Here’s a picture of John Balance from Coil and a man playing a hurdy-gurdy. Just so’s you know what I was up to last night. You can’t tell from this photo, but Balance’s straitjactket/edwardian pyjamas had no bottom, or at least only half a bottom. It was most distracting. Coil gigs are fun: on a Sunday night in Hackney, where else would you get to hear a DH Lawrence lookalike singing about sex with Sun Ra? A queasy pleasure, sure, but you’re glad they exist. Appropriately, later that night I ate pate with mayonnaise on toast. It was nicer than you’d imagine.

Coil review, with more nice photos by Mark Pilkington, to follow soon.