Tales of Us

I am so grateful that a friend tagged me on Facebook to let me know "Tales of Us," the film inspired by Goldfrapp's latest album, was playing at my local cinema (AFI) for just 2 nights. I am not a fan of music videos but Goldfrapp's latest work is spellbinding and the cinematic interpretation by Alison Goldfrapp's partner, filmmaker Lisa Gunning, exquisitely redefines this genre.

The best part of the experience was the performance footage after the videos. Goldfrapp, backed by a full band and string section, performed an assortment of songs from previous albums on a stage decorated with suspended chairs, naked trees, ambient projections, and cool accent lighting. I envied the cable management and the clear bass with the glitter pick guard and took solace in the fact that her musicians rely on pieces of paper on the floor and notes taped to instruments like I do! The pause between songs was eerily silent and punctuated by the sounds of guitar pedals being stomped and mic stands adjusted. The lack of applause from a studio audience lent a stark rawness and intimacy to the performance. The set consisted of downtempo tracks (Strict Machine was about as rocking as it got) and the band was very focused and somber.

Though I would like to check out the "making of" portion on DVD I am glad i got to see this one on the big screen with spacious sound. I was really surprised there weren't more people in attendance. There were so many empty seats it was like being in the audience at one of my gigs!