I'm dressed in white noise
Dear friends,
Before she became the electro Lady T-Rex we all know and love, cooing "Ooh la la" in the soundtracks of car commercials, Alison Goldfrapp had a distinctly cool, Alpine vibe.
Song to seek:
Pumpkin (feat. Alison Goldfrapp)/Tricky (mp3)
Alison Goldfrapp lends her voice to this ditty from Tricky's 1995 solo debut. I love this number not just because it doesn't get any simpler/stupid/brilliant than basing a song on a Smashing Pumpkins sample and calling the results Pumpkin BUT because Goldfrapp's vocal on this is a languid thing of beauty. As Tricky wheezes about his lady trouble, Goldfrapp uses the open spaces to stretch out notes in her sweet, unforced soprano. Light meeting dark.
Buy Maxinquaye by Tricky.
Video:
Along comes Will Gregory in 1999 and Goldfrapp, the duo, is born. Utopia is a little off-putting, what with its mention of "fascist babies" and the sheer, nosebleed-giving heights of it. The operatic intro leads into a low, hesitant expression of oneness with a partner. But the declaration is glacial in every sense of the word so it makes you wonder if it's real or it's been induced in some way. Is she really in love or is she under a spell?
Song to seek:
Utopia/Goldfrapp (mp3)
Buy Felt Mountain by Goldfrapp.
Live video:
Song to seek:
Strict Machine/Goldfrapp (mp3)
2003, buh bye chill out, hello electro-glam. Is Strict Tempo a song about fucking your Pro Tools? Perhaps. What I love about this track is not the sexuality but just how utterly GLEEFUL it is about being controlled by the beat. Like I Feel Love gone completely digital, which, of course, is the most nonsensical comparison ever, because I Feel Love IS completely digital and sounded like the FUTURE when it came out so how could it ever be analog? But that's just it. It's the chirpiness of Goldfrapp's vocal that makes Strict Tempo sound more modern. She's so obviously alive and human, she didn't just discover computers, in fact, they're taking her out on dates! What could be more Judy Jetson than that? Best believe, despite the BPM, this song belongs on the Man/Machine slow jamz mix tape.
Buy Black Cherry by Goldfrapp.
Video:
Befriend Goldfrapp on My Space.
Love, D
posted by d @ 12:31 PM
4 Comments:
Huh! I never realized that was Goldfrapp on "Pumpkin," nor did I realize it was based on an SP sample...what is it, something off of Gish?
Maxinquaye is really a fucking triumph - and full of other songs that are so sample-heavy they're almost covers. Overcome being taken from Massive Attack's "Karmacoma" (though of course Tricky was part of Massive Attack for a good long while) and "Hell is Round the Corner," which is taken straight from Portishead's "Glory Box."
The album might as well have been titled "A Brief Introduction to the Bristol Sound".
Yes, the sample is from Suffer off of Gish, an album I got into post-Maxinquaye. Hell.. is based on an Isaac Hayes sample. I'm not sure which song but you're right, Portishead uses the same sample on Glorybox.
Maxinquaye is amazing, which is why I still keep an eye on Tricky and see if he'll ever return to form.
Also, strangely enough, Tricky just showed up in the movie "Clean" with Maggie Cheung. Playing himself.
Along with Metric in the opening scene and Emily Haines (is that right?) having a few lines.
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