COCTEAU TWINS - Stars And Topsoil

11'00

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COCTEAU TWINS
Stars And Topsoil
(CAD2K19CD) 4AD 2000
18 Tracks. 72mins13secs.
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MY LOVE PARAMOUR... BY THE MILKMAN - HERE.

Emerged in the aftermath of the punk era, alongside Siouxsie & The Banshees or Cure, the Cocteau Twins have, in the fifteen years they were together, invented a unique combination of foggy guitars, hypnotic bass lines and ethereal vocals. Stars & Topsoil retraces eight years of their collaboration with legendary label 4AD.
From their first album, Garlands, released in 1982, to 1996’s Milk & Kisses, the Cocteau Twins have skilfully developed their craft, the waves of layered guitars engulfing the exceptional voice of Liz Fraser, to the point where it became an instrument in its own right. To add to the mystery, Liz has, over the years, perfected her own language, in which a few English words only would filter. She has also given the strangest titles to her songs, sometimes using first names, on Treasure, or butterfly names, on Tiny Dynamine and Echoes In A Shallow Bay.
Stars & Topsoil compiles tracks taken from nearly every single EP or album released by the band on 4AD, and follows last year’s BBC Sessions, released on Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde’s label Bella Union. The eighteen tracks, in chronological order, demonstrate more than ever how the Cocteau’s universe has remained so tightly sealed over the years. Ignoring fashions, Liz Fraser, Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde have remained consistent in their art, faithful to their original sound.
Stars & Topsoil includes some of the finest moments ever recorded. Sugar Hiccup, Pearly-Dewdrops’ Drops, Pale Clouded White, the magnificent Lazy Calm, with its icy saxophone, Orange Appled or Iceblink Luck are as many reminders that the music produced by the Cocteau Twins is breathtaking, jubilant and peaceful. It is timeless.

TRACK LISTING

01	Blind Dumb Deaf	10	Lazy Calm
02	Sugar Hiccup	11	The Thinner The Air
03	My Love Paramour	12	Orange Appled
04	Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops	13	Cico Buff
05	Lorelei	14	Carolyn's Fingers
06	Pandora	15	Fifty-Fifty Clown
07	Aikea-Guinea	16	Iceblink Luck
08	Pink Orange Red	17	Heaven or Las Vegas
09	Pale Coloured White	18	Watchlar

10'99

COCTEAU TWINS
The Complete BBC Sessions
(BELLACD14) Bella Union 1999
30 Tracks. 111mins24secs.
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Spanning over 15 years, this double album includes all the sessions recorded by the band for the beeb, from their first John Peel Sessions in 1982. From the early Wax And Wane or Garlands, to the beautiful intricacy of Seekers Who Are Lovers, Half-Gift or Violaine, these recordings show how the band have made their sound evolved from cold to warm, from black and white to luxuriant colours, almost like a painter applying little touches of paint to change an atmosphere. There is a downside to this album though. No sessions were recorded with the BBC between 1984 and 1996, and inevitably, there are some gems missing there. What wouldn't we give for altenative versions of Blue Bell Knoll, The Itchy Glowbo Blow or anything from Heaven Or Las Vegas, apart from Fifty Fifty Clown. Still, these 30 songs give enough to wait for an improbable live album, or, as it may well be, the first solo effort of Liz Fraser.

Read about The Complete BBC Sessions

TRACK LISTING

01	Wax & Wane	16	Musette & Drums
02	Garlands	17	Hitherto
03	Alas Dies Laughing	18	From The Flagstones
04	Feathers-Oars-Blades	19	Musette & Drums
05	Hearsay Please	20	Paper-Tree
06	Dear Heart	21	Beatrix
07	Blind Dumb Deaf	22	Ivo
08	Hazel	23	Otterley
09	The Tinderbox (Of The Heart)	24	Serpentskirt
10	Strange Fruit	25	Golden-Vein
11	Hitherto	26	Half-Gift
12	From The Flagstones	27	Seekers Who Are Lovers
13	Sugar Hiccup	28	Calfskin Smack
14	In Our Angelhood	29	Fifty-Fifty Clown
15	My Hue & Cry	30	Violaine

COCTEAU TWINS DISCOGRAPHY

GARLANDS 4AD 1982 Buy it on line now		Blood Bitch Wax & Wane But I'm Not Blind Dumb Deaf Shallow Then Halo The Hollow Men Garlands Grail Overfloweth Dear Heart Hearsay Please Hazel Blind Dumb Deaf Speak No Evil Perhaps Some Other Aeon
HEAD OVER HEELS/ SUNBURNT & SNOWBLIND 4AD 1983 Buy it on line now		When Mama Was Moth Five Ten Fiftyfold Sugar Hiccup In Our Angelhood Glass Candle Grenades In The Gold Dust Rush The Tinderbox (Of A Heart) Multifoiled My Love Paramour Musette & Drums Sugar Hiccup From The Flagstones Hitherto Because Of Whirl-Jack
TREASURE 4AD 1984 Buy it on line now		Ivo Lorelei Beatrix Persephone Pandora Amelia Aloysius Cicely Otterley Donimo
THE PINK OPAQUE 4AD 1985		The Spangle Maker Millimillenary Wax & Wane Hitherto Pearly-Dewdrops Drops From The Flagstones Aikea-Guinea Lorelei Pepper-Tree Musette & Drums
VICTORIALAND 4AD 1986 Buy it on line now		Lazy Calm Fluffy Tufts Throughout The Dark Months Of April & May Whales Tail Oomingmak Little Spacey Feet-Like Fins How To Bring A Blush To The Snow The Thinner The Air
THE MOON & THE MELODIES 4AD 1986 Buy it on line now		Sea, Swallow Me Memory Gongs Why Do You Love Me? Eyes Are Mosaics She Wil Destroy You The Ghost Has No Home Bloody And Blunt Ooze Out & Away, Onehow
BLUE BELL KNOLL 4AD 1988 Buy it on line now		Blue Bell Knoll Athol-Brose Carolyn's fingers For Phoebe Still A Baby The Itchy Glowbo Blow Cico Buff Suckling The Mender Spooning Good Singing Gum A Kissed Out Red Floatboat Ella Megablast Burls Forever
HEAVEN OR LAS VEGAS 4AD 1990 Buy it on line now		Cherry-Coloured Funk Pitch The Baby Iceblink Luck Fifty-Fifty Clown Heaven Or Las Vegas I Wear Your Ring Fotzepolitic Wolf In The Breast Road, River & Rail Frou-Frou Foxes In Midsummer Fires
FOUR-CALENDAR CAFE Fontana 1993 Buy it on line now		Know Who You Are At Every Age Evangeline BlueBeard Theft, & Wandering Around Lost Oil Of Angels Sqeeze-Wax My Truth Essence Summerhead Pur
MILK & KISSES Fontana 1996 Buy it on line now		Violaine Serpentskirt Tishbite Half-Gifts Calfskin Smack Rilkean Heart Ups Eperdu Treasure Hiding Seekers Who Are Lovers
COMPLETE BBC SESSIONS Bella Union 1999 Buy it on line now		Wax & Wane Garlands Alas Dies Laughing Feathers-Oars-Blades Hearsay Please Dear Heart Blind Dumb Deaf Hazel The Tinderbox (Of The Heart) Strange Fruit Hitherto From The Flagstones Sugar Hiccup In Our Angelhood My Hue & Cry Musette & Drums Hitherto From The Flagstones Musette & Drums Paper-Tree Beatrix Ivo Otterley Serpentskirt Golden-Vein Half-Gift Seekers Who Are Lovers Calfskin Smack Fifty-Fifty Clown Violaine
STARS AND TOPSOILS 4AD 2000 Buy it on line now		Blind Dumb Deaf Sugar Hiccup My Love Paramour Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops Lorelei Pandora Aikea-Guinea Pink Orange Red Pale Coloured White Lazy Calm The Thinner The Air Orange Appled Cico Buff Carolyn's Fingers Fifty-Fifty Clown Iceblink Luck Heaven or Las Vegas Watchlar

THE SURFER'S GUIDE TO THE COCTEAU TWINS

COCTEAU TWINS OFFICIAL SITE
The Cocteau Twins are no more, but their official site is still up, and is updated from time to time. The site also features a complete discography, photo galleries, a forum...

COCTEAUTWINS.ORG
Good site for information on the band, including song data base and link.

COCTEAU TWINS FAN SITE
Very basic site if you want to know everything about the Cocteau Twins, but nicely designed.

4AD
The legendary label of the eighties has survived well. More active than ever, the label also knows who its best artists from the past are.

BELLA UNION
Founded by Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde a couple of years ago, Bella Union has since been very dynamic and broad-minded. Great site too.