Brian Transeau has been pretty quiet for four years, since This Binary Universe blew our imaginations away. BT set the bar for productive creativity and quality so high a level where, frankly, no one else could reach.
That doesn't mean he took all those years off. Quite the opposite. His newest album, These Hopeful Machines, very may well be his magnum opus. It's a two-hour aural experience that defies categorization. It's not house, it's not trance, it's not ambient - but it is. It's solid yet dynamic. It's complicated but clear. It's artistic and marketable.
For those who found This Binary Universe too experimental, it's a welcome return to dance beats. For those who loved the album for its envelope-pushing development and listening quality, they won't be disappointed either.
Taken out of context, there are sections of tracks - albeit not whole tracks themselves - that seem out of place. And maybe if you're skipping around on shuffle you might notice this more. But these variances actually contribute to a completeness of the album that is quite rare, even among the most popular producers. This is why I and many others before me contend that BT is simply the best music producer out there today. The man was practically came out of the womb ready for the job, entering music conservatory at age seven and attending Berklee at age 15 - dropping out only to be later awarded an honorary doctorate.
The quality of Transeau's work is owed not only to talent but also to tenacity. A self-described "insane" attention to detail has led to innovations such as nano-correcting and surround sound production that generate some of the most immersive, clean, and sensual experiences ever heard. Also included in the CD is a fold-out print of an eight-foot-tall oil painting that took the artist ten months to complete. BT himself said in a Facebook video post that "this is the first album that I've made, and I look at it, and it feels complete, truly complete, both in music and in art."
Right off the top, Transeau grabs you by the heartstrings. These Hopeful Machines picks up right where This Binary Universe. But after the first ten seconds, it leaps from the operating table and jumps into the dance hall. "Suddenly" is a shout-out to everyone who's been wishing for a danceable tune since Emotional Technology in way back in 2003. Not only is it filled with rockin' guitar riffs and a house-y beat, but BT brought in former BBMak member Christian Burns for vocals.
Track Review
Disc 1
"The Emergency" opens with the piano and glitch that is associated with BT's most recent opus, but he doesn't step back into experimentation just yet. The next track, "Every Other Way", is calmer than the previous two, but by no means does it lack a punch - even with the xylophone hovering overhead. "The Light Of Things" introduces some of BT's trance roots. While it's slow to pick up, the masterfully mixed curve of the energy build in this track is a (if I may use such dichotomous adjectives) gentle rollercoaster rush.
The house track"Rose of Jericho" was an early released single that skyrocketed straight into the charts when it was released last June. "Forget Me", the final track on the first CD, is not much of a club track when compared the previous songs. Its beat is driven by live-recorded snares and high-hats that are less reminiscent of trance and more of The Killers-style alternative rock. Actually, this whole song reminds me a lot of The Killers. (Also, BT's five year-old daughter Kaia has a cameo in this song. Her contribution is, unsurprisingly, cute as heck.)
Disc 2
"A Million Stars" is destined right for the DJ booth with a Tiesto-esque sharp trance beat and the whispering, soft voice of Kirsty Hawkshaw. "Love Can Kill You" is a charismatic sing-along with profuse stutter edits that again echoes alternative rock influence, as does the following track, "Always". An instrumental follows, "Le Nocturne De Lumière" (The Night of Light, I believe), which is a creative progressive house track with some unexpected surprises inside.
Rob Dickinson, who contributed the vocals for "Always", returns for a relatively lofty house-based "The Unbreakable." The collection ends with BT's first-ever cover. BT sings lead vocals of The Psychedelic Furs' "The Ghost In You" in a slow, emotional conclusion.
No comments:
Post a Comment