECENSIONE

Within the post-industrial esoteric scene, the Coil were undoubtedly one of the fundamental names. The group of John Balance and Peter Cristopherson went through various creative phases and always knew how to reinvent their sound, never making an identical album. Today their influence is evident in much electronica and experimentation. After the first phase, characterized by esoteric industrial masterpieces like "Scatology" and "Horse Rotorvator," Coil released in 1991 “Love’s Secret Domain,” a deviant acid house record - heavily influenced by drug use as they themselves admitted - that nevertheless showed how John Balance and Peter Christopherson could be eclectic in redefining the boundaries of the genre with forays into avant-garde music.

In 1992, “Stolen And Contaminated Songs” was released, an album of outtakes and material that had not yet seen the light of day recorded during the "Love’s Secret Domain" sessions. Now Cold Spring reissues it on CD and, for the first time, on limited edition vinyl. It is an important work in its own way as it takes us directly inside the Coil laboratory and shows us the way the group worked and shaped sonic material. Inevitably “Stolen And Contaminated Songs” is a fragmentary and discontinuous album. Nevertheless, within it are real gems such as "Original Chaostrophy," with "stockhausenian" influences and "Nasa Arab," a tribal-ambient track similar to what Robin Storey would later do with Rapoon. "Omlagus Garfungiloops" is a bizarre liquid avant jazz that ventures into uncharted territories. We also find an alternative version of "Love’s Secret Domain," less psychotic than the original but still interesting. The drone music of "Wrim Wram Wrom" seems to anticipate the psychedelic minimalism of the subsequent and epochal "Time Machines." "Who’ll Fall" is certainly the saddest and most moving moment and is based on a phone call in which Coil learn of a friend’s suicide.

In essence, “Stolen And Contaminated Songs” is an important piece for understanding Coil's sonic universe, and I recommend all group enthusiasts not to miss this reissue. The hope is that albums that have now reached staggering prices in the collectors’ market such as "Musick To Play In The Dark," the aforementioned "Time Machines," "Black Antlers," and "Moon’s Milk" will also become available. Available on Bandcamp: https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/stolen-contaminated-songs-csr276cd-lp.