IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU (08/18/86)
IED with asked-for and unasked-for information
to satisfy curiosity or clear up Philocanine delusions:
First, the question someone had a week or so
ago about Eno CDs: IED has seen Ambient 2 and
Ambient 4 on CD in the Sunset Strip Tower Records
store within the past few days.
About Nancy's question concerning
Cocteau Twins: IED does NOT recommend
Garlands as the first LP of theirs to
get, especially if you're hoping for
Kate Bush influence. Garlands, their
first LP, is much more like Siouxsie
Sioux than Kate Bush, and the tracks,
although without doubt good, are somewhat
crude, and two-to-three chord-based.
Furthermore, they are relatively devoid
of melody, one of the strongest points of
the later Cocteau Twins records.
IED recommends Treasure without hesitation
as the first Cocteau Twins LP to buy. It
is the first real flowering of the Cocteau
Twins' sound, every track on it has real beauty,
and the production is spectacular. Although
it doesn't sound like The Dreaming, Treasure
is comparable in that it is the Cocteau Twins'
breakthrough album (albeit a breakthrough
commensurate with the group's insignificant
status in relation to that of KATE BUSH).
The three subsequent EPs (Aikea Guinea, Tiny
Dynamine and Echoes in a Shallow Bay) and
the follow-up album Victorialand are all
very close to Treasure in style and sound,
but increasingly lack (in IED's opinion,
of course) the substance and depth that
distinguishes Treasure. The records
preceeding Treasure (Head Over Heels,
Sunburst and Snowblind, etc.) are good, but are
more akin to Never For Ever (only in the sense
that they show signs of major advances without
really standing as landmark works on their own).
Of course, the single most clearly Kate-influenced
track of all by Cocteau Twins is the cover version
of R. Harper's "Another Day", sung by Elizabeth Fraser.
It's on This Mortal Coil's only LP, a kind of collaborative
record featuring members of various 4AD groups.
No matter what anyone says about Fraser's decision to
sing this song, there can be absolutely
no doubt that she saw the Kate Christmas special and heard
Kate's version of the song with Peter Gabriel.
Nancy is absolutely right about the lines from
"Waking the Witch", of course. This "come" business,
quite regardless of whether it is appropriate or not,
is simply NOT THERE. The words are "Tell them", not
"Come". Period. And Nancy is right to point
out that "Tell them" makes perfect sense
in the context of the song.
In response to Mark's offer to compile a list of t-shirt
designs: No, Mark, you haven't missed anything. The fact
is, nobody ever actually DID anything about the t-shirts.
IED is all for a vote by ballot, however you want to
organize it. Below are two designs submitted by IED, but
partially based on other Love-Hounds' suggestions.
Number One:
F R O N T
_________/ \__________
| Love-Hounds | < this line in HoL script
| An International |
|______ Kate Bush ______| < These lines in upper-
| Computer Forum | and lower-case block
| ___________ | print, taking up less
| | 9th Wave | | space than as shown;
| | or | |
| | gold key | |
| | photo here| |
| |___________| |
| |
| |
| |
|___________________|
B A C K
---------/ \----------
| |
| | These lines in
|______ ...With a kiss I'd ______| Hounds of Love
| pass the key... | < script, unless
| | someone can do
| --__--__--_ -/_ | J.C. Bush-style
| || /// | calligraphy
| |// |
| | \\ | The logo roughly
| | \\ | < drawn, or as though
| | \\\ | painted on; N.B.:
| || \\ | unwise to copy KBC
| | logo exactly
|___________________|
Number Two (based on the body-calligraphy idea):
F R O N T
_________/n \__________
| a d |
| | I' |
|______ | s ______|
| s s |
| d . i |
| n . k |
| u . |
| o W a |
| H i h |
| \ t |
| e |
| v |
| o |
| L |
|___________________|
B A C K
---------/ \----------
| p B u I |
| a s n |
|______ s e h t ______|
| s t e |
| a F r |
| t K o n |
| h m r a |
| e l u t |
| a i |
| k n o |
| e |
| y . . . |
| |
|___________________|