ABCs of My Vinyl Collection (Letter C, Part 17)

I didn't really "get" Cocteau Twins until fairly late in the game. The album that did it for me was the 1988 album 'Blue Bell Knoll.' This would be the first album for many of us on this side of the pond because it was the first to receive major-label distribution in America. That happens to be the year I bought my first CD player. I would go back and buy 'Treasure' in relatively short order. Later, in 1990, I would be first in line to get 'Heaven or Las Vegas.' To this day, that's probably still my favorite. What can I say? I'm a pop fan at heart, and that album is the most accessible. It also probably explains why I prefer Kate Bush's 'Hounds of Love' to her other work.

So, I have three albums from Cocteau Twins, but they are all on the wrong format for this series. That's the way things stood until 2012 when I visited Stephen Pastel's record shop in Glasgow. The singles collection 'Stars and Topsoil' was released on vinyl for the first time on that very day, and I thought it would be cool to pick it up in the band's home country.

In recent years, I can't tell you how many times I have been disappointed with new vinyl purchases. If, like me, you buy a lot of wax, you no doubt have run into the same quality-assurance problems I have. Every time I open a new record I cross my fingers it won't be warped, chock full of surface noise or just plain poor in sound. 'Stars and Topsoil' is not one of these problem albums. All four sides of the vinyl sound perfect, and I often play it on my stereo just because I love how wonderfully it fills the room. From that album comes today's selection. "Carolyn's Fingers" was, I believe, a U.S.-only single, and it's the song that got me to buy Cocteau Twins for the first time. I don't think Elizabeth Fraser's voice ever sounded better.

"Carolyn's Fingers"