More COCTEAU TWINS Reactions: Garlands: th-cam.com/video/zlJcpyqD3kY/w-d-xo.html Head over Heels: th-cam.com/video/zU6RkKBgrIo/w-d-xo.html Treasure: th-cam.com/video/ZfuH8oN5JC4/w-d-xo.html The Moon and the Melodies: th-cam.com/video/_DgSxUsXG3c/w-d-xo.html Blue Bell Knoll: th-cam.com/video/E9HRVtedK5s/w-d-xo.html Heaven or Las Vegas: th-cam.com/video/NDVuDgzflgo/w-d-xo.html Four Calendar Café: th-cam.com/video/RFyzAmTOtBI/w-d-xo.html Milk and Kisses: th-cam.com/video/rynVnz0fSQk/w-d-xo.html
You absolutely have to cover their EPs. Some of their most fantastic songs are tucked away on them. Aikea Guinea, Kookaburra, Orange Appled, Those Eyes That Mouth, From the Flagstones, etc. Just so many gorgeous and remarkable songs on those EPs, especially the mid-80s ones.
So this! Tiny Dynamine, Echoes in a Shallow Bay and Akea Guinea together are the best "album" the Cocteaus made. Effectively taking everything that was good in Treasure and doing more of it while maintaining amazing consistency in quality. Obviously after that they had to make this left-field move into Victorialand. Because it's hard to see how they'd have topped that.
This is a masterpiece of an album. One of my top-three CT albums. This is a very well-respected and well-loved album within the CT fans community. The Moon and the Melodies is incredible as well. I’ve always viewed Victorialand and Melodies as twin sisters... one dressed in white and one dressed in black. They are my favorite band so thank you for taking the time to listen to them.
The theme for the album is Antarctica and Victoria Land is a region in Antarctica. That's why the tracks share a similar feeling throughout but they are still unique.
First Cocteau album to feature full-on abstract/incomprehensible vocals. Also the first of the two very ambient mid-'80s Cocteau albums which for many people are the hardest things to approach in the Cocteau catalog - not just because they're so unrelentingly "sedate" but because of their (in Cocteau terms) unusually limited sound-palette. (Which is why they concluded 1986 by gathering some louder and more urgent archival material for the Love's Easy Tears EP). Still, at least we get to hear the singer using all the tones and octaves at her disposal - unlike any of the times she's come out of seclusion since the turn of the century. There's a radio interview in which Liz shyly "recites" a verse from Whales Tails, claiming that she'd collected these words and phrases and long-since forgotten what they meant. I have, at some time, been told - sadly I can't relocate the source - that that song contains some badly-pronounced Finnish lines. There's a "polar regions" theme to the album (e.g Oomingmak is a type of musk ox - and apparently it's just a coincidence that Whales' Tails is a type of candy), but, despite the David Attenbrough-derived song titles, it's impossible to tell whether there are any of Fraser's literary cut-ups and bricolages going on here. Lazy Calm was played live on that year's tour, with Richard Thomas tagging along to play improvised solos. Whales Tails was in the live repertoire for quite a while, and it was one of the few songs that Liz never "damaged" during her 1994 Tour harsh-improvisation phase. PS 1: Vinyl, and he played it at the right speed, from the off? Congratulations. PS 2: Still calling her Liz out of habit, yes, I know she's come to definitely-prefer her full name
So happy you enjoyed my fave album of theirs, I was nervous you weren't going to vibe with it lol. I hope you'll also like BBK, ANOTHER fave of theirs. I feel that was the album where they really delved into dream pop, and started leaving their post punk sound.
This album is difficult for most people to pinpoint exactly. What's was going on? I believe it is due to the fact, they were into a lot of drugs, at that time, and they openly admit it... !!! This album is "one" of those albums that depends on your mood -- this can't be forced. Contrary to the Wiki-informed, who think Liz isn't using words or relatable vocals in "all" their music -- this, "Is" the only album where, Liz is not using decipherable words. Although, I've been listening since 1982, my ear does pick out some words. This was full-on, "Underwater", "Liquid Sound", and completely "Stoner Music". It's perfectly alright, to call this your favorite album. Alex -- I love the way, we can actually watch your eyes, drift into another dimensional reality. I had a friend ask me, if you were "stoned" or not; but, it is good "stoner music".
This is a great album. Beautiful and sounds other worldly and etheral, full of depth and makes you think and feel emotions that you wouldnt ordinarily feel, this is the power of an artist like Elizabeth Fraser as well as the music and atmosphere and instrumentals from such a great band.
I think someone else has suggested this and I agree....would love to see your reactions to This Mortal Coil...especially the first 2 albums which are magical and the first features the vocals Elizabeth Fraser along with the work of Robin and Simon. There's a gorgeous thread of more classical sounding accompaniment, intros and intervals, in which my cousin plays strings, I am so proud to say!
You should react to dif juz’s “extractions” album, specially the track named “love insane”, the vocals on that one are done by liz Fraser, also the saxophone there is sublime.
I've loved Victorialand since the first time I heard it circa 1990. I wish I wasn't a couple years late to the party but I was just a kid before that LOL Better late than never!!
Yes, Dif Juz are great. Elizabeth Frazer guests on their album from @ 1985 I believe? If you're not yet familiar with 4AD records (Cocteau Twins, Dif Juz, Pale Saints, Red House Painters, His Name Is Alive, etc etc etc), you should be! I think you'd really love all those bands.
@@AlexHaitz You MUST review Dif Juz! Stuff of 4AD legends, as forerunners of Post-Rock, their as yet-unreleased 1986 Robin Guthrie-produced sessions with Lee "Scratch" Perry (to this day, 4AD's holy grail), and because no one knows what's become of Dave and Alan Curtis. Colourbox, A.R. Kane (both of MARRS infamy), His Name Is Alive, etc, for [even more] offbeat 4AD, while you're at it.
This is the only Cocteau Twins album that I've heard. A friend of mine recorded it on cassette for me not long after it came out. I haven't heard it for years but I really loved it back then - not sure now why I never searched out other stuff by them. I've never been an expert in what music is around, but to me this was incredibly original: I'd never heard anything else quite like it and it really hit the spot with me.
Late 80's in Ft Lauderdale, taking acid on the beach and listening to Victorialand and Moon and the Moon and the Melodies on repeat with my best friends. It's burnt into my soul now.
I own the vinyl of this masterpiece, I also managed to get the founder/guitarist of Cocteau Twins (Robin Guthrie) to sign the sleeve and Richard Thomas (saxophone/tabla) the additional musician who helped out on Victorialand also agreed to sign it! THAT was a tricky autograph to obtain! nice bloke too. C
Lucky you! I tried to get Richard to sign my album too when I visited London from the states but he wouldn't ever meet. Strangely enough, the bassist for Dif Juz was living in Louisville, KY several years ago. If you search for an audio interview its a great find!
@@thesoundlikechameleons2082 Ive searched for like 30 years but no luck finding the two brothers from Dif Juz. Robin said theres no hope ever hearing their collab with Lee Scratch Perry. Is the holy man before the dawn a refernce to Isaiah?
When you can hear the songs of the whales in the background as if you were under the sea in Whales Tails, then you will understand why it can be the best album of the Cocteau Twins
Thing to remember about this album is that there was NOTHING like this before. This vibe was unique ... there wasn't a "genre" of dreampop back then. There was just goth. And the Cocteaus. And then they suddenly come with this "statement" where they get rid of the drums and focus on the guitar and voice. And it's extreme. I don't think it's as great an album as Treasure which has more diversity. But it's a stunning aesthetic product.
I had a feeling you'd like Victorialand, I'm glad you did. It is an album that achieves a very specific conductive thread in its texture. I don't know if it's people's favorite but for me it's among my top 3 CT LPs, particularly since I listened to it a lot ... so many memories are etched in my mind with those background sounds. Original LP is a 45 rpm... just like Beach House “bloom” 😉
Oh forgot to mention...I did some experimental photography a bunch of years ago using Oomingmak as the soundtrack. Enjoy. th-cam.com/video/AMTt0NXLbzg/w-d-xo.html
This and Blue Bell Knoll do it for me. They both seem to be the most 'bang for the buck' in the songs. Such a solid sense of direction. Treasure got a little disconnected, and Heaven or Las Vegas seemed like they had a couple of filler ideas (still pleasant, but noticeably a drop off). This album just seemed so concentrated on each sound, which, to be as untethered as this, you have to be.
Give Victorialand time and it will seduce you like all their other work. You can't get a true impression or give an accurate critique of a whole album on the first hearing. It needs time to work it's magic. Relax, put your headphones on and let your imagination wander. Victorialand will lead into an alternate reality. I fell in love with all their work at some time or another. And i still love their albums.
Could you do a reaction to Cornelius - Fantasma? It is a very important Shibuya Kei album and one of my favorite albums of all time. It is a very fun and experimental album.
Love this album... so much.... Close second is “The Moon and the Melodies” your in for a treat.... Check out Guthrie & Budd... my sleep playlist for years ..
I think that people who write descriptions of albums have no goddamned idea what they are talking about... for example, I'm listening to your review right now, and Lazy Calm has no acoustic guitars on it at all. Those are all heavily processed electric guitars, Robin's specialty. None of this album sounds like "acoustic" as you know it. The guitars are all floaty and chorus-ed out. Even the acoustic guitars you can hear are never straight, clean acoustic guitars. You have to get to the fascinating Twinlights EP or the acoustic version of Bluebeard to hear them truly more acoustic.
Wrong. There's no electric guitars on Victorialand. It's all accoustic guitars what you hear, sure It's processed, but it's accoustic. I know even the name of the luthier Robin bought the guitars from for this album.
More COCTEAU TWINS Reactions:
Garlands: th-cam.com/video/zlJcpyqD3kY/w-d-xo.html
Head over Heels: th-cam.com/video/zU6RkKBgrIo/w-d-xo.html
Treasure: th-cam.com/video/ZfuH8oN5JC4/w-d-xo.html
The Moon and the Melodies: th-cam.com/video/_DgSxUsXG3c/w-d-xo.html
Blue Bell Knoll: th-cam.com/video/E9HRVtedK5s/w-d-xo.html
Heaven or Las Vegas: th-cam.com/video/NDVuDgzflgo/w-d-xo.html
Four Calendar Café: th-cam.com/video/RFyzAmTOtBI/w-d-xo.html
Milk and Kisses: th-cam.com/video/rynVnz0fSQk/w-d-xo.html
I actually managed to get a very rare Japanese promo vinyl of Victorialand for a great price! EXTREMELY RARE to find in mint condition.
You absolutely have to cover their EPs. Some of their most fantastic songs are tucked away on them. Aikea Guinea, Kookaburra, Orange Appled, Those Eyes That Mouth, From the Flagstones, etc. Just so many gorgeous and remarkable songs on those EPs, especially the mid-80s ones.
So this!
Tiny Dynamine, Echoes in a Shallow Bay and Akea Guinea together are the best "album" the Cocteaus made. Effectively taking everything that was good in Treasure and doing more of it while maintaining amazing consistency in quality. Obviously after that they had to make this left-field move into Victorialand. Because it's hard to see how they'd have topped that.
This is a masterpiece of an album. One of my top-three CT albums. This is a very well-respected and well-loved album within the CT fans community. The Moon and the Melodies is incredible as well. I’ve always viewed Victorialand and Melodies as twin sisters... one dressed in white and one dressed in black. They are my favorite band so thank you for taking the time to listen to them.
Feet-like Fins is a masterpiece, one of my favourite Cocteau Twins tracks ever
100%%%% AGREE
The theme for the album is Antarctica and Victoria Land is a region in Antarctica. That's why the tracks share a similar feeling throughout but they are still unique.
'How to Bring a Blush to the Snow' is magnificent, worth more than an 'mmm'. Should be a grower.
This album can best be described as the sound of fog settling on the earth. It is gauzy, hazy, and beautiful in an obscure way.
This is my favourite Cocteau Twins album...for seducing your loved one...sleeping...and for spas, massage and such
Moon and the melodies is relaxing beyond belief... Victorialand is very blissful in sound too.
First Cocteau album to feature full-on abstract/incomprehensible vocals. Also the first of the two very ambient mid-'80s Cocteau albums which for many people are the hardest things to approach in the Cocteau catalog - not just because they're so unrelentingly "sedate" but because of their (in Cocteau terms) unusually limited sound-palette.
(Which is why they concluded 1986 by gathering some louder and more urgent archival material for the Love's Easy Tears EP).
Still, at least we get to hear the singer using all the tones and octaves at her disposal - unlike any of the times she's come out of seclusion since the turn of the century.
There's a radio interview in which Liz shyly "recites" a verse from Whales Tails, claiming that she'd collected these words and phrases and long-since forgotten what they meant. I have, at some time, been told - sadly I can't relocate the source - that that song contains some badly-pronounced Finnish lines.
There's a "polar regions" theme to the album (e.g Oomingmak is a type of musk ox - and apparently it's just a coincidence that Whales' Tails is a type of candy), but, despite the David Attenbrough-derived song titles, it's impossible to tell whether there are any of Fraser's literary cut-ups and bricolages going on here.
Lazy Calm was played live on that year's tour, with Richard Thomas tagging along to play improvised solos.
Whales Tails was in the live repertoire for quite a while, and it was one of the few songs that Liz never "damaged" during her 1994 Tour harsh-improvisation phase.
PS 1: Vinyl, and he played it at the right speed, from the off? Congratulations.
PS 2: Still calling her Liz out of habit, yes, I know she's come to definitely-prefer her full name
So happy you enjoyed my fave album of theirs, I was nervous you weren't going to vibe with it lol. I hope you'll also like BBK, ANOTHER fave of theirs. I feel that was the album where they really delved into dream pop, and started leaving their post punk sound.
This album is difficult for most people to pinpoint exactly. What's was going on? I believe it is due to the fact, they were into a lot of drugs, at that time, and they openly admit it... !!! This album is "one" of those albums that depends on your mood -- this can't be forced.
Contrary to the Wiki-informed, who think Liz isn't using words or relatable vocals in "all" their music -- this, "Is" the only album where, Liz is not using decipherable words. Although, I've been listening since 1982, my ear does pick out some words. This was full-on, "Underwater", "Liquid Sound", and completely "Stoner Music".
It's perfectly alright, to call this your favorite album.
Alex -- I love the way, we can actually watch your eyes, drift into another dimensional reality. I had a friend ask me, if you were "stoned" or not; but, it is good "stoner music".
Lazy calm, Oomingmak, and little spacey are my favorites, but overall I really love this album
This is a great album. Beautiful and sounds other worldly and etheral, full of depth and makes you think and feel emotions that you wouldnt ordinarily feel, this is the power of an artist like Elizabeth Fraser as well as the music and atmosphere and instrumentals from such a great band.
I think someone else has suggested this and I agree....would love to see your reactions to This Mortal Coil...especially the first 2 albums which are magical and the first features the vocals Elizabeth Fraser along with the work of Robin and Simon. There's a gorgeous thread of more classical sounding accompaniment, intros and intervals, in which my cousin plays strings, I am so proud to say!
You should react to dif juz’s “extractions” album, specially the track named “love insane”, the vocals on that one are done by liz Fraser, also the saxophone there is sublime.
I've loved Victorialand since the first time I heard it circa 1990. I wish I wasn't a couple years late to the party but I was just a kid before that LOL Better late than never!!
The perfect record for eating a salad on a windy day outside when it’s over cast
Saladcore.
Yes, Dif Juz are great. Elizabeth Frazer guests on their album from @ 1985 I believe? If you're not yet familiar with 4AD records (Cocteau Twins, Dif Juz, Pale Saints, Red House Painters, His Name Is Alive, etc etc etc), you should be! I think you'd really love all those bands.
I've reacted to the Rollercoaster album by RHP on the channel! Want to do more of them at some point.
@@AlexHaitz You MUST review Dif Juz! Stuff of 4AD legends, as forerunners of Post-Rock, their as yet-unreleased 1986 Robin Guthrie-produced sessions with Lee "Scratch" Perry (to this day, 4AD's holy grail), and because no one knows what's become of Dave and Alan Curtis.
Colourbox, A.R. Kane (both of MARRS infamy), His Name Is Alive, etc, for [even more] offbeat 4AD, while you're at it.
Favorite Cocteau Twins album along side of the moon and the melodies. I used to listen to this throughout highschool back in the late 90s.
a very relaxing lp. Polished to perfection. I have it signed by original founder guitarist Robin Guthrie.
This is the only Cocteau Twins album that I've heard. A friend of mine recorded it on cassette for me not long after it came out. I haven't heard it for years but I really loved it back then - not sure now why I never searched out other stuff by them. I've never been an expert in what music is around, but to me this was incredibly original: I'd never heard anything else quite like it and it really hit the spot with me.
Late 80's in Ft Lauderdale, taking acid on the beach and listening to Victorialand and Moon and the Moon and the Melodies on repeat with my best friends. It's burnt into my soul now.
Great record. Period.
I own the vinyl of this masterpiece, I also managed to get the founder/guitarist of Cocteau Twins (Robin Guthrie) to sign the sleeve and Richard Thomas (saxophone/tabla) the additional musician who helped out on Victorialand also agreed to sign it! THAT was a tricky autograph to obtain! nice bloke too.
C
Lucky you! I tried to get Richard to sign my album too when I visited London from the states but he wouldn't ever meet. Strangely enough, the bassist for Dif Juz was living in Louisville, KY several years ago. If you search for an audio interview its a great find!
@@slackjaw4270 it was hard work! He was abroad, took about 4 months to get done ✔️
@@thesoundlikechameleons2082 Ive searched for like 30 years but no luck finding the two brothers from Dif Juz. Robin said theres no hope ever hearing their collab with Lee Scratch Perry. Is the holy man before the dawn a refernce to Isaiah?
@@slackjaw4270 is that religion?
@@thesoundlikechameleons2082 Isaiah is a book in the Bible.
When you can hear the songs of the whales in the background as if you were under the sea in Whales Tails, then you will understand why it can be the best album of the
Cocteau Twins
This album to me has been more like an opera than an album. All the songs woven together tell a story that I can't make out but makes sense to me.
I'm getting Richie Thomas's autograph, he was an additional musician on Victorialand, hopefully getting Robin Guthrie's too!
Masterpiece
Thing to remember about this album is that there was NOTHING like this before. This vibe was unique ... there wasn't a "genre" of dreampop back then. There was just goth. And the Cocteaus. And then they suddenly come with this "statement" where they get rid of the drums and focus on the guitar and voice. And it's extreme.
I don't think it's as great an album as Treasure which has more diversity. But it's a stunning aesthetic product.
I had a feeling you'd like Victorialand, I'm glad you did. It is an album that achieves a very specific conductive thread in its texture. I don't know if it's people's favorite but for me it's among my top 3 CT LPs, particularly since I listened to it a lot ... so many memories are etched in my mind with those background sounds. Original LP is a 45 rpm... just like Beach House “bloom” 😉
So unique this album, love it... Just with Treasure and Heaven or Las Vegas, my Top 3 from them...
You could possibly like "four calendar cafe" then...
The thinner the air is one of my favorites.
the best cocteau
Oomingmak is breathtaking.
Oh forgot to mention...I did some experimental photography a bunch of years ago using Oomingmak as the soundtrack. Enjoy.
th-cam.com/video/AMTt0NXLbzg/w-d-xo.html
This and Blue Bell Knoll do it for me. They both seem to be the most 'bang for the buck' in the songs. Such a solid sense of direction. Treasure got a little disconnected, and Heaven or Las Vegas seemed like they had a couple of filler ideas (still pleasant, but noticeably a drop off). This album just seemed so concentrated on each sound, which, to be as untethered as this, you have to be.
Bluebell knoll next... great album
Give Victorialand time and it will seduce you like all their other work. You can't get a true impression or give an accurate critique of a whole album on the first hearing. It needs time to work it's magic. Relax, put your headphones on and let your imagination wander. Victorialand will lead into an alternate reality. I fell in love with all their work at some time or another. And i still love their albums.
Could you do a reaction to Cornelius - Fantasma? It is a very important Shibuya Kei album and one of my favorite albums of all time. It is a very fun and experimental album.
Love this album... so much.... Close second is “The Moon and the Melodies” your in for a treat.... Check out Guthrie & Budd... my sleep playlist for years ..
I’ve been wanting to see Mysterious Skin for a couple years now, and recently discovered that they did the score for it. Now I REALLY gotta see it.
Troubling film... with an amazing score... be prepared.... 👍🏻😎
@@AlexHaitz its a great movie! As in intense
Try Swallow titled Blow...also from 4AD early 90s
Victorialand es mi favorito
four calendar cafe ........... please
@@djinnetteilla1016 Check the links in the pinned comment.
Any idea when your first Led Zeppelin reaction will drop?
Once I’m done with Cocteau Twins, I’ll start in on em!
Alex Haitz Physical Graffiti is their absolute best in my opinion :)
ohh wee small hours
4th track tho ;_;
I think that people who write descriptions of albums have no goddamned idea what they are talking about... for example, I'm listening to your review right now, and Lazy Calm has no acoustic guitars on it at all. Those are all heavily processed electric guitars, Robin's specialty. None of this album sounds like "acoustic" as you know it. The guitars are all floaty and chorus-ed out. Even the acoustic guitars you can hear are never straight, clean acoustic guitars. You have to get to the fascinating Twinlights EP or the acoustic version of Bluebeard to hear them truly more acoustic.
Wrong. There's no electric guitars on Victorialand. It's all accoustic guitars what you hear, sure It's processed, but it's accoustic. I know even the name of the luthier Robin bought the guitars from for this album.
get a better record player