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.

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.

While everyone chomps the bit for new news, I figure we’ll do a quick rundown:

• DJ Times put up a free link to a download-only 128 kbps radio cut of Rose of Jericho. I couldn’t even find it on the site at the time, without following a direct link from BT Music. It’s such an insignificant addition I can’t even be bothered to link to it here. Someone wanna comment with it?
• People are wondering if Rose of Jericho will be seeing a physical CD release. If the leaked tracklistings are to be believed, the answer is yes because a Maxi was mentioned. There’s been no official word from BT’s camp though.
• Steve, aka longtime poster seekay303 has put up a slew of BT vinyl treasures, CDs and miscellaneous memorabilia, including some pretty swank posters I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on. Check his lists here and here. You can also reply directly to him here. Good luck bro.

That’s all. In the immortal words of the one and only Fuzznuts, please pull forward…

Unbeknownst to many, the (soon-to-be) famed iPhone-based Sonifi app logo is actually a winning design from 99designs, a contest website that provides a vehicle for corporations to receive spec designs and select the best. Sonifi’s winning design comes from Nuno Serrão, a Portugal-based designer that does a variety of identity, branding, print and web. Based on the examples listed on URB Studios, Serrão’s firm, he is exceptionally talented and his work well-deserving of further attention throughout the electronic community.

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.

After a wild weekend of nearly 10,000 hits, it’s nice to know people haven’t forgotten about this place… and it’s painfully clear we need to upgrade our hosting already. Things have settled down a bit and the site speed should be fine for now, but don’t be surprised to find some downtime in the next month or two while we switch. Eff me, some of the people here I haven’t seen in ages.

The most obvious change was the decision to abandon the long-running forum on ezBoard. At the risk of requiring people to sign up again, it was an easy decision to make because ezBoard sucks. Posts disappeared, ads are everywhere, the service is slow, and we had no control over it. At least here you can bitch to us directly. So even if you’re an old timer, hop over to the board and create a new account. This will actually serve you not just on the board, but throughout the entire site as well. More on that in a bit.

Now about the site and our future plans:

This was built and designed over a 2 month period, using the database-driven ExpressionEngine software. It’s awesome, and allows us to do anything we want here. The discography and FAQ are being fleshed out as you read this. Future rollout plans include a member-manageable photo gallery, a wiki module for people to contribute, hosting space for members to upload their own tracks and mixes, and possibly a radio station/podcast. Nearly all of these features will be accessible from the same profile you use to post on the board. This is a huge change from before, and one we’re excited about.

The download page is going up tonight, with previously free (and difficult to obtain) remix packs available for download. We’re also in the process of designing some rad-looking album covers for tracks that never had any. If you’re an artist and would like your work, wallpapers, photos, videos or any other kind of media featured for download, drop an email to webmaster at bt-network.org and we’ll hook up.

This is a community effort. We listen to your suggestions and criticisms both, in an effort to make this place the best it can be. Give a little. Help make it yours too.

Till the next time.

Congrats to the winners listed above. Now here is where it gets interesting!

Since we had so many instances of cheating and what not, we have decided to add another step. These four people are able to win one of the following:

• 1 of 2 copies of R and R autographed by the man himself
• A 12 inch of Dreaming autographed by BT
• Two ten dollar gift certificates to amazon.com

The people listed above will be notified that they have been selected to win one of these items. From there arrnagements will be made for them participate in a BT know-it-all quiz. It should be pretty fair. If I were you and were having a boring night, I would stop by in the ole chatroom to see the results.

Good luck to everyone. Thank you to everyone who entered.

BostonBTFan

WOW! Was last night just a trip? Getting to chat with BT is totally awesome. Here are a couple of quotes from that chat:

• BT: “If the world is ending, I am learing to DJ and play cello”
• BT: “Beat mixing is 10000 times more fun than even video games”

More about his spinning, I have heard from a reliable source that the live spinning performances in NYC and San Fan are gonna be wicked awesome. I so wish I could go.

A new contest has been released. Please check the contest section to see how you can win a signed R and R CD!!! We are trying to revive the mailing list since listbot joined the ranks of other successful dot coms. Good Luck with the contest.

Love Peace and a web searching g,

BostonBTFan

R&R is released on Tuesday, October 23, 2001…yipddo. There is some good info below…some already known, some rather shocking. I will tell you that my info (as often as it changes) comes from the severest of reliable sources and nothing is ever real until is emerges itself. Now…

It’s BT’s Birthday today. The man is 30. Quite a resume. Damn do I feel old.

btmusic.com has a new intro as a teaser for what to come to the new and improved Official website (I’m assuming by October 23, 2001).

As btmusic.com reported today, BT will be spinning ( ::thud in shock:: ) @ The Pinky Room @ The Centro-Fly in New York on October 23rd as part of Nettwerk’s official R&R record release party. Someone bootleg that sucker (j/k, I would never endorse bootlegs…unless I owned them). But if one decides to, make sure if he drops Darude in his set you burn the original.

Related to spinning in the Pinky room, BT will make an in-store appearance at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square on October 23, 2001 @ 6pm. For those who attend, make sure and…

1. Tell him the shag looks great
2. Ask him about a tour
3. Tell him you know of the BT-Network
4. That you are tight with Operagirl, Dpp, Boston, Bogie, 3pm, and Mad “The Revolution Will Be Televised” Dawg
5. Don’t ask him to wear your tiara
6. Ask him how the following bullet happened…

This is very complicated from the tiny pieces I know, but here is the timeline:

• BT did 2 tracks with BS
• was asked for progress…he turned in ROUGH copies
• was asked for changes and/or JIVE effed with the tracks (speculation)
• BT pulled them, but had already sent them to JIVE
• BT has no international rights to his tunes (is my guess)
• The 2 BS tracks will appear on the import version of her CD, yes, the rough BS tracks…against his will.

Now I, for one am both glad and scared I get a chane to hear them, but am still irritated that they are being released against his will. That sucks. Makes me want to move to the mountains and grow carrots…oh wait, I am in the mountains growing carrots.

An now back to your regularly scheduled pop music.