A friend of many moons sent me a link to Cocteau Twins videos.
For the record, Aikea-Guinea, Iceblink Luck, Bluebeard, and Evangeline are among those songs that strike that peculiar chord of Life and Love in me. Some of those you can't see on video are From the Flagstones, Lorelei, Orange Appled, and Know Who You Are at Every Age.
One last note. Don't worry about lyrics. This is a sound that transcends language. And for those who know me, that's quite something. I am a stickler about language (on paper and in my choices of music. In person, I pretend to be laid back, getting by with as few words as humanly possible.)
Every single song from this band is worth a listen. And on that note, I am off to my ipod to retreive these songs for my daughter.
3 comments:
Hadn't heard Cocteau Twins in a long time outside of Scotland. I always had trouble identifying their titles, so I just clicked on one that sounded familiar. It was the live version of Blue Bell Knoll, and it was a pretty good one.
There's a particular timbre they capture with their arrangements that is, in a word, hypnotic. Sounds a lot like a resurrected Mellotron, but I can't be sure. Apparently the GEPR isn't sure either. Want to give them a hand?
http://www.gepr.net/co.html#COCTEAUTWINS
I am so musically illiterate. I had to look up "Mellotron" and GEPR. CD would've known,I bet.
You're right about lyrics not synching up with the titles. For the longest time, I thought Blue Beard was Know Who You Are at Every Age. (Made sense to me!)
I didn't notice on the website if the instrument was a Mellotron. Now I'll have to find out
I wouldn't feel too illiterate, Celogo- you almost need a formal introduction to prog to know about either of them. The GEPR is a strangely comprehensive cross-indexed encyclopedia of popular 'art' music from the past 30 years. 'By popular' I mean as opposed to academic or 'classical' music--after all, many of the bands listed on GEPR never sold well. But still, allegedly it's all the same major genre usually called progressive rock music--although it generally has more in common with jazz...hmm.
Anyway, after going back to hear Cocteau Twins I went browsing the GEPR, and found a fun little band out of Georgia called Solution Science Systems. They represent a whole different brand of prog from Cocteau Twins (who are kind of like an electrified Dead Can Dance)
called orchestral prog, which features long instrumentals, lots of runs, funky time signatures and weird (but not Schoenberg weird) chord changes.
As for the Mellotron, this was a favorite instrument of prog bands in the 1970s, especially orchestral prog acts. They fell into disuse when digital samplers hit the scene, but you still see a vew of these around. They're usually housed in big, bulky booths that a keyboardist sits at and tries not to strangle himself with analog sample tapes. They didn't generate as much heat as analog synthesizers and were somewhat easier to find parts for. But Oh Lord are they a pain to fix if one of the sample loops tangle.
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