Track Listing

1. Lovely Head
2. Paper Bag
3. Human
4. Pilots
5. Deer Stop
6. Felt Mountain
7. Oompa Radar
8. Utopia
9. Horse Tears

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7578 in Music
• Released on: 2000-09-11
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
You might expect the debut album from a woman who has collaborated extensively with Tricky and Orbital to be both wondrous and strange--and you'd be right to. What you might not expect is quite the depth of Alison Goldfrapp's beguiling, distracting 21st-Century noir visions on Felt Mountain. She and her fellow composer Will Gregory can mix in Brechtian cabaret, classical instrumentation, left-of-field electronics, decadent Gainsbourg-style French pop and the odd piece of whistling on just one track ("Felt Mountain"). "Oompa Radar" almost reaches Tom Waits heights of infamy, the way familiar instruments come together in such a simultaneously comforting and alienating style. The baroque "Paper Bag", meanwhile, uncannily recalls Joe Meek's toytown visions of 1960's grandeur. All this, and a seductive vocal to die for. --Everett True

CD Description
'Felt Mountain' is the debut album by the Wiltshire experimental pop duo Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory. Their downtempo, cinematic music has drew comparison with the work of Ennio Morricone. This collection includes the singles 'LovelyHead', 'Utopia' and 'Human'.

Customer Reviews

A Magnificent soundscape experience!
Having seen the single video release of "Utopia" I went out and purchased this highly anticipated album immediately and was rewarded with a fantastic piece of musical bliss, not unsimilar to 'Hooverphonic" GOLDFRAPP use powerful epic orchestrations mixed with the lush hauntingly beautiful vocals from Alison Goldfrapp and brilliant electronic wizardry from Will Gregory, GOLDFRAPP soar with their mix of rich harmonies , weird french pop sensibilities,violins, wonderful percussion additives and breathtaking whistling (yes its true!) plus much more! standout tracks 'Pilots' 'Paper Bag' and 'Utopia' leave you breathless, all this and GOLDFRAPP obtain an uncanny ability to transport the listener in a utopian world filled with epic vistas,glass waterfalls, blue elephants and eclectic eclectronic brainwashing - surely the 8th wonder of the world, a fantastic debut, if you like water, food and breathing then you will love this album ,a must have and worthy of ****** six stars

lush
It was lucky that when I heard this (samples, off this site) I was listening out for some different music to my usual diet of not very subtle rock or I might not have been so receptive of the extraordinary splicing of two very different styles. As far as I know, bluesy, Billy Holiday-esque vocals have never been splashed across a background of Morricone-esque electronica before. Even more surprising is how wonderfully it works, creating an atmosphere of cool euphoria akin to some of Radiohead's work (I'm thinking Subterranean Homesick Alien or Kid A here). Not surprising considering the supposed main inspiration for O.k Computer was Morricone. Although sometimes the singing occasionally borders on schmaltzy, it never actually crosses that line because of the harsh wall of noise behind it, which offsets the smoothness, providing a balance. Admittedly, on pilots, as some other reviewers have pointed out, it gets a bit thin, but this is really the only criticism I can offer. After only hearing the SAMPLES, I voted it the fifth greatest album of the last fifteen years in a poll Q magazine are running at the moment and spent the next two days agonizing because I had no opportunity to get myself a copy of the album. So now I've got one, yes, it is one of my very favourite albums ( and I have a lot). I would recommend it to everyone, only I'm aware that most so-called lovers of music seem to set themselves fixed musical parameters and aren't open minded enough to embrace anything as unusual as this. Forget the random screaming that, these days, gets called alternative music, this is the real alternative and to like it, an open mind is needed. But then thats true for most of the best music. By the way, it isn't recommended for any recently berieved people. It wouldn't cheer them up, put it that way.

The gift of Goldfrapp
If I said that this record was fantastically, tremendously, exceptionally and terrifically brilliant, I really wouldn't be giving it enough credit. Infact it's so good that I've already preordered a bucket load of 'em...a couple to give to my mates on their wedding day, one for my uncle on his retirement, another for my mum and Dad on their 50th anniversary and if I remember I'll have to leave a copy out for Santa come December 24th.

Conceived in a purposefully constructed studio deep in the Wiltshire countryside, Felt Mountain is the product of one time Tricky and Orbital collaborator Alison Goldfrapp and film composer Will Gregory. Obviously drawing heavily upon their musical pasts this debut contains touches of cinematic splendor alongside 60's French pop and post-modern electronica. In parts sounding similar to Mercury Rev at their most experimental and the early work of Air, Felt Mountain is set apart by Alison's hauntingly whispered lyrics conjuring up thoughts of love lost and eerie nonsense.

Debut single, Beautiful Head, with its plainly weird instrumentation and sassy string arrangement sits comfortably beside other tracks Human, a song about disguised androids and the arousing Utopia with its Bond like vibe and orchestral flare-ups.

This really is a beautiful LP; a treasured gift for any occasion.