Quantcast

Call for Papers: PopMatters Celebrates The Jam in Massive Special Section

Music
cover art

BT

Movement in Still Life

(Nettwerk; US: 6 Jun 2000)

There is no reason for BT to not be a star. With his amazing gift for mixing hip-hop, electronica, and rock into transcendently danceable music, BT has been a club favorite for years in Europe for years. His obvious talent aside, U.S. promoters have failed to capitalize on BT’s good looks and personality in selling his records. With the interest given to such artists as Fatboy Slim and Moby, in the right hands, BT would become the next big thing to hit electronica.


While he has gained some recognition for his collaboration with Tori Amos on “Blue Skies” and for his contributions to the soundtrack of the movie Go, BT remains mostly unknown in the U.S. Movement In Still Life took six months to be released in the U.S. on Nettwerk (despite the fact BT grew up in Maryland) and it bears only some resemblance to its European counterpart (BT chose to change the track listing, reordering the song and replacing four).


Still, Movement in Still Life is an incredible work, showcasing all of BT’s skills as a DJ and musician. Purposely non-cohesive, Movement in Still Life takes joys in crossing genres, from hip-hop (“Smartbomb”), to trance (“Godspeed”) to modern rock (“Shame”). The results are exciting and fascinating.


Despite the fact some of BT’s more interesting work occurs in the collaborations he participates in, like with M. Doughty from Soul Coughing on the infectious “Never Gonna Come Back Down” and the graceful Kristy Hawkshaw from Opus III on “Dreaming” and “Running Down the Way Up,” BT takes vocal duties for the first time on Movement in Still Life. His passionate voice on the dark “Shame” and soaring “Satellite” reveal BT to be a complexly gifted musician.


Because of its disconnected nature Movement in Still Life feels more like a collection of songs rather than an album. Thematically, the songs have little to do with each other, and they don’t flow into each other. It sounds like a mixtape more than an album, which is why it is amazing that all of these tracks share the same creator.


Movement in Still Life proves that BT is still pushing the boundaries of traditional electronic music with his extraordinary skills. If this album does not make him a star, something else will.

Tagged as: bt
Related Articles
18 Aug 2011
BT gave in-store performance that was a teaser of his Laptop Symphony live shows.
10 Mar 2010
Having just released a new double-disc album, BT sits down to talk about writing songs in code, Avatar, his 400-pound chrome pony, and -- yes -- those many "tight jean moments" he's prone to.
By Christine Klunk
22 Jul 2004
Comments
Now on PopMatters
Early Summer 2012 New Music Playlist (Mixed Media) [Fri, 12:00 pm]
Paranormal (Radio)Activity: 'Chernobyl Diaries' (Short Ends and Leader) [Fri, 11:00 am]
'Men in Black 3' Looks Back, Again (Reviews) [Fri, 9:20 am]
Poliça: 11 May 2012 - Rochester, NY (Reviews) [Fri, 6:25 am]
'The Witcher 2' Does the Exposition Dump Right (Moving Pixels) [Fri, 6:00 am]
Saint Etienne: Words and Music (Reviews) [Fri, 2:00 am]
  1. The Top 10 Overplayed Songs You Hate by Artists You Love (Sound Affects)
  2. Beach House: Bloom (Reviews)
  3. Tea with 'Sherlock': Investigating the Investigators (Features)
  4. Sunk? This 'Battleship' Stunk! (Short Ends and Leader)
  5. Top Ten Lost Midwest Punk Singles (Sound Affects)
  6. Tenacious D: Rize of the Fenix (Reviews)
  7. 20 Questions: Kate Bornstein (Features)
  8. 10 Pieces of Cinematic Art That Require Revisiting (Short Ends and Leader)
  9. Punk Rock's Pet Sounds: An Interview with Bomb the Music Industry! (Features)
  10. Counterbalance No. 82: U2's 'Achtung Baby' (Sound Affects)
  11. She's a Rainbow: A Tribute to Donna Summer (Features)
  12. Like 'Doom', In Heels (Moving Pixels)
  13. 'Albatross': A Not-So-Weighty Coming-of-Age Meets Mid-Life-Crisis Film (Reviews)
  14. This Is All There Is: The Boredom of Lessened Expectations (Short Ends and Leader)
  15. Go Goth!: Ranking the Burton/Depp Collaborations (Short Ends and Leader)
  16. The Queen and Her Crayons: An Interview With Donna Summer (Features)
  17. Best Coast: The Only Place (Reviews)
  18. The Best Canadian Records of the Year? The Fun Agony of Voting for the Polaris Prize Long List (Sound Affects)
  19. We Will Avenge Them Or… Be Avenged?: The Individual in the US Experience (Features)
  20. Something’s Wrong with the Black Widow! (Graphic Novelties)
  21. Flash Points: Mommy's Breast, Marriage Equality and Why Chipotle Is King (Features)
  22. Sergio Leone: Something to Do with Death (Columns)
  23. Killer Mike: R.A.P. Music (Reviews)
  24. Willie Nelson: Heroes (Reviews)
  25. Like a Jack London Story on Steroids: 'The Grey' (Reviews)
  26. Various Artists: Occupy This Album (Reviews)
  27. Feeling '80s Spirit: Post-Hardcore Punk for the Plastic Generation (Columns)
  28. 'People's Pornography': The Mundanities of Pornography and Surveillance Culture (Reviews)
  29. The Cult: Choice of Weapon (Reviews)
  30. Garbage: Not Your Kind of People (Reviews)
PM Picks
Music Archive
Announcements
Ratings

10 - The Best of the Best

9 - Very Nearly Perfect

8 - Excellent

7 - Damn Good

6 - Good

5 - Average

4 - Unexceptional

3 - Weak

2 - Seriously Flawed

1 - Terrible

© 1999-2012 PopMatters.com. All rights reserved.
PopMatters.com™ and PopMatters™ are trademarks
of PopMatters Media, Inc.

PopMatters is wholly independently owned and operated.
PopMatters is a member of BUZZMEDIA Music, MOG and Guardian Select.