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Formed in Grangemouth, Scotland in the early 1980's, The Cocteau Twins have been nothing short of pioneers in the world of modern music. Countless bands, from My Bloody Valentine to Slowdive and Lush, are direct descendants from the unique soundscapes of the Twins' near two-decade career. The founding members of The Cocteau Twins were vocalist Elizabeth Fraser, guitarist Robin Guthrie and bassist Will Heggie. After a few releases, Heggie split in 1983 to join Lowlife. A year later, Fraser and Guthrie picked up Simon Raymonde, completing what would be the principle lineup for the band until they closed up shop in 1998. What's so special about this band? Maybe this is just a fan talking, but without The Twins pop music as we know it today wouldn't exist. Without Liz Fraser's enchanting, near-alien vocals, nobody would be listening to Bjork after Post and Sigur Ros would be stuck with conventional lyrics. Robin Guthrie single-handedly reinvented the guitar as an instrument, steering away from riff-driven rock in favor of creating completely new sounds aided by new technology. Despite all the weirdness, The Cocteau Twins still sound like pop music, they're just at the boundaries of what most would consider pop. Of course, you wouldn't know this listening to the band's first couple albums. 1982's Garlands and half of Head Over Heals and Treasure from '83 and '84 respectively sound like murky derivations of Cure and Bauhaus inspired goth. Fraser's abstract approach to singing and lyrics helped the band stand out, but honestly, had The Twins chosen a male front with a deep, scratchy voice it's not likely we would have anything to talk about today. The Cocteau Twins that fans came to know and love for the next decade appeared in full force on the 1986 LP Victorialand. This is the album in which Robin Guthrie finally devoted more than one or two tracks to the crystaline strings found in earlier tracks like "Pearly Dewdrops Drops". So often, music that courts the term "experimental" does so to cover up for darkness or dissonance. From 1986 on, The Twins managed to be experimental and beautiful at the same time. After cultivating this solid sound for two albums and plenty of touring, The Cocteau Twins used the early 1990's to dip a toe in the accessible end of the pop music pool. Flush with backing from Capitol Records to handle US distribution but retaining the artistic freedom provided by their international (and original) label, 4AD, The Twins churned out Heaven or Las Vegas in 1990. They had a hit single with "Iceblink Luck" as well as the title track. C',width:'100',height:'100'" width="100" height="100" align="" />ompared to the band's earlier sound, Heaven or Las Vegas seems more than halfway to the MTV standard for the decade. Fraser's vocals on the album are occasionally intelligable, while Guthrie and Raymonde composed songs with a more straightforward structure. Call it what you will, but in retrospect it was a nice change. The band spent the better part of the 1980's doing their own thing. Continuing on the path of obliqueness wouldn't have been genuine, it would have been stagnation. After Heaven or Las Vegas The Twins' output slowed. They only put out two unique studio albums, Four Calender Cafe in 1993 and Milk and Kisses in 1996. The rest of the decade saw a smattering of compilations and live recordings. Cite what you will about any unpleasant business with Mercury Records or the background drama of Fraser's and Guthrie's romance, 15 years of steady production is unusual for any band. These days, the former Cocteau Twins are still involved in music by way of their solo careers and the label formed by the band at the end of their run, Bella Union. Aside from being intensely enjoyable on their own, The Cocteau Twins essentially invented a genre of pop while at the same time standing as the paragon band of that genre. It's been called plenty of things over the past two decades; Shoegaze, dream-pop, etc. There are even some very interesting new bands embracing the style, most notably Detroit's Ether Aura and The Daysleepers out of New York. But if you're looking to start at the beginning, jump back 25 years to the point of invention in Liz Fraser's dynamic pipes and Robin Guthrie's frontiersman fingers.

I learned to drink beer in Britain. At first, on being informed that I didn't care for beer, hospitable hosts offered me Shandy, a vile concoction of beer combined with lemonade or currant juice, or even soda. Shandy was so awful that when a local at the pub coaxed me into trying the local brew, on the grounds that it was made on the premises, I did. It was a fairly typical British ale, but nothing like the canned beer I'd cautiously sipped in New Hampshire. I've never looked back since then, though I've diligently avoided Shandy, and have assiduously pursued microbrews and beer on tap. A few months ago a friend talked me into trying Red Beer; not the sort of Red Beer that's made by using a special selection of malts or a specially roasted malt as part of the mash, but the sort that's made by adding a few ounces of tomato juice to a good lager. After obtaining a bottle of brew, stash it in the refrigerator to chill; Red beer is a dish best served cold. You'll want to chill the beer glass in the freezer so that it's good and frosty, and do the same with the Tomato juice; a half hour or so should do it. Pour a couple of ounces of the Tomato juice into the chilled beer glass, add a sprinkle of salt, then add the bottle of lager chilled from the fridge. I'm fond of using tomato juice that's slightly spicy, or adding just a dash of Tabasco. Some aficionados add a dash of cayenne, or use celery salt instead of table salt. Don't cheap out on the tomato juice, or use one with added sugar or corn syrup; you'll regret it. The beer does make a difference; I prefer lager for Red beer (I'm especially partial to Kona's Longboard Lager), but I note that others suggest any pale ale will do. And don't believe those who tell you to use a cheap beer you wouldn't ordinarily drink. The beer in Red beer, like the wine you cook with, should be one you'd be happy to drink on its own. Red beer is nothing like shandy, at all; in fact red beer is quite lovely, especially with slightly spicy food, like chili, or pizza. It's best when there are small ice crystals in the tomato juice. I don't know, but I deeply suspect that red beer was inspired as a morning after ritual, or possibly, in beer envy of the Bloody Mary. Another friend from the deep south told me that Red beer there means just a healthy dash of Tabasco added to a glass of beer, specifically as a hangover remedy. I'd be interested if anyone can shed some light on Red beer's origins.