Oct 2001

Nominated for this year's Technics Mercury Music Prize, 'Felt Mountain' is the debut album from Goldfrapp. A dark yet seductive album, full of chilling strings and haunting vocals, the duo are influenced heavily by classical music, soundtracks and sixties French pop. Vocalist and ex-Tricky collaborator Alison Goldfrapp and film composer Will Gregory have created a beguiling mix of conventional instrumentation and leftfield electronica. A beautiful album - one which fans of Portishead will especially enjoy. This limited edition 2CD set contains key remixes, new versions and CDROM content, plus a cover of Olivia Newton-John's 'Physical'.

• Q (1/01, p.91) - Included in Q's "50 Best Albums of 2000".
  Rolling Stone (5/10/01, pp.88,90) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Fun and rewarding....Goth-rock and movie music have never waltzed together as they do on this debut..."
  Q (10/00, p.117) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Goldfrapp's haunting, desperately romantic vocals are mesmerizing on their own....Equally serene and sinister. FELT MOUNTAIN is a beautiful album."
  Mojo (10/00, p.100) - "...[A] dream-like concoction of darkly erotic torch songs....brilliantly realized....Warmly recommended."
  Uncut (10/00, p.82) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...[A] netherworld of espionage soundtracks and trembling torch-song vocals..."
  Alternative Press (12/00, p.100) - 3 out of 5 - "...Epic, cinematic, nightclub dirges reminiscent of a depressed, severely doped-up Air....scarily satisfying..."
  Muzik (10/00, p.74) - 5 out of 5 - "...Runs the gamut of heady passion, tunefully melancholic meandering and high-falutin' operatic gymnastics....a wash of tuneful accessibility. A must."
  NME (9/16/00, p.37) - 6 out of 10 - "...Cold, desolate and old-fashioned....drawing on the orchestral ululations of Roy Budd and Ennio Morricone..."
  Melody Maker (10/17/00, p.59) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Fairly inoffensive coffee-table, cinematic, trip-hop stuff. Fleetingly pleasant..."
  CMJ (9/25/00, p.23) - "...Unpredictable and crafty....specializing in torch songs turned epic..."

Goldfrapp: Alison Goldfrapp (vocals, whistling, keyboards); Will Gregory (arranger, keyboards).
Additional personnel includes: Stuart Gordon (violin, viola); Adrian Otley (bass); John Parish (drums).
Engineers include: Nick Batt, Luke Gordon, Kevin Paul.

Alison Goldfrapp first gained notoriety for her astonishing vocal work on albums by Tricky and techno duo Orbital. She joined forces with composer Will Gregory in the late 1990s to create her own moody, sensual version of contemporary electronica. With a succession of critically lauded albums, the duo honed their approach and utilised an assortment of influences ranging from traditional soundtrack themes and vintage pop to '80s synth sounds, disco, and glam rock to create one of the most intriguing and satisfying electronica hybrids to emerge from the genre since its inception.