Goldfrapp - Somertime

With its elegantly proportioned 1790s architecture and matchless riverside location, Somerset House is in many respects a dream venue, especially on a perfect summer evening under a sky turning cobalt as the sun goes down. However, I'm not certain this was quite the right setting for the erotic techno-cabaret of Goldfrapp, an act surely designed for murky nightclubs reeking of cigar smoke, spilled whisky and cheap perfume.
Judging by the aura of pervy sex that drips from the songs on their new album, Black Cherry, the band's theme tune ought to be Tainted Love (surely the source for the pumping electrobeat of Train). Singer Allison Goldfrapp seems bent on perfecting her own digitised update of Marlene Dietrich, taking the stage in a short black dress and pert matching cap, like an airline stewardess from the Weimar republic. She doesn't say much - her typical between-song comment is "cheers" - perhaps in order to avoid destroying the auditory illusion carefully assembled by her band.
In fact, even though there are five musicians on stage, she might just as well stand there with her musical partner Will Gregory and a bunch of machinery, since Goldfrapp's music is highly processed and synthetic. Every track is a sleek confection of drum machines, synths and mock-string effects (although, to be fair, there are some interludes of real violin, too). And Goldfrapp's voice has a curious treated quality, as if we are hearing an electronic facsimile of what she is singing.
Consequently, it was no surprise that a certain sameness began to creep into the proceedings: many songs share a sound palette and tick along at a similar pace. Notable exceptions are the nervy pulse of Twist and an encore of Black Cherry that finds the band running in slow motion as Goldfrapp mooches through the lyric. New single Strict Machine bowls along tidily enough, but its echoes of Suzi Quatro's Devil Gate Drive and Gary Numan-ish lyric about robotic love create a strange sensation of time running about 25 years in reverse. We had already been through that with the support band, the aptly named Colder, who seem to be on a mission to revive the "classic" sounds of Ultravox and Steve Strange. Help!

SOURCE	FM	SOUND QUALITY	A	FORMAT	Mp3	BITRATE	256	TRACKS #	6
LOCATION / VENUE		London		Sommerset House		DATE		08–03
NOTES:		This was played on XFM in 08–03. last track is a studio session recorded on radio 2 in 2004

Goldfrapp: Stirring and magnificent

Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory teamed up in the late 90s and through their mutual passion for heartbreaking melody, electronic experimentation and their intuitive appreciation of cinematic soundscapes, formed the wonderfully exotic and eclectic Goldfrapp.

Having established a strong alliance with Mute, Alison Goldfrapp and Will
Gregory focussed their considerable individual talents upon forging an utterly distinctive and passionate vision of 21st Century popular music. A dark, shimmering sound in which past, present and future musics intertwine with their own obsessions, fears and desires. A surreal wide-screen tango overflowing with mad love, loneliness and tech-noir future shock premonition. Utterly sincere, timeless music, simultaneously ravishingly beautiful, haunting and sinister.

Goldfrapp and Gregory’s dreams and aspirations for their music were realised with the inexorable creation of their classic debut album - Felt Mountain. Goldfrapp's first single, 'Lovely Head', released in May 2000, gave notice that a major new musical force had emerged. "In an ideal world this would have Fellini doing the video. Deliriously good," was the NME’s excited assessment. On the strength of ‘Lovely Head' alone, Goldfrapp's status as one of the most exciting discoveries of 2000 was assured. However, nobody could have really foreseen the level of adulation, from both critics and music devotees alike, that would greet Felt Mountain.

Released in October 2000, Felt Mountain garnered a fevered critical response. "Sublime, decadent, twisted, elegant. Perfection." asserted NME. "Stunning. Some of the dreamiest soundscapes this side of Morricone," announced Muzik. "Stirring and magnificent," praised Q. "Felt Mountain is dark, twisted, nasty and extremely satisfying. Get some," urged Later. "Warmly recommended," noted Mojo. "This is more than a brilliant LP, it's the sound of a bench being marked. We are not worthy," opined Time Out.

Felt Mountain was acclaimed as one of the best albums of 2000 in a diverse
cross section of magazines and newspapers including Q, Muzik, NME, The Sunday Telegraph, Time Out, Uncut, Record Collector and Gay Times. The general consensus was clear and unequivocal - Felt Mountain was the most assured and enchanting debut album of recent years.

Two further single releases were taken from Felt Mountain, 'Utopia' and
'Human', released in November 2000 and March 2001 respectively, which combined with television appearances on The Priory and Later with Jools Holland and a succession of national and international tours as a fully fledged five-piece band, brought the exhilarating Goldfrapp experience to an ever widening audience.

Of their two sell out shows at the Union Chapel, London, in May 2001, The
Independent on Sunday described Alison Goldfrapp as "one of the most
fascinating and mercurial female figures to emerge from British pop since Kate Bush... Goldfrapp is a Hendrix of the microphone. Where most vocalists view the mic merely as an amplification medium, Alison Goldfrapp uses it as an instrument... There can't be many singers who could make a song about eugenics ('Utopia') feel like an idyllic lullaby. And if Alison Goldfrapp sang you to sleep, your dreams would really be quite something."

The Goldfrapp phenomenon has not just been confined to the UK. They played to packed houses throughout Europe and have been rewarded with top 40 status in Germany. In North America the band enchanted sold-out audiences in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Montreal with the media reaction equally impassioned, Time Out New York hailing Felt Mountain as; "One of the most accomplished albums we've ever heard" and Rolling Stone simply stating "Awesome".

Live at Glastonbury 2004

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