Cocteau Twins - Lorelei
I’ve been listening to Cocteau Twins pretty solidly all week. Mostly the EPs and ‘Blue Bell Knoll’, but dipping into the other albums as well. Their first album I ever got was their debut, ‘Garlands’, when it arrived as part of a job lot of tapes I bought off eBay. The first time I ever listened to it was when I was home from work with a migraine. I don’t know what compelled me to put it on, but I’m glad I did. Side A of the tape was the full LP, side B was a live Peel Session recording. It was this Side B that I listened to obsessively (the version of ‘Hazel’ from that remains one of my absolute favourites). Then, I’m not sure how long afterwards, I think pretty quickly because I don’t recall really looking them up to any great degree, but just playing the tape over and over again in my car, their best-of, ‘Stars & Topsoil’, was released so I picked that up. It just covered their 4AD years, but included a track or two from all of their releases. Five tracks in was this piece, and I was hooked.
Dif Juz - Soarn
Just gonna put this here. Lovely song. Lovely EP.
Gang Gang Dance - Chinese High (Live)
I have opened all the windows in the house that actually open - the cross breeze is amazing right now. This is on the turntable, and I’m sitting in the middle of the living room floor, folding laundry. What a lovely way to pass the time.
Modern English - Gathering Dust
So I was going to post something else today, but after listening to my original selection, this came up next in iTunes, and I thought I’d much rather post this. I came across this song originally on a This Mortal Coil EP, where it is sung by Elizabeth Fraser and Gordon Sharp, and I loved that. Then I got my hands on the original version, and I loved it so much more than the TMC cover, and I adored the TMC cover. The TMC version has a more dynamic, free air about it whereas this one reeks of anxious desperation.
I must confess, I know nothing of Modern English’s work beyond this track, and of course “I Melt With You”. It probably was slightly hypocritical of me, but when I put the latter track on a playlist made up of pop songs and classing hits for a road trip taken with friends and they all looked at me with blank faces when this one popped up, I had a go at them for not recognising it. Who doesn’t know “I Melt With You”? Seriously, who? You can’t call it an age thing - I was barely one when this track was first released. Some songs last longer than the year they were released. Music did that back then. Hell, music did that ten years ago.
This Mortal Coil - Not Me
This is easily my favourite TMC track. I used to say that my favourite was “Bitter”, but then I thought about it, and my love for “Bitter” comes at the price of including the tracks before and after as they flow into each other. It’s a stunning triptych, the absolute highlight of ‘Blood’ for me, but if you don’t enjoy listening to it by itself, how legitimate is the claim that it’s your favourite track? So that honor instead goes to “Not Me”. It’s one of those “hits that never happened”, but my goodness I’m glad that Ivo decided to dig up and re-do this Colin Newman cast aside. Enjoy!
Beirut - Cliquot
Owen Pallett covered this at last night’s show. He almost didn’t, prefacing it with a glance at the setlist and a small grimace before saying that he was going to play something he hadn’t played in a long time, but wasn’t sure any more. A smattering of people said “play it”, so he did. And this was it. It was an absolute thrill. I’m only a casual Beirut fan, but I have a special relationship with “The Flying Club Cup”. I was working for Beggars Group before this album was released, and an email went around asking if anyone wanted a promo copy. Of course I said yes! Being a bit of a 4AD fan at the time (not so much any more), I was thrilled. I have my very own, absolutely unique, promo copy of the album that’s been watermarked to me. Hee!
The Mountain Goats - Palmcorder Yajna
I moved house a month ago, and I’m now getting around to the superfluous decorating things. I’ve spent the past few nights framing posters. I have a lot of 4AD posters - I love their visual aesthetic. Tonight I hung the poster celebrating the release of this LP, “We Shall All Be Healed” in the hallway above the phone table, and it prompted me to give it a listen.
I only got into this band because, for the first half of the ‘noughties’ I was somewhat obsessed with 4AD the record label. For a few years I was a subscriber to their mail order program, and I received pretty much everything they released on vinyl. I don’t think I would have got into this band otherwise. I’m really glad I did. It took me a while to get around to playing it, but when I did…man. I loved it.
‘Palmcorder Yajna’ isn’t my favourite track on the album - that would probably be ‘Against Pollution’ (or perhaps ‘Letter From Belgium’ if you catch me in a more singles-oriented mood). But I posted that one because when listening I was reminded of a discussion/argument I had with one of the presenters when I worked for FBi Radio. I was the producer of the Monday Lunch program, which included putting together sections of the music playlist. Early on in my “career” I was too much enjoying making people listen to what I wanted to listen to, and hadn’t learned the art of making people want to listen to what I listen to as opposed to just hurling at them. I told James that I thought he should play ‘Against Pollution’. He disagreed. There was some discussion about moods and tone and blah blah blah. I can’t remember how it resolved itself, but in hindsight it probably wouldn’t have mattered who won the argument - he was the one in control of the CD player. I do remember though, as soon as “Holt Boulevarde!” came screaming out of the monitor speakers that he was absolutely right, and ‘Palmcorder Yajna’ was definitely the best song to choose out of the two. That’s what I always think of whenever I hear the song.
