2008 Woodie Awards
goldfrapp
By: Andrew Hibbard
Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: Recess
Last update: 2/28/08 at 6:57 AM EST
Last update: 2/28/08 at 6:57 AM EST
Before Ellen Page lambasted Sonic Youth in Juno, she sent up Goldfrapp in the forgettable thriller, Hard Candy. Her specific line went, "I f-ing hate Goldfrapp."
Admittedly, this is a harsh assessment, though I never understood the hullabaloo surrounding the British dance duo. But things have changed.
Shrouded in dreamy melodies, Goldfrapp's fourth effort, Seventh Tree, is a far cry from the club-oriented dance beats with which the band gained notoriety. Allison Goldfrapp, the eponymous vocalist, trades in her Shirley Manson-gone-to-the-club vocal style and tries to channel the melodic voices of '60s and '70s folk singers. The result is 10 tracks, each sounding like a stripped version of 2003's "Black Cherry."
As a series of 10 separate tracks, Goldfrapp's album could easily be misplaced alongside your mother's blase collection of adult contemporary. But as an album, it attempts to be a lush series of melodies. What could have been a success turns out to be album's biggest flaw. To a casual listener, most of the tracks are virtually indistinguishable. Will Gregory's compositions give a solid foundation for the music, but none of the songs result in anything special.
On the ninth track, "Caravan Girl," Goldfrapp and Gregory crescendo into an unapologetically enjoyable pop song. It is a perfect marriage of Goldfrapp's former dance music and her newly adopted, laid-back pop. The album finds its feet with this track, but, just as you feel excited about the possibilities of Seventh Tree, the album ends with the sultry but well-performed "Monster Love."
Goldfrapp's newest certainly won't earn the duo status alongside fellow countrymen Radiohead or the Beatles. Seventh Tree is not egregious, but it's definitely nothing to stand up and cheer for either.
Admittedly, this is a harsh assessment, though I never understood the hullabaloo surrounding the British dance duo. But things have changed.
Shrouded in dreamy melodies, Goldfrapp's fourth effort, Seventh Tree, is a far cry from the club-oriented dance beats with which the band gained notoriety. Allison Goldfrapp, the eponymous vocalist, trades in her Shirley Manson-gone-to-the-club vocal style and tries to channel the melodic voices of '60s and '70s folk singers. The result is 10 tracks, each sounding like a stripped version of 2003's "Black Cherry."
As a series of 10 separate tracks, Goldfrapp's album could easily be misplaced alongside your mother's blase collection of adult contemporary. But as an album, it attempts to be a lush series of melodies. What could have been a success turns out to be album's biggest flaw. To a casual listener, most of the tracks are virtually indistinguishable. Will Gregory's compositions give a solid foundation for the music, but none of the songs result in anything special.
On the ninth track, "Caravan Girl," Goldfrapp and Gregory crescendo into an unapologetically enjoyable pop song. It is a perfect marriage of Goldfrapp's former dance music and her newly adopted, laid-back pop. The album finds its feet with this track, but, just as you feel excited about the possibilities of Seventh Tree, the album ends with the sultry but well-performed "Monster Love."
Goldfrapp's newest certainly won't earn the duo status alongside fellow countrymen Radiohead or the Beatles. Seventh Tree is not egregious, but it's definitely nothing to stand up and cheer for either.
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