After the Recoiled mess, I'm definitely not buying the vinyl version, not wasting my money or time. Also, I know Danny worked with them a lot, but I'm a little suspicious of how official/legit this is. I mean, they released these tracks on two albums already, so the talk about how this is "now presented as originally intended" seems weird, given that Peter had a direct hand in releasing The Ape of Naples and The New Backwards.
Any word from Danny Hyde?
There's been some talk about the release on the Coil Facebook group, of all places. From what I gather skimming input from various people who appear to have been involved, what's being released on Cold Spring is what was going to be released on Nothing Records, had there not been ambiguous legal issues to deal with at the time. I plan on getting the vinyl because Coil vinyl appears to be made from the same material as any other vinyl, but inevitably ends up being worth magnitudes more than it should be. While I think Cold Spring will press more than enough copies, I've also got a particular soft spot for Nothing Studios era music. I thought Recoiled/Uncoiled was holy grail material, but really, this is.
While there are several versions of these tracks that have been officially released, I think you can count on these being legitimately frozen in time from the original 1996(?) production. In fact, some guy on the Facebook group was like, "Psh whatever, I've had Fire of the Mind on my soundcloud for ages. There's a version of Heaven's Blade that Danny posted on YouTube that's like the Dutch Radio broadcast, but more involved, with lyrics (slightly different from the Ape of Naples version) and a drugged out, droney/ambient ending... hoping that's the version that ends up on this release.
There was some drama on the FB group, because Jon W, who runs Brainwashed, was like "Wahh, this isn't using the artwork I was given and told to use when releasing Backwards, why didn't anyone consult me," which I found irritating. If he's got the perfect Backwards album, why not put it out there? He went so far as to contact Cold Spring and lodge some kind of complaint. I hope it's nothing that stymies the release. Dude's apparently got a metric crapload of unreleased Coil bequeathed to him by Peter, and is taking his sweet time doing anything with it, meanwhile fans are buying bootleg vinyls, making their own shirts, whatever. I'm glad I'm not really in the thick of that crowd, seems like there's a lot of melodrama surrounding unreleased works, rights to existing works, etc.
In semi-related news, Drew McDowall (frequent collaborator) is releasing his long overdue first album on a pal's label, Dais, in just a few weeks. I've heard most of the album between a few sneak peaks and one of Drew's solo shows, so I can say with some authority that it's going to be a top 5 for the year, for sure.
http://www.factmag.com/2015/08/20/dr...lbum-collapse/
It seems like Backwards has leaked already, not sure if it's legit. Currently downloading it.
Also there's a good chance that I can't decide if it's real or not, so if someone here can give the word it'd be great.
Last edited by Lerxto; 08-26-2015 at 11:08 PM.
Tracklist from Cold Spring is:
1. Intro
2. Backwards
3. Amber Rain
4. Fire Of The Green Dragon
5. Be Careful What You Wish For
6. Nature Is A Language
7. Heaven’s Blade
8. CopaCaballa
9. Paint Me As A Dead Soul
10. AYOR (It’s In My Blood)
11. A Cold Cell
12. Fire Of The Mind
So maybe they just screwed up the order of tracks 3-6?
Last edited by barkhammer; 08-27-2015 at 06:12 AM.
Yeah, I've been following the Coil FB Group as well. I've stopped bothering even trying to talk to people there, it's just horrible. Anyone even asking about releases that are bootlegs get yelled at. The market for bootlegs wouldn't exist if official versions were in print. I didn't see where Jon was complaining, but I agree with what you've said Matt. If he was given the archive by Peter with instructions on how to release it, then just get on with it. If money is the issue, then do a Kickstarter or something, as I think it's pretty obvious that fans would support it, especially if he has what he claims are documents from Peter confirming that he has permission to release this material and that it's official. He's posted pictures of the letters, and outlined how the releases would be done. It would be pretty awesome, but I'm not holding my breath on them ever coming out. I'm glad that even though I've sold a lot of music I've regretted later on, I've held on to my Coil releases, which even though they go for high prices, I'll hold onto.
As far as this release on Cold Spring goes, I'm tempted to get the vinyl, but they did such a poor job on the Recoiled pressing that I'd rather not waste my money. Maybe I'll get the CD, as I'm definitely interested in the music, especially since it's got that original version of A Cold Cell, which blows away the version they put out on Ape of Naples.
Last edited by trollmanen; 08-30-2015 at 11:10 PM.
Goddamn. Finally got around to downloading the leak. (I've pre-ordered the vinyl, direct from Danny, for better or worse)
The version of Heaven's Blade that was on Ape Of Naples was pretty wild in its own way, but I fucking love this version.
It really is a shame this album didn't get released in 1996. I've always liked my Coil tempered with some pop sensibilities, and this feels like the natural progression from Love's Secret Domain. Lots of weird stuff nestled amongst catchy melodies, rhythms that are at times dancey and oppressive, and ... yeah. So glad it's finally out.
I'm now drawing connections between the Backwards demo, The Ape of Naples, The New Backwards and Backwards 2015. Some of the songs in TAoN and TNB were so manipulated that I couldn't figure out which songs from the demo they were taken from, but now that we have the 2015 edition, things are much clearer now. For example, Wir-Click-Wir is Copacaballa and Elves is Be Careful What You Wish For.
if they're just pressing it as a standard 2xLP (which will likely only be three sides, as the original box set was three single-sided discs with etching on each disc's b-side) it shouldn't be too bad.
also, in case anyone didn't see it, Backwards is up for pre-order on Amazon if you want to avoid expensive shipping direct from Coldspring (i believe the base price is also cheaper).
picked up a cassette of The Snow EP today at a local record store. there was another guy there with basically the exact same taste as me and he managed to snag a cassette of Love's Secret Domain before i saw it, about which i am eternally pissed :|
Arrow Video in the UK is releasing a boxset containing the first three Hellraiser films, and one of the new features included is an interview about the abandoned score that Coil did for the first Hellraiser.
Well, it sounds like a cool record store though. Even in a big city like LA, where there used to be tons of music shops with dedicated sections for dark wave/ambient/industrial/post-punk, now there's really only a couple... and they're so far away.
I miss the heyday of curated indie record stores.
well, Amoeba is pretty great (and gigantic) in your neck of the woods. the first time i went there (in 2002) i spent like $200 in one visit. i was on a family vacation and my parents couldn't believe i a) brought that much money with me and b) spent it all in one place.
the store i was talking about here is called Reckless Records. they have a few locations around the city and do a pretty great job of having a wide selection and being generally awesome.
Just spotted the CD of Backwards in my local HMV. I was a bit speechless. The didn't have the vinyl.
Excited that this is finally happening. Not buying this first round, but looking forward to the upcoming ones.
Still haven't heard Backwards. Is it better than TNB?
Seems there's some behind-the-scenes drama about these new issues. A bit of a bun fight over rights. It's hard to say without more facts, but I *think* Danny might be on the other side of the line from the guys doing these singles re-issues.
Tracklistings up on discogs for the re-issues.
And an informative update on brainwashed.com.
So on the one hand I think the brainwashed guy will have plenty of things to do with the rest of the Coil retrospective, he doesn't need to try and torpedo the Backwards release. I guess the issue is the royalties from Backwards on Cold spring are not clear, who knows what deal Danny has cooked up. Danny might still feel burnt by the Closer remix debacle and this is compensation. But then that's what I thought Recoiled was. Are all the royalties going to Danny?