`Tales Of Us` - Reviews By Us

la_catalina · Post edited by la_catalina at 2013-09-13 10:12:02

yes it's me. trying to figure this new site out ha ha ha why oh why did they ditch the old one?

Well folks I was shocked a bit putting FM back in the slot of the old cd player, made me laugh I don't have it as a download, that's how long ago it is ha ha ha, and my version of Tales is a file someone sent me, but it's from an official source so the quality is good enough; It's perhaps unkind to compare the two, but this is what's going to happen, particularly given Alisons comments blah blah...

I'm just amazed at how good FM is; still is, it doesn't date at all, it's truly timeless. I don't know.... far from me to upset anyone (did I just say that?) but Tales just isn't in the same league, it sounds like Goldfrapp imitating themselves to me, I agree with Tatty about that bloody guitar, there is guitar on FM but it sounds like classical guitar to me you know gut strings, and the guitar on Tales sure as hell isn't played by the likes of a Davy Graham, or a Bert Jansch, more like some geezer at a party who insists on embarrasing everyone, or a crap busker ha ha ha that's a bit unkind I know but it's a bit naff, and guitar can be okay, I mean like Ry Cooder for fucks sake,

I don't know.... listen to FM again, it's quirky, the words are the best she ever wrote, ambiguous, personal, heartfelt and her voice is like a jar of honey that's just come out of the fridge, on Tales it's a bit more like Sorbitol - synthetic and too sweet.

For me there's just no comparison, On Felt there's all the brass, and the strings are just a little bit off, the sound is utterly unique, I like that edgy sound they have, the strings on Tales are too John Barry .... Will should get an old Mellotron, ha ha that'd solve a lot of their troubles Hell .... even Pilot's sounds good ha ha ha ....which was the track I least liked

and I spent today with that bloody tune to Annabel stuck in my head, which is a worry ha ha ha, I tried to over lay it with Julee Cruise's Rocking Back ha ha ha Damn that's a fine record!

tattmaylor · Post edited by tattmaylor at 2013-09-13 11:15:35

la_catalina said:
or me there's just no comparison, On Felt there's all the brass, and the
strings are just a little bit off, the sound is utterly unique, I like
that edgy sound they have, the the strings on Tales are too John Barry .... Will should get an old Mellotron, ha ha that'd solve a lot of their troubles Hell .... even Pilot's sounds good ha ha ha ....which was the track I least liked

Er... get the John Barry - Ipcress File soundtrack and you will hear FM all over it. That said, as you say, on a lot of FM it's mixed with other sounds and styles. Where as on Stranger could be listening to an actual John Barry track. Also on Laurel there is a keyboard line that is almost identical to a Barry track. That is part of my problem with TOU. Now I love John Barry, but it's like Ali is guest vocalist on a John Barry soundtrack album rather than a uniquely sounding Goldfrapp record.

la_catalina said:
and I spent today with that bloody tune to Annabel stuck in my head,

haha... you're cracking! ;-)

Sartori · Post edited by Sartori at 2013-09-13 11:32:49

tattmaylor said:

Now I love John Barry, but it's like Ali is guest vocalist on a John Barry soundtrack album rather than a uniquely sounding Goldfrapp record.

This above , +1 . Which isn`t to criticise but define , all of Goldfrapp`s music can be dissected into references and "in the style of" , but to dissect is to lose the point , its still a great album . I put aside any notion of who or whatever music may sound like , music to me still has to stand on its own two feet , ie its no use being in the style of John Barry if its shit .

Border_Mind

Has anyone been playing Tales of Us mixed with other music? I am guilty of such and it actually works well enough for me, although I do maintain it's a genuine album album, I don't just play albums though.

Joey

Currently I'm playing individual songs and not necessarily the album from start to finish. I find that this helps me digest songs that originally get lost in the mix. "Simone" and "Laurel" really clicked for me on their own in spite of finding them a bit indistinct during my first couple of listens to the album all the way through.

Archway · Post edited by Archway at 2013-09-13 12:26:25

I don't think Tales Of Us is an unique album, but it is uniquely sounding like Goldfrapp. For me it is a perfect blend of Felt Mountain and Seventh Tree. I love Goldfrapp's cinematic and accoustic sound, far more than their pop sound.

I would not be surprised if people whom dislike it now, or whom are underwhelmed by it, will love it in a few years. A lot can happen in order for people to change their minds. It's good to re-evaluate things, partly because we change as well, and so do our circumstances. There are albums I were deeply disappointed by that I like/love now, but the change only occured years later. I simply wasn't ready at the time. As an example, I'm slowly coming round to Head First. It is still my least favourite Goldfrapp album, but where I simply couldn't even stand hearing it, I've actually been listening to it all the way through over the past few months. Will it become an all time favourite? No. But I'm not so anti- Head First as I used to be in the past.

Of course, the opposite is true as well. I have falken out of love with albums I absolutely adored. Let's hope Tales If Us won't be one.

la_catalina · Post edited by la_catalina at 2013-09-13 12:57:44

not worked out how to quote yet but Tatty:

yes of course FM has John Barry written over parts of it, what I meant was Tales is a bit too obviously John Barry! On the Felt strings sounds they're played a little off key here and there.... a little like the deliberate mistake in a Persian carpet.. or Will's tweaked 'em to sound that way, and that, for me is the artistry. They sound too normal or too perfect on Tales, and, therefore, ironically, not so perfect.

Tatty, you're obviously a Bowie fan so ...think of the Chamberlain generated string sounds on Low - Warsawa - like all tape generated strings they waver and go all over the place, this was always seen as being a fault with the Mellotron, but for me it's what makes that record so bloody marvellous. If Bowie had got real strings involved the track would have fallen flat on it's face...as Eno mainained, what was good about the early synths, and likewise the Mellotron was when the didn't work entirely as intended.

But you're right, Tales sounds like she guested on a JB album!

As for her voice, I think she's suffered. Sure HJ she's older, but Bjorks voice has got better as she's got older, so I don't know what's happened there because she isn't singing as well as she did 12 years ago, and she isn't that old! It sounds like she simply doesn't sing the song through, but assembles the tracks from several takes. pasting the vocal together link by link; you never hear her breathe or take a breath on Tales like you do on FM, (this is not to confuse the process with overdubbing) so as you say Tatty she seems to struggle to follow the melody, it's an odd sort of thing because used intentionally you could assemble a interesting work by disembodying the humanity in a voice...but I digress! . Unfortunately this process leaves her sounding cold, in the wrong sort of way .....

Joey

Voices age. It happens.

Personally, I think she sounds like she's in great voice on this album. Sure, she's not wailing or belting a huge vocal over most of these songs, but that's simply because that approach wouldn't stylistically fit the hushed, contemplative sound of the album.

stevil

i see the phoenix has once again risen from its own ashes.....

Archway

Joey said:
Voices age. It happens.

Personally, I think she sounds like she's in great voice on this album. Sure, she's not wailing or belting a huge vocal over most of these songs, but that's simply because that approach wouldn't stylistically fit the hushed, contemplative sound of the album.

I agree with this. Voices do age and sometimes it is harder to hit the high notes when you are older. Kate Bush is a good example of a singer whose voice has aged. She is unable to reach the notes she used to, even in the 90s. Joni Mitchell is another singer whose voiced changed over the decades. Compare her debut album and Blue for example with her last few albums.

I also think the songs on this album doesn't require vocal theatrics. If there is one problem I have with her delivery on the album (and it is a minor gripe), it is that there are just a few too many breathy, airy, hushy moments. It makes quite a bit of it sound just a tad too delicate, where the mood is intimate actually.

error60091

Joey said:
Voices age. It happens.

Personally, I think she sounds like she's in great voice on this album. Sure, she's not wailing or belting a huge vocal over most of these songs, but that's simply because that approach wouldn't stylistically fit the hushed, contemplative sound of the album.

Yes.

Alison still has it... dont tell me you guys dont hear her breathe in stranger? And her near yelps in annabel? Her husky tones in laurel? Her lullaby coo in jo? Her soaring croon in clay? Really?

Of course tou is no fm2 nor did A&W intend it to be.. but to address the john barry dissection and the apparent nostalgia here for fm, do you really think the
opera filtering and theremin twiddling would work here? Obviously not, as the electronic quirks of fm suit that album's themes.. but tou is a different album, atmospherically speaking.. so joey is on point.

But if tou is no fm2, does that make the album or A&W less "goldfrapp"? I at least dont think so.. As brilliant fm is, my appreciation for every successive goldfrapp effort has stayed because of the elements that have always remained constant, and not because ive limited myself to a one album benchmark or because i sought to find out exactly how the songs reference other artists (as sartori has already succintly put it)... anyway, those elements that have remained all throughout goldfrapps journey have been A&Ws respect for the greats (barry/morricone/moroder) through their use of strings and chamber sounds, but not simply that... theyve been able to effect specific moods and ambience through a combination of electronic and human (ie. Alisons voice) element.. what i find wonderful about tou is its cohesion, strong tracklisting and the pairing of acoustic/stripped and chamber/orchestra sound... tou is just as lush as fm if not more lush as in its more human, universal and relatable in its thematic/lyrical concerns than fm, and more acoustic than st.. i mean, neither fm nor st for me sounds so simultaneously fireside intimate and stargazing expansive as tou does..

tattmaylor · Post edited by tattmaylor at 2013-09-13 14:52:03

I'm actually not a massive Bowie fan, but he is one of the greats and it's such a good comparison for Frapp. He blended musical styles and changed his direction to suit the times but he got to a point at Let's Dance where either it didn't work or we didn't get it. Maybe to many styles. Over the years he released albums that the critics loved and said, 'he's back on form', 'his best in years' etc.. but looking back no one other than die hard Bowie fans remember them. I don't think he gained many new fans from that period either. Even the new one will not be up there with the greats. Although as it is almost a homage to his great Berlin period he may lead some new fans to his back catalogue.

Maybe it's just my age :-) combined with a desire for new music. I'm 44 and have been obsessed by music for 20+ years, 13 with Goldfrapp. I cross reference everything from those 20 years. 13 years is a long time in my adult life, Bands i was obsessed with at 16 now seem irelevant apart from nostalgia. But i like it that way. I don't want to be an old guy clinging to old bands. I want to be liking new cool bands in my 90's. :)

Also a 20 year old will be able to look back on Bowie and digest it as a body out of context. We can't. In the same way a 55 year old will remember more context than me. I entered Bowie at Ashes To Ashes.

So maybe Goldfrapp are at the period where they just please their fans from now on (they have plenty). If i were Ali and Will i'd be doing what i want now not what the public wants. Someone mentioned Ali was upset by poor reviews via Twitter. Seems a bit silly as they have nothing to prove. If they don't know when something is good at this stage in their career it might get messy in later years. F88k everyone else. They like it, most fans like it. Does it really matter if Pitchfork ...and La Catalina ;) don't. No.

ping

If i were Ali and Will i'd be doing what i want now not what the public wants.

i get the impression thats what they've done, or at least tried to. just from some of the stuff A has said in the odd interview. and she's said several times she's really proud of what they've done on this album.

Someone mentioned Ali was upset by poor reviews via Twitter. Seems a bit silly as they have nothing to prove.

she didn't seem that upset. she'd clearly been tweeted about it and she just said she 'hadn't seen the review but it didn't really matter that pitchfork didn't like it'. thats all i saw anyhow. (if i'm honest it wouldn't matter how much i knew it didn't matter in the big picture i think i'd still be a bit put out by bad reviews! haha, but maybe that says more about me)

tattmaylor · Post edited by tattmaylor at 2013-09-13 15:07:20

Also with ref to John Barry you might be all getting me wrong. It is a compliment to Will it sounds so like JB (he was a master of his art). Plus i love stuff that sounds like JB. I love TOU because I like JB and I like Goldfrapp. But I like Black Cherry because I like Goldfrapp, it's influences were more hidden or blended. On TOU it is mostly very honest and literal in it's influences, almost a homage (bar Thea and a few other bits). I think that is exactly what Al and Will wanted ...and they got it spot on. As usual they always get is sonically spot on. It's just for me I already have some great JB to listen to. I would of got more excited by some JB with a twist. But it doesn't mean TOU is not a great album.

I work with a 20 year old animator that loves Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman soundtracks and he just thought John Barry did a few bond tunes. He was shocked when he realised what he had done and how good it was. So for them TOU and it's links to JB could be like an amazing discovery and be a turning point in their musical lives.

stevil

la_catalina said:
There's not a single song where she actually sings from start to finish. It's all pasted together isn't it? She sings a line and then it's cut off, sounds weird... So it sounds like one of those computer generated phone menus.

this is so not happening on this album......your projections are so tiresome....this is really all about you...not alison or will......or goldfrapp.........it's a big fat fucking yawn at this point......

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