Here is Derek Jarman’s 1971 Super 8 film of his own journeys around the stones with Coil’s lively, bubbling electronic soundtrack which was commissioned and made for the posthumous release but never commercially released, although it was used on the film festivals circuit. Coil had previously provided the soundtrack to Jarman’s The Angelic Conversation, his exploration of male sexuality and desire which uses the spoken words of Shakespeare’s sonnets and Jarman’s slow-moving visuals to create ‘a world of magic and ritual’.
Coil were formed in London in 1983 by John Balance as a solo side project to Psychic TV, but developed into a full-scale musical group in 1984, when Balance cemented a partnership with Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson, who had been a founder of Psychic TV and member of Throbbing Gristle.
When Balance died tragically in an accident at his home in 2004, Christopherson decided that Coil would not continue. Christopherson died in 2010.
Derek Jarman’s films remain available on BFI releases, and some of Coil’s music is available at https://coilofficial.bandcamp.com/
