Date: Thu, 9 May 1996 04:22:56 GMT From: Paul Spirito (spiritop@WINTHROP.SLIC.COM) Subject: CT bio '96 (fwd) This was originally posted to the CT list. Before hating me, please read. It's long, but it's hilarious. Paul On Mon, 6 May 1996 20:21:55 -0700 (PDT), Jack B Huynh wrote: >from capitol records for those interested.... > >jack b huynh >jhuy@garnet.berkeley.edu > > http://www.cocteautwins.com/treasure > > >---------- Forwarded message ---------- > >Jack-- > >Liz asked me to forward this to you. > >Mitch > > >COCTEAU TWINS > It's often said that rock music can only be defined by its > limitations. If that's the case, it's no wonder that, for 13 > years, writers have had such a hard time describing the > Cocteau Twins. In June 1983, the release of the band's debut > album tossed those so-called limitations into the > twilight zone and the Cocteau Twins have been pushing the > celestial envelope ever since. > > It all began in 1982, when Robin Guthrie and Elizabeth > Fraser moved to London from their hometown of Grangemouth, > Scotland. A year later, they signed to a nascent independent > record company called 4AD (a label they later defined) and > released their first album, Garlands. This first effort > collided introspective, dissonant guitars, a post-punk > soundscape, and a TR808 electronic drum machine, all of > which incited a fanfare of praise and wonder usually > reserved for biblical events. This was largely because > Fraser's soaring voice lifted the post-industrial clang > heavenward and into the supernatural (and a terrestrial #2 > position in the U.K. independent charts). The follow-up in > August 1983, Head Over Heels, saw them hailed as one of the > chosen independent British bands, who, along with the likes > of Depeche Mode and the Cure, helped shape the early '80s > music scene. Robin and Elizabeth's cover of Tim Buckley's > "Song to the Siren," recorded as part of 4AD's This Mortal > Coil project, only reinforced their reputation as masters of > the ethereal. > > By the end of 1983, the duo had recruited Simon Raymonde > from a band called the Drowning Craze, and sped into '84 > with a U.K. hit single called "Pearly-Dewdrops Drops." They > also recorded Treasure, an album filled with such sublime > eargasms, it prompted one misguided journalist to conclude > in a review that "Surely this is the voice of God." Three > EPs containing yet more material all raced up the British > charts and proved that musically, the band was capable > of expanding both outward and upwards. > > Although the band now refute accusations that they've spent > much of their career being willfully obscure, there's no > doubt they've picked a path of greatest resistance: rarely > releasing singles to trail forthcoming albums, touring only > when it was least expected, staying clear of virtually all > TV appearances and giving nothing away at interviews. Just > when they were in a position to capitalize on the success of > Treasure, Robin and Liz recorded the acoustic Victorialand > (1986) while Simon was working for This Mortal Coil, and the > band followed this with The Moon and the Melodies -- a > collaboration with minimalist jazz pianist Harold Budd. > > Their debut album for Capitol, Blue Bell Knoll, proved that > the Cocteau Twins were one of the few British bands to > survive the '80s with their reputation pretty much intact. > Although their success in the U.K. has never been properly > mirrored in America, their influence permeates through > today's avant garde, from the textured rhythms of the > Chemical Brothers, to the ambient techno of Seefeel (Mark > Clifford collaborated on the Twins' recent EP Otherness). > > Throughout the years, the Cocteau Twins remained a closed > book. The band's lyrics were virtually unintelligible (for > years, the only printed lyrics was the couplet, "When mama > was moth/I took bulb form"), and in person, they made even > less sense. The band's dogged refusal to allow anyone into > their hermetically sealed world managed to frustrate even > their most ardent supporters. All meetings with the band > were conducted in an atmosphere of trust and > understanding -- the band didn't trust people and people > didn't understand the band. "We always thought there was > something to hide," Simon now explains. "We second-guessed > so much, we acted as though there was some dark secret. > After all, all these journalists, who had all these > degrees were asking us the same question, so I think we > invented this mystery, this oddness, to give us a > personality. This is all said with hindsight," he adds. "At > the time, we had no masterplan to be odd." > > The Cocteau Twins began the '90s with the same gush of > critical plaudits they'd received a decade before with the > album, Heaven or Las Vegas. To celebrate the album's title, > the band finished the tour at the Las Vegas casino Aladdin > (heaven was fully booked at the time). In 1991, the band > finally parted company with 4AD in the U.K. and, two years > later, released Four-Calendar Cafe. > > No one has ever found a magic formula that somehow links a > music that's been described as the iridescent flutter of > angels' wings, to three human beings who have spent many > years going through personal hell. (The band nearly split up > in 1994 because, as Simon recalls, "We got about as low as > you could go, personally and emotionally, but we've come out > the other end a lot healthier. Things are brilliant now.") > It's perhaps the Cocteau Twins' ability to feast on these > contradictions that keeps their music so charged. > > Just after the Four-Calendar Cafe World Tour ended, Guthrie > went to Brittany to write new songs. There he was later > joined by Simon and Liz. The trio then adjourned to their > studio in Twickenham, a leafy London suburb, where they > recorded more songs together -- the first time the band had > been in the studio at the same time since Treasure. "Making > this record was a very joyous experience," Robin elaborates. > "It only took two months to record, which for us is amazing. > We'd always read articles about bands who spoke of the vibe > of the band in the studio and we'd have no idea what they > were talking about. We thought it was bollocks because that > way of working was so alien to us. Simon used to come into > the studio in the daytime to do his thing, then I would come > in at night to do mine, and then Liz would come in when > neither one of us was around. We were never in the studio at > the same time. With this album, we really were together much > of the time." > > The result is Milk & Kisses, the band's ninth album (their > fourth for Capitol). It is very much a Cocteau Twins album > (which prompts the band to ask, "What do people expect from > us? A rap album?"), yet we are presented with a very > different trio -- a band who fully understand their combined > strengths and individual weaknesses, whose music sets out to > describe the entire spectrum of emotions from distorted > sorrow to searing joy. Elizabeth Fraser sees this album as > "more exaggerated than any of the albums. Very, very sad and > more honest than ever." The singer may claim that this album > is more grounded in real life with lyrics culled from her > daily journal, yet Fraser's voice continually challenges the > very notion of reality. On Milk & Kisses, her intoxicating > chant has the brittle strength to melt the hardest of > hearts. It's a voice that clearly demonstrates that all that > early purple prose about angels and iridescence, although > embarrassing to the band, may not have been completely off > the mark. Like its two predecessors Heaven or Las Vegas and > Four-Calendar Cafe, the lyrics on Milk & Kisses are half > discernable lyrics, half a phonetic stream of > unconsciousness. > > "I know we make great pieces of music, great atmospheres," > Guthrie explains, "but I wanted to see if we wrote real > songs." The answer is a resounding yes. Milk & Kisses is > without doubt their most assured work to date, at times > ("Half-Gifts," "Rilkean Heart," and the astounding > "Treasure Hiding") soaring with the same dangerous beauty as > the very best of Treasure or Victorialand. > > Since recording the album last May, the band has been > amazingly productive. They wrote a song for the Judge Dredd > movie soundtrack, and have written various TV commercials > (for the health drink Aqua Libre and Fruitopia in Britain, > cars in Japan, and a toothpaste in Spain). In September of > 1995 Twinlights, a largely acoustic EP, was released > followed by the more ambient Otherness EP in December. An > eight-minute film made by Dirk Van Dooren to accompany the > Twinlights EP won the Grand Jury Prize at the Charleston > International Film Festival. > > Although the two EPs were released before the album, they > were written after it, which is just the sort of upside-down > behavior you'd expect from the strangely strange yet oddly > normal Cocteau Twins. The band are currently planning a > world tour this year which they hope will visit more > intimate venues than their last American adventure. > > They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Well, > it's 1996, so behold... the Cocteau Twins! > > > ### > > > > > > > COCTEAU TWINS MILK & KISSES (CAPITOL 37049) MAY 1996 > >