You’re probably wondering why we’re posting a Christmas list when we’re still a week away from Thanksgiving – I’m not going to lie to you, I listen to Christmas music around the holidays starting as early as now. Yes, behind this cold cynical record store clerk exterior beats the heart of a warm blooded sentimentalist.

While the beloved classics; Vince Guaraldi, Bing Crosby, The Chipmunks – are never far away from our 8-track decks (am i right?) sometimes we need a little push in a bold new direction, and by we, I mean you. So here’s Pure Pop’s list of 5 Christmas Albums you may not have heard of yet but which are definitely worth checking out.

5: Jethro Tull – The Jethro Tull Christmas Album

For a band that’s been making music about minstrels, peasants, kings, paupers, and the like for 40+ years it would seem like a no brainer that in 2003 they came out with a Christmas album. Filled to the brim with a combination of 70′s prog-rock, traditional british folk, and their own blend of oddball Dickensian lyricism and wit, The Jethro Tull Christmas Album feels like a lost relic from their creative heyday, entirely listenable as a holiday album, or just a great collection of Tull Songs.

4: My Morning Jacket – Does Christmas Fiasco Style EP

Bet you didn’t know about this little diamond in the rough, but yes – My Morning Jacket did in fact put out a Christmas EP, and if you’re a fan of MMJ (and if Pure Pop’s sales figures are correct, you’re legion.) than this one should certainly be playing at your next ironic holiday sweater party. (Note: Pure Pop Records does not condone the wearing of sweaters for ironic purposes at any time.)  Just throw this well crafted little number in to the mix with some other well known classics and see how well it blends. And for those who care, there’s even an excellent cover of Nick Cave’s “New Morning”.

3: Reverend Horton Heat – We Three Kings

This is the Christmas album that you play at the Christmas party, that gets out of hand. It’s classic Reverend HH straight up Punkabilly fun and the boys in the band are in top form on a great collection of classics. I’d write more about it here, but there’s really nothing else to say.

2: Sufjan Stevens -Songs For Christmas

This is a 5 CD box set compiling 5 years of Stevens’ yearly Christmas offerings and if you’re familiar with the man’s output you know that while he’s fairly prolific, level of quality in his output is remarkably high. His string arrangements alone on these pieces take tired old holiday classics and bring out their original luster. Pretty much essential for any fan of delicate and maudlin Indie Rock.

1: Bob Dylan – Christmas In The Heart

Nevermind all the pundits pointing out the irony of Mr. Zimmerman making Christmas music, that’s not the point… Actually I’m not sure what the point is with this one. Is it a joke? A joke that no one but Bob himself is in on? Or is a serious attempt at making entertaining, timeless holiday music… Who knows, all we know is that it’s not nearly as bad as it sounds on paper and it’s often surprisingly good in places, with a ragged thrown off quality and subtle unfettered playing. Perfect for a night around the fire drinking heavily spiked eggnog.

For those of you that have never had the misfortune of meeting Tanner McCuin, allow me to give you a primer. In addition to being the Pure Pop Czar of All That is Cyber, he’s a petty and conceited man who’ll happily pontificate for hours on matters he knows nothing about. If you question any of his divergent and often conflicting points, or even ask him to clarify one, he’ll either retreat screeching from the conversation or volley a series of increasingly personal attacks. Whatever personality the man has is obscured by a swollen nest or poorly employed affectations intended to establish the neo-bohemian intellectual he desperately wants to be.

Let’s take a look at the opening paragraph of Tanner’s most recent blog entry, a “review” of a Dungen and Fleet Foxes show.

I showed up to Club Metropolis twenty minutes before Dungen hit the stage, a heartfelt desire to not be disappointed and a bottle of cheap strawberry daiquiri mix burning a hole in my stomach. I had been here most recently to see The National, their Boxer LP and Virginia EP being two of my most listened to albums from the previous year or so and while their performance was spirited, I felt they had a hard time translating their brooding heavily produced between-you-and-me delivery to the broad strokes required for such a large venue and seemingly disinterested audience. That experience had left me seriously questioning my interest in live music, at least, in seeing live many of the bands I enjoy in headphones.

As the experience of seeing The National left Tanner disinterested in seeing comparable bands perform live, the experience of reading this paragraph leaves all but the masochistically curious disinterested in reading the rest of the article. This, ladies and gentlemen, is Tanner, warts and all (all=more warts). The paragraph is convoluted and narcissistic. If Tanner’s writing style was a means of ascending stairs, it would be going up backwards on your hands and knees while talking a lot of nonsense. His ideas go nowhere, and take forever to do so.

I recently sat down with Tanner in an attempt to understand the mechanics of his being. The following is a sort of highlight reel of our conversation.

Herb van der Poll: Hello Tanner.

Tanner McCuin: What’s cracking?

HV: (sighs in disgust) How would you characterize yourself?

TM: Uhm… I don’t really like to pigeon-hole myself. I’m just a guy trying to live my life, attending to my responsibilities as best I can.

HV: Right. Sure. What do you do for fun?

TM: Well, I like to spend time with my friends, my dog. I keep up on music, tech, films, etc. You know what I mean. We’re pretty similar.

HV: (under breath) You wish. (Audibly) Right. What’s it like being such an asshole?

TM: (laughs)

HV: Seriously.

TM: (Apparently under the false impression I’m kidding.) It’s great. (Laughs again.)

HV: What kind of music do you like?

TM: Oh, a little bit of everything. (Ed. note-pretentious) Some of my favorite artists include Will Oldham, Richard Thompson, Kate Bush, New Order… Uhm… I really like ambient music, neo-psych…

HV: Blah, blah, blah. I get it. Shitty stuff no one else likes.

TM: (laughs) Yeah. Pretty much.

HV: The old paradigm of music production and distribution has evolved quite a bit in the last ten years or so. Do you think we’re approaching a period of stability, or is that further ahead?

TM: Well, I think that’s an interesting question with a complicated answer. Clearly, the old model hasn’t dissolved completely, as many predicted it would by now. I can only speculate, but-

HV: I’m just kidding. No one cares what you think about that kind of stuff.

TM: Uhm.. O

kay.

HV: In fact, no one cares what you think about anything. This interview is

over.

TM: Okay.

HV: Wanna get a beer after work?

TM: Sure.

Tanner, who since he was twelve spends most of his time planning an ever-more-elaborate, ever-less-likely-to-happen wedding for himself, came upon this dull website for what appears to be a collective of wedding dj’s. Amusingly, there’s a page of indie-rock themed wedding mixes, all of which look like rough drafts for the Garden State soundtrack. Being the bitter, dry husks of human beings that we are, the first thing we thought was, “What would the opposite of these mixes look like?”

In that spirit, we proudly offer you seven tracks to spoil the mood at a wedding.

1. The Big Pink – Dominos

“As soon as I love her it’s been too long.
And I really love breaking your heart”

2. The Mountain Goats – No Children
“And I hope when you think of me years down the line
You can’t find one good thing to say
And I’d hope that if I found the strength to walk out
You’d stay the hell out of my way
I am drowning
There is no sign of land
You are coming down with me
Hand in unlovable hand
And I hope you die
I hope we both die”

3. XTC – Your Dictionary

“Now your laughter has a hollow ring
But the hollow ring has no finger in
So lets close the book and let the day begin
And our marriage be undone”

4. Rolling Stones – Out of Time

“You’re out of touch, my baby
My poor discarded baby
I said, baby, baby, baby, you’re out of time”

5. Husker Du – Never Talking to You Again

“I’d put you down where you belong
But I’m never talking to you again
I’d show you everywhere you’re wrong
But I’m never talking to you again”

6. The Misfits – Last Caress

“Well, I got something to say
I killed your baby today
And it doesn’t matter much to me
As long as its dead”

7. Jarvis Cocker – Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time

” ’cause the years fly by in an instant
and you wonder what he’s waiting for
and then some skinny bitch walks by in some hotpants
and he’s running out the door”

I showed up to Club Metropolis twenty minutes before Dungen hit the stage, a heartfelt desire to not be disappointed and a bottle of cheap strawberry daiquiri mix burning a hole in my stomach. I had been here most recently to see The National, their Boxer LP and Virginia EP being two of my most listened to albums from the previous year or so and while their performance was spirited, I felt they had a hard time translating their brooding heavily produced between-you-and-me delivery to the broad strokes required for such a large venue and seemingly disinterested audience. That experience had left me seriously questioning my interest in live music, at least, in seeing live many of the bands I enjoy in headphones.

I was apprehensive as i stood in the crowd eyeballing suspiciously the various p-dork hipsters, students and service industry veterans that i was sure constituted the entirety of the audience – were they gonna shutup and pay attention when the bands came on or spend the entire show with their backs to the stage?

When the skinny Swedes from Dungen walked quietly onto the stage taking up their instruments the crowd didn’t do much more than turn slightly – some applause – but when they let loose with an incredible racket, the crowd turned around and that was the last time the entire night I thought about anything other than what was going on the stage.

Dungen proceeded to tear it up proper, creating an incredible psych assault, interspersed with deft & delicate melodic interludes, lead singer Gustav Ejstes taking turns stomping and banging a tambourine, trilling on a flute or pounding out on some kind of vintage keyboard, basically doing the world’s greatest Robert Plant impression in the process – their chops and energy combined with their use of entirely vintage gear brought us about as close as we’ll ever get to a live set by some of those old psych heavy weights, and for that i was thrilled and grateful.

At one point, about 10 minutes into their set the girl next to me turned to me with dawning astonishment, “I didn’t know Dungen was playing here tonight?!” “Yeah? That’s cool…” I said back… not sure the proper response. At least it wasn’t anything like the last time i was here, having to listen to two guys argue over whether Facebook friends should be limited only to real life friends (of course not) the entire set.

Dungen left the stage, crowd cheering enthusiastically, i went out for a smoke. Next up Fleet Foxes.

I wasn’t sure what to expect – anyone who’s listened to their album and EP know they can write an incredibly affecting Beach Boys meets My Morning Jacket tinged folk rocker, but I for some reason was skeptical they could pull it off (oh wait i know why, cause I’m a jaded, tight black pants clad, irony drenched, record store guy,  Dur).

I was wrong, wonderfully wrong. Right out of the gate they engaged the audience with a room filling 3 (or 4) part acapella harmony that seemed to penitrate and wrap itself around everyone in the packed venue – from there things only got better, every song they launched into with increasing energy and the audience loved every minute of it. The band in turn was extremely appreciative and more than a few times between songs gave heartfelt thanks.  As for their songs and how they translated to the stage, i can say that the stage only served to increase the fullness of sound and energy of already great compositions, as a band they struck me as belonging there, like watching The Band or some other classic touring act from the hey day of live music, polished and competent.

I can honnestly think of no criticisms – the playing was incredibly tight, but more importantly earnest, and when the band finally left the stage I could tell everyone in the room felt well and entertained, myself included.  I’ll be checking out more live music again soon, my faith in live music (and it’s often boorish, fickle audiences) while not completely restored, was at least bolstered, and that’s really all an anti-social music snob like myself can ask.

Each week we get hundreds of pieces of used vinyl in – you name it we see it come through here. Usually it’s a ton of useless Joan Baez,  Boz Scaggs & Supertramp vinyl, but occasionally we get something in that for better or worse really stands out. This section is dedicated to these finds.

Our first “Cover of the Month” comes from one of Burlington’s not so fertile periods of local rock music, 1985.

Introducing BOYZ.

Tanner: I think i’ve seen this album circulating in the backroom for at least 3 years, it’s about time we expose it’s awesomeness. You know, it’s nice to know we’re carrying on the Burlington tradition of tight black jeans into the new Millennium.

Herb: I have absolutely no idea what these guys sound like. My guess is Huey Lewis & The News meets Billy Idol.

Tanner: Think the middle guy’s going for a Young Springsteen, pissing against a wall look.

Herb: Maybe he’s doing his version of what he thought the cover of “The River” should look like. Yuk-yuk.

Tanner: Bruce Springsteen and the “Pee” Street Band…

Herb: Wow. Anyway, I think the guy in the back is the drummer and I know where he keeps his sticks.

Tanner: Hot Dog we have a Weiner.

Herb: Is one of his arms longer than the other?

Tanner: I heard Elastic waistband pants were the keyboard neckties of mid 80′s Burlington soft rock.

Herb: I guess when you’re packing that kind of heat, you don’t really have to try. Everything about the dude, package aside, says “I don’t give two sultry shits”.

Tanner: And then there’s trying to hard…

Herb: Hotchy-Motchy

Tanner: You’ve gotta stand away from the wall a little more when you’re doing shadow puppets.

Herb: Here is a man who would have rather been posing for romance novel covers than rocking and rolling.

Tanner: This guy was in the band for one reason only. Dudes.

Herb: This is making me depressed. These guys were probably talking about quitting their jobs, sending the album to Warner Brothers, going on tour with Joe Jackson…

Tanner: Here’s hoping this post sees a BOYZ revival a la Death….

Herb & Tanner: … Nah.

The following albums are all classics that belong in any serious music fan’s collection. Another thing they have in common is that only the most hopeful among us expected them to be as good as they are. Join us, as we consider five albums no one expected to be good that came out great.

Bob Dylan – Time Out of Mind Prior to the release of this album, Bob Dylan may have been popular, but he hadn’t been relevant in nearly two decades. His catalog throughout the 80′s and 90′s is a laundry list of underwhelming mediocrity, championed by only his most die-hard fans. With the release of Time Out of Mind, Dylan re-established himself as a first-rate song-writer and lyricist. Not only did it measure up to the best of his other works, it was one of the best albums of the decade. Dylan, whose voice had degraded to frog-throated rasps, had never sounded so vital.

New Order – Power, Corruption & Lies Movement, the first release by New Order, did little to dissuade people who were skeptical that Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris would be able to escape the shadow of their former group, Joy Division. The demise of Ian Curtis seemed to herald the death of his former bandmate’s music careers. Indeed, Movement, despite its exceptional moments, sounds like an attempt to rehash the Joy Division sound. With Power, Corruption & Lies, New Order were truly born. All the hallmarks of their sound are fully in place, and the album included perhaps their most enduring song, Blue Monday. To many, it represents the band at their peak.

George Harrison – All Things Must Pass After the Beatles break-up was made public in tandem with the announcement of Paul McCartney’s first solo album, all eyes were on Paul and John. How would the members of the greatest song-writing partnership in history fare on their own? While that’s fascinating topic its own right, the biggest surprise in the Beatles solo output is Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. Arguably the best of all Beatle solo records, ATMP is a double LP without an ounce of fat. Harrison delivered the best songs of his career in a single serving, a considerable accomplishment from a man who held his own in the company of the Lennon/McCartney colossus.

Portishead – Third Eleven years after their previous studio album and a decade after the genre of music they’d helped to define had become a memory, the idea of a new Portishead album was perplexing to say the least. Sure, it could have been a pleasant throw-back to days gone by, or a regrettable taint on a brief yet immaculate career, but Portishead defied expectation and delivered an instant classic. Without shedding the aesthetic that defined their sound, the band incorporated a variety of new influences and techniques to create a stunning, broad and cohesive piece of music that reminded us Portishead are, as they say, the shit.

Hank Williams III – Lovesick, Broke and Driftin’ Hank III’s first solo album, Risin’ Outlaw, was a huge disappointment to fans of the William’s Dynasty. Overproduced and undistinguished, it seemed as if the grandson of the legendary Hank Williams was capable of little more than exploiting his family name. With Lovesick, Broke and Driftin’, he made amends. True to the spirit of his grandfather, Hank III broke new ground and defined modern outlaw country music. Not only did he do right by his grandaddy, he cast a shadow over his father, Hank Williams Jr, whose music seems rather safe by comparison.

God Help the Girl – Stewart Murdoch (of Belle & Sebastian)

Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch has always been attracted to the understated, to music that slowly draws listeners in rather than reaches out to grab them. This is never more apparent than on his forthcoming God Help the Girl project, which he started by posted advertisements asking for girl singers and hopes to eventually finish with a full musical film under his arm. For now, he’s still working on the screenplay to the film, but he’s completed quite a bit of music that he’s rolling out, with the help of members of Belle and Sebastian, Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon, Smoosh’s Asya, and a quintet of singers that includes contest-winners Dina Bankole, Brittany Stallings, and Catherine Ireton - Read Full Interview

Dinosaur Jr – Farm

Beyond, the first album to feature the original Dinosaur Jr. lineup since their 1980s heyday, was so surprisingly good it was tempting to call it a fluke. Tempting, but wrong– two years after its release, it still sounds great, on par with the early, hallowed triumvirate of Dinosaur, You’re Living All Over Me, and Bug. For any cynics still chalking Beyond up to luck, Farm should blast the scales from your jaded eyes. Energetic, confident, and catchy, it’s even more compelling than Beyond. Read Full Article

Sunset Rubdown – Dragon Slayer

to talk about Sunset Rubdown and only talk about Krug would be an injustice – a fact that has never been more evident than on Sunset Rubdown’s fourth full-length release, Dragonslayer. Sure, Krug’s influence (and voice) can be heard everywhere on the album. But compare this album to Krug’s first solo release under the Sunset Rubdown moniker, 2005’s Snake’s Got a Leg, and you will find yourself doing math with apples and oranges. The band has developed, blossomed, gained some flesh, and distinguished itself enough from Krug’s solo work that the fact that I’ve gone this far into my review of Dragonslayer only talking about him makes me a bit embarrassed. So onto the rest. Read Full Article

Deer Tick – Born on Flag Day

The title of Deer Tick’s sophomore effort, Born On Flag Day, can be interpreted as either a loving hat-tip to Americana quirks or as an eye-rolling Big Buck Hunter-style ironic embrace of homeland lovin’. And here’s where you should say, “But no country is authentic!” (or “Who cares if Brian Williams adores Deer Tick, what matters is McCauley’s songwriting!”) But honestly, at this point, country rock is the most unobjectionable music one can make. Float a slide guitar over a crunchy rhythm guitar, brush those cymbals, rasp some beery wisdom (“It couldn’t be much fun bein’ a millionaire to one / Cuz a million’s just a million of one thing”), and if the chord progression works, the song will probably speak to the heart of at least one person who hears it after precisely the right number of drinks. Read Full Article

Tortoise – Beacons of Ancestorship

Tortoise’s output since 2001 has included just one proper album, 2004′s water-treading It’s All Around You, and a collaboration with Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Despite being as distinctively Tortoise as their ancestors, these efforts were spotty at best. Both the 2004 album and the collaboration saw Tortoise’s once-thrilling compositional style lapse into self-parody. On It’s All Around You, all of the eclectic pieces—the jazzy fills, the dub breaks, the tempo shifts—came in exactly where you’d expect them to. In some ways, the band was shoehorned by its own good taste. In search of a sound that betrayed neither its influences nor the band’s emotions, Tortoise ended up with songs that were also incapable of surprising listeners. Thankfully, Beacons makes it clear that Chicago’s avant-vets still have some spark left. Nearly all of the tracks shake up the band’s formula, and that special feeling that comes from hearing a team of talented players fuse their restless visions permeates the record. Read Full Article

Every once in a while a two dudes at a bar, bored, a little drunk, with a pencil, the back of a recipe, and more than a little raw artistic talent, create something that sees through the veneer of a man, into the very depth of his soul.

This, was not one of those times.

Ah, 1981. Ronald Reagan was president, Raiders of the Lost Ark was the top grossing film and MTV launched. It was also the year Tanner McCuin and his brother from another mother Herb van der Poll were born. In honor of that wonderful year and the fact we can’t think of anything else to write about, Tanner and Herb have decided to discuss the top 5 singles globally of 1981.

1. “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes

Tanner McCuin – Who the fuck is Kim Carnes? We’re gonna have to go to Youtube for this one.

Herb van der Poll - According to Wikipedia, it was sampled by Akon on “Angel Eyes”, and is featured in the movie Duets, where it’s performed by Gwyneth Paltrow.

***The guys listen to the song***

Tanner – I kind of like it.

Herb – Ugh. That sounds like a friend’s demo. A bad one.

Tanner – There’s a Kathleen Turner thing going on. Makes me want to watch Romancing the Stone.

Herb – I like the keyboard tone, but my mind is blown that this was any kind of success. Can we stop now?

Tanner – She sounds like a female Rod Stewart.

Herb – She sounds like a male Rod Stewart.

2. Soft Cell – “Tainted Love”

***Long pause. Both sip coffee while loading video on l’internet***

Herb – I prefer the original version.

Tanner -  I like the addition of the shuffely beat. Also, that the guy in the video is a Virgo like me. Therefor, I give it two thumbs up.

Herb – Do you remember towards the end of the Coneheads movie when Dan Akyroyd is singing this song?

Tanner – I do not.

Herb – What’s the Conehead patriarch’s name? Algar?

Tanner – Nah, dog. That’s Garth’s last name in Wayne’s World.

Herb – (looks it up) Beldar. Anyway, Beldar’s singing of the song is meant to convey how much he’s embraced our culture. I believe the film is saying to know Soft Cell is to know what it means to be human.

Tanner – Yeah. That’s probably it.

3. Phil Collins – “In The Air Tonight”

Herb – Finally. An unequivocally great song. I happen to know that he showed this track to the guys in Genesis and they didn’t want to do it.

Tanner – All I can think of when I listen to this song is David Copperfield. (shrugs)

Herb – I suppose it does have a Dickensian quality. The sense of helplessness in random yet inevitably occuring tragedy.

Tanner - You have a Dick-headsian quality. I was talking about the magician.

Herb – Erm…. How about that drum sound?

Tanner – There are a lot of hilarious urban legends surrounding this song.

Herb – …and they’re all true. Like how Phil Collins is singing about withnessing a murder, and then the murderer heard it at a Phil Collins show and was so riddled with guilt he killed himelf.

Tanner – That was the first time he’d heard the song?

Herb – Totally. The dude went because he loved Sussudio.

4. John Lennon “Woman”

Herb – This was the first single issued after Lennon’s death.  It’s crap. The only reason it was a success was because people were mourning.

Tanner – Mention that you looked that up on wikipedia.

Herb – Do I have to every time?

Tanner – Yes. Anyway, you can tell why this isn’t one of his more revered songs.

Herb – This compounds the tragedy of Lennon’s assassination. Seriously.

Tanner – Was it technically an assassination?

Herb - Sure.

Tanner (looks up assassination) “The targeted murder of a high profile person.”

Herb - There you go.

Tanner – It is really sweet how devoted he was to his wife.

Herb (rolls eyes)

5. Stars on 45 – “Stars on 45″

Herb - Another one I have never heard of. This job takes me to really interesting places. Youtube it!

***Youtubed it***

Tanner – Gosh.

Herb – It’s sort of like the Girl Talk of the 80′s.

Tanner – We’ve just discovered the proto-mashup.

Herb – Hmmm…. A Dutch act doing novelty medleys of pop songs with a disco beat. I’m in heaven.

***Long Pause***

Herb – Uhm. Let’s watch it again.

Tanner – No one said this job was easy.

***Watched it again***

Herb - It’s a really interesting kind of awful. It’s out of place with what we conventionally think of the late 70′s or early 80′s being like aesthetically.

Mike Crandall - (Chimes in) The thing about Stars on 45 is there’s not really any artistic value to it whatsoever.

Tanner – Concurred. Like modern mash-ups, they’re just throwing everyone’s favorite songs together with a beat so people can shake their ass and make out.

Herb - What are you trying to say?

Tanner - I’ve got some sugar-free cranberry juice and vodka in the fridge. How many Stars on 45 videos are on youtube?

Herb – Dozens.

This week we’re taking a look at some vinyl reissues that are basically essential for any collector. Most of these have been lovingly reissued on 180 Gram (or better) vinyl, gatefolds, and the whole sha-banger. Check em out while they’re still here, limited pressings abound.

Roxy Music – Stranded / Country Life

Beach Boys – Sun Flower / Surfs Up

Without question, the resurrection of the Beach Boys in a vibrant critical and commercial capacity was a significant retrospective development of music in the ’90s. Pet Sounds becomes, now that we think about it, arguably the greatest pop production ever; a box set commemorating the album and the group’s legacy are released and uniformly lauded; pop groups everywhere shamelessly draw inspiration from the acid-tinged barbershop quartet arrangements; a handicapped Brian Wilson even manages to release something of a comeback. With this extensive overhaul, it’s right to expect some chafe only zealots with fat wallets could feel compelled to purchase. But such is not the case with this particular release, which pairs up the two first and best artifacts of the slow, golden sunset of the Beach Boys’ decline. - Pitchfork

Big Star – #1 Record / Radio City

Like The Beatles, Big Star had at its core two great forces: Chilton, and the enigmatic, cult icon Chris Bell. The band started with Chris at the throne, and he was a died-in-the-wool Beatles disciple. There was a tacit power struggle as to the direction of the band during their first album, #1 Record, and Alex wanted control. By Radio City, Bell was intimidated out of the band and Alex had free reign.

No one before Chris or after ever really challenged Alex musically, and I think Alex might even admit that to himself. Radio City was Chilton’s way of showing only to himself that he could write better Beatles-like songs than Bell ever could. My theory is that Chilton’s motivation for Radio City was to show up Bell. That is the source of the passion, angst and intensity on Radio City. That type of rivalry made The Beatles great, except they stayed together despite their dissonance, creating a larger body of work. That Chilton showed up Bell with Radio City may have literally killed the late Bell, a tortured, complex man who never had the chance to find a support system that would have allowed him to accept his homosexuality. Indeed, his early death some label as a suicide was a tragedy of the highest order. – Pop Matters

Cocteau Twins – Garlands / Head Over Heels

the best comparison points are to the Cure on Faith and Pornography, perhaps Metal Box-era PiL, a touch of Joy Division here and there — in sum, deep, heavy mood verging on doom and gloom. Bassist Will Heggie, in the only full album he did with the Twins, clearly follows the Peter Hook/Simon Gallup style of low, ominous throb, while Guthrie’s guitar work more often than not screeches loudly than shimmers. Fraser’s singing has a starker edge, unsettling even at its most accessible, sometimes completely disturbing at other times. The strongest track, “Wax and Wane,” has the trio creating a powerful but also surprisingly danceable track, the crisp drumbox beat working against Guthrie’s compelling atmospherics and Fraser’s vocal hook in the chorus. – Garlands / Allmusic

The album introduces a variety of different shadings and approaches to the incipient Cocteaus sound, pointing the band towards the exultant, elegant beauty of later releases. Opening number “When Mama Was Moth” demonstrates the new musical range nicely; Fraser‘s singing is much more upfront, while Guthrie creates a bewitching mix of dark guitar notes and sparkling keyboard tones, with percussion echoing in the background. Other songs, like the sax-accompanied “Five Ten Fiftyfold” and “The Tinderbox (Of a Heart)” reflect the more elaborate musical melancholy of the group, while still other cuts are downright sprightly. “Multifoiled” in particular is a charm, a jazzily-arranged number that lets Fraser do a bit of scatting (a perfect avenue for her lyrical approach!), while “In the Gold Dust Rush” mixes acoustic guitar drama into Fraser‘s swooping singing. Perhaps the two strongest numbers of all are: “Sugar Hiccup,” mixing the mock choir effect the band would use elsewhere with both a lovely guitar line and singing; and “Musette and Drums,” a massive, powerful collision of Guthrie‘s guitar at its loudest and most powerful and Fraser‘s singing at its most intense. – Head Over Heels / Allmusic