Released on 3 March 1985 "Aikea-Guinea" was the and EP and single by Scottish dream pop band Cocteau Twins, released on 4AD. The 7" featured two non-album tracks, while the EP added two more.
Almost as if afraid of
becoming too popular the Cocteau Twins took another unexpected turn
and came up with Aikea-Guinea, an EP containing somewhat easier
accessible material.
Were they growing tired of (not) trying to explain the unexplainable?
The atmosphere on this EP is very mixed, even within just four songs.
The title track sounds like a serious contender for a hitparade, then
there is their first ever release of an instrumental track
(Rococo) and the mystical Quisquose. The title track became another well-deserved Cocteau Twins
standard, a deceptively simple bass/guitar/drum combination driving away
at its core, while Fraser sings beautifully over it all, matched by a swirl of Guthrie's
production touches (piano, mock choir, and so forth). "Kookaburra"
follows squarely in the path of faster Cocteaus tracks as "Because of
Whirl-Jack," though here Fraser's vocals are more sweet and less dramatically piercing. Guthrie's
guitar takes center stage here, starting the track with echoing swirls
leading into the main riff. "Quisquose" puts piano up front as main
accompaniment for one of Fraser's
more adventurous vocals, mixing a high main lyric with a more free form
performance set against it, calling to mind the slightly similar
contrast in vocal takes on "Lorelei." The instrumental "Rococo" ends the
EP with style, a quiet bass/percussion opening leading into one of Guthrie's trademark fusions of feedback, volume, and heavily-produced beauty. Raymonde's bass stands out strongly throughout as well, a fine combination. |
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The opener Aikea-Guinea is about as close as the Cocteau Twins ever got to creating
mainstream rock music. Far from being an average hit song the track at least
features easily appreciated melodies, and a nice and simple rhythm. While there are lots of percussion it is remarkable how totally different
they sound from the Treasure fireworks. The vocals are arranged beautifully, switching continuously between several
melodies. There's no verse/chorus structure, but just three vocal episodes. "Kookaburra" The song starts out fairly straightforward with a fairly loud guitar,
bass, and heavy percussion all work together to accompany the vocals,
in which we find Liz singing all the rrr's unusually pronounced,
as if she was to prove a point concerning her Scottish origin. "Quisquose" while the structure of the song rather opaque, its style is nearly
impossible to describe as well. Comparing it to another Cocteau song doesn't
work either, because it doesn't really resemble any of their other works,
although it is still unmistakeably a Cocteau song. Finally "Rococo" a recognize immediately the song
contains two very distinct parts. On starting out the sound is so soft it is
hard to hear anything at all. Then, after 40 seconds of very subtle music,
the track explodes into booming guitars, bass and drums. From here on the
music drives on like a steam engine, relentlessly delivering its three-time
rhythm, eventually culminating in some great guitar riffs, the song has no vocals and this makes this track one of the most unusual, odd or even downright absurd on the band's career. Finally the meaning of "Aikea-Guinea" according to Robin Guthrie is a Scottish colloquialism for a seashell. Aikea-Guinea Track List: 1. Aikea-Guinea 2. Kookaburra 3. Quisquose 4. Rococo |
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