Pitchfork

This late 80's release is a perfect example of what we like to call "The 4AD Sound." 4AD brought us Dead Can Dance, the Cocteau Twins, the Wolfgang Press, and other English bands who thought eyeliner was truly da bomb. Maybe it was-- hell, maybe it is, but that's hardly the point. The point is that members of the aforementioned bands along with folks from other 4AD acts teamed up with label owner Ivo Watts-Russell to craft semi-eponymous milky music for the drug set. And they succeeded.

Filigree and Shadow is the second in a line of three This Mortal Coil releases, and is considered by many to be the best. (I'll still take their third album, It'll End In Tears, even if it does have that godawful cover of Big Star's "Kangaroo.") If you're into 4AD, you're probably on your third copy of this disc. If you're not familiar, this is a great place to start... that is, if you like your music spooky and woozy.

The great thing about Filigree and Shadow is how fresh it still sounds. That's not always a good thing; the cover of Tim Buckley's "Morning Glory" would sound perfect on an MOR station wedged in between Paula Cole's "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" and Wham's "Careless Whisper." That aside-- I'm sorry, that and the amazingly hideous cover of Talking Heads' "Drugs" aside-- Filigree and Shadow must have sounded like the proverbial sore thumb of the mid-1980s. It's heavy on effects and synthesizers, some tracks merely exist to establish mood and bridge gaps, and the overall mood is somber. In other words, Pieces of You it ain't. It's make-out music for people who crave absinthe and bisexuality.

No, wait. I like it, too, so I guess a gross stereotype isn't going to get me out of this one. It is make-out music for folks who crave mood music for the eclipse, music with titles like "Alone," "The Horizon Bleeds and Sucks Its Thumb," and "Come Here My Love." People who are sad, like that fellow in the mirror. People who are into a different kind of '80s revival. People who need people-- the unluckiest people in the world.