The year of 2005, nearly two decades after Robin and Liz first started to make music with their friend Will Heggie in a small dirty industrial town in Scotland, was ill-fated for Cocteau Twins fans. The band nearly reunited, but Elizabeth backed out, citing personal conflicts and creative differences.

Still, seems like the story is not over. 4AD recently released the compilation "Lullabies to Violaine" as four separate discs and 2 volumes: Volume 1 covering the 4AD years, and volume 2 the Capitol/Mercury years). The Pitchfork review is here and I can't wait to get my hands on this.

For your viewing pleasure, here are some old videos from YouTube.






Also don't forget to check out the official site, which features a good collection of rare and unreleased music. Just two examples:

My Hue and Cry (Live Version) - An instrumental, never formally recorded, performed for a John Peel BBC Radio show. This live version from a 1986 performance is particularly stunning, although the sound quality is imperfect.


Kookaburra (Live Instrumental) - early instrumental version of what eventually became Kookaburra... or it may also be an early version of the song Rococo. Taken from a performance at Royal Festival Hall in 1984.