Cocteau Twins

Cocteau Twins – Milk & Kisses (2024 Remaster) (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 42:44 minutes | 498 MB | Genre: Alternative Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © EMI

Milk & Kisses shouldn’t be as good as it is. Riven by years of interpersonal tensions brought on by the romantic relationship (and subsequent dissolution) between vocalist Elizabeth Fraser and guitarist Robin Guthrie as well as the aftereffects of Guthrie’s substance abuse (and recovery), Cocteau Twins was a band on its last legs in the mid-’90s. Despite the fact they were ultimately winding down, this period was remarkably collaborative and incredibly productive. (Milk & Kisses was preceded by a pair of standalone EPs that—just like in the band’s formative years—presented cohesive sonic concepts of their own; Twinlights was a largely acoustic affair, with piano-and-guitar versions of old and new songs, while Otherness brought in Seefeel’s Mark Clifford to remix a handful of tracks.)

(more…)

Cocteau Twins – Four-Calendar Café (2024 Remaster) (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 41:07 minutes | 489 MB | Genre: Alternative Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © EMI

Four-Calendar Café may be the most vexing album in the Cocteau Twins’ discography. Following the success of Heaven or Las Vegas, it’s not surprising that the group continued to explore sounds that were accessibly structured, melody-forward, and, even occasionally, lyrically transparent. Instead of leaning into Heaven’s note-perfect combination of beautiful bombast and cosmic catchiness, the Twins made a record that was reliant on gentle, midtempo acoustic compositions that have a quiet, somewhat unfinished feel, which gets amplified by the somewhat sluggish sequence. The first two tracks—”Know Who You Are at Every Age” and “Evangeline”—are certainly up to the group’s standard for beauty, but they’re also notably low-key. It’s not until the chiming, open chords of “Bluebeard” ring out that any sort of life appears to have been breathed into the proceedings.

(more…)

Cocteau Twins – Treasure (1984/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 41:35 minutes | 354 MB | Genre: Alternative
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © 4AD

“Treasure” is the third studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Cocteau Twins. It was released on 1 November 1984 by 4AD. With this album, the band settled on what would, from then on, be their primary lineup: vocalist Elizabeth Fraser, guitarist Robin Guthrie and bass guitarist Simon Raymonde. This new lineup also coincided with the development of the ethereal sound associated with the band’s music.

(more…)

Cocteau Twins – Tiny Dynamine / Echoes In A Shallow Bay (1985/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 32:46 minutes | 748 MB | Genre: Dream Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © 4AD

Tiny Dynamine and Echoes in a Shallow Bay are two EPs by Cocteau Twins that were released in November of 1985. The tracks were originally recorded in order to test a new recording studio the band was using.

(more…)

Cocteau Twins – The Pink Opaque (1985/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 40:06 minutes | 869 MB | Genre: Dream Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © 4AD

The Pink Opaque is the first compilation album by Cocteau Twins, composed of tracks recorded between 1982 and 1985. A joint release by the UK-based 4AD (the band’s label) and the USA-based Relativity Records, it was the band’s first official domestic USA release. The American label Relativity Records reached an agreement to distribute the band’s albums on license from 4AD. Rather than reissuing all of the band’s releases to that point, it was decided that the compilation The Pink Opaque would be issued instead, as a sampler of the Twins’ output up through early 1985.

(more…)

Cocteau Twins – Heaven Or Las Vegas (1990/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 37:58 minutes | 791 MB | Genre: Alternative
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © 4AD

Heaven or Las Vegas was released in 1990 and is recognized as their most commercially successful release, reaching number seven in the UK album charts. Numerous publications have since declared it one of the best albums of the 90s, Pitchfork calling it “a core of ungodly gorgeous songs that is every bit as moving and relevant today as it ever was.” Label founder Ivo Watts-Russell goes further, candidly revealing in the recent 4ADbiography, Facing The Other Way, that this album wasn’t just his favorite Cocteau’s album, but also his favorite all-time 4AD album, and “by a long shot”, calling it “the perfect record.”

(more…)

Cocteau Twins – Blue Bell Knoll (1988/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 35:03 minutes | 792 MB | Genre: Alternative
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © 4AD

Blue Bell Knoll from Cocteau Twins gets the reissue treatment, remastered some 26 years after its initial release. Strikingly beautiful at points, it features standouts such as ‘Athol-Brose’ and the title track ‘Blue Bell Knoll’, but it’s a slow burner of an album that features them retreading their best path while venturing into unknown territory. ‘Carolyn’s Fingers’ – perhaps the album’s highest point – features Elisabeth Fraser intoning hip-hop rhythms and delightful guitar melodies as played by Robin Guthrie. While not their best work, it’s a must for collectors and newcomers alike.

(more…)