Cocteau Twins Honoured At Q Awards
07 October 08
"This is actually the first thing we've ever won!"
Liz Fraser
Over ten years after their split, Cocteau Twins were seen together in public last night.
They were at The Grosvenor Hotel on Park Lane in London to accept the (fairly self-explanatory) Q Inspiration award at the 2008 Q Magazine Awards. Previous winners of the Inspiration Award include A-ha, Björk, The Cure, Damon Albarn and The Pet Shop Boys.
More details on the awards can be found here.
Picture courtesy of Mick Hutson / Q Magazine. Better quality picture here.
To celebrate, their 4AD back catalogue is currently available this month at the low price of £4.74 each at the iTunes UK store. Click here.
Those who only know the band's other material will likely be more than a little surprised on hearing Garlands for the first time. This debut owes more to the nascent gothic scene with it's deep, heavy mood verging on doom and gloom.
Recorded mostly as a duo of Fraser and Guthrie, the album introduces a variety of different shadings and approaches to the incipient Cocteaus sound, pointing the band towards the exultant, elegant beauty of later releases.
Compiled by Cocteau Twins and remastered by Robin Guthrie, this collection is taken from their golden era which spanned seven LPs of studio material and nine singles and serves as an introduction to the delights of this remarkable band.
Their third album, which debuts Simon Raymonde on bass, had the band scaling new heights and the accomplished variety is what stands out. Treasure lives up to its title and then some as a thorough and complete triumph.
On this album Fraser and Guthrie created a much more simply beautiful effort, with a relaxed air to it. Rhythms are subtler, with bass and drum machine often totally eschewed in favor of Guthrie's delicate guitar filigrees and lush, produced textures.