Description

Scotland's Cocteau Twins were one of the most distinctive bands to emerge within the splintering rock world of the 1980s. Led by producer, guitarist, and knob-twiddler Robin Guthrie and vocalist Elizabeth Fraser, the Twins explored a landscape of fuzzy atmospherics and mechanized drumbeats, skirting any traditional notion of lyrics in favor of nonsensical sounds and random Scottish phrases. As the band grew more confident, the music's rough edges smoothed out, leaving songs that, as one reviewer put it, sounded like the voice of God.

Biography

Formed in 1982 in Grangemouth, Scotland, the Cocteau Twins originally comprised Elizabeth Fraser (b. 29 August 1963, Scotland), Robin Guthrie (b. 4 January 1962, Scotland) and bass player Will Heggie. Able to convey an astonishing variety of moods and emotions, using words more for their sound than their meaning, Fraser's voice has become one of the most recognizable and imitated of the last two decades. The accompanying musical backdrop assembled by Guthrie used guitar, tape loops, echo boxes and drum machines.
Guthrie formed the band with Heggie after seeing Fraser dancing at a disco. Demo tapes were passed to Ivo Watts-Russell, the owner of 4AD Records and his enthusiasm for the Cocteau Twins' music prompted the band's move to London to record for the label. The first album generated enormous interest and airplay from BBC Radio 1 disc jockey John Peel. Garlands was initially rather lazily compared to Siouxsie And The Banshees, but the Cocteau Twins soon began to carve out their own niche. By spring 1983, Heggie had departed (later to join Lowlife). Head Over Heels smoothed over the rougher edges of its predecessor with Guthrie adding layers of echo and phased drum effects that allowed Fraser's voice full rein. During this period the band were also involved in the 4AD label project This Mortal Coil, for which Fraser and Guthrie's version of the Tim Buckley song "Song To the Siren', has since been acknowledged as one of the finest independent label recordings of the 80s. Simon Raymonde (b. 3 April 1962, Tottenham, London, England) had by now been enrolled as bass player, eventually becoming a valuable asset in composing, arranging and production. The release of two superb EP collections, Sunburst And Snowblind and Pearly-Dewdrops" Drops, dominated the independent charts, with the latter broaching the UK Top 30.
The Cocteau Twins' reluctance to reveal anything of their private lives or play the music business game won them respect from many quarters and annoyance from others. This did leave them, however, less able to counter the image imposed upon them by fans as fey, mystical creatures - in the interviews to which the band did acquiesce, the principals appeared to be earthy, occasionally cantankerous and most definitely of this world. One benefit of their refusal to have their photographs taken for record sleeves was the superb cover art produced by the 23 Envelope studio, a presentational aspect utterly synonymous with their early career. The arrival of Treasure in 1984 saw the band scaling new heights, and over the next couple of years they released several EPs, Aikea-Guinea, Tiny Dynamine and Echoes In A Shallow Bay, each displaying rich, complex textures without ever repeating themselves. Victorialand, recorded without Raymonde, had a lighter, acoustic sound and featured Richard Thomas (saxophone, tablas) of 4AD stablemates Dif Juz. Raymonde returned for the Love's Easy Tears EP and the collaboration with Harold Budd in late 1986. Blue Bell Knoll seemed to confirm that the Cocteau Twins had lost their touch, but the emotional impact of the birth of Fraser and Guthrie's child revived their career on the stunning Heaven Or Las Vegas. The single "Iceblink Luck" reached the UK Top 40 and the band started to tour again.
In 1991, Guthrie continued with studio production work, notably with 4AD labelmates Lush. The Cocteau Twins signed a new contract with Fontana Records in March 1992 and following work with a speech therapist, Fraser returned to recording and completed Four-Calendar Café. There were some surprises in store for the band's long-term fans - for the first time Fraser's lyrics were audible, and the band then released a Christmas single, "Frosty The Snowman". Milk & Kisses was recorded in Brittany and the band's own September Sound Studios in Twickenham, and was preceded by two EP releases, the "ambient" Otherness (with Mark Clifford of Seefeel) and the "acoustic" Twinlights. The latter was accompanied by the band's first film short. The Cocteau Twins announced they were splitting up in June 1998. Guthrie went on to work with vocalist Siobhan De Maré in Violet Indiana.
DISCOGRAPHY: Garlands (4AD 1982)***, Head Over Heels (4AD 1983)***, Treasure (4AD 1984)***, Victorialand (4AD 1986)***, as Harold Budd, Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie, Simon Raymonde The Moon And The Melodies (4AD/Relativity 1986)***, Blue Bell Knoll (4AD/Capitol 1988)**, Heaven Or Las Vegas (4AD/Capitol 1990)****, Four-Calendar Café (Fontana/Capitol 1993)***, Milk & Kisses (Fontana/Capitol 1996)***.
COMPILATIONS: The Pink Opaque (4AD/Relativity 1986)***, Cocteau Twins box set (Capitol 1991)***, BBC Sessions (Bella Union 1999)****, Stars And Topsoil: A Collection (1982-1990) (4AD 2000)****.

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