New album: Tales of Us
Artist: Goldfrapp
Label: Mute Artists Ltd.
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
The sixth album of original material from Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory is their strongest, most consistent effort since their “Felt Mountain” debut in 2000.
Like genre-hopper Neil Young – who trades in hard rock, folk music and country – Goldfrapp spread it around all over town as well. The English duo is known just as much for its electric/dance sound as its dreamy, acoustic/electronica work – with the latter providing the most memorable songs. Pinches of Tori Amos, Pink Floyd and Zero 7 can be heard in this work.
From the black and white album cover to Alison Goldfrapp’s moody vocalizing over Gregory’s minor-key landscapes, “Tales of Us” is dripping in noir. Except for “Stranger,” each song is named after a person.
Opening track “Jo” is an updated take on Rick Wright’s more inspired moments with Pink Floyd, while “Annabel” and “Drew” feature the up-close whispered vocals that have done Tori Amos well. “Tales of Us” isn’t brimming with originality, but the influences worn on the musicians’ sleeves are arranged in a tasteful manner.
The intimacy of “Stranger” pushes the whole longing/desire bit to the hilt, but it works. Accompanied primarily by Gregory’s acoustic guitar work, Alison Goldfrapp manages to cram the emotions of a David Lynch film into a four-minute space.
Album closer “Clay” continues the album’s cinematic theme by building to an emotional crescendo that validates the shoe gazing and murmuring of the previous nine songs. “Clay” is still musically sparse, but it boasts cellos, and nothing ramps up the old heart rate like a team of cellists sawing away.
If you're looking to “Tales of Us” for a dance anthem, it’s not here. Anyone wanting to zone out to some mildly interesting music should be quite satisfied.
Classic album: Hideaway: The Best of Freddy King
Artist: Freddy King
Label: Rhino
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Due to his death at the age of 42 in 1976, the work of blues legend Freddy King isn’t as well known as it should be.
Since albums didn’t really become a proper art form during King’s heyday, Rhino’s “Hideaway” compilation is the perfect introduction to a somewhat unsung blues progenitor. King’s instrumental hit “Hideaway” is in itself enough to warrant King’s place in any music hall of fame worth its salt.
Covered by Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jeff Healey, Eric Clapton and Johnny Winter, “Hideaway” contains many riffs and chordal phrases that have become blues shorthand. Interestingly, no one is fully certain who wrote the song, but King’s version is considered a blues standard.
Also a gifted vocalist, King shines in the Jimmy Reed-esque “Country Boy” and Fats Washington’s “That’s What You Think.” These tunes are sung with conviction and a healthy dose of humor. On the primal boogies “San-Ho-Zay” and “Sen-Shay-Shun,” King predated Prince’s penchant for alternative spelling by a few decades. The only glaring omission (possibly due to record label hassles) is “Woman across the River,” a later-era King track that was covered by the Allman Brothers Band in 2003.
“Hideaway: The Best of Freddy King” plays like the greatest juke joint jukebox you’ve never heard. The collection starts out strong and is still cooking with gas on album closer “Going Down,” known to many rock fans through the Who’s live version from 1972. King’s work deserves a deeper investigation, but this compilation stands as one of the greatest single-disc blues albums on the market.
Jon Dawson’s album reviews appear every Thursday in The Free Press. Contact Jon at 252-559-1092 or jon.dawson@kinston.com. Purchase 'Making Gravy in Public' at jondawson.com.