Eskaton

Formed in 1970, the Eskaton Kommandkestra continued the Zeuhl tradition spearheaded by Christian Vander's Magma. In an move towards accessibility they discard the Kobaian lyrics, opting instead for their native French. In 1974 original members Xavier de Raymond (Fender piano), Gerard Konig (drums), Marc Rosenberg (bass guitar), and Alain Blesing (guitar) are joined by Paule Kleynnaert (vocals), Amara Tahir (vocals), Eris Guillaume (keyboards), and Andre Bernardi (guitar) becoming simply Eskaton. 1979 saw the release of their first single "Musique Post Atomique", and the recording of their first album "4 Visions" (which would remain unreleased until 1981). Personnel changes (Alain Blessing, Eric Guillaume and Xavier de Raymond out, Gilles Rozenberg and Malicorne's violinist Patrick Lemercier in) resulted in shorter songs, tighter arrangements and their next release, 1980's "Ardeur"…

Track 1 originally released on Nasa-Arab 12" (Eskaton, 1994). Track 2 is an extended version of the original released on Stolen And Contaminated Songs CD (Threshold House, 1992) and subsequently extended for Nasa-Arab 12" (Eskaton, 1994). Track 3 originally released on Macro Dub Infection Volume One comp. 2xCD (Virgin, 1995). Track 4 originally released on Chaos In Expansion comp. CD (Sub Rosa, 1993). Tracks 5-11 are demos, outtakes, and other era-appropriate ephemera.

Coil was initially established in London in 1983 as an experimental solo outlet for ex-Psychic TV member John Balance, and became a full-fledged experimental sonic manipulation unit a year later following the arrival of keyboardist / programmer Peter Christopherson (Sleazy), a founder of Psychic TV as well as a member of Throbbing Gristle. From a creative angle, the band has demonstrated and provided innovative schemas of composition and experimented various forms of ambient music, from industrial to ritual and droning, mainly based on tape machines, loops, sonic electronic machines and various instruments. The sound aesthetic is impregnated by very deep, richful, moving and disturbingly obsessive textures as in the now classic How to Destroy Angels (1992) and Musick To Play In The Dark (1999)…

A 21 minute EP-length CD from Coil and one of their alter-egos, ELpH. In the CD booklet track one is attributed to Coil and tracks two, three and four are attributed to ELpH. The three ELpH tracks are more distinctively Coil-esque than the Coil track. The first of them is a slow, meditative ambient piece, which gives way to a very dark, intense (and all too brief) ambient piece. The final track is a reprise of the first ELpH track, which is now given time to develop further.

Officially, this is released by ELpH vs. Coil, which only makes sense since ELpH is in fact Coil, the name having been adopted for work where unplanned results come out of the musical equipment in use - a technological collaborative effort, one can say. Whatever the exact origins, the results are even more on the edge than many Coil pieces, eschewing formal song structures for exploratory efforts in sampling and instrumental rhythm. Having previously released three singles under the moniker, Coil went ahead with the full album in 1995, another interesting twist in their involved discography. Beginning and ending with murky pieces featuring the voice of Leah Hersig, wife of longtime Coil touchstone Aleister Crowley, Worship the Glitch profiles the use of random chance and possible mistakes right from the title…

Spring Equinox: Moon's Milk or Under an Unquiet Skull is part one of the four part Seasons collective created by Coil.
This disc continues in the same vein musically as the preceeding Coil oriented release, "Time Machines". The music is essentially instrumental drone based pieces, Parts 1 and 2 being much alike, except that Part 2 has the wonderful addition of electric viola melodies.

Summer Solstice: Bee Stings is part two of the four part Seasons collective created by Coil.
With guest electric viola from William Breeze adding to the unearthly strangeness of the release as a whole, Summer Solstice continues the seasonal series of EPs from 1998 in fine style. John Balance is in excellently haunting voice throughout, and on the opening title track his mysterious, husked singing, sometimes slightly overdubbed or echoed, blends perfectly with Breeze's work and the clipped percussion making a slow pace. "Summer Substructures" contains more of the chaotic side of Coil, Balance repeating a series of questions and statements over a backwards-run rhythm loop that rises and fades along with any number of other drones and strange noises…

The third installment of the season EPs from 1998 found William Breeze returning to add more viola as well as mandolin, while Rose McDowell, Louise Weasel, and Sorrow's Robert Lee are among the various guests. Coil worked initially with treated vocals and synth, then built up the arrangements of the five tracks from there. The feeling at many points is very much in line with the Coil/World Serpent tree of modern mysticism. Certainly Balance and McDowell's chants and pronouncements on the exquisite "Rosa Decidua," backed with descending chords on organ and further murky waves of noise, feels like a centuries-old ritual returned to life…

The conclusion to the 1998 season series (actually released in January 1999) certainly lives up to the title billing, in that things do sound awfully cold and gloomy this time around. Opening track "A White Rainbow" does it brilliantly, though Balance's upfront, softly echoed vocal backed by viola from William Breeze and buried background chants result in an unstable, fascinating blend. Enough randomly crazed distortion comes in at the end to send everything just enough over the top…

On this limited-edition CD, packaged in a pink C-shell with no other inserts, Coil is stripped down to just John Balance and Thighpaulsandra, with the addition of Dorothy Lewis, a retired opera singer and Thighpaulsandra's mother who adds some spoken word material written by Balance. Released on Mother's Day and dedicated to mothers everywhere, Queens of the Circulating Library represents a lighter, softer version of Coil. The single 50-minute track starts off with Lewis' voice speaking about the wonders of libraries, books, knowledge, and trees over some warm, ambient drones. Loops of her voice become electronically manipulated to add some weird textures to the drones, but even these fade out about a quarter of the way in, and the remainder of the disc drifts off in the shifting drones until it finally fades into silence at the end…