''Stars and Topsoil – A Collection (1982–1990)'' is a compilation album by the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

band

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...

, released on the

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD af ...

label on October 16, 2000. The album featured tracks released during the group's time on 4AD between 1982 and 1990, covering every Cocteau Twins album from '' Garlands'' through ''

Heaven or Las Vegas ''Heaven or Las Vegas'' is the sixth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Cocteau Twins, released on 17 September 1990 by 4AD. Despite 4AD president Ivo Watts-Russell proclaiming it one of the best-ever releases on his label, he relea ...

''. The collection reached number sixty-three on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

Track listing

All songs written by

Elizabeth Fraser Elizabeth Davidson Fraser (born 29 August 1963), is a Scottish singer, songwriter and musician. Hailing from Grangemouth, Scotland, she is best known as the vocalist for the pioneering dream pop band Cocteau Twins who achieved international ...

Robin Guthrie Robin Andrew Guthrie (born 4 January 1962) is a Scottish musician, songwriter, composer, record producer and audio engineer, best known as the co-founder of the alternative rock band Cocteau Twins. During his career Guthrie has performed ...

and

Simon Raymonde Simon Philip Raymonde (born Simon Philip Pomerance; 3 April 1962, in London) is an English musician and record producer. He is the son of the late arranger and composer Ivor Raymonde. He is best known as the bass guitarist and keyboard player ...

; except where indicated. # "Blind Dumb Deaf" (Fraser, Guthrie,

Will Heggie Will Heggie is a Scottish musician. He co-founded Cocteau Twins in 1979 with Robin Guthrie, and served as the bassist for them until 1983. Immediately after departing Cocteau Twins, he helped form Lowlife A low-life (or lowlife) is a term ...

) - 3:47 # "Sugar Hiccup" (Fraser, Guthrie) - 3:41 # "My Love Paramour" (Fraser, Guthrie) - 3:38 # "

Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops" is a single by Scottish band Cocteau Twins, taken from their 1984 EP ''The Spangle Maker''. The song was written by Cocteau Twins, and recorded at Rooster Studios in London. It was their highest-charting single, peaking a ...

" - 4:11 # "Lorelei" - 3:43 # "Pandora" - 5:26 # "Aikea-Guinea" - 3:57 # "Pink Orange Red" - 4:38 # "Pale Clouded White" - 4:59 # "Lazy Calm" (Fraser, Guthrie) - 6:34 # "The Thinner The Air" (Fraser, Guthrie) - 3:16 # "Orange Appled" - 2:50 # "Cico Buff" - 3:46 # "Carolyn's Fingers" - 3:06 # "Fifty-Fifty Clown" - 3:11 # "

Iceblink Luck "Iceblink Luck" is a single by Scottish band Cocteau Twins, released by 4AD Records in August 1990. It was the first single from the ''Heaven or Las Vegas'' album and the band's first single to be released in the United States. It was the band's ...

" - 3:18 # "

" - 4:55 # "Watchlar" - 3:17 ;Tracks taken from: *1: '' Garlands'' (1982) *2-3: '' Head over Heels'' (1983) *4: ''

The Spangle Maker ''The Spangle Maker'' is an EP by Scottish band Cocteau Twins, released on 4AD in April 1984. It was the first recording to be issued after bassist Simon Raymonde joined the band. The EP featured two versions of "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops", and tw ...

'' EP (1984) *5-6: ''

Treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions leg ...

'' (1984) *7: ''

Aikea-Guinea ''Aikea-Guinea'' is a March 1985 7" single and 12" EP by Scottish dream pop band Cocteau Twins, released on 4AD. The 7" featured two non-album tracks, while the EP added two more. Release ''Aikea-Guinea'' was included as a bonus with some Can ...

'' EP (1985) *8: ''

Tiny Dynamine ''Tiny Dynamine'' is an EP by Scottish alternative rock band Cocteau Twins, released on 4AD Records. The EP featured four non-album tracks. It was issued on 15 November 1985, two weeks prior to another EP, ''Echoes in a Shallow Bay''. The two ...

'' EP (1985) *9: ''

Echoes in a Shallow Bay ''Echoes in a Shallow Bay'' is an EP by Scottish alternative rock band Cocteau Twins, released on 4AD. The EP featured four non-album tracks. It was issued on 29 November 1985, two weeks after another EP, '' Tiny Dynamine''. The two EP sets, wh ...

'' EP (1985) *10-11: ''

Victorialand ''Victorialand'' is the fourth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Cocteau Twins, released by 4AD in 1986. Working without bassist Simon Raymonde, vocalist Elizabeth Fraser and guitarist/producer Robin Guthrie opted for a subtler sou ...

'' (1986) *12: ''

Love's Easy Tears ''Love's Easy Tears'' is an EP by Scottish dream pop band Cocteau Twins. It was released by 4AD in September 1986 as a 12" single, and was later re-released as a CD single with a fourth track, ''Orange Appled'', included. It was the eighth EP r ...

'' EP (1986) *13-14: ''

Blue Bell Knoll ''Blue Bell Knoll'' is the fifth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Cocteau Twins, released on 19 September 1988 by 4AD. This was the band's first album to receive major-label distribution in the United States, as it was originally l ...

'' (1988) *15-17: ''

'' (1990) *18: "

" single (1990)

Personnel

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s *

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

- bass guitar on "Blind Dumb Deaf" * All tracks produced by Cocteau Twins except as indicated below: **"Blind Dumb Deaf" produced by

Ivo Ivo is a masculine given name, in use in various European languages. The name used in western European languages originates as a Normannic name recorded since the High Middle Ages, and the French name Yves is a variant of it. The unrelated So ...

/Cocteau Twins. **"Sugar Hiccup" and "My Love Paramour" produced by Cocteau Twins and

John Fryer John Fryer may refer to: *John Fryer (physician) (died 1563), English physician, humanist and early reformer *John Fryer (physician, died 1672), English physician *John Fryer (travel writer) (1650–1733), British travel-writer and doctor *Sir John ...

. * Mastered by Robin Guthrie and Walter Coelho. * Liner notes written by

Alan Warner Alan Warner (born 1964) is a Scottish novelist who grew up in Connel, near Oban. His notable novels include '' Morvern Callar'' and ''The Sopranos'' – the latter being the inspiration for the play '' Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour'' and its ...

. * Art direction by

Vaughan Oliver Vaughan Oliver (12 September 1957 – 29 December 2019) was a British graphic designer based in Epsom, Surrey. Oliver was best known for his work with graphic design studios 23 Envelope and v23. Both studios maintained a close relationship with ...

at v23. * Photography by Dominic Davies. * Graphic design by Martin Andersen at v23. * Original sleeve photography by Nigel Grierson. * Original sleeve design by

23 Envelope 23 Envelope was the name given to the graphic design partnership of graphic designer Vaughan Oliver and photographer/filmmaker Nigel Grierson from 1980–1988. During this time, they created a distinct visual identity for the British independent mus ...

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stars And Topsoil Cocteau Twins albums 2000 greatest hits albums Albums produced by John Fryer (producer) 4AD compilation albums