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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_bt_credit-myriam-santos2-1600x1200_5856.jpg]]
2
3->''"My motivation is simple.\
4To be additive. I wish in some small way to bend the collective human narrative towards the positive.\
5To inspire untold (even to me) small leaps of faith that germinate and grow in people I will never know.\
6To make music that makes people feel connected & less alone. That inspires people to face life and even if they fail to do so with dignity."''
7--> --'''BT'''
8
9BT is the stage name of Brian Wayne Transeau (born October 4, 1971), a prominent electronic musician. His signature style includes a lot of post-processing effects, oftentimes making you think that your Platform/MP3 player has crashed horribly or become possessed by [[EldritchAbomination something quite unpleasant]]. Despite this, his music is still precisely rhythmical, insanely catchy, and omnipresent.
10
11His albums have run the gamut from straight progressive trance, to vocal-heavy dance, to phenomenally stirring ambient music. As a producer, he's collaborated with many other artists ([[Music/SoulCoughing Mike Doughty]], Music/ToriAmos, Music/BritneySpears, and [[Music/ThePolice Stewart Copeland]] to name a few) and remixed songs by... pretty much anyone he hasn't collaborated with ({{Music/Madonna}}, Music/TheDoors, Music/DianaRoss).
12
13His 2010 album ''These Hopeful Machines'' was nominated for a MediaNotes/GrammyAward in the "Best Dance/Electronica" category, losing to [[Music/LaRoux La Roux's]] self-titled album.
14
15!! Discography
16
17[[AC: Studio Albums]]
18* ''Ima'' (1995)
19* ''ESCM'' (1997)
20* ''Movement in Still Life'' (1999/2000)
21* ''Emotional Technology'' (2003)
22* ''This Binary Universe'' (2006)
23* ''These Hopeful Machines'' (2010)
24* ''Nuovo Morceau Subrosa'' (2012)
25* ''If the Stars Are Eternal So Are You and I'' (2012)
26* ''A Song Across Wires'' (2013)
27* ''_'' (2016)[[note]]Officially, this album is untitled, but BT simply used an underscore character as a placeholder in order to release it through iTunes and other digital stores.[[/note]]
28* ''Between Here and You'' (2019)
29* ''Everything You’re Searching For is On The Other Side of Fear'' (2019)
30* ''The Lost Art of Longing'' (2020)
31* ''Metaversal'' (2021)
32
33[[AC: EP's]]
34* ''Turn Me On'' (1999)
35* ''Extended Movement'' (2000)
36* ''The Technology EP'' (2004)
37* ''Human Technology EP'' (2005)
38
39[[AC: Compilations]]
40* ''R&R: Rare & Remixed'' (2001)
41* ''Still Life in Motion'' (2001)
42* ''10 Years in the Life'' (2002)
43* ''These Humble Machines'' (2011); Radio-edits of ''These Hopeful Machines'' on a single disc.
44* ''These Re-Imagined Machines'' (2011); A 2-disc set containing many assorted remixes of tracks from ''These Hopeful Machines''. [[LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition A limited-edition 4-disc set containing an obscene amount of goodies]][[note]]3 CD's containing 24 remixes, 1 DVD of all 59 remixes and 3 music videos, a 2.32-page, 12” hard bound book, a 3.12” x 72” poster and a BT logo sticker, as well as being personally autographed and serial-numbered by BT... whew![[/note]] was released some time later.
45* ''Laptop Symphony'' (2012); A 2-disc set containing various new remixes, in the spirit of most of his live performances. "Flaming June" from ''ESCM'' makes its triumphant return as the final track on the second disc.
46* ''Electronic Opus'' (2015); Funded via Website/{{Kickstarter}}, it contains symphonic, orchestral re-arrangements of many classic BT songs, including "Flaming June", "Simply Being Loved", "Dreaming", "1.618", and many more.
47
48[[AC: Sample CD's]]
49* ''Breakz from the Nu Skool'' (2002)
50* ''Twisted Textures'' (2002)
51* ''300 Years Later'' (with Nick Phoenix) (2005)
52
53[[AC: Music appearances]]
54* ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' (Complete score)
55* ''Film/{{Monster}}'' (Complete score)
56* ''Film/{{Stealth}}'' (Complete score, and collaborated with Music/DavidBowie)
57* ''Franchise/{{Cars}}: [[WesternAnimation/PixarShorts Tokyo Mater]]'' (Complete score)
58* ''VideoGame/{{Frequency|Harmonix}}'' and ''Amplitude'' (Contributed tracks to each)
59* ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol'' (complete score)
60* ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeedUnderground'' (Licensed his song "Kimosabe")
61* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStoryToons: Partysaurus Rex'' (complete score, minus some musical cues from ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'')
62* ''[[VideoGame/{{SSX}} SSX Tricky]]'' (Licensed his song "The Hip-Hop Phenomenon")
63* Of all things, he provided background music for a series of direct-to-DVD Yoga and Pilates DVD's MTV released in the early 2000s.
64* ''[[VideoGame/ExtremeG XGRA]]'' (Features several tracks from ''Movement in Still Life'')
65
66----
67!! "The only constant is tropes":
68* AuthorAppeal: Mathematical concepts, which prominently show up in song titles and samples, and occasionally lyrics. He once explained on Facebook an old technique of his that used the curve of a parabola to calculate pings/samples that speed up or slow down.
69* BoastfulRap: On "Knowledge of Self", "Madskillz-Mic Chekka", and "Kimosabe", with the caveat that the vocalist isn't BT.
70* ClusterFBomb: The final verse of the Industrial section of ''Solar Plexus''.
71* EpicRocking: As a progressive trance artist in the 90s, this is quite common in BT's catalogue, with songs between 8 and 11 minutes:
72** Debut album ''Ima'' contains a 42 minute DJ mix of the vinyl version by producer Sasha (himself known for long compositions.) The [=2CD=] US version also includes back to back mixes of "Loving You More" and "Blue Skies", totalling 13 and 17 minutes, respectively.
73** Nearly every song on ''ECSM'' is 8 minutes long.
74** The vinyl mixes of ''Movement in Still Life'' and ''Emotional Technology'' consist of extended versions of 8 of each album's songs, with most hovering 9-10 minutes in length.
75** The average song length on ''These Hopeful Machines'' is 9:20, with only two songs dipping below 7:30 in length. The similar ''A Song Across Wires'' has an average of 8:13, with one song slightly under 6:00 in length. Both albums were also issued in radio edit form: ''THM'' kept 4-7 minute song lengths, while ''Wires'' was cut down to less than 4 minutes a song.
76** The full version of ''_'' includes five songs above 12 minutes in length. Three of the songs were added to streaming services in divided segments.
77** "[[https://btmusic.com/genesisjson/ Genesis.json]]", a "one-of-one piece of software containing a 24-hour, audio and visual, adaptive composition".
78* EpicInstrumentalOpener: The album version of "Loving You More" has a 9-minute lead in track (the "Garden of Ima" dub mix), which segues into the "Final Spiritual Journey" mix (the radio edit).
79* EverythingIsAnInstrument: Best exemplified on ''This Binary Universe'', where the sounds of his daughter's infant giggles get used to great effect. One press release for the album mentioned that BT had used circuit bending (re-wiring instruments, or in this case, even household appliances and Furbys) to create unique sounds.
80** The credits for the song "Le nocturne de Lumière" on ''These Hopeful Machines'' lists all of the conventional (and non-conventional) instruments, followed by all of the software BT wrote himself, followed by "who knows what else".
81[[folder:Genre Roulette]]
82* GenreRoulette: Following every album since ''Ima'', BT's music spans virtually every genre.
83** ''ESCM'' contains the following:
84*** "Firewater" – Trip Hop
85*** "Orbitus Teranium" – Electro
86*** "Flaming June" – Trance
87*** "The Road to Lostwithiel" - Drum and Bass
88*** "Lullaby for Gaia" - A tribute to Music/NewOrder.
89*** "Memories in a Sea of Forgetfulness" – Drum and Bass
90*** "Solar Plexus" – [[ClusterFBomb Cuss-filled]] Industrial, leading into a soft piano ballad.
91*** "Nectar" - Trance
92*** "Remember" – Orchestral Vocal Trance
93*** "Love, Peace, and Grease" – Old Skool Electro
94*** "Content" – Trance, ending with an orchestral version of Flaming June
95** The US release of ''Movement In Still Life'' goes even further...
96*** "Madskillz-Mic Chekka" – Electro Rap
97*** "Never Gonna Come Back Down" – Electronic Rock
98*** "Dreaming" – Vocal Trance
99*** "Shame" - Alternative Rock
100*** "Movement in Still Life" – Big Beat/Turntablism
101*** "Satellite" – Downtempo/Acoustic Rock
102*** "Godspeed" – Trance
103*** "Running Down the Way Up" – J-Pop-esque Vocal Dance Pop
104*** "Mercury and Solace" – Vocal Trance
105*** "Smartbomb" – Big Beat
106*** "Love on Haight Street" – Smooth Rap
107** ''Emotional Technology'' continues where ''Movement In Still Life'' left off...
108*** "Knowledge of Self" – Electro Rap
109*** "Superfabulous" – Pop Rock
110*** "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" – Pop
111*** "The Force of Gravity" – Vocal Trance
112*** "Dark Heart Dawning" – Acoustic Alternative Rock with Soul/Gospel influence
113*** "The Great Escape" – Vocal Electro
114*** "P A R I S" – Electronic Rock/Dance
115*** "Circles" – Alternative Rock
116*** "The Last Moment of Clarity" – Dance Pop
117*** "Communicate" – Vocal Dance
118*** "Animals" and "The Only Constant Is Change" – Acoustic Rock
119** Next comes ''This Binary Universe'', which itself is a genre shift from mainstream music to experimental orchestra music.
120*** "All That Makes Us Human Continues" and "Good Morning Kaia" - Instrumental rock.
121*** "Dynamic Symmetry" - The song itself has four distinct movements, following the same scale and melody. The first is Breakbeat, followed by Electronic Minimalism, then Jazz, and finally Drum and Bass.
122*** "The Internal Locus" - Orchestral, briefly segueing into a Hip Hop beat.
123*** "1.618" - Experimental Downtempo.
124*** "See You On The Other Side" - Ambient Chillout.
125*** "The Antikythera Mechanism" - Glitch Hop mixed with [[Music/IgorStravinsky Stravinsky]]-esque Dramatic Orchestra.
126** ''These Hopeful Machines'' tones down the GenreRoulette, but is still quite varried.
127*** "Suddenly", "Forget Me", "Love Can Kill You", and "The Unbreakable": Electronic Rock
128*** "The Emergency" - House
129*** "Every Other Way" and "Always" - Electronic Soft Rock
130*** "The Light in Things" and "A Million Stars" - Vocal Trance
131*** "The Rose Of Jericho" and "Le Nocturne de Lumière" - Instrumental Trance
132*** "The Ghost In You" - A SofterAndSlowerCover of the song by the The Psychedelic Furs. Here, many of the instruments are actually recorded on classical tape decks.
133** Averted with ''A Song Across Wires'', which is mostly Trance and House, with the exception of "Letting Go", a Dubstep song.
134[[/folder]]
135* GreatestHitsAlbum: ''Electronic Opus'', a collection of BT's greatest hits reimagined with an orchestra.
136* KidsRock: "Forget Me", out of nowhere, ends with BT's daughter Kaia singing the chorus herself.
137* LoudnessWar: ''These Hopeful Machines'' has gotten a bit of flack for this.
138* NewSoundAlbum: BT has changed sounds several times as his musical and mathematical vocabularies continue to grow.
139** ''Ima'' was deep/progressive house.
140** ''ESCM'' went for progressive trance, trip hop and drum and bass.
141** ''Movement in Still Life'' kept the trance but added New Breakbeat music.
142** ''Emotional Technology'' was trance-pop and rock ballads. ''These Hopeful Machines'' followed suit with more trance and more rock.
143** ''This Binary Universe'' was a complete GenreShift to experimental, ambient and new age electronica (influenced by CreatorBreakdown due to his equipment being stolen and his daughter's kidnapping.) ''If the Stars Are Eternal, So Are You and I'', ''Nuovo Morceau Subrosa'', and ''_'' followed suit with more glitch, dark ambient, drone music and chillstep (an ambient form of dubstep.)
144** ''A Song Across Wires'' went straight for electro house and trance (aka electronic dance music.)
145** His soundtracks will also invariably be in entirely different moods than his albums, due to the nature of scoring films and video games.
146* NonAppearingTitle: :"Superfabulous", "Somnambulist"("somnambulating" appears, but not "somnambulist"), "Paris"(although "Parisians" appears), and "The Last Moment of Clarity" from ''Emotional Technology''; "Movement in Still Life" and "Love on Haight Street" from ''Movement in Still Life''; and "Firewater", "Lullaby for Gaia", and "Solar Plexus" from ''ESCM''.
147* OlderThanTheyLook: Almost 50 years old, but a lifetime of healthy eating and exercise as detailed in some of his Facebook posts makes him look about 15 years younger.
148* SameFaceDifferentName: In 2019, BT released an album under the name All Hail the Silence, a collaboration with singer-songwriter Christian Burns (formerly of pop band [=BBMak=]). It's poppier than his usual work and makes extensive use of vintage analog synthesizers.
149* SingleStanzaSong / LoopedLyrics - "Smartbomb" features a line taken from the next track ("Love on Haight Street": "Back on the set and coverin' all bets, hah, d-") looping over and over with a short chorus carrying the title.
150** "Nectar" from ''ESCM'' is a perfect example; beginning at 1:40, until the very end, the lyrics are just one line:
151---> "And it ebbs and goes, ebbs and goes, where love can only flow."
152* SitcomArchNemesis: He apparently does not like Borgore very much.
153* WordSaladLyrics: "Never Gonna Come Back Down", his collaboration with Mike Doughty, is naturally full of this. Adding to the weirdness, Doughty also recites from the [[Literature/TheBible Book Of Revelations]], gives shout outs to an imaginary audience, and asks for DJ Rap's phone number in gratuitous Spanish. BT actually had him do a few takes of improvised rambling and pasted together the best bits of them between verses.
154--> "That's what I do for a living..."
155** "Blue Skies" from ''Ima'' also qualifies, as the vocals were made entirely of random clips of Tori Amos improvising. In production, she never once said the words "blue" and "skies" in the same sentence.
156
157*** The two of them agreed to collaborate, and Tori began the process by free-styling over an unreleased version of "Divinity" and sending BT the recording. When BT sent her the completed song, Tori couldn't understand how it contained lyrics she had never sung and hung up on him. (She called back five minutes later saying, "This shit is bad-ass!")

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