{"title":"John Balance","description":"\u003ch2\u003eJohn Balance books and art\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis collection brings together books and archival publications by John Balance currently in stock at Lokator100. Balance (born Geoffrey Nigel Laurence Rushton, also credited as Jhonn Balance) was an English musician, artist, and poet. The titles here sit within the broader \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/music-books-sound-culture\" title=\"Explore music books and sound culture titles at Lokator100\"\u003eMusic Books \u0026amp; Sound Culture\u003c\/a\u003e category and address his work in print rather than on record.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWriter, archivist, artist\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJohn Balance's books are often closer to archive than biography: notebooks, drawings, correspondence, and edited documents. In print, the work reads as method — how an aesthetic was built, stored, revised, and circulated. The publications available here document that private system as it became a publishable form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eJohn Balance and Coil\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBalance co-founded Coil with Peter \"Sleazy\" Christopherson. Alongside the music, he maintained a parallel practice of writing and collage-like thinking that accumulated over time into material now preserved in archival editions. The two bodies of work are related but distinct; the books do not simply document the records.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eTitles in stock\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCurrent holdings include volumes published by \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/timeless-edition\" title=\"Browse all Timeless Edition publications at Lokator100\"\u003eTimeless Edition\u003c\/a\u003e, the primary publisher of Balance's archival output: \u003cem\u003eBright Lights and Cats with No Mouths\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Cupboard Under The Stars\u003c\/em\u003e. Related post-industrial and experimental artist books by \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/genesis-p-orridge\" title=\"Browse Genesis P-Orridge books and publications at Lokator100\"\u003eGenesis P-Orridge\u003c\/a\u003e are also held at Lokator100, alongside publications from \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/korm-plastics\" title=\"Browse Korm Plastics releases and publications at Lokator100\"\u003eKorm Plastics\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/ian-johnstone\" title=\"Browse Ian Johnstone books and art at Lokator100\"\u003eIan Johnstone\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAll titles are documented accurately by condition and edition. Orders are dispatched from Germany with tracked shipping.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-cupboard-under-the-stars-a-peek-into-the-john-balance-notebooks","title":"The Cupboard Under The Stars - A Peek into the John Balance Notebooks","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem data-start=\"559\" data-end=\"589\"\u003eThe Cupboard Under The Stars\u003c\/em\u003e is a unique tribute to the visionary artist John Balance (1962–2004), best known as co-founder of the experimental music group Coil. Compiled by longtime admirer Claus Laufenburg, this cloth-bound volume gathers excerpts from Balance’s private notebooks – revealing lyrical sketches, visual experiments, raw poetry, surreal concepts, and annotations from his personal cosmos. Designed with elegance and reverence, the book invites readers into a fragile and luminous inner world that shaped one of the most enigmatic figures in post-industrial music and occult aesthetics.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Timeless Edition","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51443141935450,"sku":"9791096037100","price":50.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0946\/3359\/1130\/files\/the-cupboard-under-the-stars-cover.jpg?v=1758586723"},{"product_id":"bright-lights-and-cats-with-no-mouths-john-balance","title":"Bright Lights and Cats with No Mouths - John Balance (Extended Edition, 2024)","description":"\u003ch2\u003eBright Lights and Cats with No Mouths — Extended Edition, 2024\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBright Lights and Cats with No Mouths\u003c\/em\u003e is a 300-page hardcover survey of \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/john-balance\" title=\"Browse all John Balance titles at Lokator100\"\u003eJohn Balance\u003c\/a\u003e's work on paper, published by \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/timeless-edition\" title=\"Explore the full Timeless Edition catalogue at Lokator100\"\u003eTimeless Edition\u003c\/a\u003e in 2024. This Extended Edition expands and redesigns the original publication, adding 40 pages of previously unreproduced works. The print run is limited to 400 copies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat is new in this edition\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 2024 Extended Edition is not a reprint. It has been reformatted and redesigned throughout. The 40 pages of new art include works that have not appeared in any prior edition. Texts by Val Denham and Jeremy Reed are included, alongside a magico-critical appreciation by BC. The result is a substantially expanded object that stands apart from earlier versions of the book.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eJohn Balance art on paper\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe drawings and paintings collected here operate through private symbolic systems — recurring figures, dense mark-making, and an internal logic that resists easy categorisation. This is not illustrative work, nor is it subordinate to any other practice. It reads as a body of work with its own coherence and its own terms. Balance developed this visual language in parallel with his music, and the book treats it accordingly — as autonomous, not supplementary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor those interested in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/artbooks-artist-publications\" title=\"Browse artist books and publications at Lokator100\"\u003eArtbooks \u0026amp; Artist Publications\u003c\/a\u003e from the post-industrial milieu, or in the broader field of \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/music-books-sound-culture\" title=\"Explore music books and sound culture titles at Lokator100\"\u003eMusic Books \u0026amp; Sound Culture\u003c\/a\u003e, this publication occupies a specific and considered position. It is not a document of Coil. It is a record of what Balance made when he worked with paper, paint, and ink.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eRelated titles\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFurther work by John Balance is available in \u003ca href=\"\/products\/the-abrahadabra-letters-john-balance-anthony-blokdijk\" title=\"The Abrahadabra Letters by John Balance \u0026amp; Anthony Blokdijk\"\u003eThe Abrahadabra Letters\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/the-cupboard-under-the-stars-a-peek-into-the-john-balance-notebooks\" title=\"The Cupboard Under The Stars – John Balance Notebooks\"\u003eThe Cupboard Under The Stars - A Peek into the John Balance Notebooks\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition and handling\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNew copy. Clean and unused. Packed with rigid protection for safe transit. Dispatched from Germany.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Timeless Edition","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51483972698458,"sku":"TIMELESS-BRIGHT-LIGHTS","price":55.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0946\/3359\/1130\/files\/bright-lights-and-cats-with-no-mouths-cover.jpg?v=1770973560"},{"product_id":"the-universe-is-a-haunted-house","title":"The Universe is a Haunted House: COIL through their art \u0026 archives","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem data-start=\"654\" data-end=\"722\"\u003eThe Universe is a Haunted House: COIL through their art \u0026amp; archives\u003c\/em\u003e is an extensive 400-page hardcover volume dedicated to the visionary work of the experimental band COIL.\u003cbr data-start=\"827\" data-end=\"830\"\u003eCompiled from the private archives of \u003cstrong data-start=\"868\" data-end=\"884\"\u003eJohn Balance\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong data-start=\"889\" data-end=\"913\"\u003ePeter Christopherson\u003c\/strong\u003e, the book brings together rare photographs, artwork, letters, and ephemera, offering a deep insight into COIL's unique artistic universe.\u003cbr data-start=\"1051\" data-end=\"1054\"\u003ePublished by \u003cstrong data-start=\"1067\" data-end=\"1087\"\u003eTimeless Edition\u003c\/strong\u003e, this meticulously curated publication traces the band’s influence across music, visual culture, and esoteric traditions.\u003cbr data-start=\"1209\" data-end=\"1212\"\u003eAn essential collector’s piece for fans of industrial, experimental, and occult-inspired art and sound.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Timeless Edition","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52245184053594,"sku":"9791096037056","price":110.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0946\/3359\/1130\/files\/the-universe-is-a-haunted-house-coil-cover.jpg?v=1758583510"},{"product_id":"the-abrahadabra-letters-john-balance-anthony-blokdijk","title":"The Abrahadabra Letters – John Balance \u0026 Anthony Blokdijk","description":"\u003ch2\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eThe Abrahadabra Letters\u003c\/em\u003e — Coil Correspondence, 1984–1988\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Abrahadabra Letters\u003c\/em\u003e collects the correspondence between \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/john-balance\" title=\"Browse all John Balance publications in the catalogue\"\u003eJohn Balance\u003c\/a\u003e and Anthony Blokdijk across the years 1984 to 1988. Published by \u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/korm-plastics\" title=\"Explore the full Korm Plastics catalogue at Lokator100\"\u003eKorm Plastics\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e on \u003cstrong\u003e8 November 2023\u003c\/strong\u003e, the book is a \u003cstrong\u003ehardcover\u003c\/strong\u003e of \u003cstrong\u003e136 pages\u003c\/strong\u003e, designed by Alfred Boland and prefaced by Nick Soulsby. Images shown reflect the actual copy offered.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eThe Correspondence\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe letters address practical matters — live appearances, releases, the mechanics of underground exchange — but they also carry the atmosphere of Coil's early formation: personal, unstable, and charged with the same intensity that ran through the music. Balance's voice in the letters is direct and idiosyncratic, moving between logistical notes and the kind of charged personal register that defined his work with Threshold House and beyond.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eSupplementary Material\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe volume extends beyond the letters themselves. Two Coil-related articles from Blokdijk's own \u003cem\u003eAbrahadabra\u003c\/em\u003e magazine are included, along with an interview he conducted with Coil for the Dutch magazine \u003cem\u003eOpscene\u003c\/em\u003e. This supplementary layer places the private exchange within a wider map of underground music print culture in the mid-1980s — zines, correspondence networks, and small-press publication as the connective tissue of a scene.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eThe Object\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe book reproduces scans of the original correspondence, preserving Balance's handwriting, decorative marks, and visual habits as they appeared on the page. The publication functions simultaneously as archival document and physical object. Balance's language and rhythms remain directly visible rather than filtered through later reconstruction or editorial summary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWho This Is For\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis publication is suited to researchers and readers with a serious existing interest in Coil, experimental and post-industrial music history, mail art, and underground print culture of the 1980s. It sits within the broader \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/music-books-sound-culture\" title=\"Browse music books and sound culture titles in the catalogue\"\u003eMusic Books \u0026amp; Sound Culture\u003c\/a\u003e catalogue as a precise, intimate document rather than a retrospective overview. The reader is assumed to bring their own context.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eRelated Titles\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/products\/bright-lights-and-cats-with-no-mouths-john-balance\" title=\"Another primary-material John Balance publication\"\u003eBright Lights and Cats with No Mouths\u003c\/a\u003e offers additional primary material from the same figure and is available in the catalogue. \u003cem\u003eThe Abrahadabra Letters\u003c\/em\u003e is published by \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/korm-plastics\" title=\"Explore the full Korm Plastics catalogue at Lokator100\"\u003eKorm Plastics\u003c\/a\u003e, the imprint founded by \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/frans-de-waard\" title=\"Explore publications connected to Frans de Waard\"\u003eFrans de Waard\u003c\/a\u003e, whose catalogue concentrates on sound culture, experimental music, and related documentary publications. Further titles connected to \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/john-balance\" title=\"Browse all John Balance publications in the catalogue\"\u003eJohn Balance\u003c\/a\u003e are listed in the catalogue.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Korm Plastics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53816739955034,"sku":"JB-ABRAHADABRA-KP","price":36.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0946\/3359\/1130\/files\/the-abrahadabra-letters-john-balance-front-cover.jpg?v=1778505883"}],"url":"https:\/\/lokator100.store\/collections\/john-balance.oembed","provider":"Lokator100","version":"1.0","type":"link"}