Tuesday 1 February 2011

White rabbits

On a dark night shortly before or after my seventeenth birthday I found myself at a party thrown by a girl I did not know. By the open window a curtain billowed, stained orange by the streetlight; all the while, to my intermittent distraction, dragons flapped in inky silhouette across its surface. Looking about the carpet writhed with dark patterns and the floor beneath it undulated gently. At some point I remember handling a rough ceramic vase, through the pores of which I could see and hear lava crackling. I was tripping fairly hard.

I don’t think I’d noticed the music until a friend went to change the disc, only, on experiencing some difficulty, to report from across the room that the drawer had been glued shut. We blandly accepted his assessment of the situation. So, for however long, we sat there and listened to Treasure by the Cocteau Twins. I slowly realised that I had to own the album and the next day I floated into Our Price I think it was, and plucked it from the racks.

Whenever I play the album four lines scored into its inner sleeve always give cause for a poignant moment. They were made by Tig, my brother’s cat, long since dead.


Cocteau Twins Lorelei

12 comments:

  1. Drugs! That's it! That's why I've never been able to get The Cocteau Twins.

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  2. They're certainly unlike any other band, I'll never know if I'd have been as receptive under normal circumstances.

    The above was quite an extreme 'in' to a band's music, far more frequently I've come to more fully appreciate an album whilst a bit stoned. Whether the drug addled are simply less discerning is a moot point, but for the most part I think that once you've noticed how good something is while under the influence it remains as good even when you're not.

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  3. Ah, Lorelei. Tune.

    Good pizza place too.

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  4. I've never actively sought out anything by the Cocteau Twins, which is strange cause I've got a mate who loves them and have liked most of what I've heard but just never felt the need to investigate further.

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  5. TIW - I had to google the pizza place, after a hard slog round Soho I tend to gravitate towards Ed's Diner - for a big bubba and atomic onion rings.

    Drew - actively seek out Treasure.

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  6. yeah, they are an amazing band. and acid was my fave drug.... till i starting concluding Suicide Was The Only Answer, and stopped. but can imagine the two'd be a excellent combo.

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  7. I can imagine how that'd put you off. I think that was the only time I sat and listened to music, usually I'd have to get out into the great outdoors and look at trees and stuff.

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  8. I'm a huge 'clean' Cocteaus lover, if that proves owt.

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  9. Only that you're a man of utmost taste and probity Davy.

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  10. Ah, psychedelics. Them were the days.

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  11. Yes, sadly life's far too complicated these days for such shenanigans.

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