Brian Transeau aka BT releases his much anticipated artist album for 2003, aptly titled Emotional Technology. The album features several top notch collaborations with singers such as Jan Johnston and Caroline Lavelle.

Renown DJ, artist, producer, and generally multi-talented guy Brian Transeau puts forward a 13 track phenomenon covering a range of genres - as expected from the master of dance music.

Tracklist:

1. Intro (The Meeting of a Hundred Yang)
2. Knowledge of Self (feat. Guru)
3. Superfabulous (feat. Rose McGowan & Scott McCloud)
4. Somnambulist
5. Force of Gravity (feat. JC Chasez)
6. Dark Heart Dawning
7. The Great Escape (feat. Caroline Lavelle)
8. Paris
9. Circles
10. Last Moment of Clarity (feat. Karina Ware)
11. Communicate (feat. Jan Johnston)
12. Animals
13. The Only Constant is Change

BT's escapade starts of something on the likes of the Hybrid breaks days with some funky classic vocals influxed into the 45 seconds, and having expected a something lighter start, I was surprised to get a whoomph of dirty breaks in the form of Knowledge of Self, an urban style track with the elements of Brian Transeau all over it.

We all know BT loves that kind of hiphop infusion mixed with breaks since his offerings in Movement in Still Life which I must say was a true masterpiece in dance music. Knowledge of Self is ferocious in its own way, putting some funk into the typical dance music we get a taste of.

Rose McGowan, better known for her gothic like attitudes and her voice distinctly reminds me of Shirley Manson's Garbage outfit. Superfabulous is something of a crossover between rock, triphop and dance, with BT experimenting with new sounds as expected. Sexy and to the point, this one might fare better on the radios rather than the clubs, but nonetheless, it is something different.

Somnambulist was released as a single a while back, complete with a superb remix from the Dutch master Junkie XL. More dirty, funky breakbeat ensues here and in case you were wondering what Somnambulist actually means, we had a little look and it is another word for a sleepwalker. Electro-gliding vocals mixed with wired electronic sounds, make this a superb track for any kind of music lover and BT keeps it at a little under four and a half minutes to keep us from getting bored.

And if you thought the entire album would be breaks, you are mistaken; Force of Gravity is something of a more subdued affair - in progressive house territory featuring a vocalist simply known as JC Chasez. Although the progressive is here, we wouldn't have expected BT to do an entire track based on 1 genre would we? Fear not, we have some chilled out breaks like bass towards the latter half of the track, and as much as I find this track goes nowhere, the experimentation never stops to intrigue and I'm sure many will find this track tasteful to the ears.

Just reading the name Dark Heart Dawning you can already feel the sounds melting through your ear drums. A beautiful breakscape complete with ambience and modest vocals which blends into a brief rock sample makes this one a superb mid-morning waker-upper type of track.

Some might know the name Caroline Lavelle from the likes of Art of Trance's offering Breathe from a couple years ago. BT has made use of this British singer-songwriter-musician in this beautiful feast of melodies and vocals. The Great Escape really is a great escape from reality, with a flavourful mix of breaks, chillout, melodics and vocals in a superb buildup; making this my pick of the album thus far - a truly blissful track.

BT puts in more of his experimental hiphop breakbeat with Paris, a track produced with Way Out West's Jody Wisternoff including vocals by the multi-talented BT's own vocals in a cool driving track which has all the elements which makes BT one of the top producers in the circuit and the superb input from the Way Out West sound before breaking us into something a bit heavier in the form of Circles. BT performs yet again his own vocals, proving that this guy can do almost anything, and the brief sub-5 minute track makes a good contouring track setting the pace for Last Moment of Clarity, produced with Sunkissed Records honcho Bill Hamel.

A track with Asian influences and cool chilled vocals performed by Karina Ware, this one is melodic in its own way and although the Asian influences don't seem to go completely with the track, the latter parts of the track put in some hefty scapes and samples from BT and puts me in a reachable distance to my most anticipated track of the album...

Jan Johnston is a vocalist with which every track she's featured on becomes a gem, and her work with BT has gone back nearly a decade. Communicate is one which I have looked forward since putting the album on and instantly after hearing Jan Johnston's vocals, I know it was worth waiting 10 tracks for. A true BT-esque production with those Jan vocals which we can't get enough of, the only thing I had against this was that it wasn't long enough. Beautiful dreamy vocals from Jan keep this one on top form and I would be interested to see a remix of this in the future.

When I heard Animals I couldn't help but thinking back to Movement in Still Life. Some might remember the track Satellite, and this to me is a different interpretation of that very track. Superb melody, uplifting vocals and beats - I know many of you will find this track as not too great, but for me, this hits the top points. Not really considered as "Dance" music, I would put this in the stereo just when the sun is rising over the horizon on a warm day by the beach..

As we hit the final track, I thought to myself that this was totally not what I expected from BT. I had expected some gruesome breaks and house productions - but to my surprise, we have a bit of everything and BT keeps it real to what he does best...

The Only Constant is Change is yet another downtempo track, with this one verging on the more darker, more subliminal side of things. This track puts in a different but nice finish to an album from BT and for those who complain that everything which comes out these days is just repetition, there is no way you can say that about this album.

Conclusion:
BT has given us an album which would almost match his great work on Movement in Still Life, proving yet again that he still has what it takes to produce some quality across the genres that are true to him. A range of vocals, breaks, scapes and triphop / rock influences put this at a different level to what you'd expect if you were looking for some of the trancey work that BT has been known for.

With the exception for a couple of tracks; namely Last Moment of Clarity and Force of Gravity the album is spot on and gets my thumbs up for all the remaining tracks.