Song-of-the-Week: Goldfrapp - Happiness April 24, 2008

I’m so in L-O-V-E with Alison Goldfrapp. The new CD “Seventh Tree” is amazing. But then everything they’ve done has been amazing. It seems as though the critical consensus is that “Seventh Tree”, mellower than the last two full-length CDs, is a welcome return to the musical styles of “Felt Mountain” (still my favorite). But in this same vein, many of the critics & online reviewers seem to dismiss “Black Cherry” & “Supernature” (and the “We Are Glitter” re-mix CD) as steps in the wrong direction & too “disco” (as if anything can be! HMMPH!). Still others (a minority it seems) are baffled by “Seventh Tree” & only want the uber-disco-ness to continue. BUT I LOVE IT ALL! And really, “Felt Mountain” was far from just mellow. I mean “Human” is anything but mellow (and as far as the musical arrangement & horn charts go, bears resemblance to the work that Propellerheads did with Dame Shirley Bassey). And “Utopia” (and the remix) were definitely leading to the Moroder-inflected dancefloor of the later CDs. I see “Seventh Tree” as an Anglo-American psych-folk Pastorale whereas “Felt Mountain” is more of a spooky ’20’s-German-Mountain-movie (the kind that starred Leni Riefenstahl before she became a director/propagandist) Pastorale. I guess ultimately it’s this Teutonic-ness that reaches out to me in a primeval (genetic?) way; what with it’s yodelling,cuckoos, oompahs & grand Mahlerian orchestration. I mean the songs “Felt Mountain” and “Oompa Radar” together make for the Langsam and Landler movements, respectively, from a lost Mahler symphony. (Traditionally, I would say the 2nd & 3rd movements, but we’re talking about Mahler so the actual number & order of movements is anyone’s guess! I especially like how the quiet section of “Oompa Radar” fades away to a false ending, but sneaks back with a bombastic finish, much like the Landler of Mahler’s 1st Symphony.) [...and Jen, how do I get an "a" with an umlaut on wordpress?]

Even though it’s sold out, I got GREAT tickets (through craigslist) to see Goldfrapp @ the Warfield on Saturday night (fresh from a performance on Leno the other night; an appearance on LA’s famed KCRW “Morning Becomes Eclectic;” Coachella; then a date in NYC before resuming their mostly sold-out European Tour). I’M SO HAPPY!

Speaking of being happy, “Happiness,” while not my favorite song from “Seventh Tree” is the better of the two that currently have vids ( “A&E” is the other & the 1st single; I like “Happiness” better — both the song & vid). But don’t get me wrong — I love “A&E” too. In fact there isn’t a clunker in the whole bunch — every track on the CD is a gem. Current contenders for fave are: “Little Bird” (love how the vocal effects get all Liz-Fraser-”Treasure”-era-Cocteau-Twins towards the end) & “Cologne Cerrone Houdini” (which just sounds classic Goldfrapp in both vocals & arrangement). Call me crazy, but while the CD is 100% Goldfrapp, I’m also hearing lots of other influences (conscious or not): tons of Kate Bush (”Road To Somewhere” & in “Some People” after the chorus when it drops to just vocal & piano, I swear I hear “The Man with the Child in His Eyes” plus various Kate-like things on other tracks; and of course there’s always been tons o’ Kate all over Goldfrapp!); Liz Fraser (again; and throughout, not just in “Little Bird”); “Clowns” sounds like “Clouds”-era Joni Mitchell (about the highest compliment I can give!) even though it seems to really be a song about the ridiculousness of women having huge fake boobs (WTF?). And I hear early Joni in the multi-tracked vocals in the middle of “Eat Yourself,” whereas the beginning of “Eat Yourself” brings to mind the Lo-Fi stylings of AK-Momo or the Billie Holiday tinge of CocoRosie. I guess part of why I like “Cologne Cerrone Houdini” so much is that is sounds so Goldfrapp, but with the addition of an update on ’70’s Philly Soul Sound strings (not unlike those on the Honeycut CD).

Speaking of Honeycut, a funny story about buying the new Goldfrapp: I was @ ModLang in El Cerrito (which I love but unfortunately don’t get to much anymore since they moved from Berkeley). I had M. with me & he was showing the clerk his Transformer (Bumblebee) & trying to get behind the counter & into the backroom & generally creating his usual 6-year-old chaos. I couldn’t find the new Goldfrapp, but the clerk, who I don’t recall seeing @ ModLang, but who seemed otherwise familiar, steered me towards the Special Edition boxed set with poster, cards, special lyric book & DVD (which I have yet to watch — what’s up with that?). And that’s what I wanted anyway. Then I was a pest because I wanted the new Breeders but the only one left was the display copy that had a note about all the freebies that came with it (7-inch, poster, special bag & raffle for tickets next week — keep your fingers crossed). So Malcolm is running around; some other customers & the clerk & myself are talking about new music & recent shows we’ve seen; the clerk is filling out the manual (still!) inventory list & getting me all my freebies & I’m filling out the raffle tickets. When I’m all ready & leaving I feel like something is left out, but I don’t want to say anything ’cause I already feel like I got so much free stuff. When we’re about a block away in the car, I get a call on my cell, “Hi, uhm, this is Bart at ModLang.” Me: “Oh did I leave my card?” Bart: “No. I forgot to have you pay.” (Hopefully I’m not getting him in trouble with the owners by posting this. And luckily I put my cell # on the raffle tickets.) So of course I hightailed it back & whipped out the plastic. That’s when it dawned on me the Bart was, of course, Bart Davenport (of Honeycut &, uhm, Bart Davenport). I told him about seeing him play, most recently at the Etienne de Rocher (Bay Area) farewell show (where Bart was, as far as I’m concerned, the highlight of an all-around great evening). He’s soo cute (don’t mean to embarrass him; but hey it comes with the territory) — and I especially like the dichotomy of his suave almost-lothario stage persona vs. the cute geeky record store clerk. Kisses to Bart!