Its hard to know where to start here... but here goes.
Patrick Wolf is a virtuous talent, and am amazing song-writer. People speak of artists having a certain 'X Factor', and if ever an artist demonstrated this intangible virtue, its P.Wolf. Every song on here sparkles with magic and passion, rendering the entire record utterly captivating.
Its not just the songwriting but the instrumentation too that set Patrick in a world (league would be an understatement) of his own. I own many many records but I can think of few, if any, which are so imaginatively arranged and produced. I think of this record like aural art, there's so much attention to detail I'm still hearing new things after the owning the album for a couple of years now.
Patrick incorporates Casio whirrs, 8bit bleeps, harpsichords, scattered laptop beats, underground drum 'n bass , ukeleles, viloins and god knows what else to create a lush tapestry of sounds to decorate his songs. I feel this works to most astonishing effect on Paris, which starts a with a crescendo of beautiful violins before tumbling into an electronic meltdown of beats n' bleeps...
But don't be fooled, unlike a lot of other artists prone to a spot of glitchtronica (fischerspooner anyone?) Patrick's electronics never lack soul, they are completely organic, each song is alive and exciting and... well I'm gushing now. But you get the picture.
I hope his third album 'the magic position' gives Patrick some of the recognition he deserve, but if not he can rest assured he has made one of the most amazing albums of all time. Go buy!