BT hits a home run with ESCM, a near-perfect collection of trance and dance tunes that showcase his technical chops and musical vision.
ESCM is a varied collection of electronica music that includes straight trance numbers, dance electronica, and a cut that’s a little bit industrial. It’s a strong album overall, and while the trance cuts are probably are the strongest, BT stretches into new territory fairly successfully.
“Firewater” starts the album off. This track is a world-beat trance track, and reminded me a little bit of some of Banco de Gaia’s work. It combines analog synths with middle-eastern sounding vocals, hard driving stutter-edited drums, and even acoustic guitar.
The next cut, “Orbitus Teranium”, is another trance cut. This one, is full of the spastic rhythmic cuts BT is known for, and these edits are much of the focus of the track. The hyperactive audio editing works here, because his work is very imaginitive, even avant garde, but he doesn’t lose track of the fact that this is a dance track.
Flaming June is a trance classic. It features the straight-ahead analog synth effects and breaks and climaxes of trance along with BT’s trademark choppy drum edits.
There are several cuts that show off BT’s versatility.”Lullaby for Gaia”, though, is a little bit of a let-down after the first three cuts. It’s a basic dance tune that shows off BT’s versatility, but not mastery. He delivers a competent, if unexceptional dance track. “Solar Plexus” has more of an industrial tune. While it’s a good tune and is well produced, BT’s delivery lacks the commitment of many industrial artists. It sounds a little like BT’s trying on something to see if it fits him.
“Love, Peace and Grease” is a mix of electro and techno elements. It’s about absolutely nothing, but sounds good. You can only get away with a couple of tracks like this.
BT shines on the rest of the trance tracks. “Memories in a Sea of Forgetfulness” has a middle-eastern influence. Sufi singer TH Culhane adds expressive vocalizations over a background of whale sounds and breakbeat rhythms. He wraps up the CD with “Content”. This is a great trance track, and it brings the CD back to where it started, giving it a sense of completeness.
There’s a lot to like about ESCM, and is definitely worth checking out if you’re into trance or dance electronica.
