― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 29 October 2002 16:28 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 29 October 2002 16:35 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Tuesday, 29 October 2002 16:55 (twenty-one years ago) link
Staving off a pavement-cracking hangover and cursing my job as I woke -- BEFORE THE BABY (this is practically unheard of) this Sunday morning to put in pre-election week double duty here at the Newsdesk, I walked outside to find an unseasonably glorious Autumn day and toggled up ye olde Cocteau Twins on the iPod for a stroll to midtown. In no time at all, my petty complaints and visceral disdain for my fellow man were temporarily put on the back burner of an entirely different stove and I glid down the leaf-strewn, sunsplashed avenues of this fair metropolis as if buoyed by a giggley coterie of silk-winged cherubim and robustly voluptious, flaxen-locked centaurettes.
I honestly cannot think of any other music that can replicate this effect.
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 31 October 2004 17:15 (nineteen years ago) link
I think some of their best work was released on the EPs; I'd encourage anyone who is just starting to explore their work to hunt down the older import "The Pink Opaque" or more recent "Stars and Topsoil" compilations. Or just buy the EP box set. Songs like "Spangle Maker", "Aikea Guinea" and "Pink Orange Red" are some of CT's finest and shouldn't be missed.
― jeffery (jeffery), Sunday, 31 October 2004 22:17 (nineteen years ago) link
I love the big, ringing sound of the "Love's Easy Tears" ep. "Orange Appled" is one of my top three favourite CT tracks.
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Sunday, 31 October 2004 22:28 (nineteen years ago) link
― Andy K (Andy K), Sunday, 31 October 2004 22:36 (nineteen years ago) link
http://www.funk.ne.jp/~tx/cocteautwins/ct_jake/box_jake/cocteaubox1small.jpg
x-post
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 31 October 2004 22:38 (nineteen years ago) link
An amazing set ... and their best EP's (the "Twinlights"/"Otherness" twinbill) were still to come!
I may have written this on another thread: "Twinlights" and "Otherness", taken together, would be easily the best CT album.
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Sunday, 31 October 2004 22:45 (nineteen years ago) link
*caution*!! the japanese version (which has the cds in actualjewel cases as opposed to cd-single cases) is the one u want,but the trax are the same.
there's still one on the shelf in KINGBEE RECORDS manchester (about half a mile from my house).
― piscesboy, Monday, 1 November 2004 12:49 (nineteen years ago) link
the US version was like this as well. Is there a UK version that is different? Is the box thinner?
― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 1 November 2004 16:59 (nineteen years ago) link
― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Monday, 1 November 2004 17:07 (nineteen years ago) link
― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Monday, 1 November 2004 17:11 (nineteen years ago) link
― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 1 November 2004 17:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 1 November 2004 17:17 (nineteen years ago) link
― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Monday, 1 November 2004 17:20 (nineteen years ago) link
― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 1 November 2004 17:25 (nineteen years ago) link
you don't mean the frosty the snowman thing right? heckfire, well i consider myself a cocteaus peak-period trainspotterbut that's foxed me. tell u what the NME COMPELTE DISCOGRAPHY from 1993, which had EVERYTHING listed on it (dates, prices, trax, cat numbers) never mentioned anything called 'SNOW'.
enlighten me please alex, kyle et al.
― piscesboy, Monday, 1 November 2004 17:49 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 1 November 2004 17:50 (nineteen years ago) link
― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 1 November 2004 18:20 (nineteen years ago) link
it was called Snow
― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 1 November 2004 18:22 (nineteen years ago) link
― jeffery (jeffery), Monday, 1 November 2004 18:22 (nineteen years ago) link
― piscesboy, Monday, 1 November 2004 18:25 (nineteen years ago) link
― Chris Hill (Chris Hill), Monday, 1 November 2004 19:10 (nineteen years ago) link
― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 1 November 2004 19:10 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 1 November 2004 19:11 (nineteen years ago) link
― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 1 November 2004 20:36 (nineteen years ago) link
― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 1 November 2004 20:37 (nineteen years ago) link
― Seb (Seb), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 04:56 (nineteen years ago) link
― LeCoq (LeCoq), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 05:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 10:09 (nineteen years ago) link
One of the joys of the BBC album is that Guthrie didn't produce it.
― Dr. C (Dr. C), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 12:50 (nineteen years ago) link
Oh, definitely. It's still a transition album as such, and consisted only of Guthrie and Fraser, Raymonde hadn't joined yet. But it's got some absolutely crackerjack numbers, and they also do a few things throughout that they didn't try much again (the overt jazz-scat nods on "Multifoiled," for instance). Still had a lot of early hyperdourness but was channeled into different directions -- the glowering guitar and doom beats on "When Mama Was Moth" and then the explosion/cascade of the concluding "Musette and Drums," which is a monster and a half.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 13:53 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 13:54 (nineteen years ago) link
-- Alex in NYC (vassif...), November 1st, 2004 7:11 PM. (vassifer) (later)
― Onimo (GerryNemo), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 14:28 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 15:06 (nineteen years ago) link
There's a big "BUT" however, which is that the sound on this pre-remaster CD is absolutely atrocious, it sounds like it was recorded using a dictaphone from three rooms down the hall. I suspect this may be a big barrier to my enjoyment, as it certainly clouds a lot of the sonic intricacies at work. My copy of Treasure sounds startingly clear by comparison.
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 7 November 2004 00:29 (nineteen years ago) link
It occurred to me that a good band doing a version of "Musette and Drums" via a huge sound system would be genius.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 7 November 2004 01:30 (nineteen years ago) link
i almost agree, but can't completely because of the overwhelming sadness (to my ears anyway) on those eps. they are wonderful though. and quite a solid package together too. i wrote a random phone number on the case to "twinlights" and i curse that damn number everytime i look at the case.
every once in awhile i'll pull out blue bell knoll or four calendar cafe and bliss out. "spanglemaker" is my favorite though. i can't imagine treasure without those big fake drums either.
― tricky (disco stu), Sunday, 7 November 2004 01:35 (nineteen years ago) link
The whole EP is perhaps a perfect summation of that period of the band, but yeah, the song itself...man. A friend, many years ago, said she envisioned the song almost like a green slip of material, a scarf or something silken, twirling through a dark cavern that suddenly at the end came forward and enveloped you and took you somewhere else. It was a striking and strictly visual metaphor for the song that has never left me.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 7 November 2004 02:21 (nineteen years ago) link
And there's no new album to promote so that leaves the set lists wiiiiiiide open.
http://www.nme.com/news/111427.htm
― piscesboy, Thursday, 17 February 2005 12:51 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alienus Quam Reproba (blueski), Thursday, 17 February 2005 12:59 (nineteen years ago) link
― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Thursday, 17 February 2005 13:28 (nineteen years ago) link
― piscesboy, Thursday, 17 February 2005 13:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― A Viking of Some Note (Andrew Thames), Thursday, 17 February 2005 13:47 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 16 November 2005 06:08 (eighteen years ago) link
― joseph (joseph), Wednesday, 16 November 2005 06:23 (eighteen years ago) link
..and last night.
so the box set then. in february it's coming out in 2 seperate volumes (for like, a tenner each) usefully bisecting their career into 'the amazing 4ad bits 82 - 90' and 'the boring fontana biot onwards'. which is very nice.
― piscesboy, Thursday, 12 January 2006 17:57 (eighteen years ago) link
― Charlie Howard (the sphinx), Thursday, 1 February 2007 12:24 (seventeen years ago) link
Their music was such an important part of my old life (which is why I've been reluctant to write much about them) and for years I couldn't listen to them - it was too painful - but now, in my new life, I can.
Now that's magic.
― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 1 February 2007 12:29 (seventeen years ago) link
Shitting kittens!interesting phrase!― suburban buttshaven cannibal (electricsound), Tuesday, 1 May 2012 02:51 (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
interesting phrase!
― suburban buttshaven cannibal (electricsound), Tuesday, 1 May 2012 02:51 (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
t'was the original title of "Sugar Hiccup" you know..
― Mark G, Tuesday, 1 May 2012 11:45 (twelve years ago) link
nice piece with Robin from a Xmas special edition of MOJO last year.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7026/6791081375_2d669f5e8a_o.jpg
― piscesx, Tuesday, 26 June 2012 21:54 (eleven years ago) link
just got tickets to the Bath gig
― kinder, Tuesday, 26 June 2012 22:36 (eleven years ago) link
Are you saying they're doing a reunion show??
― LeRooLeRoo, Wednesday, 27 June 2012 21:58 (eleven years ago) link
sorry, no, just Liz
― kinder, Wednesday, 27 June 2012 22:32 (eleven years ago) link
yeah she might do a few CT tracks it looks like. short gig otherwise i'd wager.
― piscesx, Wednesday, 27 June 2012 23:14 (eleven years ago) link
Thanks for posting the Mojo piece.
My Bloody Valentine? They were just another little indie band to begin with. Lush interested me more because they could actually write songs and had ideas.
He sounds like he's too insecure to admit how good My Bloody Valentine are. Which - if the case - is sad, considering how satisfied he should be with his own body of work. It wouldn't diminish his band in any way. Then again, maybe that mix of insecurity and competitiveness helped him reach the heights he did with CT?...
The only Cocteaus records that make me cringe are the Twinlights and Otherness EPs (from 1995). Twinlights is acoustic and has violins and shite like that, and Otherness is pointless remixes.
I kind of agree with him about Twinlights; I think the instrumentation wasn't up to par. An intriguing exercise - I don't think it's a failure, by any means... But I consider the Otherness EP to be an essential final jewel in their crown. Just listen to the direction that that EP took their live set in; it was yet another breathtaking step in their evolution.
Example 1: The way it drops out at around 3:20 and resurfaces in remix form is a thing of beauty.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iQpaUZP5t4&list=PLA6C6A1D4FF638880&index=3&feature=plpp_video
Example 2: Definitely NOT a pointless remix.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXkhpT7wmo4&list=PLA6C6A1D4FF638880&index=4&feature=plpp_video
― azaera, Thursday, 28 June 2012 06:40 (eleven years ago) link
Oops, video #2 is supposed to be this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXkhpT7wmo4&list=PLA6C6A1D4FF638880&index=4&feature=plpp_video
― azaera, Thursday, 28 June 2012 06:41 (eleven years ago) link
Argh. Technical ineptitude. Sorry. It's supposed to be a video of Aloysius live from 1996. Definitely worth checking out if you haven't already done so.
― azaera, Thursday, 28 June 2012 06:43 (eleven years ago) link
No, it's because RG was one of that group of people who actually remember MBV as this shambolic live band stumbling round the London scene in the mid to late 80s. As opposed to people who just heard these amazing records coming out of nowhere and presumed they were always that brilliant.
(And I say that as someone who was part of that latter group. But I know quite a few people who remember MBV as an early band, and their later success was, shall we say, unexpected.)
― White Chocolate Cheesecake, Thursday, 28 June 2012 08:33 (eleven years ago) link
https://open.spotify.com/user/bellaunion/playlist/7E80P0mDTqpCiPbCLVkaUK?si=NTDqk34FTPG0fCIBzjMmfw
A Cocteaus playlist Simon Raymonde made and shared yesterday saying “I coulda chosen any but these just suited my mood”. Surprising either way as he doesn’t talk about his Cocteau past much.
Hope that link works.
― piscesx, Friday, 22 December 2017 12:08 (six years ago) link
Had an In The Gold Dust Rush IPA the other day. The can even looked like it was designed by Vaughan Oliver. It was quite good!
― henry s, Friday, 22 December 2017 12:29 (six years ago) link
Being in Cocteau Twins from 21-35 years of age, was like riding on a rollercoaster for 1/2 a lifetime. Thrilling at times, then a bit nauseous, then wanting to get off, but realising you can't and gritting your teeth but also finding moments of sad beauty to savour amongst the terror. Here are 13.
Melancholy of the festive season hitting hard! Thanks for sharing Pisces, it's lovely.
― ♫ very clever with maracas.jpg ♫ (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 22 December 2017 12:41 (six years ago) link
(can someone post a tracklisting for those of us who don't spotify? ta)
― koogs, Friday, 22 December 2017 16:28 (six years ago) link
01. For Phoebe Still a Baby02. Eperdu03. Cico Buff04. Fifty-fifty Clown05. Watchlar06. I Wear Your Ring07. A Kissed Out Red Floatboat08. Crushed09. Those Eyes, That Mouth10. Athol-brose11. Orange Appled12. Calfskin Smack13. Blue Bell Knoll
― willem, Friday, 22 December 2017 16:32 (six years ago) link