#tiny dynamine

[jt1674]

[eternal--returned]

Cocteau Twins ֍ Plain Tiger (1985)

I feel a little lust to let you know

[lazycalm-mplus]

fool's mate no.54 march 1986

[dugaodna]

its actually stunning how deep the cocteau twins back catalogue runs like i just found this ep because i was looking to buy another relatively deep cut (tiny dynamine) on cd and found a double being sold with this on it

[cloevr]

thank you so, so much for introducing me to Lisokot. do you happen to know any similar music artists??

spent all morning pondering this one.. she's got a unique sound and TBH i still don't have as much musical knowledge as i'd like to... Holly Herndon (proto, platform, movement) for the more electronic side of her work & her album w. atom (i recommend his stuff too) going off the electronic, ambient, looping aspect of her work further i would say klein. love her delia derbyshire cocteau twins particularly the moon and the melodies, tiny dynamine, echoes in a shallow bay somehow i think to ichiko aoba? particularly windswept adan

early grimes.. (lethe ep, geidi primes, halfaxa)

i also think of this track by felicita in my mind but the rest of their work is not really like this.. lol

i would recommend also choir music, hymns. she covers a lot of traditional songs and references a lot of traditional/older stuff in her art in general. i think of things like this

that's the best i got out of my pea brain :P

explore the world of ambient and experimental in general as well its a journey i believe everyone should take

[stellavista]

Cocteau Twins - Pink Orange Red (Atomic Lava)

Every frame in this video looks like a Cocteau Twins album cover!

The remix turns the song into an exotica-triphop-voodoo-samba extravaganza

[lovejustforaday]

Cocteau Twins Ranked #4 - Heaven or Las Vegas

4. Heaven or Las Vegas (1990)

Main Genres: Dream Pop

A decent sampling of: Shoegaze, Ethereal Wave, Neo-Psych, Alternative Dance, Jangle Pop

WHAT? HEAVEN OR LAS VEGAS ONLY AT NUMBER 4? ARE YOU INSANE? *pitchforks being sharpened*

Woah there pal, simmer down now. I’ll get to properly defending my position on where this stands in the band’s discography in just a little bit, but first let me go over everything I love and appreciate about this beautiful record.

Cocteau Twin’s most joyous and widely beloved project, Heaven or Las Vegas is an album that oozes brilliantly with a thick, gleaming, technicolour glaze. It is the band’s richest, most sickly sweet record. I feel like listening to this on repeat could give me a toothache, but then it wouldn’t really bother me that much cause this record is honestly just pure bliss.

It also possesses a very immediate sensation compared to other Cocteau Twins records. Some tracks like “Fifty-Fifty Clown” and “Fotzepolitic” are very uptempo and danceable, with those drum machines the band was so known for finally being utilized in a more conventional, dance-rhythm oriented way.

“Cherry-Coloured Funk” opens with a sound that is absolutely dripping in a constant flow of rich, translucent sonic fluids (the cherry-coloured funk, I suppose), conveyed through echoing and elongated guitar strums that wrap around the listener’s ears in a continuous rotational motion. Seriously one of Robin Guthrie’s greatest timbral achievements throughout his entire career as a producer; this thing gives me ear orgasms.

“Iceblink Luck” jangles and flashes with all the excitement of a bustling festival of lights. This track just makes me grin from ear to ear with sheer glee, which is exactly how I picture Elizabeth Fraser’s face as she rhapsodizes over her usual whimsical imagery on this track. Perhaps the band’s most excited song.

Title track “Heaven or Las Vegas” is the quintessential Cocteau Twins piece. It’s the track that made me and so many others fall in love with their work, and it sits firmly in my top three songs by the band. Riding on the shimmering highs of this soaring masterpiece is one of the most addictive drugs in music form that I’ve ever consumed.

I particularly love how the golden tones of that lead guitar during the verses practically splatters all over the song, like little neon-glowing globs of nectar. Fraser’s lyrics are more comprehensible and audible than usual, which is a very good thing because they’re probably the most lovely lyrics she’s ever penned. The childlike wonder and amazement she is able to convey is astounding, elevating the song to even greater levels of perfection. The razor-soft guitar tones during the bridge are absurdly gratifying. This song ranks high as being one of the very most rapturous experiences I’ve ever had with music.

“Fotzepolitic” sees the band fully embracing the sounds of a then-recently-formed shoegaze scene that the band had influenced and previously foreshadowed to some degree on last record Blue Bell Knoll and previous EPs Tiny Dynamine and Love’s Easy Tears. This song makes me feel dizzy in all of the right ways, and it’s another one of those classic 3/4 waltzes that Cocteau Twins do so marvelously.

The album ends on an achingly beautiful, though slightly sombre note with “Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires”, which is otherwise uncharacteristic of the band’s most gleeful record. The minor key tonality of the piano melody during the verses and pre-chorus is more reminiscent of their earlier goth records, but then the cascading riff during the chorus kicks in and all of it comes together quite nicely with the rest of the album’s prevailing sound design. It’s definitely the quirkiest song here, and it serves as a nice little reminder at the end of the album that you’re still listening to the same Cocteau Twins who have written more alienating records like Head Over Heels. Also I have to say that Fraser’s vocal rhythms during the chorus are simply exquisite.

Okay okay, so now the elephant in the room. How come only fourth place?

I feel like I’m in an odd position; I do love this record. I have no desire to tear it down, and I’m more than happy that it gets the praise it deserves. I would struggle to call it ‘overrated’. That term is only an appropriate description for how I feel about the record within the context of the Cocteau Twins discography, and not an appropriate description for the album in general.

But the longer I’ve been a fan of this band, the more I’ve seen an increasingly strong consensus online that this is not only one of the greatest dream pop records ever, but also hands down the greatest Cocteau Twins record. The former I can mostly get behind, but I just don’t see this record as the unmatched artistic peak of the band’s discography that it’s so often treated as these days. The title track is no doubt a top three tier Cocteau Twins song, but holistically I’d say they’ve made better records.

I could nitpick this one if I really tried. The few weaker tracks that are here sometimes run a bit thin to my ears, almost feeling too one-note (though always a very pretty note nonetheless). Mind you, dynamic tracks like “Heaven or Las Vegas” and “Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires” are the antithesis of one-note. That large contrast, however, almost makes the weaker moments stand out more to me than they otherwise normally would.

And yet, I feel like I can easily understand the reasons why this is heralded as the Cocteau Twins’ magnum opus. For one, the records that I’m about to rank above this LP are all considerably more esoteric, and uncompromising in presenting the band’s more bizarre qualities.

Meanwhile, Heaven or Las Vegas is the band at their most accessible, as well as their most celebratory. It’s definitely still a little outlandish, and manages to grab your attention like their first five records, but it also has a lighter tone and more conventional songwriting similar to their last two records. Elizabeth Fraser’s vocals are still distinctly Fraser-esque here, but they are also more directly melodic, articulate, and in the foreground.

The album strikes a very delicate balance, which is what I think makes Heaven or Las Vegas the band’s most universal record. Pop heads, indie kids, and even some of the less diehard goths can all get behind this one. Furthermore, the influence it has had on 21st century dream pop artists, such as Asobi Seksu, Hatchie, and Beach House, is more evident than on any other Cocteau Twins record. I suppose it will continue to go on having the most lasting legacy of any of the band’s records.

And like I said, I do really love this record. It’s an exceptional dream pop album for sure, and definitely one that knows what it wants to do.

Naturally, all of these qualities make Heaven or Las Vegas the perfect starter record for the average listener who’s looking to get into Cocteau Twins. This exuberant rush of an album will almost certainly leave any new listener wanting to hear more of the band, and just that by itself is more than enough for me to recommend this record.

9/10

Highlights: “Heaven or Las Vegas”, “Cherry-Coloured Funk”, “Frou-frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires”, “Iceblink Luck”, “Fotzepolitic”, “I Wear Your Ring”

[jt1674]

[dame-sully]

Tiny Dynamine

Cocteau Twins

[lazycalm-mplus]

fool's mate no.53 february 1986

[hatredofmusic]

Cocteau Twins - Echoes In A Shallow Bay / Tiny Dynamine. When you see some cocteau twins cd, ya gotta buy it... theyre all just so weird. Put these contemporaneous EPs together and you get easily an albums worth of material. In 1985, that is how they busied themselves. If you wished there was a cocteau twins album between treasure and victorialand, well, basically there is, just a bit of a different format, and it’s all good. Theres some dramatic material on Echoes and some more textural type stuff on Dynamine. I have no idea where I bought this.

[chiptini]

M!A: Chip is now Dynamin for 7 asks, Good luck being tiny!!

[M!A is now in effect! Chip will be Dynamin for 7 asks.]