Emotional Technology

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Emotional Technology
Studio album by BT
Released August 5, 2003
Genre Electronica
Length 78:13 (CD)
62:50 (vinyl)
71:11 (Spec. Collector's Ed., CD1)
Label Nettwerk
Producer BT
BT chronology
Movement in Still Life
(1999)		 Emotional Technology
(2003)		 This Binary Universe
(2006)
Singles from Emotional Technology
  1. "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)"
    Released: 2003
  2. "The Technology EP"
    Released: 2004
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic (61/100) [1]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3/5 stars [2]
About.com 3.5/5 stars [3]
Music Emissions 4/5 stars [4]
Slant Magazine 2.5/5 stars [5]
CounterCulture.com 3.5/5 stars [6]
Beat Factor 8/10 stars [7]
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Emotional Technology is the fourth album by electronica artist BT. Transitioning towards a poppier sound, the album features some of BT's well-known hits, including "Somnambulist", "The Force of Gravity" and "Superfabulous". "Somnambulist", also known as "Simply Being Loved", holds the Guinness World Record for most vocal edits in a single track, with 6,178 in the album version. The album features vocal performances by JC Chasez, Rose McGowan, and Transeau himself, among others.

Contents

[edit] Overview and reaction

Between the release of Emotional Technology and its predecessor Movement in Still Life, BT was gaining considerable attention in the music community for his combination of trance and hip hop music, as well as his production techniques; most notably, his signature stutter edits.[citation needed] Two years prior to the album, Transeau had produced the hit single "Pop" for pop group *NSYNC, which went on to become an international hit.[citation needed]

Emotional Technology begins in a place close to Movement in Still Life; indeed, the album's intro consists of a backwards sample of "Satellite", the closing track of Movement, followed by reversed samples of "Somnambulist" and "Dark Heart Dawning" from this album. Shortly after "Somnambulist", the album moves from its pop-oriented sound into a more experimental direction, containing learned, introspective lyrics and song structures and samples not normally found in trance music at the time (the extended breakdown section of "P A R I S" features a galloping horse and a choir, while "Communicate"'s chorus drops the beat entirely.) Emotional Technology also found Transeau writing several epic rock songs in the vein of "Satellite", aligning the album more with the US pressing of Movement in Still Life, which created several rock and electropop songs to capitalize on the American market. Several of these songs would later be replaced on the Special Collector's Edition release.[citation needed]

The album received mixed reactions from both fans and critics alike. People who liked the album praised BT for the highly personal and experimental nature of the album, calling it groundbreaking and a true progression of not only Transeau as an artist and musician, but electronic music as well. Others disregarded it as "pop at its worst", feeling that the music was bland and that the vocals were worse. They were also turned off by the less dance floor-friendly vibe of this album compared to his other releases. Ironically, Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved), "The Force of Gravity", and the two songs' various remixes were well received in clubs, alongside "Knowledge of Self".[citation needed]

[edit] Remix Contest

Prior to the album's release, BT and BPM Magazine held a remix contest for the album. Inside an issue of BPM Magazine would be an EP containing the individual parts for "Somnambulist", "Communicate", "The Great Escape" and "Superfabulous", as well as a new, unreleased track titled "Kimosabe".[citation needed] The 4 winners were announced in early 2004 and they won signed copies of Emotional Technology among other prizes. Two notable winners were Toksin for his remix of "Communicate" and Burufunk for their remix of "The Great Escape". Burufunk had previously remixed "Somnambulist" for when the song was released as a single in May 2003. They later worked with BT on his remix of The Doors' classic, "Break On Through (To the Other Side)". Toksin has since released remixes of "Superfabulous" and "The Great Escape" on his website. He has also remixed "Shame" in his live shows.[citation needed]

[edit] Track listing

All songs by BT, unless noted.

[edit] CD pressing

  1. "The Meeting of a Hundred Yang" – 0:44
  2. "Knowledge of Self" – 6:41 (BT/Guru)
  3. "Superfabulous" – 4:40 (BT/Rose McGowan)
  4. "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" – 4:20
  5. "The Force of Gravity" – 8:19 (BT/JC Chasez)
  6. "Dark Heart Dawning" – 7:08
  7. "The Great Escape" – 6:58 (BT/Caroline Lavelle)
  8. "P A R I S" – 7:51 (BT/Jody Wisternoff)
  9. "Circles" – 4:43
  10. "The Last Moment of Clarity" – 7:21
  11. "Communicate" – 5:48 (BT/Jan Johnston)
  12. "Animals" – 7:24
  13. "The Only Constant Is Change" – 6:16

[edit] Japanese bonus disc

  1. "Kimosabe" – 6:55
  2. "Tao of the Machine" – 5:04
  3. "Love in the Time of Thieves" – 6:21
  4. "The Revolution" - 4:19
  5. "Somnambulist (Junkie XL Vocal Mix)" – 8:56
  6. "Somnambulist (Sander Kleinenberg Convertible Mix)" – 10:03
  7. "Somnambulist (Burufunk Remix)" – 7:30
  8. "The Great Escape (Attention Deficit Mix)" – 10:37
  9. "The Force of Gravity (Dylan Rhymes Push-up Mix)" – 8:37
  10. "The Force of Gravity (Tiësto Remix)" – 7:48

[edit] Vinyl pressing

[edit] Side A

  1. "Knowledge of Self" – 8:14
  2. "Superfabulous" – 5:27

[edit] Side B

  1. "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" – 5:06
  2. "The Force of Gravity" – 9:58

[edit] Side C

  1. "Dark Heart Dawning" – 7:43
  2. "The Great Escape" – 7:19

[edit] Side D

  1. "P A R I S" – 9:31
  2. "The Last Moment of Clarity" – 9:35

[edit] Special Collector's Edition

[edit] Disc 1

  1. "The Meeting of a Hundred Yang" – 0:44
  2. "Knowledge of Self" – 6:40
  3. "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" – 4:21
  4. "The Force of Gravity" – 8:19
  5. "Dark Heart Dawning" – 7:08
  6. "The Great Escape" – 6:58
  7. "P A R I S" – 7:48
  8. "Kimosabe" – 5:34
  9. "The Revolution" – 4:14
  10. "The Last Moment of Clarity" – 7:11
  11. "Communicate" – 5:57
  12. "The Only Constant Is Change" – 6:04

[edit] Disc 2

  1. "Somnambulist (Mark Norman Remix)" – 7:49
  2. "Love in the Time of Thieves" – 6:18
  3. "The Force of Gravity (Tiësto Remix)" – 8:18
  4. "Somnambulist (Junkie XL Vocal Mix)" – 8:54
  5. "Superfabulous (Tokin's Rawshaker Mix)" – 7:59
  6. "The Force of Gravity (Dylan Rhymes Push Up Mix)" – 8:38
  7. "Kimosabe (Hyper Remix)" – 7:19
  8. "Communicate (Tokin's Narcan Remix)" – 6:50
  9. "Somnambulist (Sander Kleinenberg's Convertible Mix)" – 10:02

[edit] Singles

The album had only one "official" single, which was "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)". However, the Technology EP serves as a non-formal single release for "Superfabulous", "The Force of Gravity" and "The Great Escape". "Communicate" is considered by some to be a single as 2 known remixes have been approved by Transeau for public listening.[citation needed]

[edit] Personnel

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/music/emotional-technology
  2. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r650767/review
  3. ^ http://dancemusic.about.com/cs/reviews/fr/BTET.htm
  4. ^ http://www.musicemissions.com/artists/albums/index.php?album_id=2404
  5. ^ http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/bt-emotional-technology/309
  6. ^ http://www.counterculture.co.uk/album-review/bt-emotional-technology.html
  7. ^ http://www.beatfactor.net/reviews/777/
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