Track Listing

1. Continental
2. Conquering the Romantic
3. Crescent
4. Monument
5. Amphora
6. Day Star
7. Radiance
8. As I Breathe
9. Last Exit
10. Pale

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #63314 in Music
• Released on: 2007-07-16
• Number of discs: 1

Album 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.

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