Coil were an English experimental music group formed in 1982 in London and dissolved in 2005. Initially envisioned as a solo project by musician John Balance, Coil evolved into a full-time project with the addition of his partner and Psychic TV bandmate Peter Christopherson, formerly of pioneering industrial music group Throbbing Gristle. Coil's work explored themes related to the occult, sexuality, alchemy, and drugs while influencing genres such as gothic rock, neofolk and dark ambient. AllMusic called the group "one of the most beloved, mythologized groups to emerge from the British post-industrial scene."
Geoffrey Nigel Laurence Rushton, better known under the pseudonyms John Balance or the later variation Jhonn Balance, was an English musician, occultist, artist and poet.
Timothy Lewis – best known by the stage name Thighpaulsandra – is a Welsh experimental musician and multi-instrumentalist, known mostly for performing on synthesizers and keyboards. He began his career working with Julian Cope in the late 1980s, becoming a member of Cope's touring band. A collaboration with Cope in 1993 followed, forming the experimental duo Queen Elizabeth. In 1997, former Cope guitarist Mike Mooney invited Thighpaulsandra to fill in for the departing Kate Radley on a Spiritualized tour, and he remained with the band until early 2008. In 1998, Lewis also became a member of the experimental band Coil. He has subsequently released several solo albums under the Thighpaulsandra moniker.
ANS is a box set by Coil. The album uses a strange and esoteric photoelectric synthesizer known as the ANS synthesizer. It was built around half a century ago and still to this day sits where it was originally conceived; in the Moscow State University.
Musick to Play in the Dark Vol. 1 is the sixth studio album by Coil that was released in September 1999. It is the first album in the Musick to Play in the Dark series, with the second volume being released in 2000. It was remastered by Drew McDowall and reissued by Dais Records in 2020.
Musick to Play in the Dark Vol. 2 is the eighth studio album by Coil that was released in September 2000. It was the second of two albums attributed purely to a style called "moon musick," which signify their change from a "solar" group to a "moon" group. Musick to Play in the Dark Vol. 1 was the first installment.
Coil Presents Time Machines was a live CD by Coil. This CD was produced in a limited amount of 1,000 copies and was given away with the initial mail orders of Musick to Play in the Dark Vol. 2. The CD is a live performance which took place on 2 April 2000 at the Cornucopia festival in the Royal Festival Hall in London, England. The name of the performance was "Time Machines from the Heart of Darkness". The album was later reissued as "CD A" on Live One in an unaltered form.
A Guide for Beginners: The Voice of Silver was one of two CD compilations released to mark Coil's first performance in Russia. It is a collection of their ambient music style works. The titles were devised by the Russian musician and Coil collaborator Ivan Pavlov.
Black Antlers is the eleventh studio album by the experimental band Coil. It was originally released in CD-R format in 2004 in a limited edition and was sold during their Even an Evil Fatigue mini-tour. The album was later re-edited by Peter Christopherson and expanded to include a second CD of two new tracks, as well as a new track on the first disc. The second edition was released in August 2006 on the same day as the expanded version of The Remote Viewer. Both reissues were mastered by Mark Godwin, printed in Thailand and feature high quality images and packaging. Although the original edition did not include a catalogue number, the reissue was given a catalogue number of THBKK2.
Queens of the Circulating Library is the seventh studio album by the British experimental group Coil, released in 2000. It is unusual in the sense that it is perhaps the only release without participation from Peter Christopherson. On this album, Coil were: "Thighpaulsandra & John Balance with Dorothy Lewis as the queen of the circulating library. Thanks to Simon Norris." The lyrics were written by John Balance and spoken by Dorothy Lewis, Thighpaulsandra's mother. The line "It's in the trees, it's coming" that appears in the lyrics is from the 1957 British horror film Night of the Demon, and had previously appeared in sampled form in the song "Hounds of Love" by Kate Bush.
Moon's Milk (In Four Phases) is a release by Coil that compiles four of their singles onto a double CD. The two-disc album compiles the CD versions of Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice (originally recorded throughout 1998, and released seasonally from March 1998 to January 1999). The album also has a live version of "Amethyst Deceivers" hidden at the end of the first disc, following several minutes of silence after "A Warning from the Sun (For Fritz)". This recording of "Amethyst Deceivers" was later released on Live Two, although the Moon's Milk version is a slightly longer edit. The release was given the catalog number ESKATON 023 and features artwork by Steven Stapleton.
Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil is the ninth studio album by Coil, released in CD format at the same year as Queens of the Circulating Library. Like Queens, this album originally came packaged only in a pink c-shell case, with no official cover art except the on-disc printing.
Live Four was a compilation CD of live Coil songs. This CD was the first of four releases in a series. Its counterparts are Live Three, Live Two and Live One. This album was later released as part of Coil's box set The Key to Joy Is Disobedience.
Live Two was a CD by Coil which documents their live performance on 15 September 2001 at DK Gorbunova in Moscow, Russia. This CD was one of four releases in a series. Its counterparts are Live Four, Live Three and Live One. This album was later released as part of Coil's box set The Key To Joy Is Disobedience.
Live One was a double live album released by Coil. This CD was the fourth of four releases in a series. Its counterparts are Live Four, Live Three and Live Two. This album was later released as part of Coil's box set The Key to Joy Is Disobedience.
Live In Moscow is a VHS of a video recording of Coil. The live performance took place on 15 September 2001 at DK Gorbunova in Moscow, Russia. This video is exactly the same performance as Live Two.
Selvaggina, Go Back into the Woods is a live album by Coil, originally released in CD-R format in a limited edition of 230 copies. The release is a live performance in Jesi, Italy on 11 July 2004. This is the final release before the death of the lead vocalist John Balance in November at the same year.
The New Backwards is an album by Coil released on 18 April 2008. The album is reworked from the Backwards demo, which was originally created for Nothing Records.
Live in Porto is the "authorised bootleg" of a live performance by Coil, which took place on 21 June 2003 at the Casa da Música Festival, Porto, Portugal. At this show, Coil were Peter Christopherson, Thighpaulsandra and Ossian Brown. Jhonn Balance was too sick to attend, as in case of Montreal concert at MUTEK Festival.
Astral Disaster is a studio album by Coil, originally released in January 1999 on Acme/Prescription, reissued in 2000 on Threshold House, and then reissued in 2017 through Acme/Prescription.
