Name: Queens Of The Circulating Library
Brand: Coil

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

DAIS187lp-C4

Colour

Clear

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: Yes

Format detail

Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2023-01-13

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

Secre­tly

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

011586674592

Total Cap

1 / Clear / Extended format: Yes / LP

DAIS187cd

Extended format: No

011586674578

1 / CD

DAIS187lp-C2

Blue

Baby Blue &amp; Clear Splatter Vinyl

Rough Trade Exclusive: Yes

Rough Trade &amp; HHV Exclusive

011586674615

1 / Blue / Extended format: Yes / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: Yes

DAIS187lp

Black

011586674585

1 / Black / LP

Artist

Coil

Genre US

Industrial

Label US

DAIS Records

<p>Formed in London in 1983, Coil was initially a solo side project by John Balance, who was also a member of Psychic TV. In 1984, Balance joined forces with Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson, another founding member of Psychic TV and former Throbbing Gristle member. Tragically, John Balance passed away in 2004, leading Peter Christopherson to decide that Coil would not continue. Sadly, Peter Martin Christopherson also left us in 2010 at the age of 55.</p>

Check out our latest restocks of vinyl records, CDs, books and merchandise at Rough Trade. Dive into rare finds, classic albums and add something special to your collection.

Back In Stock

Vinyl variants, bonus material and signed editions exclusively available from Rough Trade.

Queens Of The Circulating Library stands alongside Time Machines and Nurse With Wound’s Soliloquy For Lilith as a post-industrial pinnacle of sensory-warping long-form drone. Crafted by the distilled duo of Thighpaulsandra and John Balance, the 49-minute piece unfurls in swirling, cyclical waves, tidal as much as textural, channeling the spirit of levitational minimalism pioneered by La Monte Young. Touted as the first part in "a continually mutating series of circulating musickal compositions” upon its initial release in 2000, the album remains a compelling case study in Coil’s exceptional capacity for mutation and extremes.

The theatrical introductory monologue delivered by Thighpaulsandra’s mother – a career opera singer, in her 80’s at the time of recording – sets the stage for a grandiose ascension. Written by Balance, the text is declamatory but dreamlike, refracted through megaphone echo: “Return the book of knowledge / Return the marble index / File under "Paradox" / The forest is a college, each tree a university.” As her voice fades, the lulling synthetic infinity deepens, congealing into transient crests of volume and haze, like slow-motion surf misting in moonlight. Thighpaulsandra describes their aesthetic intention as a “bliss out,” static but shape-shifting, an amniotic drift towards an eternal vanishing point. A supreme sonic embodiment of the slogan on the sleeve of Time Machines, two years prior: "Persistence is all."

Queens Of The Circulating Library

Music US