NEW COIL, NEW CAST

“FILIGREE & SHADOW.” This Mortal Coil. 4AD (import). One of the more remarkable pop-music ventures of the ‘80s, This Mortal Coil is a “group” made up of whomever 4AD prez Ivo Watts-Russell puts together for each track. On the first album, that meant artists from his British label circa 1984--most notably members of the Cocteau Twins. On the second album (a double set), the cast is almost entirely new--with the Cocteaus’ Simon Raymonde the only notable holdover. The mood here is even more low-key and somber than on the initial LP, the results are more uneven, and the shadow of the first album hangs heavily. Overall, though, one is impressed by Watts-Russell’s taste in artist and song choice and in setting a cohesive, seductive, countryside-fog mood.