Stars And Topsoil [VINYL] [Double LP]

This collection also best demonstrates the evolution the Cocteau's underwent from those first two albums, Garlands and Head Over Heels - which were a lot more rooted in the sound of the early-80's post punk scene - into the band that created the lush dream pop of definitive albums like Blue Bell Knoll, Treasure and Victorialand. The 18-tracks run pretty much in chronological order, progressing on from Blind Dumb Deaf from their first album and beyond into the utter delights of those watershed albums that would follow. Both Sugar Hiccup and My Love Paramour from second album Head Over Heels show early signs of that Cocteau's sound beginning to emerge, with the style and overall integration of Robin Guthrie's layered and cascading guitar tones with the sublime and intoxicatingly opaque vocals of Elizabeth Fraser.

Treasure was the first album in which the three units of the band (Guthrie's guitar, Fraser's vocals and Simon Raymonde's bass) came together most distinctively, leading to an album of astounding diversity and an overwhelming sense of originality. Lorelei and Pandora are both fine examples of the genius of this album, though, if I had my way, it would have also included Ivo, Persephone and Amelia... three of my favourites from Treasure. From hereon in, Cocteau Twins were a band like no other... their influence can be seen all over the place, from contemporaries like Felt and Talk Talk, through to the shoegazers (acts like Slowdive, Ride, Pale Saints, My Bloody Valentine, etc) and in acts as diverse as The Sugarcubes, The Cranberries and Goldfrapp, and yet... the actual Cocteau's sound has yet to be as successfully (or as distinctively) reproduced.

The later run of songs, i.e. those taken from albums like Treasure, Victorialand and Heaven or Las Vegas, sound as far removed from any kind of contemporary rock or pop music you could ever imagine... with the Cocteau's really creating and defining a sound and a style of music that is probably completely alien to those of us raised on whatever the NME considers to be real music these days!! The sounds that Guthrie gets out of his guitar on some of these tracks is absolutely astounding, developing a chiming, shimmering style that seems like even more of an anachronism when we compare it to the style of a lot of other guitarists from the same era (Guthrie, as a performer, is easily on a par with other 80's UK guitar heroes, like Vini Reilly of the Durutti Column, Johnny Marr of The Smiths and Maurice Deebank of Felt). The overall sound that the band create on songs like The Thinner The Air, Iceblink Luck and Heaven Or Las Vegas is absolutely enchanting, with Fraser's beguiling vocals presenting an aural puzzle for the listener, as we desperately try and work out what exactly is being sung??

The closing run of songs all stem from the era of Heaven or Las Vegas, their final album for 4AD and a good place to end. Overall, Stars and Topsoil is a great primer to the sound of one of the most interesting and original bands to come out of Britain in the 80's (or any decade for that matter!!). The packaging and art-work is lovely and very much in keeping with those lush album covers for Head Over Heels, Treasure and Victorialand (they're all great really, but those three are my personal faves in terms of evocative cover-art) and also in-keeping with the gorgeous and indescribably music found within. If you're interested in discovering the bizarre and beautiful music created by the Cocteau Twins, but can't really commit yourself to buying all their albums, then this lovely collection is probably the best introduction you'll find.

The opening track is a curious choice- more of a product of their obssession with Siouxsie&the Banshees (which wouldn't be completely expunged till 1984's Treasure). I'd have preferred Peppermint Pig personally- though as with every compilation there are so many titles that YOU feel should be hear (eg Blue Bell Knoll, Crushed, Musette&Drums, Rococo,The Spangle Maker, Love's Easy Tears,Pitch the Baby, Cherry-Coloured Funk etc).

We get the early highlights- the sublime Sugar Hiccup, Head Over Heels' My Love Paramour and the kind of hit single Pearly Dewdrops'Drops (one of Fraser&Guthrie's most popular moments, along with This Mortal Coil's Song to the Siren & 1990's Iceblink Luck). Next up are two tracks from the wonderful Treasure, where Simon Raymonde came on board & the classic Cocteau's sound was born and developed on- there is a wild feel to the drum machine, which is more akin to EricB&Rakim at times (no surprise that the Cocetaus would influence AR Kane and PM Dawn- bands who fused beats with those obligatory sonic cathedrals & palatial chimes!). It gets better with a selection of ep tracks from 1985- the huge Aikea-Guinea and the sublime Pink-Orange-Red...Raymonde went off to work on the second This Mortal Coil album in 85/86- so Fraser&Guthrie made the minimal, more acoustic ambient Victorialand- which is certainly underrated in their back catalogue- Lazy Calm and The Thinner The Air don't come more gorgeous or more perfect. The Harold Budd compilation is ignored, though Love's Easy Tears b-side Orange-Appled is a most welcome addition- here the acoustic sounds of Victorialand fuse with the bands previous band ethic (the trademark chimes found themselves on Gun Club's awesome Guthrie-produced The Breaking Hands, alongside AR Kane's debut work).

1988 saw the Cocteaus reach their peak form with Blue Bell Knoll, from which Carolyn's Fingers and Cico Buff stem; this quality would be topped in 1990 with Heaven or Las Vegas- which provides the source for the final tracks. Hit single Iceblink Luck, b-side Watchlar, the albums title track and fave Fifty-Fifty Clown show that there was more than a formula to the Twins work. Fraser was stressing words more: "emotions are emotional/emotions are..."-

& to be fair, many shoegazing bands would encroach on the Cocteaus' turf and like Talk Talk they would be forgotten for the likes of Chapterhouse, Lush, My Bloody Valentine, Ride & Slowdive. Stars & Topsoil is the perfect intro to Cocteau Twins, whose version of Pink-Orange-Red on The Tube in the mid80s so beguiled me! Though personally, I'd plump for ANYTHING they did from 84 to 90; but if funds are mildly limited- this is the one! The perfect soundtrack to dreams, love, sex and wondering: a blissed out poetry that perfects itself with the passage of time...