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$114.99 CD
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THIS MORTAL COIL
This Mortal Coil Box Set
(4AD)
 "Song to the Siren"
"Tarantula"
"You and Your Sister"
While 4AD continues to thrive, just this year releasing crucial and groundbreaking releases from the likes of Atlas Sound, Tune-Yards, St. Vincent, Zomby, and Gang Gang Dance, longtime fans of the label hold a deep nostalgia for the imprint's first decade of existence. Then helmed by co-founder Ivo Watts-Russell, groups like the Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, and This Mortal Coil would define the label's aesthetic, a sophisticated and often ethereal sound visually mirrored by the stunning album artwork of 23 Envelope (a/k/a graphic designer Vaughan Oliver and photographer/filmmaker Nigel Grierson). Of course, the aforementioned This Mortal Coil wasn't a proper band, but rather a large, ever-shifting collective of musicians lovingly assembled by Watts-Russell featuring both 4AD-related artists (members of Cocteau Twins, DCD, Colourbox, Modern English, Pixies/Breeders, Wolfgang Press, Dif Juz) and talent not associated with the label (Cindytalk's Gordon Sharp, Buzzcocks/Magazine's Howard Devoto, Deirdre and Louise Rutkowski, Dominic Appleton of Breathless, Alison Limerick, and Shelleyan Orphan's Caroline Crawley).
The three albums released under the This Mortal Coil name between 1984 and 1991 were visionary for the time, not only for the scope of Watts-Russell and John Fryer's exquisite productions -- which ranged from beautifully sparse and occasionally near-ambient, to soaring chamber orchestration with swirling string arrangements by Martin McCarick -- but also for many of the obscure cover songs chosen by Ivo, which defied the anti-hippie/anti-folk sentiment so prevalent in the punk and post-punk communities only a few years before. Sitting next to This Mortal Coil's haunting instrumentals and atmospheric explorations were gorgeous re-imaginings of Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" performed by Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie and Elizabeth Fraser, a dark and mysterious take on Pearls Before Swine's "The Jeweler" featuring Scott Walker-esque vocals from Dominic Appleton, and the devastatingly beautiful version of Chris Bell's "You and Your Sister" sung by Kim Deal and Tanya Donelly, along with a plethora of otherworldly re-workings of songs by the likes of Big Star, Alex Chilton, Spirit, Syd Barrett and more. While as a young listener, these three This Mortal Coil records were a gateway to new musical discoveries for me and countless others, I still return to these albums on a regular basis. They represent the power, drama, passion and art of music in ways that few other records have ever touched. [GH]
Other Music was able to bring in several copies of the recently released This Mortal Coil CD box set, which features all three albums (It'll End in Tears, Filigree & Shadow, and Blood) beautifully remastered from the original analog tapes, plus a fourth disc, Dust & Guitars which compiles all of TMC's singles plus two never-before-released tracks, "Thais (Bird of Paradise)" and a cover of Neil Young's "We Never Danced." This set is magnificently packaged with "re-worked" art by Watts-Russell and Vaughan Oliver and is, needless to say, very, very limited.
Our good friend Natalie Johns from Dig for Fire recently interviewed Ivo for her upcoming feature film on independent music, and put us in touch with the 4AD founder, who was very kind to send Other Music a special note about the box set. Here's what Ivo shared with us:
I blame it on Mew. Listening to And the Glass-Handed Kites some years ago I began to ponder progressive rock and, in particular, the lavish, often absurd album sleeves that accompanied them. I thought how sad it was that it was no longer possible to find, say, the infamous Roger Dean multiple fold out sleeve of church steeple as rocket ship that was the cover to Space Hymns by Ramases released on Vertigo. Not even on German label Repertoire, who do their own style of paper sleeves.
Long story short, after multiple searches I came across:
(click for image)
That was my first introduction to the Japanese mini-LP replica paper sleeve CD and elaborate boxes based on the artwork of one of the albums contained inside.
I'm not a vinyl obsessive at all but I do miss a music carrying device that is at least pleasant to hold in your hands. The idea of reproducing, in miniature, the original LP design, which reflects graphic design, cultural and sociological aspects of the times as well as being a potential work of art in its own right is so simple but, outside of Japan, impossible to achieve with any degree of quality.
For me it's all about archiving. This box will probably be the last gasp for a physical manifestation of This Mortal Coil albums. As such, I couldn't be happier with the redesigned sleeves, quality of material used and the gorgeous sounding HDCD. We covered a lot of my favourite songs from the earlier decades of my life and now I've been able to present them to the world in a format that has infatuated me in the most recent. It feels good to have participated in putting something of such beauty out into the world once again.
For those that agree, please email 4AD and demand they do the same with the rest of the catalogue!
Ivo W-R.
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