Artist: BT
Title: The Technology EP
Label: Nettwerk Productions
By: Alexander Wolf | 10 May 2004
Tracklist:

• The Force of Gravity - BT's Edit
• The Force of Gravity - Tiësto Remix
• The Force of Gravity - Dylan Rhymes Push Up Mix
• Superfabulous - Scott Humphrey Radio Mix
• Superfabulous - Compufonic 12" remix
• The Great Escape - Attention Deficit Mix

BT "The Technology EP"

After his ambitious Emotional Technology, BT is back with a new EP of remixes.

The six tracks cover much musical ground and rework three tracks off of 2003’s Emotional Technology. Since Somnambulist already had its single release a year ago, The Technology EP focuses instead on lesser known tracks.

Track One sees BT edit The Force Of Gravity into a radio friendly running time just under four minutes. The problem is that the song is still so frenetic in its composition and few radio stations would touch it for this reason. The vocal is cheesy and the lyrics are not very evocative or thoughtful. Just like the original extension of the track, it boldly jumps between an array of effects and sounds. The end result is that languishes as a shoddy mish mashing without a clear goal. In fact, it would function well as a work out exercise for speakers to show their range of sound fidelity.

Tiësto is smart to ease back on the iffy vocal. Instead, he contributes a streamlined, smooth remix of The Force Of Gravity. His signature techy-sound effects are laid into place and the song at last finds itself with an aim, after BT’s frenzied original production. Swirling, delightful moments of euphony define Tiësto’s revision. Not surprisingly, the remix arguably complements Tiësto’s new Just Be album’s lead single, Love Comes Again, which features BT himself on vocal duties. Some of Tiësto’s fans may be disappointed, however, that the remix is not throbbing with aggressive beats, but this restraint is what makes The Force Of Gravity shine.

The final remix included of The Force Of Gravity comes from Dylan Rhymes. The approach is clearly on break beats, as the remix is effectively a dub that only includes light references to the original vocal. It drags on for nearly eight minutes and is not terribly dynamic. Most listeners will tire of this if they are not immediately enticed by Dylan Rhymes’ beats.

Next, up on The Technology EP, Superfabulous storms on in with remixes from Scott Humphrey and Compufonic.

Scott Humphrey’s remix adds little to the original track. Just like the track as featured on Emotional Technology, it attempts to blend too many sounds at once and it becomes hampered by massively overproduced studio wizardry. One second there are powerful guitars, and then the next there are Nintendo-like blips and bleeps. While it has fresh rock sensibilities, but it just tries to cover too much musical ground in what is not enough time, concluding in only three and a half minutes.

Compufonic fares better in this alternative 12” remix. It stretches what was an originally brief song into something better suited for electronic music, as there is room for a multitude of transitions and layered progressions. Compufonic delivers a funky, throw-back electro sound that just begs for its listeners to get up and dance. The hand claps are a welcome edition and enhance the kitschy, ridiculously fun value of the song. Call it superfabulous, if you will. This is simply the best version of Superfabulous, remix or otherwise.

The sixth and final track is The Great Escape, as mixed by Attention Deficit. At over ten minutes, this epic rework completely transforms the original track it was based on. BT’s original version of The Great Escape stayed true to Emotional Technologies production concept of ‘more is more’. Dave Dresden, under his Attention Deficit moniker, produces a beautiful remix based around what was always a strong vocal, except this time it is allowed to shine through without blaring effects getting in the way. Of all of The Technology EP, this remix is the most artful, as Attention Deficit throws down effects only when they are needed to complement the song’s overarching composition. The piano is deftly used to bring an delicate quality to The Great Escape.

Only when the EP draws to its end, after the bliss Attention Deficit weaves through The Great Escape, does The Technology EP touch on greatness. Much like BT’s Emotional Technology, the EP is full of surprises – some good and some bad. It is fair to say that the bigger, more recognizable names of the industry contributing to the EP present the best remixes. Stick to Tiësto and Attention Deficit and you have gold. Muck around with Scott Humphrey or BT’s own edit of The Force Of Gravity and you are likely to press stop and promptly eject. Always ambitious, you can not blame BT for trying to break new ground, be it with his take on the hyperactive electronic-tinged pop of Emotional Technology, or the remixes he pools together for this EP release from Nettwerk Records.

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