Tiny Dynamine

Tiny Dynamine
EP by Cocteau Twins
Released 15 November 1985 (UK)
Genre Ethereal
Length 16:28
Label 4AD - BAD510
Producer Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins chronology

Aikea-Guinea
(1985)		 Tiny Dynamine
(1985)		 Echoes in a Shallow Bay
(1985)
CD cover
combines both EPs
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Tiny Dynamine is an EP by the Scottish rock group Cocteau Twins, released on 4AD Records. The EP features four non-album tracks. It was issued on 15 November 1985, two weeks prior to another EP entitled Echoes in a Shallow Bay. The two EP sets, which feature complementary artwork, were also released combined as double EP in a gatefold cover and as an 8 track CD. The EP was re-issued in 1991 as part of The Box Set and in 2005 as part of the singles/EP collection Lullabies to Violaine.

The band did not originally intend to release these songs to the general public, presumably explaining the decision to release the material on EPs, rather than as what would have been their fourth album. The tracks on Tiny Dynamine and Echoes in a Shallow Bay were initially recorded to test the production capacities of a new studio. When the band decided the material was strong enough for release, they completed the recording process and issued the finished product on two EPs.

"Pink Orange Red" and "Plain Tiger" have been performed live. An acoustic version of "Pink Orange Red" appears on the 1995 EP Twinlights, and a remastered version appears on the 2000 compilation Stars and Topsoil.

With Fraser's typically indecipherable lyrics it is difficult to be sure, but all the titles on the two EPs seem to have some link with Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). Most are obscure but the Plain Tiger is a common Asian butterfly and the lyrics to "Melonella" (on Echoes In A Shallow Bay) are simply a recounting of various Lepidopteric family names such as Hesperiidae and Papilionidae.

Track listing

All songs written by Cocteau Twins.

12": 4AD / BAD 510 (UK)

  1. "Pink Orange Red" - 4:41
  2. "Ribbed and Veined" - 4:00
  3. "Plain Tiger" - 4:01
  4. "Sultitan Itan" - 3:53

CD: 4AD / BAD 510 CD (UK)

  1. "Pink Orange Red" - 4:41
  2. "Ribbed and Veined" - 4:00
  3. "Plain Tiger" - 4:01
  4. "Sultitan Itan" - 3:53
  5. "Great Spangled Fritillary" - 4:02
  6. "Melonella" - 4:05
  7. "Pale Clouded White" - 4:59
  8. "Eggs and Their Shells" - 3:06

Song descriptions

The four songs on Tiny Dynamine exhibit many 'trademark' Cocteau Twins elements: effects-laden guitar, fluid bass, emotional vocalising, indecipherable lyrics, multi-layering of guitar and vocal lines, and unusual vocal melodies. "Pink Orange Red" also displays a song structure that is characteristic of several Cocteau recordings, starting slowly with just guitar and voice but 'changing gear' part-way through into a more powerful second section. "Ribbed And Veined" is an instrumental recording only (something of a rarity in the Cocteau back-catalogue), and juxtaposes a brittle, guitar-led melody with characteristic waves of liquid bass. "Plain Tiger" and "Sultitan Itan" both exhibit a definable 'verse'/'chorus' structure, alternating between more spaciously melodic 'verses' and more raucous and rhymically relentless 'chorus' sections.

Personnel

Credits

Produced by Cocteau Twins. All tracks written by Cocteau Twins.

See also