Coil - "Stolen and Contaminated Songs"

Truly one of the highlights in an excellent catalog of work, Stolen and Contaminated Songs isn't even a proper "album," but a collection of outtakes from the Love's Secret Domain sessions. And what sessions they were to have such a wealth of superb material that was leftover. Showcasing Coil's diversity, the album veers from the orchestrated classicisms of "Original Chaostrophy" and "Corybantic Ennui" to the slow, mutant lounge shuffle of "Omlagus Garfungiloops" and the utter despair of "Who'll Fall?" The last track there is a highlight, a detuned guitar and phone line noises underscore a harrowing answering machine message from someone who's friend has just committed suicide. Haunting in its execution and utterly compelling. The peak of the album, and one of the band's best songs, "NASA-Arab," is placed in the middle of the album, and like the main pole in a circus tent, supports everything around it. Multiple swirling keyboard lines cross paths with a groovy bassline and the strangest syncopated drums on this planet. Close listening will bring about a trance-like state in the listener. This is a great album for people new to the magic of Coil, easier than Time Machines and better produced than Horse Rotorvator.

4.5 stars