Four-Calendar Café
Studio album by
Cocteau Twins
Released18 October 1993
Recorded1993
StudioSeptember Sound, London
GenreDream pop
Length41:23
LabelFontana
ProducerCocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins chronology
Heaven or Las Vegas
(1990)		 Four-Calendar Café
(1993)		 Snow
(1993)
Singles from Four-Calendar Café
  1. "Evangeline"
    Released: 20 September 1993
  2. "Bluebeard"
    Released: 7 February 1994
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Entertainment WeeklyA–[3]
Music Week[4]
NME8/10[5]
Philadelphia Inquirer[6]
Pitchfork8.1/10[7]
Q[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]

Four-Calendar Café is the seventh studio album by Scottish band Cocteau Twins, released on 18 October 1993 by Fontana Records.

Background

The album distinguishes itself from the rest of the Twins' catalogue in two major areas: The sound is much more pop-oriented and less ambient than previous works, and vocalist Elizabeth Fraser's lyrics are more intelligible than usual. Their single "Evangeline" was a moderate hit in several countries. "Bluebeard" was a moderate success on the United States modern charts.

Title and artwork

The album took its title from William Least Heat-Moon's book Blue Highways, in which the author considers the quality of a restaurant by how many calendars it has hanging on its wall.[11] NME named it the 46th best record of 1993.[12]

The cover image was taken by Walter Wick, who is known for his photography for the children's book series I Spy. The picture is a set of various small objects scattered across a dark blue background. Inside the booklet, the objects are scattered across a white background.

Release and promotion

To promote the album, Robin Guthrie appeared on MTV's 120 Minutes, marking the first television interview by a member of the band in the United States.[13] As part of the promotion, the band performed "Bluebeard" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Sales

As of 1996, it had sold 146,000 copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan.[14]

Track listing

All songs written by Cocteau Twins.

  1. "Know Who You Are at Every Age" – 3:42
  2. "Evangeline" – 4:31
  3. "Bluebeard" – 3:56
  4. "Theft, and Wandering Around Lost" – 4:30
  5. "Oil of Angels" – 4:38
  6. "Squeeze-Wax" – 3:49
  7. "My Truth" – 4:34
  8. "Essence" – 3:02
  9. "Summerhead" – 3:39
  10. "Pur" – 5:02

Personnel

Additional personnel
  • Lincoln Fong - additional engineering

Cover versions

The songs "Bluebeard" and "Know Who You Are at Every Age" were covered by Cantopop artist Faye Wong for her 1994 album Wu Si Lyun Seung or Random Thoughts. "Bluebeard" was renamed to become the album's title track, and "Know Who You Are at Every Age" became "Ji Gei Ji Bei" (or "Know Yourself and Each Other"). Wong's cover version of "Bluebeard" was featured in the film Chungking Express, in which she also starred.

Charts

Chart performance for Four-Calendar Café
Chart (1993) Peak
position
European Albums (Music & Media)[15] 45
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[16] 22
UK Albums (OCC)[17] 13
US Billboard 200[18] 78

References

  1. ↑ Ankeny, Jason. "Four-Calendar Cafe – Cocteau Twins | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  2. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2000). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press.
  3. ↑ Woodard, Josef (19 November 1993). "Four-Calendar Café". Entertainment Weekly.
  4. ↑ Aston, Martin (23 October 1993). "Market Preview: Alternative — Pick of the Week" (PDF). Music Week. p. 12. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  5. ↑ Kessler, Ted (16 October 1993). "Long Play: Aahhh Bistro!!!". NME. p. 32.
  6. ↑ Wood, Sam (14 December 1993). "Re-Creating the '60s Fire of Saxophonist McLean". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  7. ↑ Dorris, Jesse (19 October 2018). "Cocteau Twins: Four-Calendar Café". Pitchfork. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  8. ↑ Q. October 1993. p. 104. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ↑ Drozdowski, Ted (10 March 1994). "Recordings". Rolling Stone. Issue 677.
  10. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780743201698.
  11. ↑ "History". Cocteau Twins. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  12. ↑ "Albums and Tracks of the Year: 1993". NME. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  13. ↑ "Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins) • MTV 120 minutes interview (Circa 1994)". YouTube.
  14. ↑ Bradley Bambarger (6 April 1996). "Radio Climate Could Boost Capitol's Cocteau Twins". Billboard. p. 14.
  15. ↑ "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 45. 6 November 1993. p. 16. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  16. ↑ "Charts.nz – Cocteau Twins – Four Calendar Café". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  17. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  18. ↑ "Cocteau Twins Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 June 2021.


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