These Hopeful Machines

BT | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 2, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Nettwerk Records
• ASIN: B0030IXWH2
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (118 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,845 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

79 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The master has evolved further yet..., February 2, 2010

By 

Brad Hofbauer (Des Plaines, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: These Hopeful Machines (Audio CD)

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!

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartwrenching ..., February 2, 2010

By 

Elizabeth Williams "le_revolution" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: These Hopeful Machines (Audio CD)

... 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.

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Setting the Tone for trance music in 2010!, February 2, 2010

By 

Adam Jackson "Lover of Technology" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: These Hopeful Machines (Audio CD)

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.