Yeah yeah I know. This album came out in February 2010. Well, I wasn't doing this when it came out, so that's why this review may seem untimely.
However, These Hopeful Machines is an incredible sonic journey, so I need to talk about it. But first, a bit of background.
Back in 2003 (when MusicMatch was still the best streaming audio site around), I stumbled on a track by BT called Tripping the Light Fantastic. I was just starting to more deeply explore the electronic music scene at the time, and I really liked this track, so I bought it and listened to it quite a bit.
Fast forward to January 2010. I'm a huge fan of Above & Beyond (I'll review their upcoming Group Therapy album, and also their last artist release Tri-State in other posts) and I listen to their Trance Around The World broadcast here. In Episode 305 they played a track by BT (remixed by Mr Sam) called Suddenly. Of the two hours of great music, this one definitely caught my attention and as I usually do I started searching for where I could buy it. As it turns out the track was from his at-the-time-yet-to-be-released album These Hopeful Machines.
I waited impatiently for the release, and grabbed it when it dropped in February.
One word. WOW.
From the first song Suddenly to the last (The Ghost In You) of this 2-disc album, These Hopeful Machines is an absolute pleasure to listen to.
While I expected what I would call a straight-up EDM album, each song is to my mind quite different. I'm not all that well-versed yet in all the Electronic Music/EDM genres and sub-genres, but this album has an incredibly diverse feel to it.
BT collaborates with artists any EDM fan would recognize: Christian Burns, Andrew Bayer, Jes (of Motorcycle/When the Rush Comes fame), Boom Jinx, and Ulrich Schnauss to name a few. But the coolest guest artist on this album is BT's daughter Kaia singing the chorus of Forget Me.
All of the tracks on this album are ones I can listen to over and over, but my favorites are The Emergency, Every Other Way, and Forget Me.
BT was nominated for the Best Electronic/Dance Album Grammy in 2010.
I highly recommend this album. It does not disappoint, even after many multiple listens. Go get it.
