 |
Goldfrapp
Felt Mountain
label:
mute / a.d.a.
released: 09.19.00
our score: 4.0 out of 5.0
buy it: here
|
| |
Another
Amazing Album You Probably Have Never Heard
by:
peter naldrett |
A movie soundtrack
without a movie to go with it, the debut album from Goldfrapp
is a startling collection of melancholy, moody muses that have
their ideology in film noir and a heart in a 1960s rainy French
cafe.
The mastermind
behind Felt Mountain is composer, whistler, vocalist and pianist
Alison Goldfrapp, who has created an album so full of atmosphere
that it is almost bursting out of its delightfully picturesque
packaging.
Although the
classical and sombre mood of Felt Mountain may be too much
to listen to straight through without a break, there are some
major peaks here that deserve to be written into music folklore.
The whistling, Bond-like feel to the opening track, "Lovely
Head," and the haunting melody of the first single, "Utopia,"
are tremendous moments, erupting with creativity and enriching
many senses like few artists ever do. And for sheer diversity
switch straight to "Oompa Radar," an instrumental which
flows like a river between phases of a circus performance, angelic
warbling and a northern brass band.
Another moment
of instrumental magic can be found "Horse Tears," although
it certainly lacks the poetic lyrics that make "Utopia"
and "Lovely Head" so outstanding.
A dreamlike
album from a former fine art student of Middlesex University,
Felt Mountain features Goldfrapp's Minnelli-esque vocals
and is overflowing with feeling. It is an unfortunate irony that
a quality album like this will probably not reach many mainstream
ears, but anybody who can get hold of a copy will be widening
the dimensions of their CD collection.
If you
liked Felt Mountain...
|
| Tracklist:
1.
Lovely Head
2. Paper Bag
3. Human
4. Pilots
5. Deer Stop
6. Felt Mountain
7. Oompa Radar
8. Utopia
9. Horse Tear
|
|
|
|
