Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Feathers-Oar-Blades (Lullabies 1982)
2. Alas Dies Laughing (Lullabies 1982)
3. It's All But An Ark Lark (Lullabies 1982)
4. Peppermint Pig (7-Inch Version) (Peppermint Pig 1983)
5. Laughlines (Lullabies 1982)
6. Hazel (Lullabies 1982)
7. Sugar Hiccup (12-Inch Version) (Sunburst And Snowblind 1983)
8. From The Flagstones (Sunburst And Snowblind 1983)
9. Hitherto (Sunburst And Snowblind 1983)
10. Because Of Whirl-Jack (Sunburst And Snowblind 1983)
11. The Spangle Maker (The Spangle Maker 1984)
12. Pearly-Dewdrops� Drops (Alternate Version) (The Spangle Maker 1984)
13. Pepper-Tree (The Spangle Maker 1984)
14. Aikea-Guinea (Alternate Version) (Aikea-guinea 1985)
15. Kookaburra (Aikea-guinea 1985)
16. Quisquose (Aikea-guinea 1985)
17. Rococo (Aikea-guinea 1985)

Disc 2:

1. Pink Orange Red (Tiny Dynamine 1985)
2. Ribbed And Veined (Tiny Dynamine 1985)
3. Plain Tiger(Tiny Dynamine 1985)
4. Sultitan Itan (Tiny Dynamine 1985)
5. Great Spangled Fritillary (Echoes In A Shallow Bay 1985)
6. Melonella (Echoes In A Shallow Bay 1985)
7. Pale Clouded White (Echoes In A Shallow Bay 1985)
8. Eggs And Their Shells (Echoes In A Shallow Bay 1985)
9. Love�s Easy Tears (Love�s Easy Tears 1986)
10. Those Eyes, That Mouth (Love�s Easy Tears 1986)
11. Sigh�s Smell Of Farewell (Love�s Easy Tears 1986)
12. Orange Appled (Love�s Easy Tears 1986)
13. Iceblink Luck (Iceblink Luck 1990)
14. Mizake The Mizan (Iceblink Luck 1990)
15. Watchlar (Iceblink Luck 1990)

Disc 3:

1. Evangeline (Evangeline 1993)
2. Mud And Dark (Evangeline 1993)
3. Summer-Blink (Evangeline 1993)
4. Winter Wonderland (Snow 1993)
5. Frosty The Snowman (Snow 1993)
6. Bluebeard (Bluebeard 1993)
7. Three-Swept (Bluebeard 1993)
8. Ice-Pulse (Bluebeard 1993)
9. Bluebeard (Acoustic Version) (Bluebeard 1993)
10. (Twinlights 1994)
11. Rilkean Heart (Acoustic Version) (Twinlights 1994)
12. Golden-Vein (Acoustic Version) (Twinlights 1994)
13. Pink Orange Red (Acoustic Version) (Twinlights 1994)
14. Half-Gifts (Acoustic Version) (Twinlights 1994)

Disc 4:

1. Feet-Like Fins (Otherness - Mark Clifford Remixes 1995)
2. Seekers Who Are Lovers (Otherness - Mark Clifford Remixes 1995)
3. Violaine (Otherness - Mark Clifford Remixes 1995)
4. Cherry-Coloured Funk (Otherness - Mark Clifford Remixes 1995)
5. (Tishbite 1995)
6. Tishbite (Tishbite 1995)
7. Primitive Heart (Tishbite 1995)
8. Flock Of Soul (Tishbite 1995)
9. Round (Tishbite 1995)
10. An Elan (Tishbite 1995)
11. Violaine (Violaine 1996)
12. Smile (Violaine 1996)
13. Tranquil Eye (Violaine 1996)
14. Circling Girl (Violaine 1996)
15. Alice (Violaine 1996)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84720 in Music
• Released on: 2005-11-21
• Number of discs: 4
• Formats: Box set, Limited Edition, Import
• Dimensions: .31 pounds

From the Artist
For the first time all the non-album tracks from across the Cocteau Twins' entire career have been compiled together and offer a unique view of their musical journey from the perspective of all their single / EP releases which incorporate most of their best known tracks.

Brought together in unusual deluxe packaging, the four CD set is a worldwide limited edition of 10,000. The discs are contained in a fold-out package made of a material that itself sounds like a Cocteau Twins title--'Curious Soft Touch Milk.' It's all very tactile, minimal and v23.

CD Description
The impressive four-disc LULLABIES TO VIOLAINE presents every single and EP that Cocteau Twins issued over the course of their 1980s/'90s run for 4AD and, later, Capitol Records. Given the Scottish group's remarkably devoted following, many of these previously rare individual releases were highly sought-after and sometimes shockingly expensive. Not only does this chronologically ordered collection offer 59 career-spanning tracks minus the collector's price tag, it also boasts remastered sound, making it nothing short of heaven-sent for Cocteau Twins fans.
Although the ensemble is best known for its dreamy sonic landscapes, as this consistently excellent compilation reveals, the Cocteaus also ventured into wiry post-punk ("Feather Oars-Blades") and breezy pop ("Summer-blink"), always carried by Elizabeth Fraser's distinctively gauzy vocals and Robin Guthrie's swirling layers of guitar. Even including the two playful holiday songs ("Frosty the Snowman" and "Winter Wonderland") on the 1993 limited edition SNOW disc, LULLABIES TO VIOLAINE is so comprehensive that it serves as a sort of alternate history of the revered band, running parallel to its equally fascinating full-length outings.

Customer Reviews

A Perfect History
For me, a fan since 1983 and the same age as Liz Fraser, this album is like a walk down Memory Lane. It's a rare and wonderful thing to get a band's singles/EP back catalogue in one magnificent opus. I got this as a Christmas present and spend all day Boxing Day listening to it. To try and pick highlights would be futile so I won't try. Get some good headphones (Grado are good), lie back and immerse yourself in it. Adjectives run out...joyful, stunning, perfect.

A Magical Treasure Trove for Cocteau Twins Fans
I love the Cocteau Twins but only discovered them 2 years ago. I bought everything I could get, but the EPs proved hard to get hold of. In the end I assumed they would have been just left-over rejects from album sessions and gave up looking.

When this collection came out I ordered it from Amazon expecting that the four discs might yield 2 or 3 tracks I liked. I was stunned and delighted to find no less than 20 tracks which are new to me and of at least equal quality to my personal favourites on "Heaven or Las Vegas", "Blue Bell Knoll" and "Four Calendar Cafe".

True stunners are "Summer Blink", "Round", "Mizake the Mizan", "Watchlar", "Kookaburra", "Three-Swept" and the fabulous "Primitive Heart"

If you like the Cocteaus, and you don't already have the EPs, YOU NEED THIS COLLECTION - which is fantastic value (and a beautiful presentation case, by the way, too!)

A history more beautiful than most
There are fanatics who hold an annual Cocteau Twins convention in unlikely places like Toronto. People travel from all over the world to attend and luxuriate in the company of fellow Cocteau devotees and dance to their sumptuous back catalogue. To someone who has loved the band since stumbling across “Sunburst and Snowblind” in 1983 it sounds like a rather fine if slightly exhausting and expensive idea. Bit beyond me in terms of endurance and pocket I’m afraid, but this sumptuous exhaustative box set of the bands singles output up to their demise in 1996 is a very agreeable placebo in lieu of that particular event.
It’s a fine idea collecting all the songs off all those E.P.s- The Cocteau,s in their pomp only released L.P.s and E.P.s - and collating them all in one box set. What’s surprising is how much material there is, what’s not surprising is the quality. Far too much to analyse individually here except to say that some of the songs are incandescent in their brilliance. I would argue vociferally that “Orange Applied” which was stuck away on the “Loves Easy Tears” E.P. is their single finest moment, a ravishing and entirely representative cascade of luminescent sound with one of Liz Fraser’s most passionate vocal performances which is saying something. When this is on everything within a mile radius seems to glow and you are sucked willingly into the lambent eye of its musical storm. Other personal favourites included here are “Sugar Hiccup”, “From The Flagstones”, “The Spangle Maker” , “Pepper Tree”, “Pearly Dewdrops Drops” ”Sultitan Itan” “Iceblink Luck”, but really you can’t go wrong with anything in this box set. Liz Fraser could sing an “Eastenders script and make it sound the most ravishing thing you’ll hear all week.
The more observant will have noticed that the songs I’m fondest of are from the period after the gloomy atmospherics of “Lullabies” and up the beginning of the nineties which I believe was their peak period where Guthrie and Raymond really weaved their magic. The music they made then often had to be heard to be believed and every new release was a major event and would have me salivating in anticipation. It’s a tough call of course but I think if I had to pick a definitive top ten album lists for some spurious reason then “Treasure” would almost certainly be in there. The Cocteaus sound was unique and would send music critics into apoplexy and Guthrie into a huff when trying to analyse their sound, their method and just what the hell Liz was singing about. They were called the “Voice of God”, while dissenting voices likened them to “Childish wittering over scraping guitars”. That gentleman was deaf, mad or just acting as devils advocate.
The later material and remixes isn’t up there with the peak, but it’s still more often than not bewilderingly beautiful and knocks great big spots of most music you will hear. Cocteau’s aficionados will already know all this of course but those unfamiliar with the band should not hesitate as there really is a wealth of treasure waiting to be discovered here. For me, the music in this box set approximates some kind of history; the stacks of vinyl on my shelves bearing their name are testament to that. Unlike most history though, this one can only be measured in sheer pleasure and endless moments of radiating brilliance