Welcome to the new Goldfrapp forum. Enjoy your new home! X
TOU Press Reviews
  • 159 Comments sorted by
  • Vote Up0Vote Down SartoriSartori
    Posts: 2,138
    I do like reading reviews, sometimes they might use an adjective, a turn of phrase, a single word or a note about another artist that makes me listen to something and hear it in a different way. Apart from Q magazine, a literary wank sock.
    "Read my posts and see why we`re not allowed nice things anymore"
    photo 5a6eb769-bc12-4596-bbe8-709fc2bb0d5e.jpg
    "Brought to you straight from the People`s Republic of There`s Something Wrong With You . The Hoi Polloi Capital of the World"
  • Vote Up0Vote Down SartoriSartori
    Posts: 2,138
    I'd prefer we wrote our own reviews to be honest, I'd expect 100% objectivity and no Rudolph the Brown Nosed Reindeer shenanigans.
    "Read my posts and see why we`re not allowed nice things anymore"
    photo 5a6eb769-bc12-4596-bbe8-709fc2bb0d5e.jpg
    "Brought to you straight from the People`s Republic of There`s Something Wrong With You . The Hoi Polloi Capital of the World"
  • Vote Up1Vote Down JoeyJoey
    Posts: 197
    AllMusic (AMG) 4.5/5 Stars

    Best review yet! :)

    http://www.allmusic.com/album/tales-of-us-mw0002555042

    Goldfrapp fans know to expect changes from album to album, but the switch in direction between Head First and Tales of Us is one of the duo's most drastic about-faces. Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory's sixth album trade the neon nostalgia of Head First's synth pop for a subtler, more complex sound that evokes Felt Mountain's lushness and Seventh Tree's acoustic confessions. Tales of Us could be seen as a cross between those two works -- and Goldfrapp have certainly covered enough territory that they could live out their days making hybrids of their earlier music -- but there's more to the album than that. There was a somber stillness to Felt Mountain's most haunting moments that made it uniquely compelling, and Goldfrapp returns to it here, delivering the set of unforgettable torch songs they always seemed destined to make. 

    Above all, these songs are intimate: they bear the names of lovers as they unfurl several diaries' worth of memories and regrets. Tracks like "Simone" move between whispered sentiments and widescreen heartbreak as the duo blends orchestral and electronic elements into gorgeous arrangements and melodies that sound decades old and instantly familiar. As lavish as Tales of Us is at times, Goldfrapp sounds more genuine and natural than they ever have. On "Drew," strings sneak up on Alison's murmured remembrance of "dreams of your skin on my tongue" as the song gradually builds to heights that prove the duo really should record a James Bond theme. This filmic feel is no coincidence, since the works of David Lynch, Ingmar Bergman, and Michelangelo Antonioni served as inspiration. 

    However, the album's cinematic nature goes deeper than its sound; Tales of Us also features some of Goldfrapp's strongest storytelling. "Annabel" explores a child's fluid gender identity, with Alison sighing "why couldn't they let you be both?" over a heartbreaking melody (on "Stranger," she wonders if the one she's been missing is a "boy or girl," emphasizing the all-encompassing sexuality of these songs). The duo also sets some of the album's most unsettling tales to its most beautiful music: "Jo" is a lullaby filled with gunshots and a blood red moon, while an almost sobbing melody gives "Laurel"'s sordid tale an added tragedy. 

    While Tales of Us is Goldfrapp's most consistent album in terms of mood and sound, the duo still adds some variety. "Thea" brings film noir to the dancefloor with shivery synths and a beat that begins with footsteps, and "Clay" ends this collection of heartache on a (relatively) idealistic note. 

    Even with these slight detours, Tales of Us isn't as immediate as, say, Supernature. Regardless, it's Goldfrapp's most sophisticated work to date, and one of their most consistently satisfying albums.
    I had a king in a tenement castle, lately he's taken to painting the pastel walls brown. He's taken the curtains down. He's swept with the broom of contempt, and the rooms have an empty ring. He's cleaned with the tears of an actor who fears for the laughter's sting...
  • Vote Up0Vote Down CervusCervus
    Posts: 1,624
    Sartori said:

    I do like reading reviews, sometimes they might use an adjective, a turn of phrase, a single word or a note about another artist that makes me listen to something and hear it in a different way. Apart from Q magazine, a literary wank sock.



    This is a far more eloquently executed version of my comment earlier...thank you Sartori :)
    '' Sometimes I think I've felt everything I'm ever going to feel and from here on out I'm not going to feel anything new, just lesser versions of what I've already felt ''
  • Vote Up0Vote Down HolyOwlHolyOwl
    Posts: 373
    I guess this pretty much nails it:

    "It’s also an album in which the sum is greater than its parts, meaning it works better when listened to as a whole, as if it were a film (...). Taken individually, there are only a few standout tracks here. Collectively, they’re nearly all standouts." 7.6

    Post edited by HolyOwl at 2013-09-09 08:17:46
    Be patient.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down HolyOwlHolyOwl
    Posts: 373
    ***
    The National
    Be patient.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down The_CarpathianThe_Carpathian
    Posts: 1,837
    Yeah, there's definitely a certain momentum that builds up over the album as a whole.

    Slap it on and let it loop round a few times on repeat and it really goes up a level.
    A million fires before your harvest comes. To burn out.
    Wear the mask of a heathen. For the moon's lonely eyes.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down Halloween_JackHalloween_Jack
    Posts: 2,293
    Oh, i couldn't agree more about the "sum" viewpoint. How very different from Head First.
    Avondale guesthouse
  • Vote Up0Vote Down WhickwithyWhickwithy
    Posts: 5,155
    I don't think the point of reviewing the reviews has to do with whether anyone on here will like the music.  It has to do alot, though, with how successful our (mine, anyways) favorite band will be with their current release.  That is important to me because, as with a friend, I always wish them the very best.  And, of course, there is the selfish side, in that I would like to see them do more releases.  It's looking awfully good.  It certainly doesn't mean it will catch fire and become the next viral music but it should do comfortably well, it would seem.  I really appreciated Joey's summation.
    The Sentient Struggle For Transformation

    https://www.amazon.com/Sentient-Struggle-Transformation-Whickwithy/dp/1734822147/
  • Vote Up0Vote Down The_CarpathianThe_Carpathian
    Posts: 1,837
    A typically well thought out one from The Quietus:

    http://thequietus.com/articles/13298-goldfrapp-tales-of-us-album-review
    A million fires before your harvest comes. To burn out.
    Wear the mask of a heathen. For the moon's lonely eyes.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down JoeyJoey
    Posts: 197
    Slant Magazine. It reads like it should have gotten a higher score than it did. The only "negative" mentioned here is the album's "tonal consistency." A different reviewer, but the fact that the album got a lower score than Head First bothers me. :P

    3.5/5 Stars

    I had a king in a tenement castle, lately he's taken to painting the pastel walls brown. He's taken the curtains down. He's swept with the broom of contempt, and the rooms have an empty ring. He's cleaned with the tears of an actor who fears for the laughter's sting...
  • Vote Up0Vote Down ArchwayArchway
    Posts: 782
    Well Pitchfork review is up now, and while I'm somewhat disappointed, I'm not surprised at all. Pitchfork is such an elitist pretentious site really. It is sad to think that it is actually better than NME and/or Q (in my humble opinion). While I don't like Pitchfork (generally speaking), at least least I don't consider them worthless (Q) and nonesense/laughable (NME).

    http://www.pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18474-goldfrapp-tales-of-us/
    I hope that you die in a decent pair of shoes
    You got a lot more walking to do where you're going to.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down HolyOwlHolyOwl
    Posts: 373
    I totally get some aspects of the review. However, it sounds more like a 7.5 than 6.1
    What does 0.1 mean anyway...
    Be patient.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down ArchwayArchway
    Posts: 782
    HolyOwl said:

    I totally get some aspects of the review. However, it sounds more like a 7.5 than 6.1
    What does 0.1 mean anyway...






    I agree completely. It really amazes me how some reviewers' text and ratings don't match up. At least the Pitchfork review is reasonable, unlike the NME one.
    I hope that you die in a decent pair of shoes
    You got a lot more walking to do where you're going to.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down The_CarpathianThe_Carpathian
    Posts: 1,837
    Archway said:

     It really amazes me how some reviewers' text and ratings don't match up.



    Any well written review worth the time to read it should never need a 'score' shoe-horned onto the bottom. If the positive and negative points are expressed well enough the reader can gauge for themselves where the reviewer sits on the album. If it needs the score to clarify then the writer hasn't done their job properly.

    That's not for this review because its Goldfrapp but for any short review, period.
    A million fires before your harvest comes. To burn out.
    Wear the mask of a heathen. For the moon's lonely eyes.
Add a Comment

Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Sign In Apply for Membership

Categories