Sunday, February 6, 2011


Cocteau Twins- Garlands (1982) MP3 & FLAC


"At the bosom or the breast, of the forehead or the fist."

Easily the darkest and most straightforwardly Post-Punk album Cocteau Twins ever recorded, Garlands has a spare, desolate, insistently minor-key sound that owes a clear debt to Joy Division; however, what keeps the proceedings from sounding derivative are Robin Guthrie's spiraling guitar textures (far more primal than on future albums) and Elizabeth Fraser's vocals, which somehow manage to evoke beauty and dread simultaneously. While the album suffers a bit from the use of a drum machine and several songs that are overly repetitious (something rarely found on their later albums), Garlands manages to create a sound that, while not indicative of where Cocteau Twins were heading next, still played an important role in defining the 4AD sound of the early 80s.

Garlands (2003 Remastered Edition)
1. Blood Bitch  (4:34)
2. Wax and Wane  (4:04)
3. But I'm Not  (2:45)
4. Blind Dumb Deaf  (3:46)
5. Shallow Then Halo  (5:16)
6. The Hollow Men  (5:02)
7. Garlands  (4:32)
8. Grail Overfloweth  (5:22)



Garlands (Unremastered Expanded Re-Issue Edition)
 1. Blood Bitch  (4:35)
 2. Wax and Wane  (4:02)
 3. But I'm Not  (2:42)
 4. Blind Dumb Deaf  (3:55)
 5. Shallow Then Halo  (5:15)
 6. The Hollow Men  (5:02)
 7. Garlands  (4:29)
 8. Grail Overfloweth  (5:24)
-Bonus Tracks-
 9. Dear Heart (John Peel Session, Jan. 22, 1983)  (3:39)
10. Hearsay Please (John Peel Session, Jan. 22, 1983)  (3:25)
11. Hazel (John Peel Session, Jan. 22, 1983)  (4:25)
12. Blind Dumb Deaf (John Peel Session, Jan. 22, 1983)  (3:44)
13. Speak No Evil (Unreleased First Single)  (3:54)
14. Perhaps Some Other Aeon (Unreleased First Single)  (2:57)



22 comments:

  1. Now already half of my most favourite bands can be found here ... I really appreciate your texts about them (somehow always mentioning aspects which are new and interesting for me! ... Thanks also (again ...) for the high quality (Didn't have this album as flac yet). Do you have "The Moon and the Melodies" in a high quality aswell? Or do you know a link? Would be great!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Issi, writing the reviews is the most time-consuming part of doing the music blog. Part of me envisions how easy it would be to just cut and paste from amazon or allmusic or to leave out the reviews entirely, but I feel the reviews are what might make this blog a little different from the others. Hearing your feedback inspires me to keep writing them, and your comments came at a good time: I needed a dose of inspiration today! (been feeling a little blue) p.s. I probably have the Cocteau Twins title you mentioned or if not, I can find it. When I do, I will post it. Thanks for the suggestion!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Issi, I do have it- I'll post it in FLAC within the next few days

    ReplyDelete
  4. Issi, I'll also soon be posting another version of "Garlands" with some amazing bonus tracks.

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  5. I wasn't a fan of the Cocteau Twins. I mean they were okay just not hard enough for me. I thought I would check this cd out since everything on this blog is great. Wow what a shock this is. Yes it's dark and 80's drum machiney but it immediately reminded me of Gang Of Four!! Is it me? It is isn't it? lol Thanks voixautre.

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  6. That's great news ... Thank you in advance!! ... Yes, the reviews do make this blog different (in a good way of course!!) Glad you chose the time-consuming way (even feel a bit relieved that you acutually need a few minuetes to write - already got jealous of the long list of posts) ... But my view on that is totally biased (as I do like to read the reviews ...) Grüße an den Mond.

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  7. ok, so I've posted the version of "Garlands" with the bonus tracks and Issi, I will be posting your request very soon

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  8. the nefarious assfaceFebruary 6, 2011 at 3:34 PM

    You never see this one posted. Issi I think the HFS40k blog has a bunch of C.T. but you have to dig in the archives but that is what makes the whole thing fun, the chase! Thanks you for high quality musik.

    ReplyDelete
  9. scurfie, interesting comparison; I see what you mean. Now my job is to get you to reconsider the later stuff ;)

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  10. Hi nefarious assface, yes, thanks for the tip, the hfs4 is always a good place to look for good music (I found two Cocteau Twins albums there ... already some months ago)

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  11. Thank you for the remaster! =)

    --JDT

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  12. A masterpiece. I can't get bored with it - thanks for the remastered edition & the extra materials!

    ReplyDelete
  13. links are broken due to the anti-piracy stuff :(

    ReplyDelete
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