Recently, I received an e-mail from Brazilian reader Macki indicated that he had just written an article for his college newspaper about The Cocteau Twins. Not only do I love to read what other people have to say about the bands I adore, but I was also humbled by the fact that Macki chose to cite yours truly as a reference. After all, to my knowledge, I've never been part of someone's bibliography before. :) Anyway, I've posted a copy of the article below. Be sure to show Macki some love by leaving your comments. And... just in case you simply cannot get enough of all things Cocteau, here's [url=http://www.tblog.com/template...]the link [/url] to the post I wrote about them a month or so ago.
Enjoy!
[i]Ok, Cocteau Twins. An exotic sound, perhaps? No that word is too vague. Strange, extraordinary, different; none of these words correctly define the Scottish band that has the “Voice of God” in its vocals. The expression, although maybe a little exaggerated, comes very close to define the voice of Elizabeth Fraser: it is, in a certain way, distant and at the same time raw and complex – Fraser seems to put her soul in each song; and, with a detail, she rarely uses inteligible words or phrases which have an explicit meaning. And even so it is possible to feel what she is trying to show in each song. But, besides Fraser, the Twins include both Simon Raymonde, bass, and Robin Guthrie, guitar – both of them are responsible for the arrangements, which, as Jennifer Jones (juniperflux.tblog.com) said, go beyond the limits of the invention of melodies, taking Fraser´s voice to a point that defies imagination, vatying between soft and suspirated melodies and others that are raw and rude.
The Twins are a relatively unknown band. And yet, ironically, their impact was enormous – it can be said, without exaggeration, that the musical scene, specially the alternative and its underground parts, was never the same again. Musicians like Prince and Madonna list the band in their influences, without mentioning Curve and other similars, which are clearly followers of the Twins. Since Treasure, the landmark in their career and the album that introduced to the world the Cocteau Style, the band’s influence came to grow more and more, like the ripples of a stone thrown into the water. They never occupied hours in MTV, and built much before the support of a great label, but, inspite of that, they managed to create a totally new kind of music and, perhaps even more incredible, they tried to improve and innovate their own style throughout their whole career, not being satisfied with what they already had achieved.
To those who don’t know the band, I would recommend Treasure (this is the album which led me to my passion for the Cocteau Twins). In all tracks, be they the divine aria of Donimo, the jazzy feeling in Pandora or the waves and sighs of Otterley, Treasure fascinates, showing the otherworldly voice of Fraser with the musical experimentatons of Raymonde and Guthrie.[/i]
|
