“Heaven of Las Vegas” by the Cocteau Twins
90s Week begins with an exquisite dream-pop album, of the decade's best.
Programming note: It’s 90s week! I'm spotlighting some of my favorite records released between 1990 and 1999. Like previous decade-themed newsletter posts, I've selected albums that cover multiple genres and deliberately avoided the well-worn titles that top all "best of" lists for this decade. In other words, no OK Computer, Nevermind, and so on.
Hope you enjoy it!
Hello! 😊👋
Welcome to a new edition of the Daily Music Picks newsletter!
Today’s 90s music pick is an iconic slice of dream-pop euphoria, full of psychedelic instrumentals and piercing vocals.
Genre: Dreampop, Shoegaze
Label: 4AD
Release Date: September 17, 1990
Vibe: 🪷
I don’t think I’ve heard an album benefit from effects layering more than the Cocteau Twins’ Heaven and Las Vegas. Like Disintegration, these are soundscapes you can get lost in. Voices melt into instrumentals without ever sounding unfocused or overly serpentine. Instead of relying on recognizable pop or rock structure, they push each idea as far as it can go, resulting in dense songs that, like the warmest of memories, are as fuzzy as they are wistful. The group’s playing has a pitch-perfect sense of drama, with many of these tracks building to climaxes that, if they were written statements, would appear in bolded, underlined, all-caps text. Consider something like “Fotzepolitic,” where the heady strings and warped rhythms build and build to an adrenaline rush of a conclusion. It’s a small taste of what makes this record so unique, whether it’s your first or 101st listen.
With fresh ears, one of the most impressive parts of Heaven is Robin Guthrie’s guitar playing. It’s restrained when it has to be, like on “Fifty-Fifty Clown,” but it can also kick down the doors and wow you with its virtuosity, as on the standout title track. His range on this album is incredible, matched stride for stride Elizabeth Fraser lead vocals. She injects so much life and vitality into the lyrics that they elevate the entire listening experience, lifting it into the rarified air of the decade’s best singing performances. I’ve read some reviews that dock this LP points because they find her delivery unintelligible, which I find ludicrous. What about Bob Dylan? Tom Waits? Sometimes, off-kilter line readings are a feature, not a bug, and Fraser’s vocals are imbued with so much beauty and longing that it’s almost not to be believed.
Add to all that intricate, unobtrusive percussion, most of which was created with a drum machine, and you have all the ingredients you need for a certified dream-pop and shoegaze classic—arguably the highest of highs for both subgenres.
👉 Don’t forget to click the album image to stream the album on your favorite platform 👈