ALIVENESS, EXPLORATION, FULFILMENT, CREATIVITY
I've tended to find over the years that most folks' opinion on Cocteau Twins comes down on the side of love or loath with not much in between.
I've a few of their singles and LPs in the collection, and I've also seen them perform live on three different occasions - all back in the early/mid 80s. And while there they did produce many glorious bits of music during their 15 year recording career between 1982 and 1997, I found them more often than not rather unbearable and pretentious.
I couldn't tell you the last time that I actually sat down and listened to one of their LPs in its entirety - I think in many ways they are an act for whom the 'skip' function on CD players was ideal. However, I have maybe three-dozen or so of their tracks on the i-pod, and yesterday, with the machine on random as it normally is when travelling to and from work, I found myself greatly enjoying the lead-off single from their 1993 LP Four-Calendar Cafe:-
mp3 : Cocteau Twins - Bluebeard
This was an album that horrified many long-term fans as it was a lot lighter and poppy in many places than many of the group's previous works, but I personally found it quite refreshing at the time. I even recall a number of fans being annoyed that in some of the songs you could actually make out some of the lyrics being sung by Liz Fraser......but when you listen, its hardly Kylie or Bananarama.
Turns out that the three tracks on the CD single are reasonably hard to track down nowadays, so here for the completists or just the curious are:-
mp3 : Cocteau Twins - Three Swept
mp3 : Cocteau Twins - Ice-Pulse
mp3 : Cocteau Twins - Bluebeard (acoustic version)
Happy Listening (and deciphering).
8 comments:
Er, um, it has been more than a long time but can I just say that like dub-reggae, the Cocteau Twins music was actually made to shag to. Serious. Erm, just try it and see? Er, not with me, obviously, with Rach. Er, ok, I am now running away blushing! (PS, ur Ipod is still saving me over here... post coming on that one).
I'm firmly in thre loath camp
Der Cocteaus as shag pad music - I can identify with that; I'm reminded of a girlfriend from the late 80s, big back-combed hair and goth make-up who loved the Cocteau's and refused to listen to anything else at certain times....lol
Iceblink Luck from the Heaven Or Las Vegas album is my favourite track, being far more poppy than earlier stuff. That album was the beginning of the horrified fan syndrome if I recall rightly.
thank with many s s s s
love the CT !
and discover one i did not know
I think this was written about Robin Guthrie. "Are you the right man for me/Or are you toxic for me"
Guthrie was in the throes of a massive Gak addiction and would spend the days/nights in a darkened room giving the bugle some serious punishment while Fraser was left to look after the newborn baby. They split shortly after.
I know what you mean about them, though. They haven't aged brilliantly have they? And whatever happened to the Fraser solo album?
I can honetly say outside of "Heaven or Las Vegas" I can't name a single Cocteau Twins song(everything I heard from them at their height seemed to be very repetitive), but I did enjoy the ones you put up so thanks for that...
most memorable shag I've ever had was to the eponymous track on Blue Bell Knoll. Guthrie's guitar came in just at the right moment.
I got into them around the time this came out, so this remains very special Cocteaus track for me, though my favourite LP remains Treasure.
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