Coil
Summer Solstice

June 1998

Cover Image

BUY@THRESHOLD HOUSE

UK 7" Threshold House ESKATON 013

  1. Bee Stings [ESKATON23]
  2. Summer Substructures [ESKATON23]

According to World Serpent, there were 1000 orange and 55 green records, however, World Serpent was found to have been over-pressing "limited edition" vinyl and haven't truthfully disclosed the actual numbers, invalidating the official word.

Side A - HONEY FROM THE HORNET'S NEST
Side B - FOR HARRY CROSBY AND HARRY SMITH

UK CDEP Threshold House ESKATON 014

  1. Bee Stings [ESKATON23]
  2. Glowworms/Waveforms [ESKATON23]
  3. Summer Substructures [ESKATON23]
  4. A Warning from the Sun (for Fritz) - [MP3] [ESKATON23]

John Balance
Peter Christopherson
William Breeze

"A Warning from the Sun" is dedicated to a friend Fritz who commited suicide in May of 1998.
All songs are collected on Moon's Milk (In Four Phases).

Bee Stings

Don't believe A.E.
See for yourself the summer fields
See for yourself the summer fields
Before the tractor comes and wakes you
Before the cereal is sown
Walk along on your own
Don't believe the guidebooks
See the glimmer on a wet stone surface
Be an idiot
Be yourself
Drink the dew
Drink the dew

Don't believe A.E.
See for yourself the summer fields
Seek the advice of the summer fields
Before the tractor comes and wakes you
Before the cereal is sown
Walk along on your own
Don't believe the guidebooks
See the glimmer on a wet stone surface
Be an idiot
Be yourself
Drink the dew
Drink the dew

Glowworms/Waveforms

Waveform, variance, monolith, mask
Reflection, hat, treestump, bin
Where's the bells?
Where's the bells?
Where's the bats?
Where's the summer?
Where's the keyboard?
Where's the instinct?
Where's the patience?
Where's the tiny golden books?
Where's the notepad?
Where's the ??? ?
Where's the woodwork?
Where's the science?
Where's the diet?
Where's the incoming... amount?
Where's the artifact?
Where's the post... man?
Where's the ??? ?
Where's the old coins?
Where's the syllabus?
Where's the red door?
Where's the martyr?
Where's my mother?
Where's my breakfast?
Where's my punchbag?
Where's my cornfield?
Where's the waveform?
Where's my breeding-ground?
Where's my paintbrush?
Where's my horse head?
Where's my symmetry?
Where's my torso?
Where's my ??? ?
Where's my drum?
Where's my bum?
Where's my bum?
Where's my bum?
Where's my summertime?
Where's my footstep?
Where's my chequer?
Where's my idiot?
Where's my waveform?
Where's my hat?
Where's my footwear?
Where's my footwear?
Where's my eyelash?
Where's my tongue?
Where's my bum?
Where's my bum?
Where's my mirror?
Where's the bells?
Where's the bells?
Where's the bells?
Where's my phone call?
Where's my phone call?
Where's my summertime?
Where's my summertime?

Summer Substructures

We're going under
We're going under
By the water ???
We're so ???

We're going so near
We are so ???

We are so
We are so
The ??? is ???
We're soldiers of my soul
Low
...???...
There's someone in, in my whole
Dreams high on the water

The light beats even faster
Than it may ??? me
The ??? is in me

Come into me

Over the waves we go
Over the ??? we go

??? by the water on the water's edge
Oh, they walk there, I know

A Warning from the Sun (for Fritz)

The sun is coming
The sun is coming
The dragon flies
The dragon flies
His breath will drown
His breath will drown
This world with astral fire

The sun is coming
The sun is coming
The dragon flies
The dragon flies

His breath will drown this world
With astral fire

The sun is coming
The sun is coming
The dragon flies
His breath will drown
This world with astral fire
This world with astral fire

Overall impression: excellent. This is the second installment in the equinox/solstice series by Coil. Once again, this cd is limited, and is available only until the Autumnal Equinox, September 23rd. This disc continues in the minimal vein, like "Spring Equinox: Moon's Milk or Under an Unquiet Skull", but each of these tracks has vocals. "Bee Stings" begins with an electric viola melody (courtesy William Breeze), which continues throughout, as Balance's spoken vocal, more misc sounds and a subtle beat are added. "Glowworms/Waveforms" is comprised of various bizarre effected sounds, loops and drones as Balance asks various questions, such as "where's the bells?", "where's my corn field?", "where's my breeding ground?" and "where's my horse head?" "Summer Substructures" is a moody vocal, electric viola and keyboard piece. "A Warning .." begins with a noisy barrage of distorted/effected sounds that give way to one crunchy, distorted loop (reminiscent of Autechre) and what sounds like a slide guitar as Balance sings in a high-pitched, nasal, operatic voice. An odd, but very intriguing batch of new stuff from Coil. Two more singles to go. - Mark Weddle, Brainwashed

Bees seem to have enjoyed a long tradition in history and mythology. The ancient Egyptians believed bees were born of the tears of the sun-god, Ra, dropping to earth. In Greece they were a symbol of the soul and Plato believed that the souls of the righteous are reincarnated as bees. Christians associated bees with resurrection and the three month winter season when bees seem to vanish into the hive was compared with the three days when Christ's body vanished after the crucifixion only to reappear at the resurrection. Bees produce their young from their lips just as Christ proceeded from the Father's mouth. The honey and the sting make bees an emblem of Christ, the former for his mildness and mercy, the latter for his role in the Last Judgment.

The Effects of Bee Stings on the Human Body:

Product Selection for bee sting treatment listed in order of most effective:

Curing Malaria With Bee Stings In Sudan:

Multiple Sclerosis pain alleviated with bee stings:

"In some traditional Catholic and Anglican Easter ceremonies (I don't know about Eastern Orthodoxy, although I could probably look it up), a blessing for bees remains in the Exsultet (i.e., the blessing of the candle). Part of the reason for this, as Tim said, is that bees were thought to procreate asexually and served therefore as a symbol for the Virgin Birth of Christ. Another reason is that they were responsible for the wax that made the Paschal Candle itself. The line -- which some churches delete in modern services, much to my chagrin -- goes something like this:

I just got Bee Stings yesterday and here's what happened last night: Last night, well actually this morning about 3:30 am, I was sitting in my den listening to Bee Stings on the headphones. I had a bunch of red candles lit and I was gently fading in and out, when all of the sudden, this black bird comes flying out of my chimney. It scared the shit out of me! I jumped up so quick I forgot to take off my headphones, which were jerked off of my head. I chased the creature around for almost half an hour before I caught him and sent him on his way out the window. The bird was chirping at me the entire time I was trying to rescue it. What made it all the more strange was that I could still hear Bee Stings playing quietly on the headphones, while the bird chirped along (seemingly to the music) in horror. I don't who was more scared, the bird or myself? And I'm not sure whether the bird was more frightened of Coil or me?? I felt sorry for the bird, but he also had me quite frightened. It was all very surreal. - Chad Price

I listen to talk radio and a guy named Ed Dames who does something called technical remote veiwing (a controled government devoloped psychic process) said that there would be a warning from the sun within a month from now that will be followed by a lethal kill-shot from the sun in '99. He also said, before science confirmed it, that the ozone depletion is changing the color of flowers and the bees can't find them anymore so they are starving to death. Only way to survive is to live underground and eat worms. I bought this guy's tape trust me he knows what he's talking about, maybe Coil knows something too...if interested go to: www.trv-psitech.com. - Arian Otto