Label: Nika Records
Production: Žarko Pak, Jernej Kržič and Robi Bulešić
Release date: March 2019
Genre: Alternative Rock
As I always like to write, especially in recent years, Dan D are Slovenia’s most visible rock act, and through their albums they most intensely, directly and boldly drive home the point that they’re evolving artistically with far more conceptual daring and hunger for experimentation than their peers, the ones who, next to Dan D, can boast at least as much or more popularity on the Slovenian music scene, but who conformistically hole up in the safe shelter of a more-or-less proven recipe that always lands with listeners (in this “biggest” category, Dan D measure up against Siddharta, Big Foot Mama, Elvis Jackson, Mi2). Dan D, compared to those, are by no means play-it-safe types. Obviously they never were. At least not so obviously. That’s why, since 2009 especially, they’ve been seriously interesting to discover, even for a more demanding and more mature music audience, even music gourmets.
So, on to “Knjiga pohval in pritožb”. What the author of the following “lines” jotted down on November 24, 2018, in the review “Milo za drago” has come true, namely: “The soap story is by no means over for Dan D. The band promises to release the album “Milo za drago” in a classic physical format (CD, vinyl) too, postponed until later, when there’s been enough “washing up” with the soap. At the same time it’s announcing an expanded edition of the album, which will also include some of the, as the band itself likes to put it, “screwed-up” tracks that didn’t make it onto the version with the USB stick inside the soap.”
That last paragraph is basically a review before the review, and if that’s enough for you, then sail on over to Dan D’s page and buy the new CD, i.e. the expanded version of the album “Milo za drago”, now called “Knjiga pohval in pritožb”. That goes for everyone who, since mid-October last year, managed through diligent hand-washing to dig out the USB stick that sat in the middle of the soap in your copy of Dan D’s “Milo za drago” album.
So. The band added six extra tracks (five visible and one “hidden”) to the expanded version of the album and also thoroughly shuffled the running order compared to the one we know from “Milo za drago”. Of course the album speaks to the listener in its own way, but the feel isn’t drastically different from the “Milo za drago” version, which means that even in this new variety of the album Dan D keep a similar modal nature across all the songs.
Every song has its own crafted character. Almost its own guitar sound, its own sonic backdrop. There was plenty of dissecting of individual tracks in the already published RockLine review of the album “Milo za drago”, and that’s where you’ll find an even more detailed and in-depth analysis of the musical substance of the new Dan D.
We run into the first of the six new tracks only at position no. 8, called Trigger za srečo, where the band sustains an electronic backdrop of rhythms and the bulk of the accompaniment is a rolling curtain of synthesizers, in which the ever-superb and unique Tokac is embedded. In Zvezde plešejo Dan D surprise with a gloomy backdrop and a deepened dramatic moment, and at this point they push Tučo further to the fore on distorted avalanches of riffing and wah-wahing, while the song keeps its rhythmic danceability, enlivened by the incredible musical flexibility of Sekulovič’s bass lines. If someone sent a track like that to Marilyn Manson, he’d happily spit out an industrial alter metal version of it in his own production. The preachy Angel counts as one of the band’s most interesting experiments, with a bold leap into a signature chorus of poetically turning to an angel for help. Tokac, in the distorted vocal sphere of sound effects, evokes dramatic theatricality. The track is also interesting for the dialogue between guitar and keyboards, which coexist remarkably peacefully and create an almost industrial sound. And toward the end you can travel with Dan D all the way to Vietnam (Co Kho To).
Alongside the standout tracks Boli me k, Ožina, Malo pekla, Ne naredi mi tega, each of which wins you over in its own way with the great compositional and arranging maturity of the new Dan D, the song Daj mi upanje counts as one of the best on the album “Milo za drago” and stays that way when listening to “Knjiga pohval in pritožb”. Let’s hope it doesn’t go overlooked, that it gets released as a single, a video, and starts getting more airplay on the radio waves. It’s got it all. The right dose of musicality, of the modern-day experimentation that embodies Dan D in their “Milo za drago” era, the right emotional charge, an abundance of yearning passion, lovely melodiousness and compositional flow.
“Knjiga pohval in pritožb”, i.e. the expanded edition of the album “Milo za drago”, is by no means an easy bone to gnaw on. With it, the band has vaulted to a new artistic level. They’ve kept their recognizable artistic character, or let’s just say a musical visionary streak that’s theirs alone, but have evolved it for a new era, upgraded it, expanded it and carried it to a higher level of expression. That’s what Dan D do, a crew of seasoned old cats, incredibly cunningly and with real master-class fine mechanics, handling all the finesse that recording studios and gear offer, including varied use of instruments and programming. They’re exceptionally skilled and subtle in what they do, and with their musical recipe they keep charmingly teasing the listener, spoiling them and, to a degree of course, filling and enriching them inside too.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
rating: 9.5 / 10
Tracklist:
1. Malo pekla
2. Sem v tebi
3. Boli me K
4. Ne naredi mi tega
5. Bits
6. Ožina
7. Morilec
8. Trigger za srečo
9. Daj mi upanje
10. Tu
11. Zvezde plešejo
12. Angel
13. Ca Kho To
14. Živ
15. Laži mi
16. Wonder (Bonus Track)
Lineup:
Tomislav Jovanovič “Tokac” – vocals, acoustic guitar
Marko Turk “Tučo” – guitar
Boštjan Grubar – keyboards
Nikola Sekulovič – bass guitar
Dušan Obradinovič “Obra” – drums
