Cups of POLLy-Dewdrops' Drops -- ILM Artist Poll #35 -- The COCTEAU TWINS results thread

Drum-machine roll please !!

22 ballots were submitted. I will unveil the albums results today and The EP's will follow tomorrow. The tracks countdown will start thursday and should be spread on about 4 days.

19 people voted for albums. 11 different album got votes, so I will show them all.

11.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_starsandtopsoil.jpg
Stars and Topsoil (2000), 28 points, 1 vote

10.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_fourcalendarcafe.jpg
Four-Calendar Café (1993), 92 points, 3 votes

Hooray! (not for 4cc placing, but for the poll results in general)

[9.]
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_milkandkisses.jpg
Milk & Kisses (1996), 97 points, 3 votes

A great introduction to the Cocteaus:

8.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_pinkopaque.jpg
The Pink Opaque (1985), 106 points, 3 votes (1 #1 vote)

That #1 was me. Their best album, even if it is a compilation.

Missed the whole fucking poll ;_;

Will be gawking from the sidelines

We won't mind if you participate in the discussion ;-)

Thanks dude :-)

I avoided voting because I don't know enough of their catalog, but I'm excited to see the results!

The next one was billed as Harold Budd, Simon Raymonde, Robin Guthrie, Elizabeth Fraser:

7.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_moonmelodies.jpg
The Moon and The Melodies (1986), 117 points, 4 votes

"We never wanted it to be a Cocteau Twins album," continues Simon. "We even went to great lengths not to use the band name. We just listed all of our names individually. Everyone made a big deal out of it. Everyone had this idea that it was a really serious album. It wasn't. It was just something we wanted to do."—Simon Raymonde

An ambient comedy album with that notorious cut-up Harold Budd. I voted for it. Even if Memory Gongs is just Flowered Knife Shadows with a different name.

Songs on this are surprisingly strong.

I have no knowledge of Harold Budd's music outside of this collaboration. What would you recommend?

Ambient #2, Plateaux Of Mirror
The Pearl (w/Eno)
some people rep for the Obscure record, Pavilion Of Dreams, but I don't get that one at all.

btw I am also excited to see these results.

Pavilion of Dreams is better than those other 2 imo. Moon and the Melodies better than all of them tbf

Yeah, start with Plateaux of Mirror or the Pearl, then After the Night Falls/Before the Day Breaks with Robin Guthrie are quite nice. I like his recent trilogy with Clive Wright, especially Little Windows, but if you don't like Clive Wright's ambient guitar they'll fall flat. Curious about the stuff he recorded with John Foxx recently too... two or three CDs' worth, I think?

I'll check those out, thanks !

Next up, their debut:

6.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_garlands.jpg
Garlands (1982), 184 points, 6 votes

I really recommend the UK or Canadian Version as it contains these great extra tracks:

John Peel Radio Sessions Selections from 1982-1983:

Dear Heart
Hazel
Hearsay Please
Blind Dumb Deaf

Bonus Tracks (from unreleased first single):

Speak No Evil
Perhaps Some Other Aeon

The Top 5 are really the big favorites, as nearly everybody had at least 4 of them on their ballots. I was surprised but happy with the order.

5.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_bluebellknoll.jpg
Blue Bell Knoll (1988), 468 points, 14 votes, (3 #1 votes)

Surprise !

4.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_treasure.jpg
Treasure (1984), 497 points, 14 votes, (6 #1 votes)

haha BOOOO TOO LOW

but really, I can accept the criticisms of this record, it hasn't aged as well as some of the others - I blame the drum programming.

It does have the most #1 votes though, and was a front runner for a long time when I was compiling this.

3.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_hoh_1.jpg
Head Over Heels (1983), 512 points, 15 votes (3 #1 votes)

Just Liz and Robin. A great great album. A huge stylistical leap from Garlands too.

Again just Robin and Liz. My #1.

2.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_victorialand.jpg
Victorialand (1986), 530 points, 16 votes (3 #1 votes)

Simon did not appear on Victorialand as he was at work on the second This Mortal Coil LP, Filigree and Shadow.

love Victorialand but never been too keen on tracks 1 ("Lazy Calm") & 3 of side one. side 2 is great though - one of their best ever LP sides and tracks 2-4 on that side are one of the best 3-song runs in their whole catalogue!

I avoided voting because I don't know enough of their catalog, but I'm excited to see the results!

what Moodles said!

I can't say enough good things about Victorialand. The artwork, the song titles, the music... it's probably one of my top five albums of all time.

1.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_holv.jpg
Heaven or Las Vegas (1990), 542 points, 16 votes (3 #1 votes)

wow, that was kind of close!

I can't say enough good things about Victorialand. The artwork, the song titles, the music... it's probably one of my top five albums of all time.

― erry red flag (f. hazel), mercredi 18 septembre 2013 01:34 (43 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Same here.

RYM has Treasure and Heaven Or Las Vegas as the top 2, in that order - and they're frequently paired faves.

Heaven Or Las Vegas was a breakthrough album for them in the U.S. higher profile and won them many new fans.
I wonder if there's any difference between newer (HOLV+) and older fans in rating their albums.

for me,
Head Over Heels > Treasure but the latter's peaks are as strong or stronger.
Blue Bell Knoll > Heaven Or Las Vegas but BBK's peaks are still much stronger.

From the voting thread (about Victorialand):

Put it on the turntable, not noticing the little "45" on the label[...], and listened to "Lazy Calm" and the rest of Side 1 at 33. Blown away by how gorgeous it was. Went to flip the record and spotted the "45," played Side 1 again. Still utterly gorgeous. Fan for life.

― Hideous Lump, dimanche 15 septembre 2013 19:50 (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is eerily identical to my first encounter with Cocteau Twins.

so i own three out of the top five and it's the only stuff i do own by them.

Which ones ?

Treasure, Blue Bell Knoll and Heaven or Las Vegas plus This Mortal Coil stuff.

The ones you're missing are my 2 faves. I'm pretty sure you'd enjoy them.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2DFHjIvdqCI/UjkxvRV3eiI/AAAAAAAAAl4/Sacv2Iodjkc/w793-h595-no/downsize%25281%2529.jpg

Garlands SCARED me off of their early stuff for the longest time. Not fond of the post punk sound one bit. Stunned that Treasure is so low! I also don't get the criticisms about the production or the drum sound -- I never notice anything to the album's detriment.

PS when are you rolling out the song titles?

Surprised at the album results. I just assumed Head Over Heels and Treasure would make the top two. Heaven or Las Vegas is a great album but I've always though the first half is so much better than the second.

Looking forward to this poll, listening through their albums to get my list ready was a lot of fun.

Garlands is prob my fave! Not that I like to playfaves with these guys.

surprised Heaven Or Las Vegas is so highly rated, thought it was disappointing when it was released tbh. haven't listened to it in years though, maybe time has been kind?

Definitely, it's so rich.

I'm pleased with the result there, I think I voted BBK #1 because I feel Treasure is kind of trapped by technology in its sound. Best Liz vocals though, and most alluringly strange.
I have to say I admire Head Over Heels like a glacier or a sunset, but I feel nothing when I listen to it. It's so glassy and harsh. And yet I deeply love Garlands which is even colder and more remote.

PS when are you rolling out the song titles?

― Shannon Leeedles (Leee), mercredi 18 septembre 2013 05:34 (12 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm gonna do the EP's today and start the songs tomorrow.

Here's a recap for the albums:

1. Heaven or Las Vegas (1990), 542 points, 16 votes (3 #1 votes)
2. Victorialand (1986), 530 points, 16 votes (3 #1 votes)
3. Head Over Heels (1983), 512 points, 15 votes (3 #1 votes)
4. Treasure (1984), 497 points, 14 votes, (6 #1 votes)
5. Blue Bell Knoll (1988), 468 points, 14 votes, (3 #1 votes)
6. Garlands (1982), 184 points, 6 votes
7. The Moon and The Melodies (1986), 117 points, 4 votes
8. The Pink Opaque (1985), 106 points, 3 votes (1 #1 vote)
9. Milk & Kisses (1996), 97 points, 3 votes
10. Four-Calendar Café (1993), 92 points, 3 votes
11. Stars and Topsoil (2000), 28 points, 1 vote

Like Matthew K said on the voting thread, like no other band the EPs are the soul of the Cocteaus. 15 people voted for 11 different EP's. Here they are:

11.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_iceblinkluck.jpg
Iceblink Luck (1990), 28 points, 1 vote

Oops

11.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_iceblinkluck.jpg
Iceblink Luck (1990), 28 points, 1 vote

10.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_snow.jpg
Snow (1993), 36 points, 1 vote

I like this story:

Simon explained "Frosty...": "There's a Christmas record that comes out on Capitol Records (the Cocteaus' US label) every few years. And they were trying to get all their bands to do a cover version of a Christmas song. I didn't think that's what it was at the time. I thought it would be like sitting next to Frank Sinatra. But in fact it would've been, y'know, Skinny Puppy, doing 'Merry Xmas Everybody.' Anyway they'd said, Would you do one? And Liz suggested—it must have been for a joke—'Frosty The Snowman.' Then Robin went, Yeah, good title, people will think it's a normal Cocteau Twins song with a title like that."

"Once we'd got the music down, I wrote down the lyrics on a piece of paper and said to Liz, Hey, look at these, and we were laughing away. As we were going through it I was listening to Liz's reactions and thinking, this is never gonna get done. She was going, 'He's a very happy soul'—me sing that?! No way, I could not in a million years... 'with a broomstick in his '—you've gotta be fucking kidding!'"

"I just didn't think she'd do it." [Volume 5, 1992]

...But she did, and "Frosty the Snowman," which eventually appeared on the very-limited release, Snow, with "Winter Wonderland," was a "Holiday '92" favorite, and can still be heard at Gap stores around the world at Christmas time!

9.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_twinlights.jpg
Twinlights (1995), 96 points, 3 votes (1 #1 vote)

Nobody's mentioned Twinlights yet, but its "Rilkean Heart" is unbelievably gorgeous. When Ms. Fraser hits that final high note, I could just collapse.

"Really," explained Simon, when asked about Twinlights, "it was kind of an exercise, if you like, for ourselves. We thought, 'We write nice bits of music, but can we write a song?' You know, if you took all this stuff away, if you took all the effects off a minute, is there actually a song underneath? Four-track EPs are just brilliant because they're like little experiments. You're dipping your toe in a pool you don't normally spend any time in. You think, 'Well, look, I'd like to do something acoustic. I don't really want to make a whole album of it, because people will think this is our new direction.'

8.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_lullabies.jpg
Lullabies (1982), 122 points, 4 votes

From their website:

In spite of what Lullabies may have had in common with other music of the time, there was equally as much about it that furthered the belief that these three punks from Scotland were onto something entirely new - something light years away from their humble roots in a dirty refinery town. Lullabies therefore is an obvious step forward in the direction which would lead to their highly successful Head Over Heels album.

7.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_otherness.jpg
Otherness (1995), 152 points, 5 votes

Can't believe the Otherness ep has not been mentioned yet. Wish there was a whole albums worth of Seefeel remixing Cocteau Twins.

6.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_aikeaguinea.jpg
Aikea-Guinea (1985), 267 points, 8 votes

Never knew how to pronounce this, actually.

Aikea-Guinea all day every day - it was the first one I heard after Rozz Williams played me "Garlands" in an effort to indoctrinate me into the then-small cult of Cocteaus fans on the west coast, and the one that made me go "whoa."

5.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_tinydynamine.jpg
Tiny Dynamine (1985), 311 points, 9 votes (3 #1 votes)

EP's that rival any of an artist's LP's, I second or third the cocteau twins eps - particularly tiny dynamine.

― sknybrg, lundi 26 avril 2010 23:04 (3 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I remember walking into a record shop on the island's "big city" in 1987 and, having heard the name Cocteau Twins, pulling Tiny Dynamine out of the rack and buying it without hearing a note. Put it on at home and just stared at the speakers.

― MatthewK, samedi 31 août 2013 12:28 (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Love the ILM Anthropology here, Roo.

We used to do that on polls all the time, but everyone got lazy.

_Nobody's mentioned Twinlights yet, but its "Rilkean Heart" is unbelievably gorgeous. When Ms. Fraser hits that final high note, I could just collapse. _

- Ernest P. wrote this on thread falling in love with the cocteaus again. on board I Love Music on 28 oct. 2002

(x-post) Yeah I kind of remembered that today. Wish I had thought about it for the albums too.

4.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_sunburstsnowblind.jpg
Sunburst and Snowblind (1983), 313 points, 9 votes (3 #1 votes)

Having listened to Lullabies to Violaine in its entirety last night, I can safely go with Sunburst & Snowblind, though, man, what a stellar career run of EPs. I'll also put in a good word for the undersung Twinlights.

― 2 ears + 1 ❤ (Pillbox), samedi 21 mars 2009 15:11 (4 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Would rep hard for Sunburst and Snowblind – "Sugar Hiccup" is a great single, but "From the Flagstones" and "Hitherto" are where Cocteau Twins begin for me.

― Naive Teen Idol, vendredi 6 septembre 2013 11:55 (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

3.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_echoesiasb.jpg
Echoes In A Shallow Bay (1985), 355 points, 11 votes

Actually I think the best intro to the Cocteau's is one of the great EPs like Akai-Guinea or Echoes in a Shallow Bay.
First time I heard 'em was Pink Orange Red ... and my life was transformed.

― phil jones (interstar), vendredi 17 janvier 2003 11:53 (10 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Echoes in a Shallow Bay because it was released on my 21st birthday, or Love's Easy Tears because it was released on the day I had my retinas photographed, so I had to sit in a darkened room for the afternoon listening to it.
― Andrew Norman, mercredi 10 mars 2004 21:12 (9 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I would actually put Tiny Dynamine/Echoes In A Shallow Bay in a slightly different category in that (a) it's at the absolute center of the band's aesthetic, and (b) perhaps for this reason its greatness is much more evident once you've absorbed and internalised that aesthetic.

Whereas with most of the albums what makes them interesting is how they push into the spotlight a different facet of the group's sound.

― Tim F, mardi 27 mars 2012 22:07 (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

When Simon joined the band

2.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_spanglemaker.jpg
The Spangle Maker (1984), 371 points, 11 votes (3 #1 votes)

"I was always a fan of the Cocteau Twins, before I joined. I hear what people say about them now, mystical and all that stuff. I never thought that then, I just thought, brilliant music, really exciting. I never thought in a million years that I'd be in the Cocteaux." — Simon Raymonde

I still do remember the first time I heard them on the radio - it was either Spangle Maker or Pearly Dewdrops Drops and it was such a gut reaction. Equal parts "What in the hell is THAT?" and "Whatever it is, it makes perfect sense."
― Bimble The Nimble, Jumped Over A Thimble! (Bimble...), samedi 5 novembre 2005 02:06 (7 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Head Over Heels and Heaven or Las Vegas are my favorite LPs, but The Spangle Maker EP, reprised in its entirety (minus a 7" edit) on The Pink Opaque comp, remains their finest moment.

― Pauper Management Improved (Sanpaku), mardi 27 mars 2012 18:26 (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah actually alex are you sure you're thinking of "Spangle Maker"? It has a very distinct melody, in fact even more so than many of her other songs where there's weaving counterpoint melodies doubletracked. Spangle Maker has the one simple, strong line all thru.

Pearly Dewdrops OTOH is a lot weaker, and not a fave of mine at all rly.
― Trayce, mercredi 28 février 2007 00:29 (6 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

My #1 :-)

1.
http://www.cocteautwins.com/images/sleeve_loveseasytears.jpg
Love's Easy Tears (1986), 454 points, 13 votes (5 #1 votes)

From their website:

The band members have cited among their influences such artists as Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison, The Ronettes, and the Beach Boys, and reminiscences of these can be heard in the thick textures and melodies of Love's Easy Tears. Loud and trebled guitar roar and chime over thumping drums and a dancing bass and, of course—that voice—which pierces the colorful washes of sound with candy-coated choruses and howls of non-specificity.

I guess "Love's Easy Tears" because it's the one I listen to the most. All of the 10ep's in the boxed set have at least one spectacular track, but I love all of them on that particular one. Incidentally, I just saw the video for "Love's Easy Tears" on VH1 classic last week for the first time ever.
― rainman (rainman), mercredi 10 mars 2004 17:11 (9 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Cocteau Twins - Love's Easy Tears EP sounds a bit like variations on "Souvenir".
― Ian Riese-Moraine: a casualty of social estrangement. (Eastern Mantra), jeudi 11 août 2005 12:31 (8 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Love's Easy Tears - A pint of gin with an olive in it.

― Rebekah Brooks Ate My Country (Doran), jeudi 7 juillet 2011 23:43 (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That's it for today ! Tomorrow starts the tracks countdown.

aww no love for Peppermint Pig? love that bassline.

LeRooLeRoo you are doing an amazing job!

Thanks Bee OK !

Was that ticket stub upthread yours ?

yes, that was the one and only show i saw by them.

also saw Dead Can Dance in Berkeley.

Wow I wish I had seen that tour ! I only got to see them on the 4CC Tour.

Wow, some surprises here. Head over Heels beats Treasure Whaaa?

I saw them on the Heaven or Las Vegas tour at a club in Houston called Avalon. The decor was all marble columns and draped gauze-y fabric; it could not have been more perfect.

jinx!

http://i.imgur.com/7sHg6pEl.jpg

oops that is a little large sorry

the only chance i had to see them was Phoenix fest in 1996. only downside was that *Bowie* was on at the same time (they were in the Guardian tent at the back of the same big field he was in) so they didn't get a look in sadly.

awh I was at that, and also saw Bowie instead

was a freaking amazing show. half the audience were still stuck in some kind of horrific traffic jam iirc! hottest weekend ever too.

Yeah I remember about the traffic jam. We completely bypassed it all because I'm from Worcester, and my grandma had an aunt who lived right near where the festival was held, she dropped me & my sister off there going via all the back roads she knew.

Loving the care you put into this tricky poll LeRooLeRoo. It's re-awoken my joy in the Cocteaus.

Cocteau Twins were consistently strong and I think most fans like almost everything they did, so this poll is just a matter of picking top faves over other faves. I expect there's a greater than usual interest in being exposed or converted to more of their songs and releases.

for example, Heaven Or Las Vegas is nowhere near my fave of their albums, but it's the one I want to listen to more (least personally overexposed?). I've already found a bunch of new songs that I was unaware of, cos I never picked up the FCC and M&K singles (nor Stars N Topsoil), so I missed all those b-sides. some fan, huh?

I did get to see them live 3 times:

HOLV: 1990? Tampa Bay (Tampa or St Pete?) - - - Liz had laryngitis, Robin looking ill and (literally!) pear-shaped after all the drug abuse. Gig was mostly a washout cos of the inaudible vocals, but Robin at least laughed good-humouredly when his guitar strap fell off.

FCC: 1994? Lisner Auditorium?, Washington DC - - - Robin in much better shape! Liz very agitated, improvising bizarro out-of-tune/out-of-song vocals, while constantly pointing to her earpieces (conveying to soundboard operator?). much applause/encores - must have been out of respect rather than for the actual singing!

M&K: 1996? 9:30 Club, Washington DC - - - finally, Liz in top form - to be honest, she sounded BETTER than the records. people it was so good I lost track of which songs were which - like one big CocteauGASM!

Victorialand is such a "tune everyone else out" kind of album, you really have to listen to it, doesn't bowl you over with hooks. I see the voters prob. Picked up on the staying power of it.

Never got to see them live, closest being their Coachella announcement during which time I was stuck halfway across the country.

one thing I love about Cocteau Twins is that they don't usually (even need to) front-load their albums and sides. they make great use of less obvious track positions, for example next-to-last song and second track on side two. most of my fave tunes by them are in those slots, e.g. track 9 or track 7 on a 10-song album. and their b-sides are often better than some/many of the album tracks.

in other words, their deep album cuts are better than the title tracks of their singles!

All right! I will start the tracks results now, but will have to go to a meeting in about an hour. So I will continue later in the afternoon.

Before I do, here's a recap of the EP's:

1. Love's Easy Tears (1986), 454 points, 13 votes (5 #1 votes)
2. The Spangle Maker (1984), 371 points, 11 votes (3 #1 votes)
3. Echoes In A Shallow Bay (1985), 355 points, 11 votes
4. Sunburst and Snowblind (1983), 313 points, 9 votes (3 #1 votes)
5. Tiny Dynamine (1985), 311 points, 9 votes (3 #1 votes)
6. Aikea-Guinea (1985), 267 points, 8 votes
7. Otherness (1995), 152 points, 5 votes
8. Lullabies (1982), 122 points, 4 votes
9. Twinlights (1995), 96 points, 3 votes (1 #1 vote)
10. Snow (1993), 36 points, 1 vote
11. Iceblink Luck (1990), 28 points, 1 vote

Hooray!

There were 22 ballots and 109 song were voted for. Here's the top 50:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r3nBod1cV4

50. "Pepper Tree"
The Spangle Maker, 1984
64 points (3 votes)

Excellent. It all started with that one, B-side of the 7", on our old Ambassador stereogram.

Spotify playlist started here.

If someone wants to do a Spotify playlist to go along with the poll, they are more than welcome. Unfortunately it's not available here.

(x-post) Thanks Johnny !

this site has the best updated interpretations of Liz lyrics I've ever seen:
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/c/cocteau_twins/pepper_tree.html
it's interesting to read them, because you may find other more obsessive listeners have caught syllables and words you missed.
it's already further opened up several of their songs for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psLO9HxlPC8

49. "Cico Buff"
Blue Bell Knoll, 1988
70 points (3 votes)

At first I was going to Google image the song titles and see what would come up to use for this thread. Some were good, but it didn't always work.
I thought this one was funny:

http://bocaberta.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/pequeno-hulk-02.jpg

Actually, it doesn't look funny when it's that big sorry.

not what I picture to this song! sometimes I think "Cico Buff" is their finest moment though. it's my fave song on fave LP by them. would always be a Top 5 song for me. the guitar solo/line is the epitome of Robin's subtle axe-production-heroism.

Let's move on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWx4AZ7OUOA

48. "The Itchy Glowbo Blow"
Blue Bell Knoll, 1988
76 points (3 votes, 1 #1 vote)

Ooh, a #1. Nice.

more greatness - Blue Bell Knoll is their giddiest ride. Robin was obsessive about the drum-programming and at times it seems like rollercoaster track construction, especially here and on "Athol Brose", both of which have vertiginous moments like soaring over mountaintops or through strange glowing catacombs.

funny how the memory plays tricks - in fact the drums are less active on this track and the illusion of movement is provided by the (literally) blooming instruments.

i kinda realized "pepper tree" is liz's most obvious nod to kate bush. lots of heavy bushisms in there, those airy reeeh heee heees at the chorus are strongly indebted to kate's operatic tendencies. huge fave of mine anyways, almost like a quiet storm classic from a parallel universe or something.

50-48 were all on my long list, but missed the cut in the end. Great start, anyway!

Another one from Blue Bell Knoll

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5HgIC3nIjk
47. "Suckling the Mender"
Blue Bell Knoll, 1988
78 points (4 votes)

Ah, now that one did make the cut - my #3 in fact. That bit where Liz hits the high C is just glorious.

that and "Little Spacey" were two that I thought would make my Top 20, but were in a list of about 20 cuts that I couldn't squeeze in. both very playful songs that make me smile.

we called it "teenage safety" in high school

this is interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTx8VnZBvDc

takes some of the magic away mind.

someone once swiped a genuine Liz lyrics sheet from when CT were on The Tube. a copy used to be online somewhere. was all utterly incomprehensible like.

i quite like her speaking voice - not as much as her singing voice though - with that scottish accent and the weird, chopped rhythm of her speech. she makes long pauses in the middle. absolutely adorable interview.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAR_SU4xdQA
46. "Great Spangle Fritillary"
Echoes In A Shallow Bay, 1985
79 points (4 votes)

I love this song so much. Her voice is so strong in it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g-aOAvbfYM
46.(Tie) "The Thinner The Air"
Victorialand, 1986
79 points (4 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjrArAOJKa0
44. "Five Ten Fiftyfold"
Head Over Heels, 1983
80 points (3 votes, 1 #1 vote)

http://www.cocteautwins.org/~leesa/cocteautwins/cgraphix/forum/cocteauvisa.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkLC_kpJMrc
43. "When Mama Was Moth"
Head Over Heels, 1983
83 points (4 votes)

A great album opener in a carreer full of great album openers. Have we polled them yet ?

so majestic and stately, my #9 xp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmdEg-e_MhA
42. "Persephone"
Treasure, 1984
84 points (4 votes)

Dear person who had "The Itchy Glowbo Blow" as their number one,

This will sound like total fanboy shite, but if I'd paid attention to this poll coming up, that song would have been my number one as well.

Also: I love you.

Sincerely and with all my love,

LBI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCtDfJbI2y0
41. "How to Bring a Blush to the Snow"
Victorialand, 1986
87 points, 3 votes

x-post:

"Persephone" is one of my Treasure duds. I was so excited when the album was released - brought it home, stuck the headphones on, listened to side one: opener "Ivo", great stuff, a new more crystalline, chiming Twins. then the next 3 tracks… heresy, I know, especially since "Lorelei" is such a fan-fave, but in the wake of expectations stirred up by Head Over Heels… those 3 tunes were nowhere near matches for the peak HOH songs. not sure if I've ever properly warmed to them.
fortunately, track 5 and the best ones on side 2 more than redeemed the album, but those are yet to be named in this poll.

"Great Spangled Fritillary" = another blindspot for me. my least-fave of the 2 simultaneous EPs brings Echoes In A Shallow Bay down a notch or two below Tiny Dynamine, which I think is their most consistently great EP, even if it doesn't have any of my Top 10 Cocteau Twin bangers.

now that (Blush…) is just gorgeous!

I agree with you about "Persephone", but not at all about "Great Spangled..." !

I will stop with this amazing song for tonight. I should be less busy tomorrow and will be able to make an earlier and smoother roll out.

I'll give it more listens - I want to believe!

"How To Bring A Blush To The Snow" is the 2nd best song on Victorialand.
in a normal (non-exceptional) band it would be #1.

Also the best Cocteaus song title.

yes, lovely title too. and sinister: how to bring a blush to the snow = blood.

by the way (back to earlier results) I read Robin doesn't rate Moon & The Melodies. with the exception of 1 or 2 songs I agree. you wanna hear a great Guthrie/Budd collab? get After The Night Falls/Before The Day Breaks (conveniently on double-LP from Darla). that's the joint!

very much enjoying this poll

straw poll of housemates while re-listening to BBK for the first time in a long long time...

wife: this sounds like Kate Bush, the way her voice is double tracked
tenant walks into kitchen: is this the Carpenters?
me: no, it's a later period Cocteau Twins album
tenant: huh, the voice sounded the same

on first listen this album is a little sugary for me, but it has aged well. at the point in my life when this came out I was really into a lot of harsher stuff, so I wasn't too interested the first time around.

really digging this extended ending on "A Kissed Out Red Floatboat"

wife, later: she's doing that Kaye Bush-y thing again

I try to hate Persephone cuz of the drums but it is just so damn catchy, sometime during the nominations thread I had it in my head for a whole day or two.

tenant walks into kitchen: is this the Carpenters?

yes! had noticed that part of "Cico Buff" reminds me of "We've Only Just Begun"! (maybe just in the chords/phrasing/vocal-tone)

"Love's Easy Tears" is the best the Cocteaus ever sounded, it's them at their shimmery wall of sound best. My #1 EP, really happy to see that it won the EP poll.

Itchy Glowbo Blow was my #1!

Ha! Shame you're already hitched ;)

Ha!

I was the #1 voter for 'Five Ten Fiftyfold' - one of those songs that starts with no intro, you're just straight in there, also think the chorus has my favourite Liz vocal hook.


*46. "Great Spangle Fritillary"
/Echoes In A Shallow Bay/, 1985
79 points (4 votes)*

Nothing of mine has placed so far – then again, I realize I voted for nothing from Garlands, Treasure, Victorialand, BBK or FCC. Kind of says something about a band when you can leave out five albums—one of which is the runaway critical consensus—yet still credibly identify 20 of its "top" songs.

Maybe it just says they released a lot of EPs but still.

agreed - I had to cut "Garlands" and "The Hollow Men" - ended up voting for nothing from the debut. bummer, but I was surprised to let them go so easily - still love that album though!

Dammit how could I put Blush #3, it's engraved in my heart.
Mind you, looking at the list, I feel sure I voted for all of them and then find that I only voted for half of them.

Nothing was said about "The Thinner The Air" but I think it's one of the songs where Liz uses her "operatic" voice the best. I also love the long intro and how quiet, pretty and sad the whole song is.

Let's start today with another, although happier, one from Victorialand:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMTt0NXLbzg
40. "Oomingmak"
Victorialand, 1986
89 points (4 votes)

can we get a picture of a musk ox to go with that? (on iPhone, if I try it'll turn out crap). think Liz was into reading naturalist/travel writers like Paul Theroux around that time.

wonder if she tried any other Eskimo words for lyrics?

http://www.alaska.net/~moxfarm/images/inventory/oomingmak.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWLbqYXutBY
39. I Wear Your Ring
Heaven Or Las Vegas, 1990
92 points (4 votes)

Oof, I was hoping this would be higher among the HOLV tracks in the poll. It'll be a drag if Iceblink Luck or the title track beat it out.

I don't usually like it that much when people try to write the lyrics, but I thought some of those seemed to be pretty spot on.

that was my #6, the second song after "when mama was moth" which placed from my ballot. it's a transcendentally beautiful tune. coming straight from the heavens. but i have three other songs from holv in my ballot which placed above this one! actually this poll makes me listen more to the older stuff which is a good thing as i never connected to it as much as to holv or 4cc.

It'll be a drag if Iceblink Luck or the title track beat it out.

I got some bad news for you, man...

love love love Oomingmak, shimmery dancing points of light with glossalalia on top

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDqwVOP1Wss
38. Sea, Swallow Me
The Moon and the Melodies, 1986
96 points (4 votes)

I love Harold Budd's piano line on this and I think Liz's voice has never been so exhuberant. I wonder when she realised she could sing like this. Maybe around the Aikea Guinea period.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alQUyaybZgo
37. "Wax and Wane"
Garlands, 1982
99 points (5 votes)


*38. Sea, Swallow Me
/The Moon and the Melodies/, 1986
96 points (4 votes)*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnJTQMx3EdQ
36. "My Love Paramour"
Head Over Heels, 1983
104 points (4 votes)

"Wax And Wane" is another one of my favorites, the first one I heard way back when...

I only really know "Wax And Wane" from The Pink Opaque, which I have a vague recollection is a remixed version. But I do like the guitar on it and the general ... momentum of the track. It has an urgency about it that makes for a nice contrast with most Cocteaux.

i loove wax and wane. outside Treasure and Heaven or Las Vegas i think its my fave cocteaus song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuTfO3DPTTo
35. "Seekers Who Are Lovers"
Milk and Kisses, 1996
107 points (5 votes)

This version is missing the beautiful background vocals from the studio version, but I think it's a great live version.

<3

The remix of Seekers Who Are Lovers (I know it from the 4cd box set from some years ago) is amazing, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjrjtRsZnyA
34. "A Kissed Out Red Floatboat"
Blue Bell Knoll, 1988
107 points (4 votes, 1 #1 vote)

just clicked with this song last night, as noted above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYeTtpZu9kE
33. "Kookaburra"
Aikea-Guinea, 1985
110 points (6 votes)

http://holebi.info/phpnews/images2/Kookaburra.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgv08gsexfc
32. "Crushed"
Lonely Is An Eyesore, 1987
111 points (4 votes, 1 #1 vote)

Lonely Is An Eyesore was a special 4AD project which included a compilation of 4AD roster artists as of 1987, each performing selected songs recorded exclusively for this release. It's worth it for this song alone, but the rest is also very nice.

The following excerpt is from the Lonely Is An Eyesore insert booklet:

"Why waste your time?" demanded the cab driver when he found out I was on my way to talk to the Cocteau Twins. His voice came muffled but certain through the perspex screen. "You know you've run out of terms of description. And once that's happened, all you can do is start talking about the subjective experiences their music can enhance. Then, no matter how heady you get, you'll miss the essence of the whole thing.

"Fact is," he said, steering briskly towards West London, "a good Cocteau Twins record is as good as a good Shangri-Las record. But if you'd asked Shadow Morton, even he'd have found it impossible to evaluate. It's just an uncanny but natural complicity with the heart of the pop beast, an untouchable way of expressing it. Listening to the Shangri-Las is walking in the sand, not just a bloody soundtrack. And no matter how abstracted a Cocteau Twins record can become, it leaves the same space for you to implant your own thoughts. That's just the way it works."

"I just like the way it spirals upwards," I pointed out lamely. "And I think it's time they had another hot single."

"The only incandescent pearls of light within a mile radius of the Cocteau Twins," he continued, ignoring me, "are in their music. Not your gob, mine, or anyone else's..."

With that, I told him to turn back for home. He was getting too belligerent, it was a fruitless journey and besides, I'd always hated people who got the last word in...

Arthur Parker, 1987

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVYNwpKJRzA
31. "Melonella"
Echoes In A Shallow Bay, 1985
111 points (5 votes)

The song "Melonella" by the Cocteau Twins is a listing of latin scientific names for various butterflies.
― Trayce (trayce), mardi 9 septembre 2003 00:51 (10 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

*35. "Seekers Who Are Lovers"
/Milk and Kisses/, 1996
107 points (5 votes)*

*33. "Kookaburra"
/Aikea-Guinea/, 1985
110 points (6 votes)*

Wait, did I just learn that you can put things in italics simply by putting a slash at each end? Or did you do that yourself?

/test/

lol guess not

I'm using the iPhone Zing app. I think italics are the way it displays on certain readouts.

Lonely Is An Eyesore was a special 4AD project which included a compilation of 4AD roster artists as of 1987, each performing selected songs recorded exclusively for this release. It's worth it for this song alone, but the rest is also very nice.

― LeRooLeRoo, Friday, September 20, 2013 2:50 PM (15 minutes ago)

cough cough FISH cough

Yes "Fish" is great !

the "yay-ah-yay-AH-EE!!" at 2:30

I LOVE this part !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvaQXDhg5G4
30. "Beatrix"
Treasure, 1984
114 points (4 votes, 1 #1 vote)

http://images13.levif.be/images/resized/400/024/018/084/3/500_0_KEEP_RATIO_SHRINK_CENTER_FFFFFF/image/La-reine-Beatrix-des-Pays-Bas-.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4YysQ8FJTg
29. "Whales Tails"
Victorialand, 1986
123 points (4 votes)

http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com/data/media/3/two-humpback-whale-tails_2669.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mUmdR69nbM
28. "Song to the Siren"
It'll End In Tears, 1984
125 points (5 votes)

Robin explained, "I was really sick when I saw that ["Song to the Siren"] getting played on the radio all the time and the Cocteaus had never been played. So the only way we could get played on the radio was to do somebody else's song under a different name. Regarding the video, it's very nice except I'm in it. That kind of spoils it. It's got a black background. There are all these leaves whizzing about, really autumnal. Then there's wee Betty here singing...she's in black and white on top of that." [Rorschach Testing, 1983.]

Liz: "We probably did get a bee in our bonnet about it not being Cocteau Twins, because that was Head Over Heels time and it felt more right to have success because of Cocteau Twins music. Having said that, though, I heard it played in a shop...and I liked it. I realised why I got in such a pickle and it wasn't because it was a bad recording of an amazing song. It is a beautiful song." [From Volume 5 Magazine, 1992].

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-aQJautNMY
27. "Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires"
Heaven Or Las Vegas, 1990
128 points (5 votes)

A last one for tonight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VziuGmGKVtA
26. "Fifty-Fifty Clown"
Heaven Or Las Vegas, 1990
131 points (5 votes, 1 #1 vote)

I will try to do 25-11 tomorrow and the Top 10 on Sunday.

re: "Wax And Wane" (no. 37 in poll)

always thought the commonly accepted "Devil may study" lyric didn't make much sense.
compared with:

"we're never quite steady/we wax and wane"

when AR Kane's "Baby Milk Snatcher" was released it seemed like a child of "When Mama Was Moth". albeit a great fucking behemoth of an offspring!

Siren outside of the top 5???? -_- Doesn't bode well for "Another day."

Took a while for my picks to start showing up, a little earlier than I had hoped though!

re Floatboat: BEATIFIC

Wax and Wane's chorus goes "the devil bites dirty/we wax and wane"

Play on "fights dirty" I guess, but I'm almost certain she sings "bites".

The "lyrics" site I respect most highly as close to accurate is Michael Borums::

http://cocteautwins.etherweave.com/

Carrion grows
More foul
We find
The devil bites dirty
We wax and we wane

The devil bites dirty
We wax and wane
The devil bites dirty
We wax and wane

Licking our wounds
The devil bites dirty
Reckoning we'll taste
We wax and we wane

The devil bites dirty
We wax and wane
The devil bites dirty
We wax and wane (x2)

And I guess we got gin drunk
The devil bites dirty
Up 'til we realize
We're laughing as they say it

The devil bites dirty
We wax and wane
The devil bites dirty
We wax and wane (x4)

See I think people forget 2 things:
- much of the lyrics are just found words, so any sites that have lyrics that make "sense" are likely wrong
- she's a strong scots accent, and I think this throws off a lot of what people hear.

thank u for that :)

(I always heard "the devil lies steady")

I need to talk my band into covering either that or "blind dumb deaf".

i also own Lonely Is An Eyesore forgot all about that cassette.

"Song to the Siren" is so beautiful, it makes my heart melt.

This poll is clarifying for me I'm an early-period Cocteaus fan, predominantly.

Me, relistening to "wax and wane" and even the lyrics I posted arent quite right. Not that it matters really!

MEH, that meant to say.

31. "Melonella"
Echoes In A Shallow Bay, 1985
111 points (5 votes)

This one's always reminded me of The Police for some reason.

Very pissed off that I didn't vote for this one.

fifty-fifty clown was my no. 1. how that song soars and jubilates never ceases to astonish me. that live version linked to isn't the real deal though. it sounds shite compared to the album version. terrible, tinny drum machine sound and somehow liz doesn't quite pull it off there. here is the studio version which somehow is more balanced and more homogenic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgkUZofiND4

*27. "Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires"
/Heaven Or Las Vegas/, 1990
128 points (5 votes)*

The chorus here is just unbelievable. I'm not even sure how to describe it really other than to say it has that heaven is crashing down in all its glory vibe the Cocteaus do so well.

Is that the one that goes lah-nay, sissen-day, quin-quo, tear tear tear tear etc? I always felt that song was somehow caring or nurturing, it's a cocoon to crawl into.
Amazed that Crushed was in the midrange (mine was the #1 vote) - do people just not know it, or am I unbalanced?
Oh and Wax and Wane - I always hear "the devil voice telling me wax and wane" - undoubtedly wrong but seems more satisfying.

I don't think I know "Crushed". I do know "Fish" though! :)

I was the #1 vote for "A Kissed Out Red Floatboat". Are Robin and Liz on speaking terms these days? If not, someone please sit them down together on a sofa, play them this song, and then say to them: "Duh!!!"

Ok I'm back! Not sure how much I'll be able to do today though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-hNfWHHYjc
25. "Pandora (for Cindy)"
Treasure, 1984
146 points, 6 votes

Matthew, the one you're describing is "Ella Megalast Burls Forever", the last song on Blue Bell Knoll.

I'm suprised too by "Crushed" being so low, so I don't think you're unbalanced. It's probably not as well known from being only available on a compilation.

... and an out-of-print EP collection!

The first song Simon composed and recorded with Liz and Robin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8Hx2IBcZ7A
24. "Millimillenary"
The Pink Opaque, 1985
152 points, 8 votes

that's really not my cup of tea at all. there is no tune to hold onto. whereas pandora is one of my faves from treasure. it is exuberant and laid back in a jazzy kind of way at the same time. and her singing is just so out of space, it is so obvious she does not sing in any human language.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K26lSbkbzwc
23. "Iceblink Luck"
Heaven Or Las Vegas, 1990
155 (7 votes)

I'm surprised this is so low. It's a great single imo, very bright and shimmery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a6NzSuUosI
22. "Athol-Brose"
Blue Bell Knoll, 1988
155 (8 votes)

Atholl Brose (or Athol Brose, Athole Brose) is a Scottish drink obtained by mixing oatmeal brose, honey, whisky, and sometimes cream (particularly on festive occasions).

http://www.whisky.de/shop/out/pictures/generated/product/1/270_337_75/image_ATHOLBROS_1.jpg

I liked Blue Bell Knoll before, but this poll has really made me appreciate it a lot more.

Likewise! It used to be just the title track for me, but listening to it through, I was kind of amazed at how brilliant the first half is.

And I have to say that Ned of all people predisposed me against it for the longest time. Tsk!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1quZbpgLh7w
21. "Love's Easy Tears"
Love's Easy Tears, 1986
161 points (6 votes, 1 #1 vote)

Their biggest wall of sound.

Liz seems to have a good sense of humor:

"Love's Easy Tears"—a loud, ear-numbing track—was the single and video.

Robin's opinion was straightforward, as usual. "I think I must have heard the track about five or six hundred times through the process of recording it, doing the vocals, the video, and all the other shite. I'm pretty immune to it."

"Think it's good, though," added Simon.

Then Liz, finishing up on a pessimistic note, "It'll flop! Even though it's a goodie..."

Then the inevitable, ubiquitous question: Liz's indecipherable lyrics...

"We've tried putting the vocals up in the mix," explained Liz, "keeping the effect off the voice and it still doesn't seem to work."

"It's nothing to do with the mix or the effects on the voice," added Robin. "It's just the way she's singing. You mean you can't understand what she's singing? (fecitiously)"

"Well, I do sing about life. Life with Robin; coping with him." [All quotes RM, Oct 1986]

How can Love's Easy Tears place so low when the EP was #1? My #1 song, by the way.

woah Athol Brose is a drink??

I always used to get so frustrated playing my vinyl copy of that EP/single when it came out. There was NOTHING I could do to make it not sound like it was underwater. As much as I love it, I sometimes wondered if it couldve been mixed a little differently, esp "those eyes, that mouth". I wanted it to breathe more,I think! That said, it is a fave.

I knew the athol brose/drink thing. And oomingmak being an eskimo word..

Wheres that thread where sund4r or Nabisco did that amazing little essay about how clever her song titles are.

How can Love's Easy Tears place so low when the EP was #1? My #1 song, by the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhGoZLudKyk
20. "Carolyn's Fingers"
Blue Bell Knoll, 1988
162 points, 8 votes

Another great single and another BBK track.

Oh, that's a relief! I left it off my ballot and wondered whether I'd end up feeling guilty.

I'll never forget hearing "Carolyn's Fingers" unexpectedly soon after release while on the dance floor. I had the LP and was already DJing but we usually didn't play Cocteau Twins songs to a packed peaktime floor. as I danced/swooned felt a wonderful mix of ecstasy, respect and envy!

Wow that must have been great Paul !

(if anyone reading this was a Tampa DJ who dropped that song, then I'm telling you it might be you...)

Number 20 is respectable, but I expected it to be much higher. I always figured it was one of their most well-known and well-loved song. I had it at #10 I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak9BIZ2Eg_I
19. "Fotzepolitic"
Heaven Or Las Vegas, 1990
163 points (6 votes)

I had to cut this one from my ballot, so I'm glad it placed.

Assuming it doesn't place if the title track ended up this low but I realized today that I completely left the glorious "Those Eyes That Mouth" off my ballot. Huge, huge miss.

this poll is reflecting my thoughts about the wonderful Blue Bell Knoll album.

Carolyn's Fingers was the only Cocteau Twins song I knew for a long time. It was on an episode of 120 Minutes that I videotaped and watched over and over.

I have absolutely no idea what the number one might be. Or even the top five, really.

"Crushed" is like the missing standout track from Love's Easy Tears, it's that good.

Yes! And I should've had it higher on my ballot, but they have so many great tracks...

I have absolutely no idea what the number one might be. Or even the top five, really.

― erry red flag (f. hazel), Saturday, September 21, 2013 6:52 PM

yes, there is a refreshing lack of consensus here... 22 ballots submitted and the #19 pick only has six votes!

According to Google Translation, Fotze means pussy in German. Not the kitty kind, I imagine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFFmKeS7Iuk
18. "Aloysius"
Treasure, 1984
164 points (8 votes)

Another great one I didn't have enough room to vote for.

yes, there is a refreshing lack of consensus here... 22 ballots submitted and the #19 pick only has six votes!

I barely had any consensus with myself, so I'm not surprised. My only real certainly was that Victorialand was my favorite album.

According to Google Translation, Fotze means pussy in German. Not the kitty kind, I imagine.

Yeah I'm sure my aforementioned "thread where someone deconstructs her song titles" mentioned that its a slang phrase for "cunt politics" or something?

But I could be misremembering.

Oh hey. Does anyone other than me own the 80s interview picture disc vinyl? I should rip that to mp3, its pretty funny. RObin has a cold and is incomprehensible. Liz swears a lot.

I'm not the only person who's always heard Cass McCombs borrow the melody from 'Fotzepolitic' for 'That's That' am I?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAS1oWnHSgs

I remember seeing it, but never bought it. I really wanted to, but I was saving my money for the music. Those imported picture discs were expensive ! (x-post)

I have absolutely no idea what the number one might be. Or even the top five, really.

Especially considering that "Song to the Siren" comes in at the high/mid 20s! Thought for sure that would be top 5. If I were to venture one mortal lock, though: "Donimo."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw0exC0gwPU
17. "Hitherto"
Sunburst And Snowblind, 1983
166 points (8 votes)

This one was a suprise, I had no idea it was a fan favorite. It never really stood out to me.

Sorry Leee...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL6Xxly4dP0
16. "Donimo"
Treasure, 1984
189 points (7 votes, 1 #1 vote)

Eesh, lots of Treasure clogging up the poll. Not surprising but really hoping we don't all end up clinking our glasses to "Ivo" as #1.

Here's a recap so far:

50. "Pepper Tree"
49. "Cico Buff"
48. "The Itchy Glowbo Blow"
47. "Suckling the Mender"
46. "Great Spangle Fritillary"
46. (Tie)"The Thinner The Air"
44. "Five Ten Fiftyfold"
43. "When Mama Was Moth"
42. "Persephone"
41. "How to Bring a Blush to the Snow"
40. "Oomingmak"
39. "I Wear Your Ring"
38. "Sea, Swallow Me"
37. "Wax and Wane"
36. "My Love Paramour"
35. "Seekers Who Are Lovers"
34. "A Kissed Out Red Floatboat"
33. "Kookaburra"
32. "Crushed"
31. "Melonella"
30. "Beatrix"
29. "Whales Tails"
28. "Song to the Siren"
27. "Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires"
26. "Fifty-Fifty Clown"
25. "Pandora (for Cindy)"
24. "Millimillenary"
23. "Iceblink Luck"
22. "Athol-Brose"
21. "Love's Easy Tears"
20. "Carolyn's Fingers"
19. "Fotzepolitic"
18. "Aloysius"
17. "Hitherto"
16. "Donimo"

The top 15 will be revealed Sunday.

I'm guessing BLuebeard's gonna round up in the top 5. Which ehhh. I really dont care for that song much, tho it is jolly (which is amusing, the lyrics are anything BUT jolly).

I'm not the only person who's always heard Cass McCombs borrow the melody from 'Fotzepolitic' for 'That's That' am I?

I recall you saying this elsewhere, and can hear what you mean!

And actually, I think I've stolen that bit of melody unintentionally myself in a track of my own, now I think about it.

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN. D:

When I was going through the albums for the poll, I was re-listening to Treasure and kind of bummed at how underwhelmed I was, and then "Donimo" hit and the Cocteau thing where they begin with their typically prolonged, coyly restrained intro before the sheets of heaven-sent ecstasy explodes from my core out to my extremities and NUMBER 16, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE.

OK I'm going to throw a hand grenade into the thread, because I'm that sort of person. What's the consensus on this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZWsJlT4VmE

They play it pretty straight, drums aside, and grudgingly I gotta say I kind of like it?

Maybe another thread for "ppl who cover cocteaus songs" would be in order here tho

I've heard it before! It being the Deftones makes it easier for me to like it, actually, not just because they uncover the secret nu-metal vein in the Cocteaus.

Prediction for top five:

Lorolei
Ivo
Cherry coloured funk
Heaven or Las Vegas
Pearly dewdrops drops

Unfortunately I don't think anything off the peerless BBK will be there, which baffles me, but most of the album has come and gone already.

Great poll by the wy.

didn't vote but if i had prob would've put fotzepolitic @ #1.

Yeah, not voting for "Donimo" might have been a mistake, but I had to rep for "Milk and Kisses"-era Cocteaus (even though those tracks aren't showing up in the poll).

Spangle Maker for the top 5, surely? I don't think From The Flagstones will get that high but you never know.

I have a sneaking feeling everyone who isn't me has voted for Frosty The Snowman and it's going to place far higher than everyone thought.

there are 2 HOH monsters yet to come. wouldn't be surprised if FCC and M&K get shutout entirely. also not expecting to see my top 2, which are my fave tracks on Treasure and Victorialand respectively.

Sugar Hiccup and Musette & Drums, presumably.

never thought the lyrics mattered much (until the later lucid era) but these "union of love/union of perfect love" guessed lyrics (from the site I linked way upthread) are making me enjoy "Suckling The Mender" even more!

I have always had a lot of time for Deftones.
They carry the CT vibe and always have. MBV

Wheres that thread where sund4r or Nabisco did that amazing little essay about how clever her song titles are.

― taxi tomato or bag tomato (Trayce), dimanche 22 septembre 2013 00:40 (14 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Invent a Cocteau Twins song title

I mean, part of why I love Cocteau Twins song titles so much is that Liz (I assume) really honestly does have the core of a poet in her, which is to say that she clearly loves language effects, and she's an incredible collector of interesting words and phrases -- that site I just linked, while a little weird on some fronts, should be good proof of that. I have no idea what she reads (besides William Least Heatmoon, anyway), but she's collecting gorgeous things. And they don't seem just picked at random out of arcane books, either, because they all rather connected and place-specific, this very northern-European (far north, like Scotland!) run of fabrics and fairy-tales and archaic metaphors. When she sees something good, she picks it up and uses it: "Serpentskirt" as the English translation of Coatlicue, "Calfskin-Smack" as swearing on a Bible, "Fifty-Fifty Clown" for a night policeman, "Iceblink" for a glacier reflections and cliffs, "Pitch the Baby" as a card-game tactic, "Summerhead" for a parasol -- honestly, I want to read whatever she's reading that brings these terms along!
On top of which she's got the same poet's sense of putting the words together for effect, some for images ("Feathers Oar-Blades") and lots just for pure sound: "Hearsay Please" and "The High Monkey-Monk" (from "high mucky-muck") and "Ella Megalast Burls Forever" -- she knows assonance and alliteration and even meter in these things. They're really gorgeous work.

― nabisco (nabisco), dimanche 30 avril 2006 21:57 (7 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I guess this would be a good time to post the results for the favorite song titles sub-poll.
12 people sent in their favorite 5 song titles, these are the ones that got 3 or more votes each:

6. "Eggs and Their Shells" (96 points, 3 votes)
5. "The Itchy Glowbo Blow" (97 points, 3 votes)
4. "Ooze Out and Away, Onehow" (103 points, 3 votes)
3. "A Kissed Out Red Floatboat" (133 points, 4 votes)
2. "Ella Megalast Burls Forever" (168 points, 5 votes)
1. "Frou Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires" (176 points, 5 votes)

Could anything else have won that really ?

Now on with the Top 15 !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSkifcLr4dc
15. "From The Flagstones"
Sunburst and Snowblind, 1983
194 points (8 votes, 1 #1 vote)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-sSFCgkd_U
14. "Pink, Orange, Red"
Tiny Dynamine, 1985
206 points (10 votes)

I gave a spin to the 2nd BBC version of "From The Flagstones" the other day and was floored, it is almost a completely different song! Still great, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmZfR6dEXhM
13. "Lazy Calm"
Victorialand, 1986
212 points (8 votes, 1 #1 vote)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YulfBdhLJE
12. "Blue Bell Knoll"
Blue Bell Knoll, 1988
220 points (8 votes, 1 #1 vote)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMTr-InZHBI
11. "Ivo"
Treasure, 1984
223 points (10 votes)

Trayce mentioning Robin's cold reminds me of a long-ago interview in which either Liz or Robin himself laments what they describe as his "permacold" back then!

TOP 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KnYw4EwYGc
10. "Heaven or Las Vegas"
Heaven or Las Vegas, 1990
227 points (9 votes)

lots of nice enough non-faves there of which "Pink Orange Red" is my bestest, but yay the great one off Love's Easy Tears is going Top 10!

that's one of my faves on its album of same name, but in the end only voted for "Fotzepolitic" off HOLV. was actually shocked to not pick "Road River & Rail" my usual fave, but it ended up 2nd fave and cut from Top 20 this time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYbJsu_c5yk
9. "Orange Appled"
Love's Easy Tears, 1986
230 points (10 votes)

I love the instrumental break in this. And when Liz starts singing again, it's like she's going to explode with joy.

Unfortunately I don't think anything off the peerless BBK will be there, which baffles me, but most of the album has come and gone already.

Hah I was going to say that BBK title track had an outside chance of top 10 status -- well, "outside" is right and I apparently have an anti-insight when it comes to gauging Cocteau consensus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAtaiI6Ebf0
8. "Musette and Drums"
Head Over Heels, 1983
237 points (11 votes)

Surprised this is so high.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Io_oR3k43o
7. "Those Eyes, That Mouth"
Love's Easy Tears, 1986
239 points (11 votes, 1 #1 votes)

Oh hey. Does anyone other than me own the 80s interview picture disc vinyl? I should rip that to mp3, its pretty funny. RObin has a cold and is incomprehensible. Liz swears a lot.

― taxi tomato or bag tomato (Trayce), dimanche 22 septembre 2013 02:23 (17 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I just looked through my vinyls and found out that I did buy the picture disc!

bbc sesh version of Musette And Drums is amazing, good to see it so high.

I think that when "Musette And Drums" came out many Joy Divison fans felt they'd finally found a band with enough passion and violence in their sound to rival you know who...

"Those Eyes That Mouth" wasn't my number 1 but def top tier.

I always thought "Musette and Drums" was a fan favorite. "Those Eyes, That Mouth" was a nice surprise though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfmKe-xja8E
6. "The Spangle Maker"
The Spangle Maker, 1984
252 points (9 votes, 3 #1 votes)

will pink opaque dominate the top ten? my hopes that eperdu will place are fading.

can think of 3 that are a lock, 3 I'd love to see and one I don't wanna!

spangle-maker placing that high baffles me. i don't get that "song" at all. what do people love about it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-5Xgw6d3h0
6. "Pearly Dewdrops’ Drops"
The Spangle Maker, 1984
285 points (10 votes, 1 #1 vote)

Oops ! That's # 5 !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuabq2-xQHE
4. "Cherry-Coloured Funk"
Heaven Or Las Vegas, 1990
293 points (11 votes, 2 #1 votes)

hmmmm

I am agog at The Spangle Maker being that low. I can't understand PDD being higher.

A-in-MHz it's all about the final section. I don't think there's anything in the canon that has more JOY in Liz's voice than thy end of this, which starts when Robin lets the chord ring open until feedback molds around his intention ( Sunn erghhhhhh later do this in a diffent way). It's the single-most Cocteaus song I try and sing along with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3diz8I0AVVk
3. "Lorelei"
Treasure, 1984
329 points (13 votes, 1 #1 vote)

Spangle Maker was my #1 and I'd felt pretty confident it would win the whole thing, but #6? Too low, people.

sterling speedy work there from whoever is updating the Spotify list!

Nabisco OTM (heh!) about the strong poetic sensibility in Liz's titles, I think: On reading the title "Blue Bell Knoll" so many times in this thread, it struck me how tightly knit on several levels this short phrase is: On the whole, it is of course a plausible name for a small hill with you know flowers on it; there is a sort of palindromic alliteration scheme going on with the B-- B--L --L form (with all three vowels different, forming a sort of phonetic "chord progression"), plus the way "knoll" is a cross between "knell" and "toll", tying in with the "bell".

Was a time when "Cherry-Coloured Funk" was my favorite CT track, particularly during a difficult time in my life in which the proverbial "saved my life" axiom got bandied about. It's not my number one anymore, but listening to it right now, Liz soars on that chorus and just melts me.

The production on Liz's voice during chorus of "Heaven or Las Vegas" has this knife-like clarity that seems unusual for CT, even though she's as overdubbed and reverbed as the prototypical CT track. Anyone else hear it?

Re song titles poll: I sadly never got around to voting in this poll, but if I had, I suspect I might have put "Athol-Brose" as my #1 title, as a title that somehow mirrors the Twins themselves: It sounds really good on the surface; it is somewhat wilfully impenetrable and vaguely exoticizing; but it is really far more earthy and about BOUZE.

:-p

Was a time when "Cherry-Coloured Funk" was my favorite CT track, particularly during a difficult time in my life in which the proverbial "saved my life" axiom got bandied about. It's not my number one anymore, but listening to it right now, Liz soars on that chorus and just melts me.

My #1 – which I backed into via the Otherness remix. The theory on this one is that it's about menstruation – one that the few phrases that are intelligible ("thru my bird lips," "beetles and eggs," "being cried and laughed at") seem to support. If so, the song captures its melancholy, shame and beauty wonderfully. Or perhaps it's just one of Liz's more impressionistic flights of fancy. Regardless, it's my absolute fave – even if I didn't discover it until well after they were among my favorite bands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_CHbmZIRXE
2. "Sugar Hiccup"
Head Over Heels, 1983
354 points (14 votes)

Maybe a bit helped (not meant as slights against the song at all!) by 1) possessing an easy map from title to track and vice versa, and 2) being poppiest/earwormiest song on well-regarded old album? I note it has no #1 votes...

! some suprises here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pds_K2j3RKM

1. "Frosty the Snowman"
Snow, 1993
499 points (22 votes, 5 #1 votes)

LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr4D-OWgF0I
1. "Aikea-Guinea"
Aikea-Guinea, 1985
393 points (16 votes, 1 #1 vote)

OK, I was not expecting that! But I'm glad to see it.

I love the video for that single. There's a scene in it towards the end where Liz and Robin are sat on their couch and he's rubbing her back, its such a sweet little moment.

Hahah wow! Agree with Trayce, it was my #13 but in a different mood I could've put it in my top 5.

excellent roll out LeRooLeRoo!

It was my #1 so I'm happy it won the poll :-)
Must be one of the only polls where the winner only has one #1 vote.

Yeah big thanks to LeRoo from this poll lurker! (btw no pressure etc but: any chance of a recap list including all 109 bepointed tracks?)

I love the video too. You kind of want to live there with them.

Sure, I'll post the complete results.

Thanks LeRooLeRoo!

Here's the Top 50 recap:

50. "Pepper Tree"
49. "Cico Buff"
48. "The Itchy Glowbo Blow"
47. "Suckling the Mender"
46. "Great Spangle Fritillary"
46. (Tie)"The Thinner The Air"
44. "Five Ten Fiftyfold"
43. "When Mama Was Moth"
42. "Persephone"
41. "How to Bring a Blush to the Snow"
40. "Oomingmak"
39. "I Wear Your Ring"
38. "Sea, Swallow Me"
37. "Wax and Wane"
36. "My Love Paramour"
35. "Seekers Who Are Lovers"
34. "A Kissed Out Red Floatboat"
33. "Kookaburra"
32. "Crushed"
31. "Melonella"
30. "Beatrix"
29. "Whales Tails"
28. "Song to the Siren"
27. "Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires"
26. "Fifty-Fifty Clown"
25. "Pandora (for Cindy)"
24. "Millimillenary"
23. "Iceblink Luck"
22. "Athol-Brose"
21. "Love's Easy Tears"
20. "Carolyn's Fingers"
19. "Fotzepolitic"
18. "Aloysius"
17. "Hitherto"
16. "Donimo"
15. "From The Flagstones"
14. "Pink, Orange, Red"
13. "Lazy Calm"
12. "Blue Bell Knoll"
11. "Ivo"
10. "Heaven or Las Vegas"
9. "Orange Appled"
8. "Musette and Drums"
7. "Those Eyes, That Mouth"
6. "The Spangle Maker"
5. "Pearly Dewdrops’ Drops"
4. "Cherry-Coloured Funk"
3. "Lorelei"
2. "Sugar Hiccup"
1. "Aikea-Guinea"

Wow, did not see that #1 coming. I love the song—had it at #9—but it maybe lacks that pure rush that some of my favorite things by them have.

Btw, how did Ned not participate in this?

My ballot:

1. Cherry-Coloured Funk
2. From the Flagstone
3. Fotzepolitic
4. Seekers Who Are Lovers
5. Frou-Frou Foxes
6. Orange Appled
7. Hitherto
8. Love's Easy Tears
9. Aikea Guinea
10. Sugar Hiccup
11. Song to the Siren
12. Millemillenary
13. The Spangle Maker
14. Sea Swallow Me
15. Serpentskirt
16. Pearly Dewdrops Drops
17. Ooze Out and Away Onehow
18. Tishbite
19. Because of Whirl Jack
20. Kookaburra

Thanks, Roo!

very cool, thank for doing this. totally happy with the winner, it was my #8

ballot, non-placers in bold:

the spangle-maker
pearly dewdrops-drops
lorelei
sugar hiccup
wax and wane
16 days/gathering dust
lazy calm
aikea-guinea
when mama was moth
millimillenary
quisquose
in the gold dust rush
donimo
heaven or las vegas
oomingmak
plain tiger
melonella
iceblink luck
orange appled
ivo

nothing from BBK, that was my discovery this time around

My whole ballot placed in the top 50 I think

The Spangle Maker
Fotzepolitic
Pearly-dewdrops' Drops
Love's Easy Tears
Aikea-Guinea
Fifty-fifty Clown
Blue Bell Knoll
I Wear Your Ring
From the Flagstones
Musette and Drums
Song to the Siren
Sugar Hiccup
Carolyn's Fingers
Lorelei
Orange Appled
The Itchy Glowbo Blow
Hitherto
Cherry-coloured Funk
Athol-brose
Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires

If I could've chopped the bottom half off and given all the points to The Spangle Maker, I would've. I love that song so much.

I must have missed the discussion on the noms thread but why did we allow 16 Days/Gathering Dust/STTS?

(not that I'm complaining, I LOVE their 16 Days take. One of my fave things ever. And I love the original)

It was debated during the nominations thread. We decided to include "16 Days" and the songs from the first This Mortal Coil album that the band members appeared on because people wanted to vote for them.

If I could've chopped the bottom half off and given all the points to The Spangle Maker, I would've. I love that song so much.

It was the only song to receive multiple #1 votes.

My ballot. And thanks so much for the poll, LeRoo!

1. "Beatrix"
2. "Musette and Drums" 
3. "Ivo"
4. "Hitherto"
5. "Seekers Who Are Lovers"
6. "Another Day"
7. "The Spangle Maker"
8. "Millimillenary"
9. "Song to the Siren"
10. "Blue Bell Knoll"
11. "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops"
12. "From the Flagstones"
13. "Sugar Hiccup"
14. "Love's Easy Tears"
15. "Crushed"
16. "Those Eyes, That Mouth"
17. "Five Ten Fiftyfold"
18. "Sea, Swallow Me"
19. "Aikea-Guinea"
20. "Touch Upon Touch"

No love for their version of "Another Day" surprised me.

http://cocteautwins.com/images/cocteau_comic.jpg

No love for their version of "Another Day" surprised me.

Ahem! :D

1. Donimo
2. Song to the Siren
3. Heaven or Las Vegas
4. Another Day
5. Musette and Drums
6. Frou Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires
7. Persephone
8. Plain Tiger
9. Beatrix
10. Melonella
11. Blue Bell Knoll
12. Lorelei
13. Aikea Guinea
14. Cherry Coloured Funk
15. Those Eyes, That Mouth
16. Serpentskirt
17. Cherry Coloured Funk (remix)
18. Ivo
19. Amelia
20. Athol-Brose

For all my wrong-headed guessing re: placement, 75% of my ballot placed! I don't think that's EVER happened before in any ILM poll.

LeRoo, thanks a lot!

Ah, there it is. I'm not alone. :)

And now I'm embarrassed because I completely overlooked "Donimo"!

My ballot:

Aikea-Guinea
Blue Bell Knoll
The Tinderbox (Of A Heart)
But I'm Not
Iceblink-Luck
Love's Easy Tears
Ivo
The Thinner The Air
Sea, Swallow Me
Crushed
Carolyn's Fingers
Lazy Calm
Great Spangled Fritillary
Garlands
Orange Appled
The Spangle Maker
Seekers Who Are Lovers
Musette and Drums
Feathers-Oar-Blades
Pink Orange Red

Thanks everyone for participating !

"Pearly Dewdrops Drops" at #5? Ya twee fucks! (someone has to be the voice of Robin)

anyhoo:

songs/tracks:
#1. Otterley
02. Feet-like Fins
03. My Love Paramour
04. Cico Buff
05. Pandora
06. Sugar Hiccup
07. Those Eyes, That Mouth
08. Aloysius
09. My Truth
10. A Kissed Out Red Floatboat
11. How To Bring A Blush To The Snow
12. The Itchy Glowbo Blow
13. Oil Of Angels
14. Fotzepolitic
15. Athol-Brose
16. Pink Orange Red
17. She Will Destroy You
18. Mizake The Mizan
19. Kookaburra
20. Pale Clouded White

albums:
#1. Blue Bell Knoll
02. Head Over Heels
03. Victorialand
04. Garlands
05. Four Calendar Cafe

EPs:
#1. Tiny Dynamine
02. Sunburst And Snowblind
03. Aikea-Guinea
04. Echoes In A Shallow Bay
05. Iceblink Luck

songtitles:
#1. Ella Megalast Burls Forever
02. The Itchy Glowbo Blow
03. Spooning Good Singing Gum
04. A Kissed-Out Red Floatboat
05. Those Eyes, That Mouth

my lists would be different today, in part thanks to this poll and extra time spent on the Cocs!

"Pearly Dewdrops Drops" at #5? Ya twee fucks!

Was thinking the same thing about "Sugar Hiccup" at #2. One rare song of theirs I really don't care for.

My sub-poll ballots:

albums:

Victorialand
Head Over Heels
Heaven Or Las Vegas
Treasure
Garlands

EPs:

Love's Easy Tears
Aikea-Guinea
Echoes In A Shallow Bay
The Spangle Maker
Lullabies

Song titles:

When Mama Was Moth
How To Bring A Blush To The Snow
Orange Appled
Ooze out and away, Onehow
Eggs and Their Shells

What an incredible band. Thanks again LeRoo. Here's my poll.

Songs:
1 Blue Bell Knoll
2 Donimo
3 Cherry-Coloured Funk
4 Frou-Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires
5 Lazy Calm
6 Pink Orange Red
7 Lorelei
8 Song to the Siren
9 Those Eyes, That Mouth
10 Aikea-Guinea
11 I Wear Your Ring
12 Pandora
13 The Spangle Maker
14 Alice
15 Pur
16 From the Flagstones
17 The Thinner the Air
18 The High Monkey Monk
19 Hitherto
20 Millimillenary

Albums:
1 Heaven or Las Vegas
2 Treasure
3 Blue Bell Knoll
4 Victorialand
5 Four-Calendar Cafe

EPs:
1 Tiny Dynamine
2 Love's Easy Tears
3 The Spangle Maker
4 Aikea-Guinea
5 Twinlights

The complete results:

1. Aikea Guinea, 393, 16 votes, 1 #1

2. Sugar Hiccup, 354, 14 votes

3. Lorelei, 329, 13 votes, 1 #1

4. Cherry-Coloured Funk, 293, 11 votes, 2 #1

5. Pearly Dewdrops’ Drops, 285, 10 votes, 1 #1

6. The Spangle Maker, 252, 9 votes, 3 #1

7. Those Eyes, That Mouth, 239, 11 votes, 1 #1

8. Musette and Drums, 237, 11 votes

9. Orange appled, 230, 10 votes

10. Heaven or Las Vegas, 227, 9 votes

11. Ivo, 223, 10 votes

12. Blue Bell Knoll, 220, 8 votes, 1 #1

13. Lazy Calm, 212, 8 votes, 1 #1

14. Pink Orange Red, 206, 10 votes

15. From the Flagstones, 194, 8 votes, 1 #1

16. Donimo, 189, 7 votes, 1 #1

17. Hitherto, 166, 8 votes

18. Aloysius, 164, 8 votes

19. Fotzepolitic, 163, 6 votes

20. Carolyn's Fingers, 162, 8 votes

21. Love's Easy Tears, 161, 6 votes, 1 #1

22. Athol-Brose, 155, 8 votes

23. Iceblink luck, 155, 7 votes

24. Millimillenary, 152, 8 votes

25. Pandora (for Cindy), 146, 6 votes

26. Fifty-Fifty Clown, 131, 5 votes, 1 #1

27. Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires, 128, 5 votes

28. Song to the Siren, 125, 5 votes

29. Whales Tails, 123, 4 votes

30. Beatrix, 114, 4 votes, 1 #1

31. Crushed, 111, 4 votes, 1 #1

32. Melonella, 111, 5 votes

33. Kookaburra, 110, 6 votes

34. A Kissed Out Red Floatboat, 107, 4 votes, 1 #1

35. Seekers Who Are Lovers, 107, 5 votes

36. My Love Paramour, 104, 4 votes

37. Wax and Wane, 99, 5 votes

38. Sea, Swallow Me, 6, 4 votes

39. I wear your ring, 92, 4 votes

40. Oomingmak, 89, 4 votes

41. How to Bring a Blush to the Snow, 87, 3 votes

42. Persephone, 84, 4 votes

43. When Mama Was Moth, 83, 4 votes

44. Five Ten Fiftyfold, 80, 3 votes, 1 #1

46. The Thinner The Air, 79, 4 votes

46. Great Spangled Fritillary , 79, 4 votes

47. Suckling the Mender, 78, 4 votes

48. The Itchy Glowbo Blow, 6, 3 votes, 1 #1

49. Cico Buff, 70, 3 votes

50. Pepper Tree, 64, 3 votes

51. Ella Megalast Burls Forever, 63, 3 votes

52. Oil of Angels, 57, 3 votes

53. For Phoebe still a baby, 56, 3 votes

54. Road, River and Rail, 56, 3 votes

55. Rilkean Heart, 56, 2 votes

56. Another Day, 56, 2 vote

57. Otterley, 54, 2 votes, 1 #1

58. In Our Angelhood, 54, 3 votes

59. Blind Dumb Deaf, 53, 3 votes

60. Shallow Then Hallow, 53, 2 votes

61. In the Gold Dust Rush, 50, 3 votes

62. Summerhead, 46, 3 votes

63. Serpentskirt, 45, 3 votes

64. She Will Destroy You, 43, 2 vote

65. Feathers-Oar-Blades, 42, 3 votes

66. Know Who You Are at Every Age, 41, 2 votes

67. Cicely, 40, 1 votes, 1 #1

68. Plain Tiger, 40, 2 votes

69. Quisquose, 40, 2 vote

70. Amelia, 37, 2 vote

71. Alas Dies Laughing, 37, 2 vote

72. Feet-like Fins, 36, 1 votes

73. Theft and wandering around lost, 36, 1 votes

74. Wolf in the Breast, 36, 1 votes

75. The High Monkey Monk, 35, 2 votes

76. Bluebeard, 33, 2 vote

77. Half Gifts, 33, 1 votes

78. The Tinderbox (Of A Heart), 33, 1 vote

79. Garlands, 31, 2 votes

80. But I'm Not, 30, 1 votes

81. Circling Girl, 30, 2 vote

82. Eperdu, 30, 1 votes

83. Because of Whirl Jack, 29, 2 votes

84. Sixteen days/gathering dust, 26, 1 votes

85. Pale Clouded White, 25, 2 vote

86. Little Spacey, 24, 2 vote

87. Frosty The Snowman, 23, 1 vote

88. My Truth, 23, 1 vote

89. Grail Overfloweth, 22, 1 vote

90. Golden Vein, 21, 1 vote

91. Pitch the baby, 19, 1 vote

92. Spooning Good Singing Gum, 18, 1 vote

93. Alice, 18, 1 vote

94. Mud And Dark, 18, 1 vote

95. Throughout The Dark Months of April and May, 18, 1 vote

96. Pur, 17, 1 vote

97. Sigh’s Smell Of Farewell, 17, 1 vote

98. Glass Candle Grenades, 16, 1 vote

99. Memory Gongs, 15, 1 vote

100. The Hollow Men, 15, 1 vote

101. Cherry Coloured Funk (Remix), 15, 1 vote

102. Ooze Out and Away Onehow, 15, 1 vote

103. Evangeline, 14, 1 vote

104. Mizake The Mizan, 14, 1 vote

105. Tishbite, 14, 1 votes

106. Fluffy Tufts, 12, 1 vote

107. Touch Upon Touch, 12, 1 vote

108. Watchlar, 12, 1 vote

109. Rococo, 12, 1 vote

Brilliant work, thanks so much LRLR, and y'all have great Cockatoo Twins taste.
My ballot:
1. Crushed
2. Shallow Then Halo
3. How to Bring a Blush to the Snow
4. Those Eyes, That Mouth
5. Beatrix
6. A Kissed-Out Red Floatboat
7. Pink Orange Red
8. Aikea-Guinea
9. Heaven or Las Vegas
10. Wax and Wane
11. Athol-Brose
12. In Our Angelhood
13. Oomingmak
14. Carolyn's Fingers
15. Road, River and Rail
16. Suckling the Mender
17. Aloysius
18. Oil of Angels
19. Know Who You Are at Every Age
20. Watchlar
yeah, that's right, a compilation track #1 and a B side to finish ... !

Rococo 1 vote, Ribbed And Veined 0 votes, RONG!

ok I've worked out that Rococo is my least fave Cocteau Twins track cos it doesn't have Liz on it and it's not their best instrumental

re "Sugar Hiccup" - I love that line: "heavens curtsey and bow"

I love Roccoco! Its a massive wall of noise!

Great poll ... "Aikea Guinea" is a worthy #1.

I backed into "Cherry Coloured Funk" (and to some extent, the Cocteaus) via the Otherness remix too!

Thank you LeRoo!

My ballot:

Pearly Dewdrops Drops
Orange Appled
Half Gifts
Sugar Hiccup
Heaven or Las Vegas

Iceblink Luck
Cherry Coloured Funk
Aikea Guinea
Love's Easy Tears
Carolyn's Fingers

Golden Vein
Rilkean Heart
Kookaburra
Blind Dumb Deaf
Lorelei

Musette and Drums
Memory Gongs
The Thinner the Air
Hitherto
Serpentskirt

Love Blind Dumb Deaf. Sat up til midnight last night working on a cover versh.

I thought we'd ruled out Another Day? As it's just Liz plus McCarrick/Ball strings? I'd have voted for that.

Here are my ballots. Great poll though I am pretty surprised by the results. Nobody loves "Theft and wandering around lost" except me? That song is like a bath on a cloud in heaven. It's warm & cosy & a little sad, in one word pure bliss. Additionally the lyrics are about her body, maybe this is the song about menstruation?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTtL74Ytp0Y

1 Songs
Fifty-fifty clown
Theft and wandering around lost
Heaven or Las Vegas
Cherry-coloured funk
Know who you are at every age
I wear your ring
Lazy calm
Oil of angels
For Phoebe still a baby
Sugar hiccup
Ivo
When mama was moth
Pitch the baby
Bluebeard
Shallow then halo
Ella Megalast burls forever
The hollow men
In the golden dust rush
Wax and wane
Garlands

2 albums
Heaven or Las Vegas
Four-Calendar Café
Victorialand
Garlands
The Moon and the Melodies

Mine:

From The Flagstones
The Spangle Maker
Hitherto
Donimo
Orange Appled
Sugar Hiccup
Oomingmak
Alas Dies Laughing
Pandora
Grail Overfloweth
Cico Buff
Kookaburra
Great Spangled Fritillary
Carolyn's Fingers
Persephone
Pink Orange Red
Those Eyes, That Mouth
Seekers Who Are Lovers
My Love Paramour
Frou-frou Foxes In Midsummer Fires

From The Flagstones is, and always will be, my favourite. I saw one of the last Will Heggie shows where it was roughed out and was clearly a song about to be transformed, and then the early Simon shows took it somewhere else and began to be the roadmap for what the band would become. I remember the days when they would play it twice, rewinding the drum tape back to it for the encore.

I think the Gothteaus get a bad press tbh, there are some really good songs in there.

Mine:

1 Itchy Glowbo Blow
2 Crushed
3 Orange Appled
4 My Love Paramour
5 Lorelei
6 The Thinner The Air
7 Sea, Swallow Me
8 Ella Megalast Burls Forever
9 Musette and Drums
10 Fotzepolitic
11 The High Monkey-Monk
12 Pepper Tree
13 Millimillenary
14 Throughout The Dark Months of April and May
15 Aikea-Guinea
16 Circling Girl
17 Athol Brose
18 Great Spangled Fritillary
19 Ivo
20 Summerhead

Yeah, yeah, spell-checker, underline all you like.

Never liked "Aikea-Guinea", so a bit baffled by that being our #1. And "Wolf in the Breast" woz robbed. Otherwise, great work everyone. And an exemplary roll out by LeRooLeRoo.

My ballot:

01. A Kissed Out Red Floatboat
02. Wolf in the Breast
03. Suckling the Mender
04. Sugar Hiccup
05. Ivo
06. Donimo
07. Aloysius
08. Fotzepolitic
09. Beatrix
10. Blue Bell Knoll
11. Musette and Drums
12. Orange Appled
13. Quisquose
14. Athol-Brose
15. From the Flagstones
16. Heaven or Las Vegas
17. Those Eyes, That Mouth
18. Lorelei
19. Fifty-fifty Clown
20. Rococo

Nobody loves "Theft and wandering around lost" except me? That song is like a bath on a cloud in heaven. It's warm & cosy & a little sad, in one word pure bliss. Additionally the lyrics are about her body, maybe this is the song about menstruation?

I always thought that song was about... well, rape, to be blunt. Abuse at the very least. She was abused by a family member as a kid, and I figured the song mightve been about that, seeing as she was doing therapy and stuff at that point.

"The man is an offender
He took my value
And I give back his shame
And I take back my power"

Its jarring when she started singing actual,emotional real stuff,because some of it was fairly dark. Reminds me of how TMBG sound so happy but a lot of their songs are miserable lyrically!

And on that note actually, and I'm sure ive mentioned this before: love how "Rilkean Heart" and "Tishbite" are about Jeff Buckley. And his song "Morning Theft" is about her.

Sorry, Half-Gifts, not Tishbite!

(tho, I guess HG could be about Robin as well now I think about it)

Oh and, sorry to blather on so much, but "Theft" has one of my fave ever lines of hers in it: "keep cutting myself on the edges of reality". So awesome.

i think you are right about theft, trayce, actually it's quite obvious, i think the lyrics go on like that:

My body is my own
My body is mine alone
And I deserve protection
And I can create it for you
Is this what my body said?
Use me
Drain me
Fall around me
Is this what my body said?
Engulf me
I'm already dead

it's even more so an absolute miracle of a song. how can someone write such beautiful music about such a terrible experience? that's incredible.

Indeed :)

"Theft, And Wandering Around Lost" is the first track I regretted not including after alex in mainhattan repped hard for it on 2 other threads including the poll setup. was amazed when I looked up those lyrics! Four Calendar Cafe is hella underrated, side 1 is pure gold!

thanks to digging due to this poll I've also discovered new faves like "Mud And Dark" and other FCC & M&K era b-sides.

woulda put "Itchy Glowbo Blow" higher too had I relistened before submitting ballot. also regret not voting for "Suckling The Mender".

who's the other "Otterley" vote? good on ya! no love for "Feet-Like Fins" (OG Victorialand version)?

I love "Feet-Like Fins". That whole album is incredible. I'm surprised I was the only one who voted for "The Tinderbox (Of a Heart)". It's so dramatic.
But I love the Gothteaus (lol love that name), I also gave "But I'm Not" it's only vote.

paul, i am happy that you appreciate fcc and esp. theft, and wandering around. a minor correction though: in the poll setup i didn't mention the song, but you quoted me from the old album poll thread.

Speaking of "Otterley" does any French speaker think she's actually using French words in this? I hear "On est bien", "On est ensemble", "Saveur de toi", "Doucement", etc...

great poll! thanks, LRLR!

my ballot:

1. The Spangle Maker
2. Pearly Dewdrops’ Drops
3. Lorelei
4. Aikea-Guinea
5. Sugar Hiccup
6. Cherry-Coloured Funk
7. Millimillenary
8. Kookaburra
9. Frosty The Snowman
10. Iceblink Luck
11. Wax And Wane
12. Heaven Or Las Vegas
13. Donimo
14. Mud And Dark
15. Sigh’s Smell Of Farewell
16. Hitherto
17. Bluebeard
18. Circling Girl
19. Feathers-Oars-Blades
20. Musette And Drums

re: French "Otterley" - I'm convinced I hear "ce soir la", but I'm sure there's some lyric site interpretations to tell me otherwise.

I really do believe some of the obsessives (originally on the Cocteau Twins website/s?) who've subjected the music to overlistening have uncovered some closer-to-true lyrics. for example, I always heard "Fotzepolitic" as "seams sew me back to you", but missed the word 'bounce' which I now can hear! so: "see and saw bounce me back to you".

on the other hand, I own the Japanese LP of Garlands complete with lyric sheet so I see where it can go horribly wrong and comical.

as in, the printed lyrics are incorrect, or having the correct ones lets you see how wrong everybody else was?

I think I was the other Otterley voter! I like it for its presaging of Victorialand.

I don't think they've ever provided full lyrics, just the snippets on the first 2 albums.
the Japanese record label made a valiant but doomed effort to work out all the Garlands lyrics - quite funny to read.
haven't looked at it in a while but I wouldn't be surprised if they flubbed even the provided snippet placements.

"Otterley" has always been my fave. I think it's just one open chord, tuned to minor-major 9th (minor 3rd, major 7th), played in 4 positions with a linking melody. probably my fave harmonic progression of theirs too. also once had (still have?) a demo version of it on a music rag (NME/MM?) freebie cassette.

It's interesting that quite a few of us have so much of our ballots represented, which suggests that we've hit upon a canon, no?

I think it might be because it took only 3 votes to get into the top 50, and we are posting top twenties.

Thanks for doing this poll! Cocteau love on ILX so heartening. My ballot (a Top 10):

Those Eyes, That Mouth
Rilkean Heart
Cherry-Coloured Funk
Fotzepolitic
Blue Bell Knoll
Lorelei
Carolyn's Fingers
Amelia
Ivo
Summerhead

The Top 50 is broken down like this:

Treasure: 7 songs, 1249 points
Heaven Or Las Vegas: 7 songs, 1189 points
Blue Bell Knoll: 7 songs, 868 points
Head Over Heels: 5 songs, 858 points
Victorialand : 5 songs, 590 points
Milk & Kisses: 1 song, 107 points
Garlands: 1 song, 99 points
The Moon and The Melodies: 1 song, 96 points

Love's Easy Tears: 3 songs, 630 points
The Spangle Maker: 3 songs, 601 points
Aikea Guinea: 2 songs, 503 points
Sunburst & Snowblind: 2 songs, 360 points
Tiny Dynamine: 1 song, 206 points
Echoes in a Shallow Bay: 2 songs, 190 points

The Pink Opaque: 1 song, 152 points
It'll End In Tears: 1 song, 125 points
Lonely Is An Eyesore: 1 song, 111 points

^Presented this way makes a lot of sense to me - i.e. feels about right.

Except I voted for the "Sunburst..." version of Sugar Hiccup. If everyone else did the same that puts it (rightly) top of the EPs ;-)

x-post: interesting stats!

here's a correction on the "Otterley" music:

open chord is: g,b♭,d,g,a,d
and the harmonic effect of the melody over the shifted open chord is:

gm9 (no 7th) 4 bars (=same thing as gm add9)

cm9 (no 7th) 2 bars -> e♭mM9 2 bars
cm9 (no 7th) 2 bars -> g♭mM9 2 bars

on the repeat the melody over the gm9 goes 9th->octave->minor 7th->major 7th at which point yields: gmM9
so if you want a good example of what minor(3rd)-major(7th) chords sound like (with added 9th), "Otterley" is it!
there's an additional drone which could be from the reverb or sustained notes (probably from/related to one of the chords above)

Martyn Bates is another guitarist from same era who made great use of (droning) fourths in chords, especially on the high (b and e) strings, for example "Bright Play Of Eyes".

Many thanks for your time and effort SebLRLR. And for bearing with me with my duplicates and so on

SONGS
Lorelei
sugar hiccup
lazy calm
aikea - guinea
heaven or las vegas
athol brose
Pandora
Pearly dew drops…
Carolyn's fingers
Kookaburra
Pink Orange red
Cherry coloured funk
spooning good singing gum
Cico buff
For Phoebe…
Iceblink luck
from the flagstones
Feathers Oar Blades (that's off an EP right?)
Orange appled
Fluffy Tufts
Those eyes that mouth

Albums
Treasure
Heaven or..
Blue Bell
Victorialand
Head over heels

Otterley is so good, it just missed my ballot.

27. "Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires"
27. "Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires"
27. "Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires"
27. "Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires"
27. "Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires"
27. "Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires"

******

WTF?!?!!?!?!?!!?!!??!!?

******
#ambientaggro_outofbounds

i've been scanning through this thread, loving it. loving every single post. and then i get to #27, and the song that i expected to be top 3, it's...# 27. only 5 votes! wtf did frou-frou do to you?

the chilly verses, like cigarettes outside the garage in winter, and then inside to whatever place that the chorus is, whatever is happening there - that is the very warmest, best place.

WAIT A SECOND

#65: In the Gold Dust Rush?

no. no. nO NONONONONONO

this is not right. i demand a re-poll

listen to it, it's this weird jangly moment - imagine if felt came up with 2 or 3 more riffs like this one, it's fucking amazing

to me the verse is an instant classic, it sounds soooo iconic and good

#ambientaggro_outofbounds

lmao

I would’ve def voted frou frou high

arguably the reverb is on too high. i get that. i'm tolerant of high reverb, others aren't. (others who can't appreciate a heavenly fucking thing when th-)

I would’ve def voted frou frou high

― brimstead,

when i read this, i immediately think

we need a re-poll

these are different times. this is 2021!!!

you know what, though, now that it's 10 minutes later and i've sobered up, i recognize that the vast majority of my top 20 appeared in the top 40 of this poll. also, ALL of these songs are so lovely. i'm smitten. i was kidding about my aggro thing, it's a silly thing because cocteau twins are so NON-aggressive and it really hits the spot for me sometimes (a person who sometimes goes aggressive, i have to admit, when i care, because goddammit! etc, but cocteau twins are the other side of that, just the real good stuff for me. <3 oof oof

the whole album is chilling in the sauna and then rolling around in the snow

I'm still sore that Eperdu placed at #82

Stumbled across this on YT and was startled to see that Will Heggie played *fretless* bass, which I can hear on the early records now that I know to listen for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alQUyaybZgo

Frou-Frou Foxes is a good song, but it is best heard as the capstone to the Heaven or Las Vegas album. It sacrifices its quality as a song to the greater good of the entire record.

HOly shit. All this time, for years, I thought she sang "the devil bites dirty we wax and wane", and just today I found someone's alternate lyric suggestion that the chorus is "the devil bystanding, we wax and wane".

And if you listen to that live version above, fuck me, that IS what she sings. And it makes more fucking sense, as well.

Also, the first line is "carrion grows, [?] from within" and I cant work that one word out.

how about: we’re never quite steady, we wax and wane

I wish there were a way for the final results to be pinned to the tops of these threads rather than having to scroll or do a search to somewhere three quarters down

if we redid this poll I’d seriously consider bumping some of my previous song picks for Ups, Theft And Wandering Around Lost, Mud And Dark and An Elan (latter’s one of their only not-available-on-vinyl cuts that I know of).

There is this helpful thread, dog latin, which has links to all the results posts:

ILM Ballot Polls: where to find the results threads

ha I always thought it was "the devil lies steady"