With his latest two-hour, double-disc opus, These Hopeful Machines, BT definitively weaves both the technical prowess and compositional mastery that reminds us all why he's the composer that all other composers and produce... more »rs study. As with previous albums, These Hopeful Machines is rife with vocal collaborations that expose BT's influences and bend them toward his unique perceptions of song structure and sonic parity. Many tracks feature his signature stutter edits created by his own Breaktweaker software. By consistently balancing creative and memorable songwriting, sonic innovation and the latest technology for a cutting-edge yet organic sound, BT has become one of the most revolutionary artists and sought after producers on the scene.« less
With his latest two-hour, double-disc opus, These Hopeful Machines, BT definitively weaves both the technical prowess and compositional mastery that reminds us all why he's the composer that all other composers and producers study. As with previous albums, These Hopeful Machines is rife with vocal collaborations that expose BT's influences and bend them toward his unique perceptions of song structure and sonic parity. Many tracks feature his signature stutter edits created by his own Breaktweaker software. By consistently balancing creative and memorable songwriting, sonic innovation and the latest technology for a cutting-edge yet organic sound, BT has become one of the most revolutionary artists and sought after producers on the scene.
Brad Hofbauer | Des Plaines, IL United States | 02/02/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A few years back, I did a review of BT's "Movement In Still Life", an album that changed the way I looked at dance music. After the decent, yet stutter-step that was Emotional Technology, and the beautiful, yet too ambient for my taste "This Binary Universe", today I am happy to return to Amazon to say that BT's latest offering, "These Hopeful Machines", is an album that once again changes the way I look at dance music, a double-album where I don't even care what the names of each song are or where the skip button is located, because it flows so beautifully well.
Forget your radio-cheese pop or your repetitive club-dance music. THIS is the future right here. Brian Transeau is so ahead of his time that it's ridiculous. This is not a person who goes loop-nuts with synths and drum machines, or relies lazily on his computer to do all the work for him. This album has been composed with TLC and it shows. You can truly feel BT's vision come to life, almost as if every minute detail was meticulously planned and executed precisely according to his vision. Nothing feels "thrown in" for the sake of it, and even at 2 hours long, you'll still be hearing new effects and tricks. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the music is very melodic, uplifting and fresh throughout. THIS is what feel-good music should be, and I feel truly priveleged to have seen a glimpse of the future of music. Hopefully the next generation will see the impact BT has left on electronic music as a whole, because as it's always stood, IMO, the man just does not get nearly enough credit in this oversaturated industry. Marvelous album - thank you, BT!"
Setting the Tone for trance music in 2010!
Adam Jackson | San Francisco, CA | 02/02/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Brian delivered some amazing electronic albums in the late 90s and in the early 2000s. Then, in 2003, Emotional Technology, Movement in Still Life and This Binary Universe took a new approach to electronic music and the clubs didn't quite soak it up.
For good reason. Personally, I think those albums are fantastic but they were experimental, new and broke out of the traditional trance mold.
As I attended BT's shows and started hearing singles from the upcoming album, These Hopeful Machines, it was clear that Brian was bringing things back to basics but I wasn't quite sure how he would deliver...
These Hopeful Machines is a new era in electronic music. Brian has taken every phenomenal aspect of his entire catalog and applied it to this album.
1. The vocals, pop appeal and ballad level lyrics that we love in the album, Emotional Technology
2. The stutter edit effects that made up This Binary Universe
3. The build up and release that we danced to on IMA and ESCM.
4. The guitar and "live" feeling that Movement in Still Life" gave us
Brian took these aspects and modernized it all for this new decade and its the perfect dance album for 2010!
My favorite tracks: (in order)
Suddenly
Emergency
A Million Stars
The Unbreakable
Brian also teamed up with some amazing DJs to deliver fantastic remixes that you can buy as a seperate digital album on iTunes.
BT hit a home run! I've listened to the album 6 times today and will listen to it 20 more times before the week is over. I'm in love and will have a hard time going back to his old albums because everything I loved about those records are in These Hopeful Machines."
Heartwrenching ...
Elizabeth Williams | Seattle, WA | 02/03/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"... because it means no other artist or album after this will ever live up to my expectations again.
I didn't think he could do it ... after four years, I thought BT had gone to live in a hermitage somewhere to contemplate the wonderful accomplishments of his life, but it turns out, he was working on this album. I feel a little ashamed to be calling this an "album" ... it's not an album, it's an experience. It encompasses everything music should encompass. It's orchestral, lyrical, celebratory ... it's about love, heartache, inner peace, and every other emotion you could possibly imagine. It's tough to explain exactly what I feel when I listen to BT, because his music envelops all of your senses in a bubble of cosmic waves and euphoria. BT's music DOES something to your brain waves and the world just seems a little bit clearer. 'These Hopeful Machines' is no exception to that.
Protip: Don't listen to this album (or really, any of Brian's music) on your laptop speakers. The music should truly be experienced in all of its glory ... use a good pair of headphones or stereo speakers."
TH3S3 H0P3FUL MACH1NES - A BALANCED REVIEW
calberry | usa | 02/07/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"(Since theres so many fanboy raves, heres a balanced review:)
BT has woven an album that is probably his most mature yet. This feels more complete than any of the others. It's amazing but not perfect.
[[[(Constructive Criticism): It seems more effort was put into the production and sounds rather than the music itself (ok, some of the timings are intricate, but the chord structures & melodies/harmonies are nothing 'wow'). The music itself isn't groundbreaking - it's a mish-mash of popular music styles you've heard before - it's the production tricks that stand out. Some of the songs are literally over-produced. Where the album tries to 'rock out' it gets hindered by sounding too technical and sterile. The obsession with micro-managed notes, perfect pitch and granularity means little musically to the soul. BT still hasn't learned that sometimes 'less is more' and that if there was more imperfect substance we wouldn't need so much perfect filler. If the songs seem a bit disjointed, well, they are - theres too much 'icing' and not enough 'cake' at times. The album suffers a bit of an identity crisis with it's hired singers and rock/pop/emo/retro/techno/new age/dance songs often lasting 10 minutes a song. This made it feel more like a project. This is where it lacked a producer(s) to step in and 'trim the fat' and make it more focused and tight.(end of constructive criticism)]]]
HOWEVER, when compared with 90% of what is out there - this stands as a work of art. It does have emotion and technically it's VERY exciting to listen to. I expected a lot from this album and with 2 discs, a few great & memorable songs, countless amazing production techniques, superbly produced and mastered - it didn't dissapoint. BT is maturing as an artist as well as a 'technologist'. I look forward to joining him in future adventures in music - the guy just loves what he does and it shows. If you are a fan of music for music's sake - You owe it to yourself to listen to this album. It's great - just not mind-blowing like the fanboys are saying.
Oh, and BUY THE CD! Why pay for an inferior sounding mp3 when you can have the higher quality CD ?!?"
Good, but not ESCM
T. Ruddick | Oceanside, CA | 03/02/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Some of this will grow on me, I expect. Unquestionably my favorite tracks are "Rose of Jericho" and "Le Nocturne de Lumière". Unfortunately, a lot of the rest reminds me of "Solar Plexus", my least favorite track on ESCM.
And for those of you who would like to spilt the monolithic MP3s into track-size chunks, here are useful MP3-frame cut-points:
Disc 1
1. Suddenly: 0 - 18620
2. The Emergency: 18621 - 43053
3. Every Other Way: 43054 - 69197
4. The Light In Things: 69198 - 93969
5. Rose Of Jericho: 93970 - 11736
6. Forget Me: 11737 - end
Disc 2
1. A Million Stars: 0 - 28559
2. Love Can Kill You: 28560 - 40886
3. Always: 40887 - 55112
4. Le Nocturne de Lumière: 55113 - 81863
5. The Unbreakable: 81864 - 105816
6. The Ghost In You: 105817 - end
I used a Macintosh shareware tool called "MP3 Trimmer" to do my splitting. There's probably something similar available for Windows."