Time Capsule

Yesterday, I pulled a random CD out of my long-unheard collection of archived MP3s. I burned the disc back in 2002 in the post-Napster days of Usenet, BitTorrent, and 100 GB hard drives. The CD was labeled "Volume LXXIV" and, yes, there are at least 100 CDs in the collection. My problem in 2002 (well, one of my problems) was that I was downloading digital music faster than the storage capacity of my PC allowed, and a lot of the music got burned to CD, shelved, and forgotten. I literally have no idea what's in that 100-CD library and Volume LXXIV was a truly random selection from the collection.

It turns out the disc contains three albums (Garlands [1982], Head Over Heels [1983], and Heaven or Las Vegas [1990]) and one EP (Sunburst & Snowblind [1983]) by the Scottish dream-pop/shoegaze band, Cocteau Twins. 

The music of Cocteau Twins fits right in with the early-80s post-punk/goth of bands like The Cure, Bauhaus, and Siouxsie & the Banshees. Songs like Sugar Hiccup sound like they could have been the blueprint for 90s bands like The Sundays, and while that sound has gone in and out of fashion over the decades, Cocteau Twins still sound fresh and relevant, at least to this old man's ears. It's nearly unfathomable that 43 years have passed since Garlands first dropped, and it's interesting to note that more time has passed between the burning of Volume LXXIV (2002) and today than the release of Garlands (1982) and the burning of the CD. I've posted a live video up above of Wax & Wane from the Garlands album in appreciation of Elizabeth Fraser's unique vocal style.

Volume LXXIV also contains dance remixes of Bjork's Big Time Sensuality (Dom T. Big Time Club Mix), Massive Attack's Protection (Angel Dust Remix), and the Talking Heads' Once in a Lifetime (DJ Tomkat's Spacey-Bassy Mars Mix). None of the remixes add much to the originals, other than additional length and being dancier. The disc also has a live Stereolab bootleg (Muffathalle Munich 18-09-2001), Meredith Monk's 1981 ECM debut, Dolmen Music, two jazz-fusion albums by Soft Machine's Hugh Hopper (Hopper Tunity Box [1976] and Rogue Element, 1978]), and two 1996 new-age/world-music albums, Deep in Didge by Tribal Dance and Trilobite by Uakti. 

Yes, my tastes in music were pretty eclectic even back then.