(405/Stomp)

Cult trance artist/producer goes back to making commercial dance music

A man of many trades, BT (Brian Transeau) has done more than a few noteworthy things during his lengthy career, out of which his patented StutterEdit technique and visionary 2006 opus This Binary Universe remain his greatest achievements. That record, where the classical-reared producer masterfully blended self-programmed electronic patterns with acoustic and orchestral arrangements, still has few peers – while its sprawling 2CD successor These Hopeful Machines marks BT’s return to the “hit factory”. This time, he’s helped out by guest vocalists including Kirsty Hawkshaw (who famously sang the ethereal vocal on Opus III’s It’s A Fine Day), Charlotte Martin and JES. CD1 opener Suddenly zaps from the Aphex Twin-like glitches into a hooky verse and a massive guitar-driven chorus, The Emergency is tailor-made for nightclub playlists and The Light In Things is a similarly surefire trance epic – however none of them pack a mind-numbing refrain like BT’s signature stomper Somnambulist, while the closing Forget Me is appropriately forgettable. Kicking off CD2, the dreamy A Million Stars packs a potent vocal hook and Love Can Kill You is a token pop-rock song with a dance beat. In an eyebrow-raising move, Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson lends his vocals to Always and The Unbreakable – both solid pieces – however the album’s true highlight isn’t a BT original, but a re-imagination of a Psychedelic Furs’ ‘80s classic A Ghost In You, the producer’s restrained acoustic guitar accompaniment to the fore. So a bit of a mixed bag, then, but with a batch of jewels upon closer inspection.

***½

DENIS SEMCHENKO

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