Cocteau Twins

[matthew]

How could an offset forum not have a Cocteau Twins thread? For quite a while their staple guitars were Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Electric XII, and Bass VIs. One song (I think Rococo from Aikea Guinea) was written as the result of a 'Bass VI duel' between Robin and Simon apparently...

Lots of atmosphere, melodies, and a lot of what sounds like keyboard is probably guitars with an imaginitive bundle of effects. I read somewhere that Heaven Or Las Vegas had little or no keyboard...

[enormous]

I've heard a lot about them, but I am still in the process of getting to know them.  Right now I have Treasure, any recommendations?

[mjet]

I've been a huge fan for aeons. Robin Guthrie became a hero of mine and I don't even know all that much about him. It happened when I was reading an interview in which he tried to explain how he came up with his unique style of ethereal effect-heavy playing:

"When I started playing guitar, when I was about 14 or 15, my other friends who were learning could pretty soon copy other people's records, and pick up guitar lines and things. And I could never do that. So while they learned how to sound like other people, I got into electronics.I could make really interesting sounds, but I couldn't be Jimmy Page. Which, ironically, is all I wanted to be able to do. But I learnt that I didn't have to, I could do whatever I wanted. I got into hiding behind sound." Total Guitar, May 1996

Here's a pretty easy introduction to them and their sound, using one of their later video clips, "Carolyn's Fingers":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otokK5zyGiA

Excuse the $trat in the opening!

IMO, they were always a band to be listened to and not watched. I suggest that clip because I found it quickly and its of decent quality.

Elizabeth Fraser sings in kind of a nonsensical language, a bit like Sigur Ros would do a few years later with Jonsi singing in "Hopelandic" (a kind of Icelandic and jibberish mixed together more like a separate instrument than a language).

[mjet]

And another bit from a more recent interview with Robin Guthrie:

Q: Your approach has influenced a lot of people. The way The Cocteau Twins sounded inspired shoegazer music, but you still have that very ethereal sound to your guitar playing. How did you come across this style?

Guthrie: I stopped being a proper musician. I came from punk rock, and I got into music when punk rock came along, and one of the things I forgot to do was to play properly. I found myself with all these ideas, but I just had my imagination I guess. I wanted my guitar to sound different from the way a regular guitar sounds, I guess. I just played to my limitations as a musician.

[scottme]

Robin's solo work is worth checking out too. I really like Continental.

[dc]

Robin's solo work is pretty good as well. I really like Continental.

and let's not forget Robin's current band, Violet Indiana. great stuff with some new sounds; i think he's playing a Gretsch on those albums.

after 20 years of Cocteau geek fandom  (inc. three concerts, one Robin Guthrie solo show, and a Guthrie/Harold Budd performance), i'll go on endlessly if you get me started.    suffice it to say that if "Treasure" is your starting point, i'd go next to "Heaven or Las Vegas and then some of the EPs, recently anthologized as "Lullabies to Violane." there's some essential material on those discs, man -- "Echoes in a Shallow Bay" and "Tiny Dynamine" are definitive. 

[matthew]

Yes, Violet Indiana is great - the Cocteau Twins ancestry is there, but it much more edgy - if you have heard Mono, then it is their vocalist (Sioban de Mare), and it has a similar feel, but with guitar based backing.

From Treasure, I'd suggest Bluebell Knoll, and the eps are definitely worth it, Lullabies to Violane was a limited release I believe, but if you can find it very much worth your purchase.

[tremolite]

Hey dc... were you at the Melodic Meshes show during SIFF?

[mezcalhead]

Personally I'd say Heaven & Las Vegas is probably their finest moment, although I like nearly all their stuff.

I'll have to pick up Violet Indiana .. sounds like it should be very good.

[dc]

Hey dc... were you at the Melodic Meshes show during SIFF?

like i was going to be anywhere else?    yeah, it was a fun evening -- i only get to take my girlfriend, a non-rock fan, to about one show every two years, so that was a good one for her. and obviously it was a rare treat getting to see Guthrie/Budd play together live. i was *totally* surprised when they announced that show.

were you there, Trem?  what did you think?

[dc]

I'll have to pick up Violet Indiana .. sounds like it should be very good.

Matthew's comment about a more "edgy" sounds is right on, Violet Indiana has a much more "cinematic" quality than the Twins. Siobhan de Mare has a bit of Shirley Bassey flair to her delivery, it's been said. plus she is H-O-T. 

i'd recommend starting with the first album "Routlette" and its attendant EP "Choke." one song on the latter, "Busted," belongs in a David Lynch film.

[tremolite]

Oh man I was there with bells on! I thought it was incredible. It was funny when I was standing in line waiting to get in, i'm talking to people in line around me and it felt like I was the only one there who knew who Guthrie/Budd were, which was strange. I don't remember the films all that much as I had my eyes closed intently listening to the lovely sounds filling the room. I was pretty shocked too when the show was announced...

[dc]

I don't remember the films all that much as I had my eyes closed intently listening to the lovely sounds filling the room. I was pretty shocked too when the show was announced...

yeah, the films were almost incidental to the experience, although several were pretty cool. the one with a woman in a wind-blown gown walking around the shoreline meshed well with the vibe of the music, and the guy boxing a kangaroo was discordant but funny. another friend of mine who was there said she mostly kept her eyes shut too.

since it was general admission, we went really early to stand in queue outside the building, got Greek take-out from some bar across the street and basked in the sidewalk sunshine until they opened the doors. we talked to one or two people around us, and they seemed cool and knowledgeable. then while we were waiting, a film crew from SIFF came by and interviewed me about why we were coming to the show! i'm sure my answers were sycophantic and nonsensical, but hopefully i looked cool in my all-black togs and shades. i wonder what they do with that footage?

oh, Mr. Guthrie posted his own impressions of the show in the June entry on his blog: www.violetindiana.com sounds like he had fun too.

[donnyII]

amazing spacial textures.

[tremolite]

I wonder if the footage ends up on their website or something? I really wanted to talk to Robin or Harold after the show but there were just too many people asking for autographs and such. I did notice he was using one of those Vox Valvtronix units. Robin produced a record for a friend of mine recently. The band is called Mahoganyand the record is called Connectivity! It's coming out soon on Darla, if it's not out already. I think any fans of the Cocteau's, etc would dig it.