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Post subject: Digfi (Swedish) on Dangerous and Moving
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t.A.T.u.
Lars Jämtelid
19-10-2005
The way it usually is with good records it has taken me some time to understand Dangerous and Moving. Not the same way as was the case with Differnet’s latest or Jay Haze’s Love for a Strange World, where listening at first becomes a process where you try to classify and interpret a lot of new sounds and expressions. The opposite procedure happens with Dangerous and Moving. In this case you try to get used to the feeling that various rather hackneyed and dull ingredients put together become something very pleasant.
Grand romantic goth pop flamboyantly decorated with elements of girl band pop, trance, soft heavy rock, techno, and radio pop. All this baked into mighty sweet and creamy pies filled with all sort of creamy hard rock riffs, minor-tuned Abba refrains or prudish mid-tempo pop like The Corrs.
The production team consisting of eight producers and seventeen songwriters have indeed done an excellent job preparing such a fresh collation from what is for the most parts hardly exquisite ingredients. Obviously, a particular dynamic, which has evolved between Lena Katina and Julia Volkova and these gentlemen, lies behind the music: a peculiar meeting between a bunch of greying 80’s icons from the west and two decadent precocious pop chicks from the new Russia, which suffers between hyper capitalism and Putin’s neo-Stalinists tendencies.
He who tries to find present-day names on the list of those who have participated will look in vain. Billy Steinberg, who i.a. wrote Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’, and Dave Steward from Eurythmics are among the songwriters, Richard Carpenter from The Carpenters arranges strings, Sing plays bas, and Trevor Horn are among the producers (only one song this time). The demon manager Ivan Shapavalov is no longer part of the picture though.
The old boys provide refrains and Volkova and Katina deliver them accurately. While in the case of Sugarbabes where once again a progressive single is followed up by a lame album, Dangerous and Moving is a pure orgy of presumptive hit singles. Moreover, the refrains are often followed by, instead of a decrease of tempo and intensity, a part with further increase of intensity. A kind of extension of the refrain, which has become quite distinctive for t.A.T.u. since the “this is not enough”-part in ‘All The Things She Said’.
The single ‘All About Us’ is not one of the peaks on the record. The refrain is good, but apart from unnecessarily resembling ‘All The Things She Said’ the rhythm tends to get slightly out of phase, which means that the various remix-versions become quite clumsy.
Otherwise, it is a delicate job to pick favourite songs. I myself fall hardest for ‘Loves Me Not’ and the title track. The first is a mighty spectacular and exceptionally successful collision of melancholically glittering trance pop and slam-bang metal with a refrain that takes off over the clouds. “Sounds like Slayer playing New Order” Time Out writes, which I suppose may be true. The title track sounds almost like The Cure’s Pornography baked in marzipan.
But which songs one prefers is a matter of taste. Dangerous and Moving is a quite bewildering and extremely entertaining musical experience. It would have been a good idea if someone more alert had designed the album cover though.
Source:
http://www.digfi.com/default.aspx?id=7934
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 Thu Dec 15, 2005 11:42 am |
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| Moreover, the refrains are often followed by, instead of a decrease of tempo and intensity, a part with further increase of intensity. A kind of extension of the refrain, which has become quite distinctive for t.A.T.u. since the “this is not enough”-part in ‘All The Things She Said’. |
Great review in my opinion! Nice to see it's by a Swede too. :)
Thanks a lot ElectraCute! 
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a.k.a. Sir Pish E. (*Mufflemuffle*) |
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| Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:21 pm |
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Thank you for posting, ElectraCute. :thumbsup:
"He who tries to find present-day names on the list of those who have participated will look in vain." Erm. Sergey Galoyan is 23. The Veronicas, Jess and Lisa Origliasso, are in their early 20's... He didn't look very hard, I think. :)
Other than that: Good review. It's always interesting to see how people who obviously know a lot about music try to explain what makes an album, THIS album, so special. I enjoyed reading this. :nod:
xena225 |
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| Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:23 pm |
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Thanks for posting, ElectraCute.
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| It would have been a good idea if someone more alert had designed the album cover though. |
The review is OK, but I like the album cover better.
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I've got "Property of Yulia Volkova" tatued on my heart. |
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| Thu Dec 15, 2005 1:33 pm |
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| RowerB wrote: |
The review is OK, but I like the album cover better. |
Agree. I like the cover the way it is.
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I divide my time as follows: half the time I sleep, the other half I dream. I never dream when I sleep, for that would be a pity, for sleeping is the highest accomplishment of genius. - Either/Or
"Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow" |
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| Thu Dec 15, 2005 3:43 pm |
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yeah.. the album cover is perfect .. and brilliant .. I see the yellow-black sign everywhere ..everyday ... on the road, at the parking lot, the contruction areas... etc etc .. .. basically .. its everywhere... and everytime it reminds me of TATU .. now . tell me how am I going to forget TATU.
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__/TTT\ __
L-O-----O--\ I drove with Volkova. |
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| Fri Dec 16, 2005 3:43 pm |
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^ Haha, well... We don't have black and yellow for warning signs.  So I can't really agree that people will be reminded all the time about Tatu. Besides I don't like the cover.
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a.k.a. Sir Pish E. (*Mufflemuffle*) |
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| Fri Dec 16, 2005 5:12 pm |
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Post subject: Re: Digfi (Swedish) on Dangerous and Moving
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t.A.T.u.
Lars Jämtelid
19-10-2005
The demon manager Ivan Shapavalov is no longer part of the picture though.
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:lol:  that just made me laugh.
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I give myself, Lady Karo, permission on fanficiton.net to continue my fanfiction "Vampiric Fate" as a Sailor Uranus/Haruka Tenoh and Sailor Neptune/Michiru Kaioh fanfiction. |
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| Fri Dec 16, 2005 5:21 pm |
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| It would have been a good idea if someone more alert had designed the album cover though. |
I think most people would agree with that statement. The album cover just doesn't scream "HIT SINGLE HIT ALBUM BUY ME LOOK AT ME". Its just like "eh."
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~Gay for Yulia~ |
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| Fri Dec 16, 2005 6:44 pm |
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| Maraja wrote: |
| ^ Haha, well... We don't have black and yellow for warning signs. So I can't really agree that people will be reminded all the time about Tatu. Besides I don't like the cover. |
oh? where do you from? I thought its standard everywhere to color the road side yellow/black and the direction sign yellow/black near the dangerous corner on the road or in the parking lot wall and so on .. because the color is the most attracting to warn people.
But .. anyway .. too bad you don't have it .. its an experience actually. Like the sign on the album cover is place everywhere in the city. And you go ... tatu.. tatu .. tatu ... tatu...
hmm... now .. I love Kuala Lumpur!!! LOL
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L-O-----O--\ I drove with Volkova. |
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| Sat Dec 17, 2005 1:22 am |
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Wow, amazing review, i love it...
As for yellow and black road signs, europe have a system of red blue and red and white then yellow and black....i think.
What reminds me of t.A.T.u are people, noticing their flaws and musing at their good points.
Great review, just proves that D7M is a brilliant album.
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| Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:25 am |
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