Filigree & Shadow (Remastered)

As Ivo Watts-Russell’s 4AD label expanded, so did the number of participating artists in This Mortal Coil, the side project in which Watts-Russell organized various combinations of 4AD musicians to play unexpected cover songs and assorted instrumentals. 1986’s Filigree & Shadow serves as much as a primer to the label’s particular aesthetic as it does a standalone album. Among the highlights are “The Jeweller” and “Strength of Strings,” a pair of '60s-era folk songs by Tom Rapp and Gene Clark, sung here by Dominic Appleton (of the band Breathless) and orchestrated by Simon Raymonde (of Cocteau Twins). These, as well as covers of Van Morrison, Judy Collins, and Tim Buckley, emphasized the underappreciated influence that psychedelic folk had on 4AD’s vision. This album suggests that the accomplishment of Ivo-Russell and his compatriots was to put a bleak postpunk spin on the sweet and often colorful ideas of the '60s. Vulnerability and musicianship were the qualities that bridged the generations, and it's those elements that elevate these interpretations of “Tarantula,” “Morning Glory,” and “I Must Have Been Blind.”