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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.
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Vocalist & poet Zarkoff (Saša Rajković) from Sumerian Fleet joins INVOLUCIJA to deliver razor-sharp justice. You can label it EBM, industrial techno or even futuristic math-rock – we just call it Balkan Body Music.
“And after a line, another line” (Serbo-Croatian: I poslije linije, linija) is a flippant reference to Yugoslvia’s nostalgic lament ‘And after Tito – Tito!’ Oh how the ethical goalposts of the past are moved, again and again.
As Zarkoff warns: don’t turn your back on the golden youth!
INVOLUCIJA is an experimental post-industrial collaboration with artists from ex-Yugoslavian countries, started by Michel Morin (Sneak-Thief / Polygamy Boys) and Lucija Invo.
CD02-02. Fireside Favourite (I Monster’s Toasted Crumpets Mix)
CD02-03. Swallow It (Regurgitated)
CD02-04. Love Parasite II
CD02-05. Luxury (Remix)
CD02-06. For Whom The Bell Tolls III
CD02-07. I Discover Love (Extended Version)
CD02-08. Sleep (Electro-Induced Original)
CD02-09. Life On The Line (Version II)
CD02-10. One Man’s Meat (Remix)
CD02-11. Immobolise (Foot Binding Trot Mix)
CD02-12. Collapsing New People (London Mix)
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Frank Tovey by Iris LuchnerElectronic pioneer Fad Gadget, aka Frank Tovey, ireleased a “Best Of…” collection on 15 October and made his long awaited return with live shows on Depeche Mode’s “Exciter” Tour throughout Europe in September and October 2001.
“The Best Of Fad Gadget” features 30 tracks including all the original singles and B-sides together with brand new and rare remixes.
Fad Gadget, who alongside Human League, Cabaret Voltaire and The Normal, was at the forefront of the Electronic Movement of the late 70s/early 80s and is recognised as one of the most influential acts of the last twenty years.
The first signing to the Mute label, Fad Gadget released his debut single, the ground breaking, ‘Back To Nature’ in October 1979. Recorded using a drum machine and synthesiser a string of classic singles followed including ‘Ricky’s Hand’, ‘Fireside Favourites’ and ‘Collapsing New People’. A truly unique artist his live shows were legendary and quickly established Fad Gadget as one of the most exciting acts of the time.
After four critically acclaimed albums, “Fireside Favourites” (1980), “Incontinent” (1981), “Under The Flag” (1982), and “Gag” (1984), Tovey dropped the Fad Gadget name and recorded a further five albums for Mute under his own name throughout the ‘80s and early ‘90s. He continued to experiment with many different styles, mixing electronics with Rock, Punk, Folk and Dance Music with amazing results.
Relatively quiet over the last few years Fad Gadget returned in 2001 to play successful live shows in London, Belgium and France. Fad Gadget set off on a European Tour as special guests of Depeche Mode in September with British dates in October in London, Manchester and Birmingham.
