Search - Cocteau Twins :: Iceblink Luck / Mizake the Mizan / Watchlar - 3 track EP

Mike M. (raster) from DOWNINGTOWN, PA
Reviewed on 7/12/2007...

Get this if you're a Cocteau Twins fan. "Watchlar" has very different sound from most of their stuff and is actually one of the best Cocteau Twins songs I've ever heard.

Excellent Cocteau Twins single, though not essential

Christopher Culver | 10/30/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For the average listener, the "Iceblink Luck" single is not an essential album, and in fact (except for every single one of the EPs) the singles are not the Twins' best work. However, anyone who finds themselves falling in love with the magic that the Cocteau Twins created in their 16 year career, this is an important item.HEAVEN OR LAS VEGAS is the perfect album for wintery nights, and within its three tracks, this single sustains the mood of that album."Iceblink Luck" is the same version as on the album, a fresh vibrant song that proved the Cocteau Twins radio-friendly without lowering their artistic integrity."Mizake the Mizan" has been called one of the CT's best songs, and although I do not enjoy it too much, it is nonetheless an interesting track. Liz Fraser's voice maintains a sexy stability within her vocal acrobatics. The song is of the same superb quality as the other tracks on HOLV, and it is hard to see why it is merely a b-side."Watchlar," however, is certainly the highlight of the disc. Elements of the HOLV song "Fifty-fifty clown" are married to a curious drum machine and sequencer beat that is alien to the CT's other works, but yet is immediately identifiable as genuine Cocteau Twins. It is a very minimal song, and yet the successive lines of Fraser's voice build a thickly threatening atmosphere. Wonderful."

Great song, even better B-sides

Brian | Tampa, Florida United States | 09/07/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Iceblink Luck" is among the best singles from the stellar "Heaven or Las Vegas" album, and it deserves a pair of B-sides as good as these. Watchlar, with an odd beat and a sound different from most other Vegas-era Cocteau Twins recordings, is charming, but "Mizake the Mizan" is this single's real gem. It's similar to "Wolf in the Breast," my favorite Cocteau Twins song and a standout from "Heaven or Las Vegas." Elizabeth Fraser's incredible voice polishes even the dullest of songs, but "Mizake" has an excellent melody and complex instrumentation. One only wishes that another single - and, therefore, more great B-sides - had been released with "Heaven or Las Vegas," which, along with "Treasure," is the Cocteau Twins at their best. Remixes or, better yet, acoustic versions of the album's great songs (treatment the Twins gave the song "Bluebeard" on the "Bluebeard" single) would have been a big treat."