Pay Your Respects to the Vultures, For They Are Your Future: Transmission 514, 2020 February 27

 

The pandemic has made me extra-fond of this episode, because it's one of the last "specials" I did before the lockdown, but I think this episode might be suitable for the pantheon in any timeline. I had of course already inducted Coil into the Bombast Hall of Legends, in four stages, to go along with their "equinox" / "solstice" series. Early days! But here I wind up with airtime on what would be Peter Christopherson's birthday, so it's a "proper" chance to devote the full two hours to their music (and other things, with apologies to Jhonn Balance).

I pronounce PC's surname like "Kristofferson" although I don't really know if that's correct--I become wistful about the Dif Juz HoL induction, triggered by that very question. How lucky I was that at least two of them are alive to answer the question. But not in this case. This program is for the spirits, and for the fans, and for the uninitiated.

There is no cool or interesting origin story for me and my Coil records. I'm sure that Jeremy, Friend of the Program, used to encourage me to play Scatology late at night on the radio, many years ago. And there was a kind docent at the local record store, Alex, who insisted I take home The Unreleased Themes for Hellraiser 10-inch. I'm not a pagan, I'm not into male-only onanistic rituals or anything, I'm just a black cishet guy who loves music that is unusual and good and unusually good. My tastes are probably almost as boring as I am.

I guess I stuck with Coil over the years because they were prolific and restless, building a catalog that is almost self-sufficient--not merely a "desert island disc" but a desert island body of work. In that ridiculous hypothetical, you'd hardly need anyone else's records. Also, there are only a handful of “industrial “ artists who (to me) are unproblematic. It’s a depressingly short list--Coil, Cabaret Voltaire, Chris & Cosey, Test Dept., Bourbonese Qualk, Einsturzende Neubauten, Nocturnal Emissions, Zoviet France, I'm not sure whom I'm forgetting...Everyone else seems too close to Alain Jourgensen, too close to Douglas Pearce, or is actually Genesis. This last bit is less trivial than it sounds--Coil's presence on a compilation is a really good indicator of quantity. I've "discovered" a lot of good sounds just picking up the various "various artists" records on which Coil appeared. And I take the willingness to do comps as an indicator of niceness in a person--easygoing, plays well with others, etc.

So I guess that's it.

It was a lovely evening sitting in the studio and letting the music flow through me, loudly, though I couldn’t seem to say anything correctly when it was time to speak. There is a certain magic(k) in the air whether you listen to this in blinding sunlight or at nighttime as intended.

Since this program was broadcast, 418 days ago now, I've gone "on the air" 57 times. I have delivered 53 pre-recorded episodes on account of the pandemic. I am most definitely biased but I have to say that none of those episodes are better than this one.

BOMBAST playlist, 2020 February 27, 2100-2300:

• "First Dark Ride" | Coil | Unnatural History III | Threshold House
• "Who'll Fall" | Coil | Stolen & Contaminated Songs | Cold Spring
• "20 Jazz Funk Greats" | Throbbing Gristle | 20 Jazz Funk Greats | Mute
• "Red Skeletons" | Coil Presents Black Light District | A Thousand Lights in a Darkened Room | Eskaton
• "Homage To Sewage" | Coil | Life At The Top | Third Mind / Abstract
• "Futhur" | Coil | Stolen & Contaminated Songs | Cold Spring
• "Princess Margaret's Man In the D'jamalfna" | Coil | The New Backwards | Important Records
• "Amethyst Deceivers" | Coil | Autumn Equinox: Amethyst Deceivers | Eskaton
• "Distant Dreams (Part Two)" | Throbbing Gristle | The Industrial Records Story | Illuminated
• "Love's Secret Domain" | Coil | Stolen & Contaminated Songs | Cold Spring
• "Feeder" | CTI With Coil | Core - A Conspiracy International Project | Conspiracy International
• "Panic" | Coil | Unnatural History III | Threshold House
• "Cowboys In Bangkok 1995 (Coil vs Elph Mix)" | Chris & Cosey | Twist | T & B Vinyl
• "The Snow" | Coil | Love's Secret Domain | Threshold House
• "In My Head A Crystal Sphere Of Heavy Fluid" | Peter Christopherson | Foxtrot | Chalice
• "The Last Amethyst Deceiver" | Coil | The Ape of Naples | Important Records
• "Neither His Nor Yours" | Coil | A Diamond Hidden In The Mouth Of A Corpse | Giorno Poetry Systems
• "Dark River" | Coil | Love's Secret Domain | Threshold House
• "The Lost Rivers of London" | Coil | Unnatural History III | Threshold House

Everything is good and divine

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