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)

MU: Lossy (MP3@320)

MU: Lossless (FLAC)

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)

MU: Lossy (MP3@320)

MU: Lossless (FLAC)