About Black Light District

Black Light District was one of Coil's side projects. Under this alias they released only one album, A Thousand Lights in a Darkened Room. This was planned to be the first in a trilogy of Black Light District releases. A boxed set featuring reworked versions of all three releases was hinted at once the series was complete. The name Black Light District was taken from a track by Boyd Rice recorded for the Bethel cassette out by John Balance on his Hearsay And Heresy label in 1984. Black Light District saw the usual Coil team helped out by some old and new friends and together they reached back to the elemental song structures of Scatology and Horse Rotorvator, and these constructions applied to the formless unwinding of textures and sound that typified their incarnation as ELpH. The enigmatic result furthered the deep listening experiments begun on Love's Secret Domain. The fluidity of the tracks is parenthesised by the 2 opening tracks Unprepared Piano and Red Skeletons, and the final track Chalice. The opening two are an uncentred piano with bass weirdness and a scannerish set of phone samples between a couple who's relationship is over and in pain. These are threaded over a plunky disorienting gentle sound pattern. The other pieces leading from this discomfort to Chalice and a sense of peace are a journey over clanking distortions, half remembered bits of "Tubular Bells" and even some vocals. Chalice which could easily be the sister piece to Current 93's Where The Long Shadows Fall, is a spiritual arrival where delicate chanting and long shifting tones pierce some quiet part of the self into a fluttering. The circle (spiral) begun with the scatology lp closes and the darkness has never seemed so bright. Band members were: John Balance Peter Christopherson Drew McDowall Babs Santini - cover artwork