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It's a fun little green gem filled with life, joyful discoveries and wonderful surprises. I can't help but think that the decision to split his latest album into two dissimilar releases may have been a mistake."Portentous indeed.Now, many years later, I'll add some perspective: yes, this album is an edit of a UK original, yes some tracks were dropped in favour of newer ones and, yes, the smooth segueing between those (somewhat shortened) tracks was omitted entirely. I mean, really: did "Dreaming" NEED to be 9:16 minutes long in the original version. Secondly, removing the more Electronically-oriented tracks from the North American edition ensured that it would not, in my opinion, age as drastically as its overseas counterpart.
Nearly a decade ago (and under a different Amazon alias) I gave this North American version of "Movement in Still Life" a review filled with backhanded compliments. Amazingly, the production STILL sounds state-of-the art (and much less bombastic than its follow-up, "Emotional Technology").Go ahead and order it. Some may argue the point, but I vastly prefer it in the lean-and-sleek 5:20 edit presented here.Ultimately, I consider "Movement in Still Life" -- both versions -- to be BT's best work (not including "This Binary Universe" since that is more of a composed sonic suite than a traditional long-player). To save you all some scrolling, here is a clip from that earlier review:"A lot of people have probably wondered why Brian Transeau would bestow the truncated version of "Movement In Still Life" on the record-buying public of his native land.
Thirdly, shortening several of the tracks ("Dreaming," "Godspeed," "Running Down the Way Up") added much-needed trimming of what I consider to be extraneous twaddle and filler that bloated the original versions. Amazon are reliable and they'll have it to you within a week or two.Enjoy. I enjoy the North American release, but everytime I play it, I get the nagging sensation that I'm hearing only 3/4 of an actual album; an album that has been ripped apart and glued back together again. However, nine years after release, no other disc in my (rather sizable) collection gets as much play as this one (not even my copy of the UK version).Why.Well, because the North American version of "Movement in Still Life" just plain rocks.Firstly, there are so many genres represented on this album that it never gets old or stale, largely due to the songs added to the North American edition ("Smartbomb," "Love on Haight Street," "Never Gonna Come Back Down," "Shame").
I am always blown away by the way BT (Biran Transeau) can effortlessly make original music. I think if ever you could buy an album to rock out to and also enjoy some dreamy trance, then this would be it. Songs like Dreaming and Satellite, the latter of which, I believe, is his own vocals. To me this is the perfect example that techno is not just some dumb music. Songs which are all time classics in the world of trance. BT has always been one of my favorite trance artists.
Movement in Still Life ventures into the hip hop as well as his amazing trance fare. This album is probably a good decade old and I could play it over and over not getting tired. He has done a number of soundtracks including Go and Gone in 60 Seconds, I believe. Love on Haight Street is a funky breaks song. This guy is a musical genius. He has a way of making an album flow effortlessly.
BT seems to have an instinct for making trance with amazing vocals (Kirsty Hawkshaw is just one of the artists he works with.His music and artistry is impeccable.
It is very obvious that BT lives and breathes music, and that he has been well-educated in the ways of his craft. The songs are not bad, but they are not nearly as good as the selections featured on the UK release. All in all, I would not recommend buying this item. Short version: The track selection and mixing on the UK version makes it the best BT album ever, in my humble opinion. The UK version, believe it or not, really is worth the $40 when compared to the USA version. Instead, each track just slams in or creeps up shyly. They both make me cry, but for totally different reasons.
The UK release of MiSL by BT is an EDM classic. While some of the USA-only titles are not bad (Smartbomb, for example), I would gladly trade all of them for "Giving up the Ghost" alone. The track would have been better if BT had not let some fool sing over it. This. On such mediocre fare as "Never Gonna Come Back Down", we are treated to a barely bearable voice spitting out very bad freestyle.
The subpar selection of tracks, as well as the random placement of tracks and lack of mixing, make the USA version less than it ought to be.Long version: I rank MiSL beside Hybrid's Wide Angle in terms of complexity, originality, composition, mood, and just plain groove. On the UK version, there is not a bad song. The seamless mixing that would make any DJ jealous is totally absent. However, I would not have bought this album had I not heard the UK version. thing that was given to us in the USA is a crime against the man's reputation.
Educate your brain. I could go on and on about minor technical flaws and even more minor artistic flaws but it would all be academic. The influence of this album from the very subtle to the drastic is apparent in nearly every meaningful breaks album since.
I'm a professional musician. Regardless, this is one of those records that permanently changed the scene. I'm not going to write a tediously long review.
You might not like it but if you care at all about the history/evolution of popular electronic music you need to know this record. and maybe at the same time you'll be fantastically entertained. This is a record you need to hear.
You will meet people that will dislike it.
Both "Godspeed" and "Smartbomb" have been featured in movie soundtracks and after listening to them, it is no shock as to why. The title cut is decent but kind of like "Madskillz" and BT just blows me away with "Satellite" a soft, accoustic driven song that has some rather depresing undertones. What I find interesting about this collection is many of the songs read like poetry and are emotionally expresive. "Madskillz" being the opening song on this collection of dance infused anthems, I thought that this was going to be another one of those DJ albums where substance was sacrificed for sound. This album is one of the best DJ albums out there and it delivers the goods without very many disapointments. I love the song "Dreaming" because it starts off with the hint of being a lullaby like ballad but evolves smoothly into a trance like forray of beats and melodies. Fortunatley, "Never Gonna Come Back Down" was next and while it really made no sense at all, it still held my attention with its no nonsense approach. "Shame" has the sound of Depeche Mode written all over it and that influence makes the song so much more likable.
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