The Abrahadabra Letters — Coil Correspondence, 1984–1988
The Abrahadabra Letters collects the correspondence between John Balance and Anthony Blokdijk across the years 1984 to 1988. Published by Korm Plastics on 8 November 2023, the book is a hardcover of 136 pages, designed by Alfred Boland and prefaced by Nick Soulsby. Images shown reflect the actual copy offered.
The Correspondence
The letters move between practical concerns — live appearances, releases, the mechanics of underground exchange — and the atmosphere of Coil's early formation: personal, unstable, and carrying the same intensity that ran through the music. Balance's voice is direct and idiosyncratic, shifting between logistical notation and the charged personal register that defined his work with Threshold House and beyond. The exchange spans four years and traces a period of active formation rather than retrospective reflection.
Supplementary Material
The volume extends beyond the letters themselves. Two Coil-related articles from Blokdijk's own Abrahadabra magazine are included, alongside an interview he conducted with Coil for the Dutch magazine Opscene. This supplementary layer positions 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 operating outside mainstream distribution.
The Object
The 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. The format — 245 × 175 mm, hardcover — is suited to the reproduction of original documents at legible scale.
Contributors
John Balance was the co-founder, writer, and central voice of Coil. His work moved between sound, text, occult reference, and personal mythology, and his correspondence carried the same intensity and idiosyncratic charge found in the music. Anthony Blokdijk was closely connected to underground print culture and maintained direct contact with Coil during the period covered here. His role in the book is not secondary: he preserves the letters, adds context through Abrahadabra and Opscene, and turns private exchange into a readable document of scene history. Design is by Alfred Boland; the preface is by Nick Soulsby.
Who This Is For
This 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 Music Books & Sound Culture catalogue as a precise, intimate document rather than a retrospective overview. The reader is assumed to bring their own context.
Publisher
The Abrahadabra Letters is published by Korm Plastics, the imprint founded by Frans de Waard, whose catalogue concentrates on sound culture, experimental music, and related documentary publications.
John Balance and Anthony Blokdijk
John Balance was the co-founder, writer, and central voice of Coil, one of the most influential groups in experimental and post-industrial music. His work moved between sound, text, occult reference, and personal mythology, and his correspondence often carried the same intensity and idiosyncratic charge found in the music.
Anthony Blokdijk was closely connected to underground print culture and maintained direct contact with Coil during the period covered here. His role in the book is not secondary: he preserves the letters, adds context through Abrahadabra and Opscene, and turns private exchange into a readable document of scene history.
