View Full Version : the C/T Effect (theories sought)
mtedora
Dec-20-06, 3:18 PM
studying the customer reviews at AMAZON.COM of the different C/T lps, folks form all over the orb report an ancient, once-reported-by-mystics-and-shamans experience while listening to C/T: simulatenous laughter/weeping/sorrow/ecstasy... if this is occuring on a global scale, some strange psycho-acoustic phenomenon is afoot. i myself have had this experience several times when hearing C/T. what exactly is going ON, 'ya think?
serpentine
Dec-20-06, 3:34 PM
I have experienced ambient sensations when listening to CT as well as other music.
The first time I listened to CT, a picture began to paint itself.
The room in my mind forms; I listen to escape there.
Especially with Victorialand. That place is magical. Cozy. Soft and warm.
The stuff of dreams....
*floats away*
I get the sense of EXTREME CLARITY!
randomrob
Dec-20-06, 4:07 PM
I kinda get that when I listen to 'plain tiger'
mtedora
Dec-21-06, 1:03 PM
and i just received that experience from Mahogany/Lucy Belle Guthrie doing "My Bed is My Castle." i like very much the other numbers on the lp, but THAT one gives me the "C/T Effect."
randomrob
Dec-21-06, 11:05 PM
have to check that out, then
mike_mhg
Dec-22-06, 5:07 AM
The whole collection is like foreplay... joy, teasing, frequently intense. Tranquil Eye is a slow orgasm. Those eyes is ecstacy.
Cico Buff is the cigarette afterwards.
Avninder
Dec-28-06, 4:21 AM
Yes... I have wanted to post something to describe this but too often, the words are not enough.
mtedora
Dec-28-06, 12:10 PM
Yes... I have wanted to post something to describe this but too often, the words are not enough.
woe yeah, don't i know what ya mean... C/T's music is the one corpus of musical art that utterly DEFIES even the most prodigious criticism/exegesis.
randomrob
Dec-28-06, 12:36 PM
I associate this effect w/not being able to understand a word she's singing... and I get this effect w/many artists from other countries... or artists who intentionally sing in gibberish....
I'm not really sure what you mean by the CT effect, Mateo, but I know when I first started getting into the band, it was like nothing I'd ever experienced. They represented such beauty, passion, loss, madness and joy for me, emotions and experiences I could never share at home when I was a teenager. It was complete escapism for me, and I survived in that world for several years. I'll never forget what they meant to me during that time.
fornasetti
Dec-28-06, 2:55 PM
I'm not really sure what you mean by the CT effect, Mateo, but I know when I first started getting into the band, it was like nothing I'd ever experienced. They represented such beauty, passion, loss, madness and joy for me, emotions and experiences I could never share at home when I was a teenager. It was complete escapism for me, and I survived in that world for several years. I'll never forget what they meant to me during that time.
Same here. A world of possibilities seemed to open up for me from a barren post-Zeppelin landscape. With Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares and others, I could see the world in colour again.
Clayton39
Dec-28-06, 4:22 PM
vomitsm vomitsm vomitsm vomitsm vomitsm vomitsm vomitsm vomitsm vomitsm vomitsm
Clayton39
Dec-28-06, 4:40 PM
Um... what?
This thread has induced vomiting
Clayton39
Dec-28-06, 5:02 PM
Por que?
Just one particular post, in the middle of the page. Not yours... just a post, but I dont want to be mean.
aeonaside
Dec-28-06, 5:06 PM
I'm not really sure what you mean by the CT effect, Mateo, but I know when I first started getting into the band, it was like nothing I'd ever experienced. They represented such beauty, passion, loss, madness and joy for me, emotions and experiences I could never share at home when I was a teenager. It was complete escapism for me, and I survived in that world for several years. I'll never forget what they meant to me during that time.
so what do they mean to you now?
Clayton39
Dec-28-06, 5:09 PM
so what do they mean to you now?
PAIN
Just one particular post, in the middle of the page. Not yours... just a post, but I dont want to be mean.
Hmm... when someone shares what's in their heart and you barf all over it, I think it's a little too late to not want to be mean.
so what do they mean to you now?
I still hold them very close to my heart for what they meant to me in my younger years. It's tempered with the knowledge that they're fallible human beings who grew and changed on their own, together, and in the recording studio. As I've written here before, I feel like after Robin and Liz separated, they became more of themselves, particularly in the recording studio, which was both a good and bad thing. I think a little of the band's previous aesthetic, ethos, mystique, whatever you want to call it, was sacrificed for their personal and professional growth. Which eventually happens to all bands. When it happened to CT, their music became a little less meaningful for me (particularly M&K, although I love most of the b-sides), although I was happy for Robin and Liz with the growth they'd accomplished.
mtedora
Dec-28-06, 6:03 PM
Hmm... when someone shares what's in their heart and you barf all over it, I think it's a little too late to not want to be mean.
I still hold them very close to my heart for what they meant to me in my younger years. It's tempered with the knowledge that they're fallible human beings who grew and changed on their own, together, and in the recording studio. As I've written here before, I feel like after Robin and Liz separated, they became more of themselves, particularly in the recording studio, which was both a good and bad thing. I think a little of the band's previous aesthetic, ethos, mystique, whatever you want to call it, was sacrificed for their personal and professional growth. Which eventually happens to all bands. When it happened to CT, their music became a little less meaningful for me (particularly M&K, although I love most of the b-sides), although I was happy for Robin and Liz with the growth they'd accomplished.
speaking of M&K, and the C/T Effect, you've heard the BBC Sessions' version of SEEKERS WHO ARE LOVERS, right? now see, THAT's one that triggers in me this C/T Effect every time. i get nailed to the dang back WALL by that performance... weeping and laughing and not knowing WHAT to think or say or do. regardless of the mood i'm in at the time... i READ this "effect" relayed in MANY a "customer review" @ AMAZON.COM.
Clayton39
Dec-28-06, 6:30 PM
Hmm... when someone shares what's in their heart and you barf all over it, I think it's a little too late to not want to be mean.
No, really... I swear, Its less mean this way.
okthought
Dec-28-06, 7:28 PM
Hmm... when someone shares what's in their heart and you barf all over it, I think it's a little too late to not want to be mean.
Hee hee! Well said and eminently quotable, e!
speaking of M&K, and the C/T Effect, you've heard the BBC Sessions' version of SEEKERS WHO ARE LOVERS, right? now see, THAT's one that triggers in me this C/T Effect every time. i get nailed to the dang back WALL by that performance... weeping and laughing and not knowing WHAT to think or say or do. regardless of the mood i'm in at the time... i READ this "effect" relayed in MANY a "customer review" @ AMAZON.COM.
I agree, the M&K songs translate wonderfully live. But on record... just too much of the overproduction and layering for my taste.
No, really... I swear, Its less mean this way.
If you say so.
winters
Dec-29-06, 8:19 PM
maybe the C/T Effect has something to do with ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia
petroldarling
Dec-30-06, 2:28 AM
yeah, elisa, you are right on about the bbc versions of m&k material as opposed to the album versions. i can't even listen to the album versions anymore, but 'seekers who are lovers' on the bbc disc makes me just fucking freak out, it's so good.
ossian
Dec-30-06, 11:06 AM
maybe the C/T Effect has something to do with ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia
ok, so ct is both booba and kiki...
winters
Dec-30-06, 6:01 PM
ok, so ct is both booba and kiki...
thank god no! but good point ....
Synesthesia...I used to think I saw colours when listening to certain albums until I realised the colours were actually the main colours of the album covers. You'd never think that that would be so important to the listening experience. Treasure is a dark green album...Victorialand a white album...Heaven or Las Vegas bright red/orange...even after realising this I still 'see' those colours when playing the albums. I also get these abstract senses of space...Treasure is the inside of a cathedral (a dark green one)...Victorialand is an ice palace...Heaven or Las Vegas is a desert sunset...it's not like I see those places, more like feeling the ambience. It's hard to explain really. A different reality I like to visit from time to time.
Clayton39
Dec-31-06, 5:50 AM
Synesthesia...I used to think I saw colours when listening to certain albums until I realised the colours were actually the main colours of the album covers. You'd never think that that would be so important to the listening experience. Treasure is a dark green album...Victorialand a white album...Heaven or Las Vegas bright red/orange...even after realising this I still 'see' those colours when playing the albums. I also get these abstract senses of space...Treasure is the inside of a cathedral (a dark green one)...Victorialand is an ice palace...Heaven or Las Vegas is a desert sunset...it's not like I see those places, more like feeling the ambience. It's hard to explain really. A different reality I like to visit from time to time.
Its well known that a lot of great musicians see colors when they play. I feel emotions, a lot of people see onlt the measure... its odd. Anyways, just thought I'd tell ya if you didnt already know. Drizzuuunk.,,, dont mind me or me tyopoes.
Its well known that a lot of great musicians see colors when they play. I feel emotions, a lot of people see onlt the measure... its odd. Anyways, just thought I'd tell ya if you didnt already know. Drizzuuunk.,,, dont mind me or me tyopoes.
Synesthesia...I used to think I saw colours when listening to certain albums until I realised the colours were actually the main colours of the album covers. You'd never think that that would be so important to the listening experience. Treasure is a dark green album...Victorialand a white album...Heaven or Las Vegas bright red/orange...even after realising this I still 'see' those colours when playing the albums. I also get these abstract senses of space...Treasure is the inside of a cathedral (a dark green one)...Victorialand is an ice palace...Heaven or Las Vegas is a desert sunset...it's not like I see those places, more like feeling the ambience. It's hard to explain really. A different reality I like to visit from time to time.
I think I was trying to convey this with the wikepedia link. It's as if C/T induces synesthesia. I am always struck by the intensely diverse and personal experience that listeners of the Twins talk about.
philipm
Jan-2-07, 10:05 AM
Not entirely sure about the synaesthesia thing (they choose the cover artwork, colours and, often, titles after the recording, you know - that's why they all fit so well!) but a friend of mine - she's not a huge Cocteaux fan - once listened in as I was playing "Pink Orange Red" (the 1985 version) and casually commented halfway through, "hmmm... that sounds like being in love..."
Never forgotten that.
Philip
Not entirely sure about the synaesthesia thing (they choose the cover artwork, colours and, often, titles after the recording, you know - that's why they all fit so well!)
Well, that's basically what I said. I used to think I saw those colours spontaneously. The question remains though why that artwork and those colours fit so well. Might as well be a synaethesia thing.
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