With all the swiftness of inevitability, BT’s soon-to-be-released album These Hopeful Machines leaked digitally in advance of its February 2nd street date. That everything remained locked down for this long is actually a considerable success, given that U2’s latest was pilfered six weeks in advance. A few notes:

1. This is not the first time his music has released early. Such is the nature of both digital distribution and high demand/anticipation, and there’s really no point in ignoring the white elephant in the room. To the fans who have it: If you haven’t pre-ordered the album already or made plans to pick it up as soon as the release hits, you really should. To BT: Please exercise patience and restraint, and do not judge your fans who jumped the gun. They’ve waited a long time, supported you the entire way, bought your previous albums and gone to your shows.
2. BT Network does not encourage the distribution of the leak. We do know, however, that it has scene origins through Usenet and made it’s way across the more popular avenues throughout the afternoon. Hot tip, kids: It’s V2 VBR, a space-efficient equivalent of 192 kbps. That’s what we call ‘utter shit quality’ in layman’s terms, scarcely better than FM radio. You get what you pay for. People who actually buy the album will notice a significantly higher ceiling.
3. It’s been so long since BT officially spoke his peace on the controversial subject of filesharing, it’s impossible to know where he actually stands. He’s expressed devout openness in the distant past and serious reservations in more recent interviews. However, it’s fair to assume that no artist wants their music released before they’re ready for it to be.

Bottom line: You are openly allowed and encouraged to discuss the album if you happen to have it, just respect those who choose to wait and do not make this any easier than it already is to obtain. And know your source is an unintended, inferior product… no matter how good the material itself may be.

These Hopeful Machines

Not exactly the long-speculated “Feed The Monster,” although it’s probably a good thing the list of other embarrassingly speculated names is long gone. THM officially joins the parade of album acronyms IMA, ESCM, MISL, ET and TBU.

As per usual, you can never underestimate the resourcefulness of the members in this community. Drudged up on Korean music site bugs.co.kr are juicy tidbits to the supposedly upcoming single Every Other Way, previously featured here in various, partial forms a few months ago. Here’s the listing from the site:

Artist: BT
Album Type: Single
Release Date: 2009-12-04
Album Genre: Electronica
Style: Electronica
Distributor: J-MC Entertainment

1. Every Other Way (feat. Jes) (Radio Edit) (4:02)
2. Every Other Way (feat. Jes) (Album Mix) (9:39)
3. Every Other Way (feat. Jes) (Armin Van Buuren Remix) (8:13)
4. Every Other Way (feat. Jes) (Phunk Investigation Remix) (9:11)
5. Every Other Way (feat. Jes) (Whelan & Di Scala Remix) (6:36)

Make of that what you will. The attached remixers does bear some level of consistency with the rumored reworkings of the title (particularly Armin van Buuren), though the absence of track lengths leaves a bit to be desired. For those of you bold enough to purchase it now, feel free to drop a line on your mileage. The rest of you, it’s safe to say this will be arriving Stateside sooner or later.

Edit >>

100% legit, for those of you who actually have a KSSN and the comprehension to read the site. Track lengths have been added and a full entry into the discography soon to follow.

With the BT community in the midst of being kept in the dark, separated from the official powers that be and in some cases utterly thrown under the bus, now is an appropriate time to remind everyone that this place has been, and always will be safe haven for those with unabashed enthusiasm and cynicism both. We encourage honesty in constructive forms—if something sucks, explain why. If it rocks, be ready and willing to evangelize. Principle is a healthy thing, even when paying dearly for it.

Investing in the vision of an artist is a dicey proposition. It comes with the territory of unrequited love and expectations that can never be truly fulfilled. There is no middle ground with a loyal fanbase. ESPN’s Bill Simmons eloquently pointed this out just recently:

Fans are like women. We are loyal. We are passionate. We are (occasionally) crazy. We have long memories, and we cannot forgive being hurt. You can break up with a woman once—and only once—and they might take you back, but they will put you through hell first. If you cheat on a woman? They might take you back, but they will never forgive you, and eventually, the whole relationship will self-combust.

Politics aside, we have a timely preview of trance guru Armin Van Buuren’s remix of Every Other Way, a collaboration between BT and Jes (of Deepsky’s ‘Ghost’ and Tiesto’s ‘Elements of Life’ fame). I don’t need to point out the excitement prior to this track’s appearance, due to the love affair many of our members have with Jes and her previous work. (Yes Lustx01, I’m looking at you. This is a guy who’s had Jes sign his first two iPhones and counting. Seriously, her #1 fan.) The track itself (You can preview it on the YouTube video above) suffers the usual trance factory additions of overproduced stabs and modulated swaths of keyboard synths, but underneath this layer are some fantastically sincere vocals and intricate acoustic work, most likely taken from BT’s original material. I can’t say I’m enthusiastic about the remix itself—but the original mix has the potential to be something very special indeed. After months of official silence, you really couldn’t ask for anything better to break it.

Till the next time.

Showtime. Get your collective asses over to Beatport for the second slice:

Home > Labels > Nettwerk > Rose Of Jericho Part 2

Same as before: $7.47 for the release of three tracks @ $2.49, plus $1.00 each if you want them in WAV.

With no original mix to steal the show and two subpar remixes on the table, expectations are a little different this time around. So what’s the damage? Let’s find out.

Adam K & Soha Remix - Three weeks ago I said:

You’re still in progressive house territory, albeit the electrohouse variant. [...] It’s decent stuff, but painfully trendy. These are the guys you call when Deadmau5 is on tour, Glenn Morrison isn’t available, and you don’t want to deal with Pryda. Not to say this doesn’t have incredible potential—I anticipate something that will compliment a middle set nicely. I may even spin it myself.

What you’re getting: Faxing Berlin with a BT melody.

And… tada! That’s pretty much what we have. It’s lush. They added enough of a completely new melody and used so little of the original one that you’ll either love it or hate it. In all fairness, it’s a standalone track in its own right. Nothing groundbreaking, but fantastic mid-set material just as I anticipated. Of all the Rose of Jericho remixes, this one is far and away my favorite.

Virtual Vault Remix - I said:

These guys are fairly new, and bring absolutely nothing unique to the table. What we have here is another trance act, completely indistinguishable from everyone else producing the same things using the same software, patches and sounds. [...] Will every trance DJ and their cousins play it? Of course. But it’s still fodder.

Again, exactly what we’ve got here. I give these guys credit up to the point that it’s not as repulsive as their other work, and not quite the spectacular trainwreck of Robbie Rivera’s first remix, but that’s still not saying much. It’s blandly uninspired and ultimately forgettable. 6:25 running time, with leads? That’s barely enough material to even qualify as a track. Enjoy the 15 minutes while it lasts, guys, and be grateful that Tiesto pulled a favor to get you on here in the first place.

And now, back to Robbie Rivera for a much-undeserved round 2 - I said:

The Afterhours mix may have some potential, since a title like that usually implies a chill pill of some kind.

There’s nothing afterhours about this mix at all—it’s a stripped down, thumping, worse version (somehow?) of Sultan and Shepard’s marvel of monotony. STAB. STABSTAB. STABSTABSTAB. transition. STAB. Not even a pitch change. Could this possibly be any more passé?

The presence of split releases and their tracklistings always makes me giggle uncontrollably, because there’s always one thing VERY readily apparent: The label knew going in which remixes were hot, which ones sucked, and split them accordingly. In a not-so-subtle slight, Adam K & Soha headlined Part 2 in order to buoy the sales of an otherwise worthless release. Ditto Part 1, where the original mix was the primary draw with a few people picking up Sultan & Shepard’s mix along the way. Ideally and stylistically, Robbie should have been dropped from Part 1 in favor of Adam K & Soha. That would have been a solid, quality 3-track single release. The problem is—and Nettwerk and Black Hole both knew this—a single with two mixes by Robbie Rivera and one by Virtual Vault will sell to (no pun intended) virtually no one. Something had to give, because someone actually made the decision to pay Robbie and Virtual Vault to do these in the first place. Sadly enough, there were probably people around willing to do better work for free.

Since Beatport graciously offers line-item veto, I highly recommend snapping up the Adam K & Soha Remix as soon as possible, and deftly ignoring the other two.

Wonder no more:

You can check out the official profile for it at MyFonts.com here. Swoopy, sans-serify, sexy in that modern art deco kinda way. The J kicks serious ass, but to use it in all caps is almost a crime. This post has been brought to you by the letter ‘E’, and was flipped for real courtesy of Fenster.

Head on over to btmusic.com, official home of BT and you’ll notice some significant changes. Gone are the subtle stars of a binary universe, the sidebar navigation and static impression. Newly-arrived is a lush palette with a heavy dose of gloss, prominently featuring two widgets: One to BT’s Twitter feed, another hosting videos—currently a performance reel and the Rose of Jericho music video. Navigation includes convenient links to the official board, BT’s Beatport artist page and contact information. Clean, simple, and just enough tasteful use of flash to avoid a cliché. From one designer to another, job well done. Easily surpasses the otherwise abysmal gamut of official portals for other electronic musicians.

Amongst the many recent developments in BT land, is the approval and launch of iPhone-based live remix application Sonifi. You can check the details on the App Store page here, along with the press release and feature rundown. The first set of reviews reveal a steady diet of kool-aid drinking, though the app itself appears to have decent potential. I’ll be snapping it up and toying with it this weekend. Expect a thorough rundown sometime next week (hopefully), including a tear-down of the app.

So after what was (at best) a subpar outing for Sultan & Shepard on The Rose of Jericho, we have our first glimpse of their remix for A Million Stars. It’s proggy too, but damn, does this kick some serious ass. The vocals, the progression, the package, it’s delicious. MORE MORE MOOOOOOOOORE.

Hat tip to Raven for tracking this down.

Update: Rumors abound on who the vocalist in this track is. The usual suspects, Kirsty and Jan have been suggested, but I think Fuzz’s speculation of Charlotte Martin nails it. We’ll soon find out.

Piping hot in MP3, AAC and WAV:

Home > Labels > Nettwerk > Rose Of Jericho Part 1

$7.47 for the release of three tracks @ $2.49, plus $1.00 each if you want them in WAV.

Update:

Called it. Let’s review briefly, shall we?

Original Mix: 7 minutes and 43 seconds of badassness instead of 4 minutes and 53 seconds. This will steamroll the Beatport daily chart trash fodder, spin it like a top, twist it like a pretzel, eat it’s lunch AND steal the girl… all at the same time. This will chart #1. Guaranteed. The only over/under is how long before it leaps to the head of the pack.

Sultan & Ned Shephard Remix - I said:

there’s a reasonable chance we’ll get something decent. I just doubt it’ll crack Diggers’ monthly chart unless he’s desperate for material.

What you’re getting: A progressive house stomper

And that’s exactly what you’re getting. Decent material that doesn’t insult the original, nor does it crack up to it. I reviewed this kind of stuff for Progressive Sounds for two years… I’ve chewed on so much of this plunging, generic house, I had enough of it then to last a lifetime. I have no more patience for it. For Christ’s sake, someone buy these guys a bassline.

Robbie Rivera Remix - I said:

Here’s your pretentious tech house trainwreck, complete with monotonous thuds, non-sensical synth blips, rogue arps and virtually no point considering the original source material (which is really as far as it needed to go). [...] I have nothing against Robbie Rivera personally, I just think his music is bland and uninspired like the vast majority of the genre he dwells in. [...]

What you’re getting: More blippy bleep bloops in an already bleepy song.

NAILED HIM. Back to the drawing board, Robbie. Hope your afterhours mix saves you in two weeks.

Big whooping meh. As per usual, topping Brian is a nearly futile exercise, since he goes out of his way to make his tracks as tough as possible to remix. Zero dead space in the stems. Thank you for playing, gentlemen… shall we take our next caller?