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: #28244 in Music
• Released on: 2000-09-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .13 pounds

Amazon.com
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 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 toy-town visions of 1960s grandeur. All this and a seductive vocal to die for. --Everett True

Customer Reviews

Beautifully dreary and forlorn...
Ever see the animated film, or hear the soundtrack for, "Mad Monster Party?" Or, remember when Soft Cell did their version of "You only live twice?"

Well, what I'm trying to do, albeit unsuccessfully, is give you a jist of this album. It's quite hard to do. If Portishead, Massive Attack, early Hooverphonic, or maybe even Morecheeba decided to team up with an orchestra and perform Shirley Bassey (read James Bond) theme songs, you might have this album. This is not a bad thing at all.

I just heard this album while shopping at a local record store. It was so etherial and moody, with such beautiful vocals, that I had to purchase it at once. It is incredible.

It is a dark, enchanting album. It is extremely fresh sounding, yet, at the same time, it is quite nostalgic. Listening to it gives you the feeling that, at any moment, Sean Connery could come walking into the room. In a sense, if it helps, it's kind of as if Shirley Bassey is singing and Portishead are laying down the music, scored by Ennio Morricone or Hugo Montenegro, with a dash of Lalo Schifrin.

It is a very, very enjoyable cd, and one that I think you will truly treasure in your collection.

Haunting, unearthly, and wondrous
As others have suggested, Felt Mountain is difficult to describe, so maybe I'll just share my experience: I listened to it once, but wasn't too interested. So I put it aside, then listened to it again a few days later. And then again a few days after that. And ever since, it's maintained a central place in my Ipod playlist.

Certainly after many listens I hear the similarity to Portishead (and maybe Emiliana Torrini)--which is a good thing. But Allison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory take the lounge sound in a completely different direction. If Portishead plays the notes between the music, Goldfrapp plays the music, and the result truly is intoxicating.

Songs like "Pilots", "Human", "Deer Stop", "Lovely Head", "Utopia"--heck, the entire album--sound like the soundtrack to a movie you'll wish you'd seen. And if some start to evoke the blissful moments of languor we all find too rarely in our own lives, then how much richer we become as a result.

I don't often say this so unequivocally, but if you've found your way to this cd, buy it. Buy it!

While you wait for Portishead's next album...
Don't get me wrong, this is NOT a carbon copy of Portishead, it's one step forward in the genre. Jazzy, moody and a tad bit strange (this is to be understood as being a COMPLEMENT!), this is really one of the most enjoyable releases right now. Unfortunately, it will probably maintain a low profile due to the spacier tracks on the CD, but to all of you looking for something new and original, don't hesitate for a second. This is the kind of album you can impress your friends with on a casual get-together.

Unlike other reviewers here, I believe "Human" to be one of the stand-out tracks here. There's a real Shirley Bassey, Nancy Sinatra, Bond-themesong feel to it... Blend in a bit of Ennio Morricone into the whole and you've got a pretty fair idea of how this all sounds... Really good stuff, looking forward to hearing more from (Alison) Goldfrapp.