Coil /The New Blockaders /Vortex Campaign - The Melancholy Mad Tenant

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5...according to our Brett on Thu 20 Aug, 2009.

Back in on Important is the reissue of a 1984 session in which the then-infants known as Coil and The New Blockaders collaborated, along with Vortex Campaign who apparently initiated the whole project. Originally issued on cassette then reissued on CD twenty years later, The Melancholy Mad Tenant then got a vinyl press last year only to sell out pretty much before anyone even knew it existed. Onward to the present day where Important have done the decent thing and pressed a few more, this time on clear 180g vinyl. Musically it's quite a remarkable release and, for all its noisily industrial avant garde tendencies, a highly listenable one. For me these drones, whistles and rattles sound like the blowing of foghorns, the turning of wheels and the screeching of brakes, evoking some sort of empty post-industrial world where the machines we've set in motion continue without us, unknowingly serving absolutely no-one. A wonderful and intriguing peek into the pasts of two legendary bands.

Limited edition of 500 copies on 180 gram vinyl. Originally released on cassette in 1984 and then on cd in an edition of 500. In 1984 Vortex Campaign invited Coil and The New Blockaders to collaborate. The result, unofficially referred to as “Dolbied”, was released on cassette in an edition of 50. The release has since gone on to become legendary, showcasing two of the most influential groups in the scene at the early stages of their development. “The Melancholy Mad Tenant” is an authorised release, sanctioned by all three groups. Formed in 1983 the output of Coil has ranged from the avant-garde, to experimental neoclassical, to extended excursions into pure electronica. Many bands and composers have cited Coil as an influence. Coil were mainly a studio group, but in 2000 they commenced a succesful series of tours that proved to be extremely remarkable events. The New Blockaders began in 1982 with the release of the debut LP “Changez Les Blockeurs” which is cited by many as a defining moment in the history of noise music. TNB have gone on to influence a generation of artists from Japanese noise-maestro Merzbow to noise punks Wolf Eyes.

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