Coptic Cat

I am heartbroken and devastated to hear of the death of my oldest friend, Sebastian Horsley, who introduced Current 93 at their recent concerts in London on 28 and 29 May, and who also played with C93 at their Queen Elizabeth Hall show in London a couple of years ago. Sebastian and C93 as Andrew Liles, Baby Dee and myself also released a CD single to mark the publication of Sebastian's autobiography, ‘Dandy in the Underworld’.

I and my dear friend Rossella Ferrari were at the launch night for the play version of Sebastian’s autobiography in London on Tuesday evening. We left shortly before midnight after discussing a new Current 93 album to which Sebastian was to contribute guitar, and which was to feature Andrew Liles, James Blackshaw, Eliot Bates, Keith Wood, Baby Dee and Alex Neilson. We had many plans for recording and writing material together.

Sebastian’s last words to me were, “It sounds fabulous, darling; I’m definitely in. Call me tomorrow.” Sebastian died the next day.

I first met Sebastian at Pocklington Grammar School in 1976, and we continued our friendship when I went to Newcastle University and then when I moved to London; Sebastian lived off the Kings Road with his lovely girlfriend Evelynn Smith, whom he later married. Evelynn herself died suddenly and tragically of a brain aneurysm in 2003.

Sebastian was one of the funniest, most charming and most beautiful people I have ever met. I introduced him to all of C93, who all fell in love with him immediately. They are all shocked and saddened by his death.

I pay tribute to an individual who was absolutely unique in ever way. I can't even describe how much I loved him and how painful his passing has been to me, and of course all those who knew him and loved him. The loss for his wonderful partner Rachel Johnston (known as Rachel Two) is unbearable.

I love you, Sebastian. I will never forget you. And I will always, always, always miss you.

Photos: Sebastian Horsley introduces Current 93 at the Forum, London, 28 May 2010. Photos: Simo Dalla Valle: www.simovalley.com

I have been told there has been some speculation, over the last few months, regarding my personal and emotional circumstances.

My wife Andria Degens and I separated in September/October 2009 after 13 years together. It has been an extremely difficult time for both of us, as you can imagine, and was made sadder and more painful by other events around it, including the passing to G+D of two of our beloved cats, Goblin and Baby, who both died within a short space of each other. Last month Wiggy, another cat of ours, almost died, but happily she has recovered and continues to delight.

Andria and I remain close friends and very supportive of each other in all ways, though this has been a period of almost unbearable sadness and pain for both of us—the hardest one I personally have been through since that time when my father and Jhonn Balance died and then I almost died. Bad things, and good things, come in threes, it seems. The Hidden God has an untamed humour.

I wanted to write this short note in the spirit of the emotional honesty which I have always hoped would inform my, and C93’s, work—at least to the extent that my vanity and frailty allowed.

I pay tribute to that deep love and connection which held Andria and I together for so long, and which continues to manifest with a different face, with different colours. And both Andria and I wish to thank all those many friends who supported us emotionally over the last few months, never taking sides, and holding us with compassion, love and patience. We know it was difficult for you too.

I promised in my last update before the London shows that once they were over I would now be working constantly and consistently on the book that was once titled ‘Under the Rain and Teeth of Gods’ but whose new title will soon be revealed. I meant what I said.

June and July sees my continuing to work on the ordering of the text, in between celebrating my mother’s 80th birthday, playing a concert in Padova, and attending a Coptic papyrological study group for translating manuscripts.

I am hoping that, by the beginning of August, I will have sent the book to the printers. I will then start working on the 39 paintings which went with the limited edition, large-paper version, though, once again, the nature of the paintings has changed, and will reflect more recent preoccupations of mine. I will be letting all of those who ordered the limited edition know the nature of these paintings.

As I feel far more connected to my present work than I do to my past work—and how could that not be so?—my present concept for the book has the order of texts going back in time, with the most recent work (‘Baalstorm, Sing Omega’) at the beginning and the earliest work (‘LAShTAL’ and ‘Maldoror is Dead’) at the back of the book. So the book will start with the more personal, and revert gradually to the beginnings, when I had a voice that was legion, rather than mine.

There are three new test pressing editions. Please note these are NOT available from the Coptic Cat online shop. An email must be sent to Coptic Cat:  with ‘Test pressings’ in the subject line. Payment will be made directly to David Tibet by PayPal or by UK£ cheque.

In the case of ‘Like Swallowing Eclipses’ and ‘Baalstorm, Sing Omega’, please choose which piece you would like from this page.

1: Like Swallowing Eclipses 6LP box set

• £418 each
• limited to 6 copies
• contains 6 white label test pressings of the 6 albums in the box set with handwritten labels by David
• also contains a black A3 piece of paper with original images by David Tibet used as artwork for the front and back cover of the box set, as well as for the LP sleeves and labels of the 6 records inside the box. See these pages online here. Please choose the page you want from those available.
• housed in plain wooden black box
• ALL 6 COPIES HAVE NOW BEEN SOLD

2: Baalstorm, Sing Omega

• £93 each
• limited to 39 hand numbered and signed copies
• contains the white label black vinyl test pressing with labels handwritten by David in Coptic and English
• each copy comes in the original white disco bag in which I received it
• each sleeve has the title and name of group handwritten in English and Coptic
• each copy comes with a printed-out A4 page of the original lyrics which I used in the studio; there are handwritten corrections, crossings out and occasionally a drink stain! There are 39 sheets: pages 1–38 are of the text/lyrics and are blank on the other side; page 39 is written on the back of a printout A4 of the C93 ‘FAUST’ booklet and on the other side has only handwritten notes working out the dedication of the album to the 4 women who inspired ‘Baalstorm, Sing Omega’, plus some other text about samples used and some Coptic text. See these pages online here. Please choose the page you want from those available.

3: Haunted Waves, Moving Graves

• £222 each
• limited to 39 hand numbered and signed copies
• all-white picture disc test pressing—ie, this is a picture disc but it only has blank white ‘pictures’ instead of a printed image
• each copy comes in the original white disco bag in which I received it
• each sleeve has the title and name of group handwritten in English and Coptic
• each copy will come with a black paper A4 sheet on which is drawn a 7 inch circular image, in the style of the images for HAUNTED WAVES, MOVING GRAVES CD. Each drawing will be made individually by myself and will consist of the name of the individual who has ordered the record (or the individual for whom the record has been ordered) and a Gnostic verse chosen written by me continually in Hallucinatory Patripassianist form. The piece will then be signed and dedicated on the back. The text that makes up the two images shown here, the front and back of the HAUNTED WAVES, MOVING GRAVES, consist of the title of each track written continuously in Hallucinatory Patripassianist form—‘The Sound of the Storm was Spears’ and ‘She is Naked like the Water’, respectively.

The bags have arrived. There is a different print on each side. Here they are modelled by our handsome in-house model, the lovely Anok Pe. See how effortlessly casual—yet fashionable—he looks as they swing, and sometimes even brush, joyfully against his hips. You TOO can look as attractive and charismatic as Anok Pe if you buy this bag. Or why not buy two—and have each design on display for the world to marvel at. Only then will the world know that you, too, are as real as rainbows, and as cool as flies. Photographs by Lauren Winton.

Click here to buy