{"id":3998,"date":"2015-11-16T14:00:20","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T19:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=3998"},"modified":"2015-11-20T12:13:19","modified_gmt":"2015-11-20T17:13:19","slug":"coil-backwards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/coil-backwards\/","title":{"rendered":"Coil <br>Backwards"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/coil-backwards.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-3999\" src=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/coil-backwards.jpg\" alt=\"Coil, Backwards\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/coil-backwards.jpg 250w, https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/coil-backwards-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a>There\u2019s convoluted, and then there\u2019s Coil. While it\u2019s been difficult for even the most obsessive of archivist to keep the band\u2019s story straight, what is clear is that Coil formed in 1982 as the brainchild of musical and, at the time, romantic partners John Balance and Peter \u201cSleazy\u201d Christopherson. Over the course of Coil\u2019s 20 years of existence, a number of members rotated through as either studio collaborators or live show support. From there, things get fuzzy, as is the natural outcome when you attach a manifesto to your first release, dabble in \u201cmagickal music\u201d (sic), and rely on an intake of powerful drugs for inspirational purposes. Sadly both Balance and Christopherson have passed away\u2014Balance in 2004 and Christopherson in 2010\u2014with large chunks of the Coil catalog out of print. Thankfully longtime collaborator Danny Hyde has decided to take on the task of bringing the hidden corners of the Coil catalog back into light. To show just how serious he is, Hyde has pulled together Coil\u2019s infamous \u201clost\u201d album, <i>Backwards<\/i> (Cold Spring Records).<\/p>\n<p>By the early \u201990s, longtime fan Trent Reznor was in the position to release Coil\u2019s music on his Nothing Records label. After Coil contributed to a Nine Inch Nails remix project, <i>Backwards<\/i> was set to be Coil\u2019s debut on Nothing. After four years of work, the album was completed in 1996. However, for reasons not fully spelled out but likely a result of the suits at Nothing\u2019s parent company, Interscope, the record was shelved. Tracks from the record have appeared on other releases and there was even a <i>Smiley Smile<\/i>\u2013like situation where a version came out as <i>The New Backwards<\/i>. However, Hyde insists that this version of <i>Backwards<\/i> is what the band wanted to release and is the missing link in the sonic evolution of the band.<\/p>\n<p>Musically, Coil was truly all over the place, swinging from dance music to folk to abrasive noise to willy-nilly experimenting. But what does become clear is that each album is a snapshot of how the band was thinking about things at the time and not just <i>what<\/i> they were thinking about. As such, <i>Backwards<\/i> is a fairly good primer for those curious about Coil, running from risque industrial club tunes (\u201cBackwards\u201d) to glitchy soundscapes (\u201cFire of the Green Dragon\u201d) to near spoken word (\u201cPaint Me As a Dead Soul\u201d). It\u2019s washed in darkness, snarling, and tough-minded, but that\u2019s also balanced with a sophisticated ambiance.<\/p>\n<p>For the majority of its time, Coil was a studio band, and <i>Backwards<\/i> is a textbook example of its song exploration. At 65 minutes, it\u2019s not a casual listen, but if you spend time with the record, the craftsmanship reveals itself. It\u2019ll be interesting to see what Hyde uncovers next, but this is a great salvo for straightening out Coil\u2019s twisted discography.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s convoluted, and then there\u2019s Coil. While it\u2019s been difficult for even the most obsessive of archivist to keep the band\u2019s story straight, what is clear<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[1484,1485,1444],"class_list":["post-3998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-past-perfect","tag-coil","tag-cold-spring-records","tag-past-perfect"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Coil Backwards - The Agit Reader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/coil-backwards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Coil Backwards - The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There\u2019s convoluted, and then there\u2019s Coil. While it\u2019s been difficult for even the most obsessive of archivist to keep the band\u2019s story straight, what is clear\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/coil-backwards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-16T19:00:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-11-20T17:13:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/coil-backwards.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dorian S. Ham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dorian S. Ham\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/coil-backwards\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/coil-backwards\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dorian S. 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