out for a while: Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain [Mute]

Artist:
Goldfrapp

Title:
Felt Mountain

Label:
Mute

Cat#:
STUMM188

Release Date:
11th September 2000 (original release)
25th March 2022 (re-release)

Format:
vinl, CD, download & streaming

Tracklist:
01.
Lovely Head

02.
Paper Bag

03.
Human

04.
Pilots

05.
Deer Stop

06.
Felt Mountain

07.
Oompa Radar

08.
Utopia

09.
Horse Tears

Tracklist Limited 2CD Edition:
CD01-01.
Lovely Head

CD01-02.
Paper Bag

CD01-03.
Human

CD01-04.
Pilots

CD01-05.
Deer Stop

CD01-06.
Felt Mountain

CD01-07.
Oompa Radar

CD01-08.
Utopia

CD01-09.
Horse Tears

CD02-01.
Pilots
(On A Star)

CD02-02.
U.K. Girls
(Physical)

CD02-03.
Lovely Head
(Miss World Mix)

CD02-04.
Utopia
(New Ears Mix)

CD02-05.
Human
(Calexico Vocal)

CD02-06.
Human
(Massey’s Cro-Magnon Mix)

CD02-07.
Utopia
(Tom Middleton’s Cosmos Vocal Mix)

Press Info:
Action! Once Upon A Time on A Felt Mountain…
Dark, seductive, beguiling, shimmering and deeply cinematic, this is the essence of the esoteric music created by the singular Goldfrapp. A blessed collaboration between composer, vocalist, whistler and keyboardist Alison Goldfrapp and composer Will Gregory, Goldfrapp have forged one of the most remarkable debut albums in recent years – Felt Mountain.

Taking some inspiration from classical music, movie soundtracks, 60’s French pop and decadent Weimar Republic cabaret, Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory have fashioned a thrilling and unique 21st Century noir vision. Conventional instruments mix with fractured left field electronic frequencies to form Goldfrapp’s sumptuous passionate reinvention of popular music. Bittersweet melodies blend with eruptions of noise, all to heighten the tension of the unfolding emotional drama. In essence a rural soundscape that deliberately avoids the vagaries of passing musical fads, Goldfrapp’s ambiguous widescreen songs seem to evoke metaphorical images of mad love, seemingly beautiful yet terrifying future societies, half remembered dreams/conversations and sinister androids in human form.

Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory’s intoxicating music veers always between overwhelming elation and shattering heartbreak, as any great romance should. Imbued with a state of childlike wonder, Goldfrapp’s Felt Mountain is an exhilarating yet defiantly undefinable experience that quickens the pulse and inflames the senses. Violence, loneliness and danger are ever near in the mix, as is love, tenderness and the hope of redemption.

Once Upon A Time… Alison Goldfrapp studied Fine Art Painting at Middlesex University and during the course of her work began to experiment; combining music with extravagant performance, visual and sound installation pieces. Though these experiences were rewarding and liberating for Alison she knew music was her only real vocation. Before she had even left college, Alison was already working with Tricky on his debut album. Having successfully collaborated with various artists throughout the 90s, including her friends Orbital and touring extensively with Tricky, Alison Goldfrapp desperately felt that her own unadulterated personal creative urges needed to be fully expressed. Alison desired to create music that was timeless, focussed and truly epic in scope.

During the late 90s a mutual friend played a tape of Alison’s compositions to Will Gregory. Gregory, a film composer (the British football hooligan picture ID is among his credits) was deeply impressed with Alison’s distinctive voice, music and lyrics. Discussion ensued between the pair, followed by an exchange of tapes containing some of Alison and Will’s favourite musical pieces and songs by other artists. Alison and Will soon realised that they shared so much common ground with their musical tastes and their own songwriting, that Goldfrapp was simply inevitable.

Retreating from any urban distractions, in the late summer of 1999, Alison and Will created a studio in an old bungalow near Bath deep in the leafy Wiltshire countryside. The pair would write, record and mix their album for the next five months. This was the sound of their collective musical dream, both avant garde and traditional, acknowledging no boundaries.

Once Upon A Time there was a certain cinematic music… Goldfrapp’s Felt Mountain music.
CUT!

Goldfrapp’s debut album, Felt Mountain is out on Mute on the 11th September and will be followed by the single Utopia in October.

Full Track Streaming: