ATB

Organizers of Coma, described as the first-ever dance festival in the Middle East, have announced dates, venues and line up for the highly anticipated event.

ATB, Marco V and Sandy Rivera are among the headliners for the event which takes place on Al Maya Island 20 minutes off the coast of Abu Dhabi. The timings are 3.00pm on Friday 14 November to 7.00am.

A second event is planned for Beirut the 15th November. 

Synthtopia gets a lot of traffic from the Middle East; in October, we had close to three thousand visits from 18 countries in the region, including Turkey, Israel, United Arab Emeritates, Saudi Arabia and Cyprus. 

If your in the Middle East, let me know your perspective on the Coma event. Is it as big a deal as promoters make it out to be?

ATB is best known for his memorable dance track 9pm (Til I Come). ATB mixes trance tunes with straight-ahead dance electronica.

ATB is the nom-de-dance of Andre Tanneberger, a German DJ/producer. His first album, Movin’ Melodies, set the pattern for his later work. ATB’s albums tend to have two or three great cuts, and the remainder tends to be uneven.

Dedicated is no exception. Dedicated is full of upbeat, electronic dance music. The synth sounds are great, they cut through the mix and guide you to the dance floor. It also has some cuts that never catch fire, and one cut that sounds like filler.  Cut seven, “I can’t stand it”, is the weakest cut. It is not much more than the title phrase repeated over a dance beat.

The best parts of the album are the cuts with vocalist Roberta Carter Harrison.  “You’re not alone” is a beautiful melody matched with a great beat. Harrison handles the dance diva role well, delivering the lyrics in a heartfelt way:

“I will not worry for you, You’ll be just fine
Take my thoughts with you, and when you look behind
You will surely see a face that you recognize

You’re not alone, I’ll wait till the end of time
Open your mind, Surely it’s plain to see
You’re not alone, I’ll wait till the end of time for you
Open your mind, Surely there’s time to be with me”

Four other cuts on the album benefit from her contributions.

Two cuts are dedicated to the memory of people hit by the events of Sept 11. Both cuts, “Hero” and “I wanna cry”, are decent, but not inspirational songs. They don’t have some of the overbearing sap of some songs inspired by the twin towers tragedy. They benefit from not being lyrically tied to the tragedy, so the songs have a more universal appeal. Other titles on the CD seem like they are tied together thematically, including “Dedicated”, “Let U Go”, and “Remember”.

The entire album is full of bouncing beats, but it’s clear there’s more to ATB than just good beats. His songs are well-crafted, lyrically and melodically, add a few twists to help rise above the standard dance fare. All in all, the CD is a good collection of upbeat dance electronica which plays like the soundtrack to a trip to a good club.