Dreamy, abstract Bristol trip-hop. I found this album years ago while searching the Pitchfork archives for their worst reviewed albums -- they gave it a 3.0. But despite the writer's best efforts to make The Impossible Thrill sound unappealing, every descriptor they used just made it sound cooler and cooler. Lush, live instrumental arrangements mixed with trip-hop electronics? Narcotized vocalists? Blatant disregard for traditional song structure? Sounded great to me. So I got it, and have loved it ever since.
Track listing:
1. Still
2. Eon
3. Dim
4. South
5. Almost There
6. Wise
7. Especial
8. Wishes
9. Clear Sky
10. Al Sation
11. Fort
Won't be back
Similar vibes:
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| A Guy Called Gerald - Essence (2000) |
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| Milosh - III (2008) |
"lowest rated albums on Pitchfork" is clearly a listening strategy that promises rich rewards ...
ReplyDeleteyou have no idea, check out their initial review of NIN's The Fragile. absolutely abhorrent
DeleteWill DL because of the cover alone --PC
ReplyDeletethanks for this! their first record, 'come from heaven' (1997), is so freakin good.
ReplyDeleteSo sick of dogma in rock journalism. Pitchfork loves conformity and predictable hipster formula. If they give something a devastating review, that's probably a good sign. Thank you.
ReplyDeletethank you for reminding me of this album, i had totally forgotten about it. used to have it on CD and listen to it often. the fact that pitchfork gave it a bad review makes it all the more cooler.
ReplyDeleteI can rarely tolerate Pitchfork's reviews but you've now given me a new way of looking at them, so thanks! Also Alpha are terrific.
ReplyDeletePlease don't hate me for this, but I had completely forgotten about them until seeing this! I was actually quite in love with Come From Heaven back in the late 90s and sadly never got this one. Looking forward to hearing it. If by any chance you have CFH too and feel like helping a dude walk down a sweet old memory lane... ;) Thanks so much for this awesome blog!
ReplyDeleteI would never hate anyone for not remembering Alpha! I definitely have cfh, will post a link either later tonight or tomorrow.
DeleteAwesome thx!
DeleteHey there, any chance you'd still be willing to upload Come From Heaven? :) It's really impossible to find on other blogs
ReplyDeleteHello, I'm getting ready to post another Alpha record and came across this dropped thread in the process. I'm really sorry to have left you hanging like that. There are both personal and technological reasons for why I am so consistently bad with forgetting to respond to comments, but this one feels extra shitty to me for some reason. My bad. I'd imagine you've tracked it down by down, but just in case, here's a link for Come from Heaven:
Deletehttps://mega.nz/file/UPlFDDTa#sTWm2-86MXYMJYxofgcThm7NCXwEwqLAowBYXmFOJk8