Robin Guthrie founded The Cocteau Twins, one of the most unique Scottish groups of the Eighties.
Characterised by orchestral sweeps of ambient guitar and the wordless, unique vocals of Guthrie's then-partner Liz Frazer, the band influenced a generation of musicians from The Jesus and Mary Chain to My Bloody Valentine and their sound can still be heard echoing through the work of contemporary electronic shoegazers such as Ulrich Schnauss and Nathan Fake.
Signed to the ultra-hip label 4AD, the Cocteaus split up in 1997 after the breakdown of Guthrie and Frazer's relationship. A respected producer and engineer as well as musician, Guthrie went on to work with the likes of Harold Budd on the soundtrack to the film Mysterious Skin, several pieces from which he performed on Sunday.
Introverted in both character and creative style, Guthrie's presentation comprised an hour-long, abstract film he described shyly as "his home movies".
Largely treated beyond recognition as the organic images they once were, the Duke Of York's screen displayed blurs of green and yellow as Guthrie stood to one side, calling forth cascading guitar arpeggios of breathtaking beauty precisely played and looped into shimmering, transcendent walls of sound.
But the image of Guthrie's guitar neck, silhouetted on the wall by the lights of his intermittently failing equipment, and the minute movements of his face as he performed, were more compelling than the film he had created.
This is a musical visionary who, these days, could surely let his own personality take centre stage.
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