The Remote Viewer

Originally released in 2002 and then rereleased by Peter Christopherson in 2006 with two noisier extra tracks after Jhonn Balance’s passing, The Remote Viewer finds a quintet lineup of Coil – Ossian Brown, Cliff Stapleton and Mike York are the further players – continuing to explore an instrumental, often meditative approach familiar from various recent efforts of theirs. That said, from the start it’s also distinctly busier and fuller sounding than studio Coil work in this vein had been in some time, partially reflecting the live work that had been more common for them by that point, but just as clearly part of the group’s drive to never exactly quite remain in the same place for long. The interplay of melodies and gentle rhythms on the opening “Remote Viewing 1” very much has the air of entering some kind of celebratory if mysterious ceremony – a tinge of Orientalism perhaps at play – which sets the tone for the two further songs on the original release, with “Remote Viewing 2” aiming for a quirkier, quiet hyperactivity and “Remote Viewing 3” creating a similar but not exact feeling like the first track, mystic and entrancing.