Features Disc of the day
Cocteau Twins
Treasure
(4AD, 1984)
Before My Bloody Valentine, there was this lot. All hail Liz Fraser!
Is it possible to pay tribute to the Cocteau Twins without using the word “ethereal”? It’s certainly tricky. Their grand, baroque constructions inspire the kind of enthusiasm that makes rapturous, adjective-ridden prose a constant temptation. Treasure, the band’s third LP, saw the Twins perfect the signature sound they pioneered on 1983’s Head Over Heels after the departure of bassist Will Heggie removed the lumbering, Hook-esque bass lines that weighed down the claustrophobic debut Garlands. Front and centre is Fraser’s superhuman voice. With no lyrics to impede her, she’s free to shoot out into the cosmos, gymnastically veering between reedy, childlike rhyme to breathy sigh and, beyond, into deep Gaelic chant. Meanwhile, guitarist Robin Guthrie and bassist Simon Raymonde conjure melodic waterfalls that would set the standard for emotive post-punkers through the ’80s and early ’90s. Forget Adam Ant and his foppish ilk; this is the kind of new romanticism that stood the test of time.
Chris Lo
Posted by Danny_Eccleston at 6:00 AM GMT 22/06/2008
Further Listening
My Bloody Valentine – Loveless (Creation, 1991)
Cocteau Twins – Head Over Heels (4AD, 1983)
M83 – Saturdays = Youth (Mute, 2008)
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Previous Disc of the day
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Tom Waits - Mule Variations
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6:00 AM GMT 24/07/2008
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Various - Heartworn Highways
2006 reissue of songs from Jim Szalapski’s now-legendary document of ’70s ‘progressive country’.
6:00 AM GMT 23/07/2008
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Jackie Lomax - Is This What You Want?
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6:00 AM GMT 22/07/2008
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Jody Wildgoose - Afterlife
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6:00 AM GMT 21/07/2008
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Various - So Young But So Cold – Underground French Music 1977-1983
Like a French Futurama festival. On CD.
6:00 AM GMT 20/07/2008
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