The Angelic Conversation

AMG Review of The Angelic Conversation

Skip Jansen
All Music Guide

This album is an extraordinary chapter in the Coil discography, a soundtrack to the 1985 film by Derek Jarman, The Angelic Conversation. Coil took the approach of remixing and reconfiguring orchestral samples; the sound of an orchestra tuning up is used frequently, expanding on the bleak and desolate sound as a perfect accompaniment to Jarman's film. Incidentally, Coil's Peter Christopherson worked as a leading sound designer in the film and created its incidental music -- much of which is included here to fill out the CD. Given that the film's sound was made with the Coil touch throughout, the album stands as an entirely cohesive work. The Angelic Conversation features the gorgeous Coil anthem "How to Destroy Angels," a song that becomes a central theme and diverts the largely ambient atmospheres.