Continental

Robin Guthrie | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 16, 2007)
• Original Release Date: July 16, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Darla
• ASIN: B000EULK1E
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,860 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #81 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Ambient Pop

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Robin Guthrie is the Jimi Hendrix of dream guitar. His work with the Cocteau Twins in the 1980s sent scores of guitarists to the music store, buying up delays, reverbs, and looping units to generate clouds of shimmering guitar. The Twins haven't been around for a while, but Guthrie has only recently started to emerge as a solo artist. Continental is a follow-up to 2003's all-instrumental Imperial. Like on that album, the mood here is thick and heavy, though the energy is more robust, especially on the title track and "Monument," as Guthrie builds layered crescendos and siren guitar lines over relentless drums. These more dynamic tracks alternate with dreamscapes of slow, arpeggiated chords refracted through prisms of reverb and delay. It's a mesmerizing cochlear spiral that insinuates itself gracefully, filling the room with a twinkling cascade of sound. There are times you might wish for the intoxicating voice of the Cocteaus' Elizabeth Fraser. In fact, it sometimes seems like it's missing. But there are also times that the underlying sound is revealed to be every bit as powerful. --John Diliberto

Product Description

As COCTEAU TWINS guitarist and producer, Robin Guthrie is the man responsible for creating that famous sound and opening the door for My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Ride, et al. Darla Records is very proud to offer Robin Guthrie's second instrumental album Continental. Dare I say... continental is Robin's strongest all-instrumental bliss out, or make out, record since Cocteau Twins. Robin gives more heart and soul on Continental than on his previous instrumental release Imperial. Continental is more focused, stronger in feeling, and in composition. Of course all of Robin's signature elements are here: Shimmering guitars, ethereal moods as fluid and deep as any of Eno's, and yes, he does at times thankfully bring the rock. The mood overall is classic Robin Guthrie. Fans of the Cocteau Twins and all they've spawned, please welcome back your daddy. This is the first of four new Robin Guthrie records for Darla. Robin's music is a treasure. He's one of the great all-time heroes of the current bliss pop generation, which includes Mahogany, Auburn Lull, Ulrich Schnauss, Manual, Sweet Trip, Windy & Carl, Landing, Aarktica, Yellow6, and many, many others. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intoxicating Hazy Dream Pop, July 4, 2006

By 

M. JEFFREY MCMAHON "herculodge" (Torrance, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Continental (Audio CD)

Though highly atmospheric, this album has far more musical complexity than your typical "ambient" album. As far as Cocteau Twins sounds go, Continental points to my favorite Cocteau Twins album: Victorialand. Lovers of this blissed-out music will want to check out Slowdive, Radio Dept., July Skies, Coastal, Lovejoy, Landing, Love Spirals Downward, Malory, Montgolfier Brothers, Nathan Larson, Silver Screen, Wan Light, and Bark Psychosis.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lush and Delicious, June 23, 2006

By 

David Hoffend (Rochester, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Continental (Audio CD)

Most fans who listen to this album are going to (once again) lament the fact that Liz Frazier is "missing." I have grown extremely addicted to Robin's work, and after listening over and over again to "Imperial" and the "Mysterious Skin" soundtrack, I actually find Frazier's voice to be intrusive when I put on my Cocteau Twins CD's! Of course I still love Liz... but what Robin has done is weave his own musical dream, and it's absolutely every bit as lush and beautiful as you would hope. Most of the songs on his "Continental" start out as a whisper, and build to a crecendo of guitar and drums. Robin's soundscapes never get muddy or overly "fuzz boxed;" each song is clear and clean. My only complaint is that it is such a short CD, at just over 40 minutes- I would have loved it if some of the songs went on longer! I suppose that is a testament to how lucious this disc is- when it ends, I guarantee that you will end up just hitting "play" again and letting "Continental" drift over you.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of 2006: Dream Pop is alive and well, December 21, 2006

By 

Manny Hernandez "@askmanny" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Continental (Audio CD)

I loved Cocteau Twins. I loved Slowdive. I loved My Bloody Valentine. So what to do now they are gone? Love Robin Guthrie. Love Hammock. Love A Shoreline Dream. 2006 seems to be one of the best years ever for Dream Pop and Shoegazing music since the genres came to be, back in the eighties and nineties. And this album can be thanked for being a part of that.

Jumping between calm, lush guitarscapes and animated passages the album does more than fulfilling a need for more good music. Continental, by Cocteau Twins co-founder, Robin Guthrie, is a piece of music to live and dream by. It's become a permanent part of my bedtime routine, to help me calm the thoughts of my day and get me in the mood for dreaming. Happy to have learned about it, I have no doubt it's one of the best albums of 2006.