Tatu, "Sacrifice" (2005)
The thing about Tatu -- or TATU, or T.a.t.u., or t.A.T.u., or oh my god, like I'm not already going to have RSI in three years -- is that they seem so highly strung all the time. Many of their songs drop us right into the choruses (epic!), and thus begin like we're in the middle of a car chase. BAM! AllthethingsshesaidallthethingshesaidALLTHETHINGSSHESAID! POW! NotgonnagetusnotgonnaGETUSNOTGONNAAIIIEEEEEEEE!!! In the opposite version of this, when they are not running off their words together in a madrushjumblesalad, they sing syllable-by-painstaking-syllable. And without varying the stress on each. They are the musical equivalent of that interwebs style of snarky writing that has been a running gag for the past few years, in which you emphasize your words via separating! And! Punctuating! Them! Like. So. (as on the current single "All About Us," as implied here).
It makes sense, of course. The band's persona is built around rebellion, a carefully cultivated us-against-the-world ethos, and their sound is therefore often one of barraging sound and fury. Sometimes it is sonically very exciting, and works spectacularly; sometimes, not so much. It's not a bad thing, but I do find it a little exhausting (say, over an entire album, or when repeated too often as shtick). It's like listening to death metal, except made by Russian teenage faux-lesbians. So, yeah, exactly like death metal.
This song -- for me a highlight of the new album Dangerous and Moving -- however understands contrast, that furious (melo)drama is most recognizable and effective when set off against moments of quiet. When this begins it sounds like a ballad, with an acoustic guitaresque riff that acts like it wandered in off of some Ibiza chillout record. It's all calm and good, but then the chorus hits, via a series of notes that climb higher and higher -- "I WILL SACRIFICE! I WILL SACRIFICE!" -- and now when we hear the riff again, it sounds sad, resigned, like it constitutes preparation for that act of sacrifice. You can already imagine the way the song will be used in a movie. POW!
The thing about Tatu -- or TATU, or T.a.t.u., or t.A.T.u., or oh my god, like I'm not already going to have RSI in three years -- is that they seem so highly strung all the time. Many of their songs drop us right into the choruses (epic!), and thus begin like we're in the middle of a car chase. BAM! AllthethingsshesaidallthethingshesaidALLTHETHINGSSHESAID! POW! NotgonnagetusnotgonnaGETUSNOTGONNAAIIIEEEEEEEE!!! In the opposite version of this, when they are not running off their words together in a madrushjumblesalad, they sing syllable-by-painstaking-syllable. And without varying the stress on each. They are the musical equivalent of that interwebs style of snarky writing that has been a running gag for the past few years, in which you emphasize your words via separating! And! Punctuating! Them! Like. So. (as on the current single "All About Us," as implied here).
It makes sense, of course. The band's persona is built around rebellion, a carefully cultivated us-against-the-world ethos, and their sound is therefore often one of barraging sound and fury. Sometimes it is sonically very exciting, and works spectacularly; sometimes, not so much. It's not a bad thing, but I do find it a little exhausting (say, over an entire album, or when repeated too often as shtick). It's like listening to death metal, except made by Russian teenage faux-lesbians. So, yeah, exactly like death metal.
This song -- for me a highlight of the new album Dangerous and Moving -- however understands contrast, that furious (melo)drama is most recognizable and effective when set off against moments of quiet. When this begins it sounds like a ballad, with an acoustic guitaresque riff that acts like it wandered in off of some Ibiza chillout record. It's all calm and good, but then the chorus hits, via a series of notes that climb higher and higher -- "I WILL SACRIFICE! I WILL SACRIFICE!" -- and now when we hear the riff again, it sounds sad, resigned, like it constitutes preparation for that act of sacrifice. You can already imagine the way the song will be used in a movie. POW!
posted by Brittle-Lemon at
1:11 PM
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