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Smile UK Store - Seventh Tree
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List Price: £14.99
Our Price: £6.98
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Manufacturer: EMI
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 5099951830021
Label: EMI
Manufacturer: EMI
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: EMI
Release Date: 2008-02-25
Studio: EMI
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Editorial Reviews:
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Seventh Tree unveils an Alison Goldfrapp quite different to the one we saw on her career highpoint to date, 2005's Supernature. Whereas that album was grandiose, glammy, and almost aggressive in its brash, thrusting sexuality, Goldfrapp's fourth album is no less sensual, but rather more subtle in its approach. Recorded with longtime collaborator Will Gregory out in rural Somerset, Seventh Tree feels like an attempt to fuse the pagan folk of cult English horror classic The Wicker Man to a lush backdrop of woozy electronics and a restrained orchestral sweep reminiscent of '70s-era Serge Gainsbourg. In practise, this means much of Seventh Tree goes where earlier Gainsbourg disciples such as Air have gone before: chilled-out, soporific electronica with a light organic edge. Luckily, Goldfrapp remains a compelling enough figure to keep matters on the right side of ethereal: the gorgeous "Clowns" imagines the Cocteau Twins' Liz Fraser guesting on some long-forgotten Nick Drake out-take, rustic folk with an all-but-indecipherable vocal and an undercurrent of desolation, while "A&E" shows Goldfrapp's pop urge has not deserted her, uplifting electronica with a warm, bucolic twist. --Louis Pattison
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Astounding
Comment: This is why, when captive on an aeroplane, you should listen/watch different stuff. This is the most compelling new album I've heard for a while - keep listening to it, and discovering new depths. It's clever, simultaneously retro and bang up to date, and quite fascinating. Remarkable.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Mmmmmmmm
Comment: I am in the "not sure" camp on this one. It's as if Alison and Will have dug out their old Sundays and Cocteau Twins CDs and used them for inspiration (not that that's a bad thing!) Moments of magic, but I have come to expect more from the guys than this
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sumptuous
Comment: Yes, of course, most album reviews on Amazon are positive, and much of the rest are from people crying 'sell out'.
Well, for what 42 years on the planet and a first ever Amazon review are worth, this is one of those very very rare albums that takes music to a new level, that even on first listening you know will live on, not necessarily defining an era, but being forever known and rediscovered. It's that good.
With the possible exception of 'Caravan Girls', nothing on this album is weak or forced - it experiments, disturbs and delights whilst at all times demonstrating an utter mastery of the craft of beautiful song writing. And underneath all of that, there remains the slightly disturbed aura of Felt Mountain that led to it being the soundtrack to the magnificent 'Monkey Dust'.
Amazon is full of supposedly 'must have' albums; this is a real one.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Predictably different, surprisingly effective
Comment: Alison Goldfrapp is not one for standing still. Her turn-of-the-century debut, Felt Mountain, was a masterpiece of downtempo yearning, 2003's Black Cherry a synthpop-disco extravaganza, and 2005's Supernature a mix of electronica and stick-in-your-head indie. Seventh Tree, her musical vehicle's fourth studio outing, shows more clearly than ever her intention for reinvention.
A stripped down, chary mien, Seventh Tree is a rare journey through the mind of the woman known for refusing to reveal even her age.
It kicks off, or rather eases in, with Clowns, a gentle, strummy treat, complete with wispy Vashti Bunyan-esque vocals. Immediately there is a feel that we're not in for the same disco and glam pop beats of the past.
If the opener is an evening in a quaint cottage with a cup of green tea, the second track, Little Bird, feels like an invitation to fling open the door and go out onto the green grass of summer. As she sings `July, July, now we are free', Goldfrapp is leading us into new territories. At long last, she is opening up.
The standout track is Eat Yourself, a four-minute adventure of retrospective allure, dealing with the old classic, unrequited love. Happiness feels like Ride A White Horse's freethinking cousin, and Cologne Cerrone Houdini is trip-hop at its best - heavy bass, choppy violin and all.
The album isn't perfect though. Some People and A&E are forgettable breaks from the intimate yardstick, with more than a shade of an outsider onlooking, if not jumping on, the nu folk bandwagon. But by that point, the herbal remedies have already had their affect.
The final track, Monster Love, sees a return to best: all the beauty of Isobel Campbell with added urgency. The lyrics say it all, `Everything comes around. Here is where we start and where we end.' The journey is over, and it's been a tranquil ride.
Those looking for the catchy hooks of previous albums will find a mixed bag of eery melodies and dainty laments, but nothing especially radioplay-worthy. One thing's for sure though; this is the album Goldfrapp has been waiting to make, and it truly is like nothing she has produced before.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Goldfrapp :( Dissapointing
Comment: I loved the last album and went to see them in Concert loved it all...
But this Album actually made me wanna sleep... I was that Bored listening to it... A&E is a ok song... but the rest is not that good...
Sooner have the Electro stuff!!!
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