Cocteau Twins: Four-Calendar Café (LP)

This re-release of the Cocteau Twins' 1993 album has been remastered by Robin Guthrie and pressed on high quality vinyl. The Cocteau Twins, consisting of singer Elizabeth Fraser, guitarist Robin Guthrie and bassist Simon Raymonde, were formed in Grangemouth, Scotland, in the late 1970s. Guthrie and the original bassist Will Heggie came up with the idea. fraser joined in 1981 and the following year they signed to 4AD, one of the best known indie labels. With Raymonde replacing Heggie in 1983, the trio created some of the most unique and other-worldly music of the 80s, centered around Guthrie's ringing guitar and Fraser's unmistakable soprano. In the early 90s, the group had just released their most successful album, the commercial "Heaven or Las Vegas", but the collaboration with 4AD was coming to an end. Mercury's Fontana imprint was experiencing something of a heyday, signing former underground bands, and in 1992 the Cocteau Twins joined The Fall and House Of Love. The group's debut album for Fontana, "Four-Calendar Cafe", was released in October 1993. Its gauzy melodies and mostly upbeat pop belies the turmoil the group was going through. Barney Hoskyns wrote in Mojo that "Four-Calendar Cafe" was "the most poignant, heartbreaking Cocteaus record of all, an album of naked confession and raw beauty ... Sadness never sounded so lush". Simon Raymonde agreed: "I think in time people will realize what a great album "Four-Calendar Cafe" is. Because I think it's beautiful." Led by the single Evangeline, the album reached number 13 in the British album charts and is very popular with fans.