And now heres the most unique sounding musical group in pop music history: Cocteau Twins (Yes Allen...you were right). Cocteau Twins did not have a particularly promising start. Their debut album Garlands sounded so much like Siouxsie and the Banshees, its a wonder they werent sued. After a few adjustments, they created a signature style that has never been duplicated or successfully emulated. To say that they dont sound like anyone else is like saying that the stories in The Onion are sometimes questionable. Much of the credit for the bands signature sound goes to guitarist Robin Guthrie (the man with the worst hair in the 80s). While not the most skilled guitar player in the world, he seemed to have found so many different ways of getting creative sounds out of an electric guitar that border on alchemy. 500 years ago, he may have been burned at the stake for the sounds he discovered. Simon Raymonde adds the deep, rolling bass lines typical of 80s British bands of the era. Oh...and then theres singer/songwriter Elizabeth Fraser. Part of the unique nature of Cocteau Twins music is that while her 7 octave voice (I learned that from a choir teacher I used to date) is beautiful, her Scottish accent is so thick and the fact that on their recordings, her voice is not mixed above the instruments like other bands, her lyrics are virtually impossible to understand (That and the fact that she often made up words not previously found in the English language at any time in history). For 16 years, Cocteau Twins were the flag bearers of musical groups that, while not massively popular had an intensely loyal following. While the Alternative Rock genre was gaining mainstream acceptance in the music industry, Cocteau Twins led a generation of musicians in almost the completely different direction proving that there was still some originality in music to be found. https://youtube/watch?v=lkvmjniEW0E
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 15:31:19 +0000
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