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I first saw BT perform on NYE 97-98 alongside Deep Dish in front of a disappointingly small crowd. Earlier this year, his performance at Two Tribes was a stark contrast to that experience! People were crammed into every possible nook and cranny of the “Global Undergound” shed. It seems that BT has a legion of Australian fans that grows exponentially with every visit. Despite his on-stage attire closely resembling a State Emergency Services worker (full-length orange overalls) and the fact he displays a penchant for slamming his keyboards around in a very late-80s kind of way, BT produces exceptionally stylish music. He always has. “Movement In Still Life” is no exception.
Not to detract from his “solo” talent, BT is widely recognised for his collaborative efforts. In fact, it appears he is only rivalled by Madonna in his unerring capacity to select leading edge sounds “du jour”. In the past, he has worked alongside the likes of Paul Oakenfold (BT was signed to his Perfecto label in the mid 90s), Paul Van Dyk, Deep Dish, Crystal Method and Carl Craig. He has dipped his toes into the mainstream charts with remixes of Tori Amos, Seal and Madonna. “Movement” owes its depth and richness to other carefully selected and perfectly-executed collaborative relationships. His long-standing creative partnership with Sasha continues into this latest release. The album also features the talents of Adam Freeland, DJ Rap and vocals from Kirsty Hawkshaw and Doughty from Soul Coughing.
“Movement” defies classification (which can be quite challenging for a reviewer!). BT jumps from nu-skool electro breaks on “Ride” and “Madskillzs – Mic Chekka” (thank you Sasha & Mr Freeland!) to rock-dance fusion sounds on the very radio-friendly “Never Gonna Come Back Down” (with additional rock cred from Doughty of Soul Coughing) then jumps back to his trademark progressive house style in “Giving up the Ghost” (featuring DJ Rap on vocals). There is something here to suit everyone’s taste, but if you are a strict adherer to a specific music style, there may not be enough for you. Where I generally see diversity in an album as a positive, others may see it as a compromise – not enough of any one thing. But what makes BT such a standout artist, is the fact he attempts such a broad range of styles and actually manages to pull them off. Quite a feat when you consider how narrowly focussed & genre-driven a lot of dance music has become.
However, unless you have been marooned on a remote island for quite some time, you will already have heard about “Movement in still life”, so I will focus on the bonus disc – 9 tracks of remixes and rarities…
The disc leads off with Fibonacci Sequence (featured recently on the excellent Underground Beats compilations). This track fuses a vocal sample – a reading of the numbers that form the initial part of the Fibonacci sequence – with gorgeous (and perfectly manipulated) synth sounds. The result being an incredible, unique track that forms a massive departure from the progressive house style that led to his popularity. It has much darker feel than the track on “Movement”.
“Hip Hop Phenomenon” is an unusually-named track – “Electro Phenomenon” would perhaps be more apt (although my lack of understanding about hip-hop may be letting me down here…I always imagine hip-hop to be harder-edged and more vocal-orientated than this track). I get a feeling that this track doesn’t get where it needs to go – it’s driven well and seems to be a nice-looking vehicle but it’s on a road to nowhere. This is followed by a very trancey remix of “Mercury and Solace” by Mark Shimmon. The mix features epic sounds that sweep across the track, at first hiding the ethereal vocals of the original but then letting them through to very “crowd pleasing” effect – I can imagine this track being a huge hit on dancefloors, particularly around 4 or 5am when you’re looking for something beautiful to keep you going!
Libra (one of BT’s own pseudonyms) remixes “Dreaming”, again combining the gorgeous vocals of the original with some beats – but this time the beats are more “progressive house” in style and, at times, a little overpowering for the vocals. This is the version you’ll hear when you’re out and about – I prefer the original version for listening to at home. “Never Gonna Come Back Down” gets the Timo Maas treatment – and the man of the moment doesn’t disappoint! A very funky remix that strips away the rock music ethic of the original and makes it much more “club friendly”. This will have you grooving around your lounge room, kitchen, shower…wherever!
Similarly, the Hybrid remix of “Godspeed” retains all the best bits of the original (almost all of it!) and overlays them with a breaky, trancey feel that is trademark Hybrid. Rather than slamming you over the head with heavy beats and cheesy core progressions, this is ‘pretty trance’ at its finest. “Smartbomb” returns to a harder feel – heavier beats, more ‘rock’ in style. You’ll either love it or hate it!
“Love on Haight St” chills again – grooving along, great music for days when it’s a struggle to leave your bean bag after a long night out! Some rap, some scratching…nothing too challenging – it just cruises along fairly inoffensively! ‘Shame’ is another track you’ll either love or hate. It features BT on vocals and it almost verges on ‘ballad’ in style. This track just pushes the ‘diversity’ angle a little too far.
If you haven’t go a copy of “Movement”, make sure you get this release. The album itself is superb and will be on your play list for ages to come. As for the bonus CD, it’s a mixed bag. There are some definite standouts, but if you already have the original album, you’ll have to assess whether there’s enough reason to warrant another purchase.
BUY: Movement In Still Life + Bonus Disc – BT from ChaosMusic.com
