Thighpaulsandra — The Golden Communion
The record sprawls over two disks wrapped in the kind of striking artwork that Thighpaulsandra has always deployed on his record sleeves. Previous records have included images that printers have refused to reproduce and often centred on male on male sexual violence. Here though judging by the imagery the "communion" in question appears more equitable and what with the inclusion of contributions credited to Coil magi Balance and Christopherson and the numerous evocations of gold/golden in Coil's discography the extramundane quality of the community in question seems clear. At first fears that the record may be an exercise in nostalgia and melancholy appear justified as on opener Salute after a characteristic build-up of layered analogue electronics Tim Lewis intones "and so begins the slow descent" accompanied by a choral patch straight out of Coil's Music to Play in the Dark. Thankfully as the record progresses these explicit nods to the past are treated relatively lightly. After five minutes or so Salute breaks out into an ebullient stadium rock anthem crossing from lament to glorious valediction for those passed. It's a transition that the record repeats on numerous occasions.
The most overtly Coil fixated track Did he fall? not only plays on the sad fate of Jhon Balance with its title but also includes some off cuts of his voice and material worked on by Peter Christopherson. It's an extremely upbeat song, part stomping prog-anthem part electronic pop psycho-drama. The following two tracks display yet more facets to Thighpaulsandra's musical personality with the duduk (an Armenian flute) and percussion led The Foot Garden being followed by the short but beautifully baroque A Devil in Every Hedgerow featuring a heavenly tenor from one George McCarthy. As with his previous output Thighps love of long improvisational passages is mixed in with more composed material. On the near 26 minute long title track these tendencies combine with burst of electronic and concrete elements duelling with a string quartet. Duel is probably not the right word as the interplay between the strings and electronics is almost balletic, revealing a complex harmony of styles and timbres that in the hands of a lesser musician would almost certainly collapse into chaos. Just to top it off the piece reaches its culmination in a jazz inflected groove of bass and Fender Rhodes before the whole lot is swept up into a whirling drone. This piece is worth the admission price alone.
The second disk is on the face of it more straightforward. Opener Misery is another pop/rock mutant with added bells but it's what follows that really stands out. Valerie is eight minutes of the most brazenly genial electronic pop hybrid you are ever likely to hear. It flatters to deceive starting with ghostly clicks and cavernous reverb before opening up onto pure Beach Boys guitar harmony. A minute later and we're blown away by a Welsh miners choir (it's not but it might as well be) singing vaudeville before mutating into high 80s Queen. Is he showing off? Probably. Does it work? Definitely! In comparison The Sinking Stone which deploys familiarly Coil-like electronic treatments over a suitably mind altering eleven minutes seems a little like putting on dead men's clothes. Then again when you consider the radicalising influence Thighpaulsandra had on Coil's sound after he joined them at the end of 90s one could arguably claim those signature sounds as equally Lewis's own.
On the Register continues the song driven core of the second disk, pushing into full power rock over which a vocal dealing with accusations of child abuse (hence "the register", i.e. UK sex offender's register) is belted out. It's a strange form to address such an issue and perhaps thankfully is less than clear as to its moral or political intent. Album closer The More I Know Men the Better I Like Dogs returns to the long form improvisational style and revolves around a vocal sample of Balance repeating the song title. It harks back in style to the complex almost entirely electronic compositions from Thighpaulsandra's debut solo album at the turn of millennium and with the inclusion of Balance feels a little backward looking compared to the title track from the first disk. Slow reflective piano refrains vie for attention with skittering electronics and bursts of concrete sound and around the twenty minute mark coalesce into a delightfully melodic twinkling percussive passage which sadly ends just after it really gets going.
The Golden Communion is an undoubtedly overblown record which gleefully displays Thighpaulsandra's uncontested musical talents. That being said it also feels a little uneven and at times lacking in focus. When it works, particularly on the first disk, the skill and musical syncretism is peerless. When it doesn't, the shear gall and brazenness of the compositions can feel like indulgent noodling. This has always been the case with Thighpaulsandra's solo work and none of his records are free from it. I am however of the view that this excess is an unavoidable by-product of a unique musical vision. He pretty much revolutionised Coil's sound in the late 90s; a fact that has scarcely been acknowledged amid the ever increasing mass of hagiography and sacralisation of Coil's legacy. If the raising of the relics of his former band mates seems a little infelicitous that should perhaps be seen in the context of a year in which Coil related material and controversy have reached near fever pitch. If anyone deserves to draw on the warmth of that legacy then it is surely him. Ultimately the records best moments come when he is firmly looking forward and drawing together all the elements of his electronic arsenal - including those gestated under the roof of Threshold House - in unique genre defying ways. At those moments his singular communion is truly golden.