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Thread: Cocteau Twins

  1. #1
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    Cocteau Twins

    don't recall if there's any fans kicking around these boards, but as they're (probably?) my favorite band.

    for those unfamiliar: truly unique band from the 80s on 4AD (dead can dance, clan of xymox, pixies, xmal deutschland, too many other amazing bands to list). you may have heard liz fraser's iconic vocals on several massive attack tracks, including 'teardrop.' love pretty much everything they put out, from their eight records, collaborations with harold budd, and various EP and b-side tracks, many which rival their full lengths.

    i can't speak more highly of this band. here's a few favorites:











    i could keep going...

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    Adore this band. My wife and I filled half our wedding soundtrack with their music. Garlands, Treasure and Blue Bell Knoll are my favourite CT albums, but Lullabies to Violane is the best overall collection of their music.

    More awesome traxx:





    (One of my top 5 all-time favourite songs)

    Better stop myself here!

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    Words cannot describe how good this band were. Best band of the 80s . Love love love them. People who have not heard them are missing out on something extraordinary. They are one of the bands that people have to stumble onto and get themselves.
    However once people get into the cocteau twins they capture a massive part of your heart and soul forever which never leaves you. Sappy but true. They have a to die for hardcore fanbase. Ive got a few people hooked on the twins and they are eternally grategul. They were very prolific and im still discovering gem after gem in their catalouge.
    When you listen to them it is like they have created this world, I love the mysterious lyrics the primal surging godlike emotional voice of liz fraser. And robin guthries titanic wall of sound, he is my favourite guitar player of all time. They made it seem so easy In interviews they could barely speak they were so unpretentious and real.
    too hard to pick a fav song or album but I like them best around 1983 when all the ideas were coming together anything they did between 1982 and 1986 is mindblowingly cathartic . I have been getting into their 90s stuff much more recently. I saw them in 1996 just before they split they were experimenting with electronica a lot more and had seefeel and other people from warp records on stage with them. Would have been really interesting to see what would have happened if they had gone down that route. But drugs got in the way as usual and they split!!!! I really want to see them live again there was no one else like them. Their music takes you to great unreal heights In a way few other bands could.
    Last edited by Highly Psychological; 08-05-2013 at 11:22 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Highly Psychological View Post
    I saw them in 1996 just before they split they were experimenting with electronica a lot more and had seefeel and othet people from warp records on stage with them. Would have been really interestimg to see what would have happened if they had gone down that route.
    I'm just imagining Seefeel with Fraser's vocals - this works for me on so many levels.

    I'll also second the appreciation for CT's lyrics. I don't care that it's "nonsense", they sounds so evocative and heartfelt that they mean 100x more to me than "intelligible" lyrics.

    As for CT being the best band of the eighties... Shit, they're mighty close. Considering the influence they had on my overall favourite band (Slowdive), I'd almost be tempted to make the same call myself.
    Last edited by xmd 5a; 12-10-2011 at 02:52 PM.

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    Ah, yes, love, love, love Cocteau Twins. If you didn't see, I posted their rendition of Winter Wonderland in the Christmas music thread. Frosty the Snowman was fun, too. I met them in 1994, when they were nearly at each other's throats. They were kind and gracious to us fans who stuck around to meet them.

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    http://www.cocteautwins.com/html/media/audio.html

    For those unaware, a great collection of rare stuff from the official site. Pretty bad sound quality, but there are some real gems in there.

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    This song will forever remind me of working in a starbucks-like coffee shop. Good caffienated times.

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    Quote Originally Posted by xmd 5a View Post
    http://www.cocteautwins.com/html/media/audio.html

    For those unaware, a great collection of rare stuff from the official site. Pretty bad sound quality, but there are some real gems in there.

    i knew about the frutopia tracks (pretty much the entire four calendar cafe record sounds like frutopia), and a few of the others, but thanks for the link! you can also find a demo of 'pearly dewdrops drops' on a cassette called dreams and desires alongside many of their peers and labelmates!
    Last edited by frankie teardrop; 04-09-2012 at 01:44 AM. Reason: fixing shitty code

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    I treasure Treasure but never got into much else. I decided to buy "Lullabies to Violaine" on the back of this thread, especially after noticing volume 1 was only $3 in the 4AD store for FLAC!

    However, it only gave me an option of downloading the first three tracks, which is essentially only the Lullabies EP. I'm somewhat unamused.

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    Back in the 90s I found the Blue Bell Knoll album at Goodwill. The title track (posted above) and this one were the ones that stood out to me after all these years:



    I've always liked Lush way better, anyway.....

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    blue bell knoll is hell of inconsistent. some of their best material, but the second half falls a bit flat.

    Quote Originally Posted by Arch Stanton View Post
    I've always liked Lush way better, anyway.....
    well, you get robin guthrie's production on spooky at least! also, peep here for a more catch-all thread on lush & friends.

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    I know I don't get around much, but this is the first place I've ever come across other Cocteau Twins fans! I've loved this band since 1986 when I first heard "Love's Easy Tears" in a record store..."entranced" does not quite describe what I felt when I heard it. The Moon and The Melodies is still my favorite collaboration album.

    A Lush fan as well...

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    It made BBC News....this is a big thing!!

    Liz Fraser is to perform on stage solo for the first time ever . With the exception of a few Massive Attack gigs she has not performed on stage since 1996.
    She will be playing Cocteau Twins tunes!!
    She is performing at Meltdown Festival in August as part of the Antony Hegarty curated event.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17906600

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012...?newsfeed=true

    I love this woman so much and im going!
    Last edited by Highly Psychological; 08-05-2013 at 11:30 AM.

  14. #14
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    i'm very, very intrigued.

    also, having a resurgence of this one lately. dropped it on the decks last night to surprising fanfare:

    Last edited by frankie teardrop; 05-03-2012 at 10:21 AM. Reason: swapping lynx

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    http://www.amazon.com/First-Heard-Co.../dp/B008EFC3ZI

    The First Time I Heard Cocteau Twins is Part II in an ongoing series where musicians and writers tell their stories of first hearing the music of an iconic artist or band. In this second volume (following the opening installment, which covered Joy Division / New Order), forty different musicians and writers remember their initial experiences hearing the seminal dreampop / post-punk band Cocteau Twins, a standout group from the legendary 4AD Records and favorite of radio personality John Peel. The Cocteau Twins hailed from Grangemouth, Scotland, and featured musicians Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie, and Simon Raymonde.

    Contributors to the Cocteau Twins edition include musicians such as David Narcizo (Throwing Muses); Ian Masters (Pale Saints); pianist and Cocteau Twins collaborator Harold Budd; band collaborator and live guitarist Lincoln Fong; Pete Fijalkowski (Adorable); Anka Wolbert (Clan of Xymox); Sean "Grasshopper" Mackowiak (Mercury Rev); Meredith Meyer; Mark Van Hoen (Locust, Seefeel); Paul Anderson (Tram); Paul Elam (Fieldhead); Rebecca Coseboom (Halou, Stripmall Architecture); Michael Cottone (The Green Kingdom); Sarah Jaffe; Antony Ryan (Isan); Dean Garcia (Curve); Kurt Feldman (The Pains of Being Pure at Heart); Erik Blood; Annie Barker; John Loring (Fleeting Joys); Guy Fixsen (Laika and co-engineer for My Bloody Valentine); Emily Elhaj (Implodes); Carlo Van Putten (The Convent, White Rose Transmission); Eric Quach (thisquietarmy); Ryan Policky (A Shoreline Dream); Matthew Kelly (The Autumns); Steve Elkins (The Autumns); Ryan Lum (Lovespirals); Michael Savage (The Fauns); Amman Abbasi (The Abbasi Brothers); Eric Loveland Heath; Ben Mullins (Midwest Product); Keith Canisius; Michael McCabe and David Read (Coldharbourstores); and writers like Emily Franklin, Craig Laurance Gidney, Alistair McCartney; Tony Leuzzi; and Sommer Browning.

    The "First Time I Heard" book series is edited by Scott Heim, a novelist (Mysterious Skin, We Disappear) who is also a longtime music fan. Other installments in the series (or those forthcoming soon) include books on Joy Division / New Order, David Bowie, The Smiths, Kate Bush, R.E.M., Kraftwerk, My Bloody Valentine, Abba, Roxy Music, The Pixies, and others.

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    will just leave this here:


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    There is a new book out about 4AD called Facing the Other Way, its s retrospective celebrating the iconic label, covers everything from Dead Can Dance, Pixies, to present day, obviously Cocteau Twins being labels flagship most revered band get most coverage, i dont think there has been a major book focusing on the group before so should be interesting. It apparently goes into a lot of detail about what made these groups tick and what was behind the music. In the Cocteau Twins case they apparently discuss Liz Frasers disturbing childhood ans Robin Guthries Heroin addiction and stuff that led to the split, covers new ground. Also the elusive Ivo Watts Russell talks for many many pages about his life and what was behind labels aesthetic and image and sound, there is a book launch at Rough Trade in East London that features guest speakers Miki from Lush and Matt Johnson of The The... Talk about rare they both vanished too! So it should be good, label and band were life changing
    Last edited by Highly Psychological; 09-14-2013 at 07:58 PM. Reason: sticky fingers

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    Quote Originally Posted by NYRexall View Post
    Frankie T, your taste in music is impeccable, to say the least. Despite your sound advice to not pay over $30 for CT on vinyl, I am not seeing a copy of BH&LV go for less than $100 on wax. Is this too much?
    what is bh & lv? lullabies to violane? i don't think that was pressed on vinyl.

    anyway, you can usually get the 4ad albums for 10-20, depending on how much your local store gouges them. the 90s albums are harder to find on vinyl and much more expensive.

  20. #20
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    isn't it just "heaven & las vegas"?

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    yah, it's just heaven and las vegas without the between. that said, i generally see that between 10-20 as well. keep an eye out online, too (discogs & ebay).

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    wow, that must have gone up in recent years. discogs has a few in the 40-50 range. i swear that was as cheap as the rest of the catalog until recently...

  23. #23
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    here's one that's a rarity of sorts, but one i've always loved and DJed on the regular:




    the story is: modern english recorded a string of early 7''s for the label. impressed by the live medley of their songs sixteen days and gathering dust that they would close with (they did this when i saw them this year, even), ivo wanted the band to record it in that fashion. they declined, and thus, this mortal coil was born. TMC was original a covers-only project that spanned for three albums of both covers and originals, featuring rotating members from the 4AD family (and related).

    anyway, this recording has liz and robin and is mostly a cocteau twins recording, but it also features members of colourbox, modern english themselves, and gordon sharp of cindytalk (who also sang on the BBC session version of 'hazel' and did his own vocals on the first this mortal coil record) on backing vox. it kicks ass, and is worth hearing if you're a fan of 4AD/cocteaus.
    Last edited by frankie teardrop; 10-31-2013 at 01:33 PM.

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    One thing i noticed recently, i much prefer Liz's voice in the early version of the band, their sort of golden period 1983-1986.

    If you listen to Milk and Kisses, Four Calender Cafe, or bootlegs of the band on their 1994-1996 tours Liz is singing in a very operatic style, free-form, i still love her voice then, but it loses some of the primal emotion of the early music.
    Her voice around Head Over Heels, Treasure, Echoes in a Shallow Bay, Garlands and Song to the Siren, had a reality to it, and is hands down my favorite voice, male or female of all time in the history of music. Everybody in the mid 80s wanted to sound like her. Her rivals like Morrissey and Bernard Sumner and Jim Reid etc sounded utterly feeble! It never came across too theatric or overbearing, She could capture things with her voice no one else could.
    Last edited by Highly Psychological; 10-31-2013 at 07:25 PM.

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    well, i'm not sure if this belongs in here, yeah i think is does, since it's cocteau twins related!
    sounds fuckin awesome tho....

    Snowbirds

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    Quote Originally Posted by InsecureSpike View Post
    well, i'm not sure if this belongs in here, yeah i think is does, since it's cocteau twins related!
    sounds fuckin awesome tho....

    Snowbirds
    holy. shit. this almost brought me to tears.

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    Quote Originally Posted by eversonpoe View Post
    holy. shit. this almost brought me to tears.
    beautiful right!

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    i love it. like robin's solo work (also amazing), it invokes the same sort of delicate, wintery vibes i've come to expect from their mid/latter era material. i don't even care that the singer is almost a carbon copy of liz. i love it and i want more.

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    I've had Blue Bell Knoll for over a decade and love it. Could someone recommend another Cocteau Twins? I also have This Mortal Coil's Blood and love that one as well.

  30. #30
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    heaven or las vegas and head over heels. two of my favorites. the latter is a little darker, heavier.

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