This album changed my life, like literally changed the direction my life went in….it merged with my soul, and took me places most people only dream of.
Thank you for the refresher. For me it was Spring or Summer 1996, a sunny day in San Diego, CA and I am leaving the parking lot of Tower Records with my latest prog rock CD purchase (probably King Crimson), and on the local alt radio station I hear Tori Amos just singing her heart out, but over a more upbeat electronic musical template than I've ever heard her. "Blue Skies", catchy but I could also tell a lot of depth to the crafting of the song, including a freaking amazing melodic bass guitar line. I knew it wasn't Tori's music, but I didn't know who. Later a friend who had begun exploring house and trance told me "Oh that's BT!". So I went and got the double CD IMA. Needless to say, this was a style I never cared to explore before, but I could hear in his production and compositions that it was both something personal, something appealing to those who understand the power of nature, and something clearly building on masters of the past from new wave, pop, rock, prog... so I was irreversibly hooked. Then ESCM dropped, and it was game over. Almost felt like he had been holding back on Ima - since I had no idea how innovative IMA was for that era of the underground progressive space. I didn't go to clubs or raves, I only knew IMA was extremely musical and atmospheric compared to everything else I had heard that was "techno" or club related in the early and mid 90s. So taken by these creations I was compelled to fire up the first fan web site dedicated to BT. In 1997 the Internet was still pretty disconnected as far as word of mouth, unless you were immersed in topic specific mailing groups or boards. I couldn't accept I was the only one who was both *not* turned off by the electronic genre, and also hearing and being deeply moved by all these layers of vivid emotional constructs in the music.
What I admire about BT is that he's more than just a progressive trance artist. He has fused rock, breakbeat, trip hop, IDM, ambient, classical, jazz, hip hop, glitch, ambient techno, dubstep, and countless other genres to create a unique worldview. Many people misunderstand BT, he is one of the most talented artists of our time.
I grew up in Maryland (Baltimore county. Towson to be exact) - Late Saturday nights on a local radio station, 99.1 WHFS, they had a program called "Trance missions". The show aired in 1996 and played all electronic music from the 90s. The host, Gina Crash, had BT on the show many times and was thrilled that he was local and grew up in Columbia (Howard County, MD). I had no liking to electronic until I mistakenly came across the show. That however got me hooked on that genre and as I grew up a musician too (not as cool at BT), I was now sucked into incorporating electronic sounds into rock. Ah, good times. Anyway, amazing story on him! Also, love that you made use of our sacred, Maryland, flag. :)
I hate that it's so hard to find people listening to BT on youtube because of the obvious. Thank you for putting out what I was looking for. It's so hard to describe to people how BT is the man. THE MAN.
Sashas voyage of ima is amazing. Loved that album so much back then. We used to drive round the lake district listening to it😄😄 Jam and spoon tripomatic fairytales was another we used to put on😁
I’ve waited 28 years to hear this story. Thank you for taking the time to tell it. Ima has been on my top three albums of all time since its release, and is in constant rotation for me. It never ages, and every time after all these years it delivers a rush of great emotions. I wish everyone knew this album.
Ima is prayer in Hungarian. good content mate. For me also BT is the top. I do have all his releases, he have ever released. I love his music, even his not too good works. And he has some :D
BT is easily my number one musician. i could write a paper on how and why the music that BT creates moves me on the inside. Now Ima was ESCM were not my favorites I found the techno a tad repetitive but once the lyrics of Emotional Technology and now with his incredible abstract, experimental sound such as found in EYASFIOTOSOF I can simply put in the plug, lie in the chair and lift off into the metaverse
Look for BT’s remix of Grace - Not Over Yet. Play the original then the remix😎. Although it was many years ago, it’s an amazing remix and at the time was EPIC. You can all thank me later😇
I had thee Honor of Meeting Brian in person more than one time in Orlando to South FL Miami Beach! I met him an from 98 to 2006 I've gotten his autograph. _ECSM which came out after IMA is such a beautiful follow up album! His sound was truly a newer trail blazer of a sound with a tidal wave movement!
Great video! Just discovered this channel and have to say that it's really awesome that you do something like that for the Progressive Scene. Keep it up mate!
As a BT fanatic this is such a really really great video that shares the amazing story of his journey... What he created back then was truly a birth of genre an might i say he did it so mind blowingly beautiful that untill now not one artist even with the technological advantages nowadays can even emulate what he has done.. I have the IMA, ESCM n Movement in still life CD and i take care of them like my firstborn... Thank you so much for this video buddy it was really a pleasure just to relived his journey again.. love it so much..😊👍
Divinity is an absolute masterpiece. I played it to my FIL who was a lifelong classical music boffin & he thought it was on par with some of his favorite pieces. I currently have my IMA record sleeve (ripped & worn), framed on my kitchen wall - it means so much to me. First heard Sasha play IMA tracks at Que Club (essential Mix night). It was the night that prog went epic for me - the whole place had no idea what to make of the tracks initially but soon kicked into the groove. Digweed broke BT for most of us IMO - JDJ4 had Deeper Sunshine & Ren 2 had Calling your name.
I feel so late lol for me BT - Night rave and nocturnal transmission where the #1 Tracks for me until I heard simply being loved and it all went up from there lol
By 1994 the original wave of "progressive house" had already begun a transition towards longer, more elaborate tracks often stretching for 10+ minutes with long intros. You can here this very clearly on Sasha's Qat Collection, for example. BT's music was doing something similar, but as he had no connection to the UK scene his records had a slightly off-kilter journey to the same destination. Another seminal production act from this era was Blue Amazon, who also made incredibly long and lavish melodic records. By 1995 the UK dance music press that largely abandoned the phrase "progressive house", and Mixmag instead coined the phrase "epic house" to describe this new evolution being spearheaded by BT, Blue Amazon and Sasha and John Digweed's DJ sets. "Epic house" ended up being a controversial sound precisely for the reasons described in this video - you had long, long stretches of music that crowds simply couldn't dance to, and DJs playing the sound were scoffed at for playing 6-8 records per hour. By 1996 Sasha and Digweed had already started reigning the sound in and moving towards faster tempo but harder and slightly more minimalist trancey sounds. This eventually lead to the full resurgence of "progressive house" or - more frequently - just "progressive", in the sound exemplified by the GU and Renaissance mixes of the late '90s. A harder, faster but more streetwise sound. Even BT self-consciously pulled away from the "epic house" stigma. 1997's ESCM was full of genre experiments in drum 'n bass, breakbeat and even grunge rock. So if you want to analyse Ima's overall importance in "changing the course" of progressive music, it was mainly to convince Sasha to plunge headlong into that transitional "epic house" sound, which produced some great records but also some very self-indulgent moments. Taken in its own right, I've been listening to Ima since I was a teenager, and I still have a nostalgic love for it. It sounds very dated in 2022 and some of the more blatant New Age sample collage bits are very cheesy to modern ears, but it's one of those albums that creates an entire universe of sound all of its own.
When I first started listening to trance I thought Armin, Tiesto, Above & Beyond were gods amongst men. Then I found Sasha, Digweed, BT, PvD. The former had fairly cliche origins: get a hit record or remix on an already established dance label, get a few gigs then grow from there. The latter had no beaten path. No careers of others to look up to. Just creativity, genius, and most importantly authenticity. They were simply themselves
This album changed my life, like literally changed the direction my life went in….it merged with my soul, and took me places most people only dream of.
This album changed my life, like literally changed the direction my life went in….it merged with my soul, and took me places most people only dream of.
Thank you for the refresher. For me it was Spring or Summer 1996, a sunny day in San Diego, CA and I am leaving the parking lot of Tower Records with my latest prog rock CD purchase (probably King Crimson), and on the local alt radio station I hear Tori Amos just singing her heart out, but over a more upbeat electronic musical template than I've ever heard her. "Blue Skies", catchy but I could also tell a lot of depth to the crafting of the song, including a freaking amazing melodic bass guitar line. I knew it wasn't Tori's music, but I didn't know who. Later a friend who had begun exploring house and trance told me "Oh that's BT!". So I went and got the double CD IMA. Needless to say, this was a style I never cared to explore before, but I could hear in his production and compositions that it was both something personal, something appealing to those who understand the power of nature, and something clearly building on masters of the past from new wave, pop, rock, prog... so I was irreversibly hooked.
Then ESCM dropped, and it was game over. Almost felt like he had been holding back on Ima - since I had no idea how innovative IMA was for that era of the underground progressive space. I didn't go to clubs or raves, I only knew IMA was extremely musical and atmospheric compared to everything else I had heard that was "techno" or club related in the early and mid 90s.
So taken by these creations I was compelled to fire up the first fan web site dedicated to BT. In 1997 the Internet was still pretty disconnected as far as word of mouth, unless you were immersed in topic specific mailing groups or boards. I couldn't accept I was the only one who was both *not* turned off by the electronic genre, and also hearing and being deeply moved by all these layers of vivid emotional constructs in the music.
What I admire about BT is that he's more than just a progressive trance artist.
He has fused rock, breakbeat, trip hop, IDM, ambient, classical, jazz, hip hop, glitch, ambient techno, dubstep, and countless other genres to create a unique worldview.
Many people misunderstand BT, he is one of the most talented artists of our time.
Agree! His electronic inspired music knows no boundaries - that makes his music so interesting till this day IMHO!
I grew up in Maryland (Baltimore county. Towson to be exact) - Late Saturday nights on a local radio station, 99.1 WHFS, they had a program called "Trance missions". The show aired in 1996 and played all electronic music from the 90s. The host, Gina Crash, had BT on the show many times and was thrilled that he was local and grew up in Columbia (Howard County, MD). I had no liking to electronic until I mistakenly came across the show. That however got me hooked on that genre and as I grew up a musician too (not as cool at BT), I was now sucked into incorporating electronic sounds into rock. Ah, good times. Anyway, amazing story on him! Also, love that you made use of our sacred, Maryland, flag. :)
BT's contribution to 90s sound was phenomenal... great work guys once again.
Thanks a lot!
100%
I hate that it's so hard to find people listening to BT on youtube because of the obvious. Thank you for putting out what I was looking for. It's so hard to describe to people how BT is the man. THE MAN.
Sashas voyage of ima is amazing. Loved that album so much back then. We used to drive round the lake district listening to it😄😄
Jam and spoon tripomatic fairytales was another we used to put on😁
I’ve waited 28 years to hear this story. Thank you for taking the time to tell it. Ima has been on my top three albums of all time since its release, and is in constant rotation for me. It never ages, and every time after all these years it delivers a rush of great emotions. I wish everyone knew this album.
Ima is prayer in Hungarian.
good content mate. For me also BT is the top. I do have all his releases, he have ever released. I love his music, even his not too good works. And he has some :D
Thanks for uploading this, that was really fun to listen to and so nostalgic. I love the music from back then!
Thanks for watching!! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!!!
BT is always my #1 electronic musician.
BT is easily my number one musician. i could write a paper on how and why the music that BT creates moves me on the inside. Now Ima was ESCM were not my favorites I found the techno a tad repetitive but once the lyrics of Emotional Technology and now with his incredible abstract, experimental sound such as found in EYASFIOTOSOF I can simply put in the plug, lie in the chair and lift off into the metaverse
Thanks for this comment!
@@SuperProgressive no problem. I love what you did with this post as well. I look forward to your future posts.
Look for BT’s remix of Grace - Not Over Yet. Play the original then the remix😎. Although it was many years ago, it’s an amazing remix and at the time was EPIC. You can all thank me later😇
what a stomper yeah
I had thee Honor of Meeting Brian in person more than one time in Orlando to South FL Miami Beach! I met him an from 98 to 2006 I've gotten his autograph. _ECSM which came out after IMA is such a beautiful follow up album! His sound was truly a newer trail blazer of a sound with a tidal wave movement!
Great video! Just discovered this channel and have to say that it's really awesome that you do something like that for the Progressive Scene. Keep it up mate!
Thanks so much!!! So stoked to have you here
As a BT fanatic this is such a really really great video that shares the amazing story of his journey...
What he created back then was truly a birth of genre an might i say he did it so mind blowingly beautiful that untill now not one artist even with the technological advantages nowadays can even emulate what he has done..
I have the IMA, ESCM n Movement in still life CD and i take care of them like my firstborn... Thank you so much for this video buddy it was really a pleasure just to relived his journey again.. love it so much..😊👍
fantastic watch, thank you for putting together this album's story into such a well made video
an inspiring person and groundbreaking musician, I can proudly say I've always looked up to him.
Divinity is an absolute masterpiece. I played it to my FIL who was a lifelong classical music boffin & he thought it was on par with some of his favorite pieces. I currently have my IMA record sleeve (ripped & worn), framed on my kitchen wall - it means so much to me.
First heard Sasha play IMA tracks at Que Club (essential Mix night). It was the night that prog went epic for me - the whole place had no idea what to make of the tracks initially but soon kicked into the groove.
Digweed broke BT for most of us IMO - JDJ4 had Deeper Sunshine & Ren 2 had Calling your name.
I'm still playing ima tracks in my sets from time to time. Didn't know about the whole story, thank you for sharing!
That’s awesome! Thanks a lot for watching
This is a beautiful video, it feels like more than a well-made documentation of Ima's history. Thank you for making this!
Thanks for the encouragement. I’ll be making more videos
Nicely wrapped
great vid
I feel so late lol for me BT - Night rave and nocturnal transmission where the #1 Tracks for me until I heard simply being loved and it all went up from there lol
One word…. RESPECT!!!!!
Always wondered where he got that piano sound from used on IMA? Sounds amazing.
Beautiful story and narration! Sasha's Airdrawndagger timeless album might have an interesting backstory to tell
Definitely! Great idea! Thanks for the comment
Sasha mix is butter. I still listen to it
Bravo - This is a great vid!!
By 1994 the original wave of "progressive house" had already begun a transition towards longer, more elaborate tracks often stretching for 10+ minutes with long intros. You can here this very clearly on Sasha's Qat Collection, for example. BT's music was doing something similar, but as he had no connection to the UK scene his records had a slightly off-kilter journey to the same destination. Another seminal production act from this era was Blue Amazon, who also made incredibly long and lavish melodic records.
By 1995 the UK dance music press that largely abandoned the phrase "progressive house", and Mixmag instead coined the phrase "epic house" to describe this new evolution being spearheaded by BT, Blue Amazon and Sasha and John Digweed's DJ sets. "Epic house" ended up being a controversial sound precisely for the reasons described in this video - you had long, long stretches of music that crowds simply couldn't dance to, and DJs playing the sound were scoffed at for playing 6-8 records per hour. By 1996 Sasha and Digweed had already started reigning the sound in and moving towards faster tempo but harder and slightly more minimalist trancey sounds. This eventually lead to the full resurgence of "progressive house" or - more frequently - just "progressive", in the sound exemplified by the GU and Renaissance mixes of the late '90s. A harder, faster but more streetwise sound. Even BT self-consciously pulled away from the "epic house" stigma. 1997's ESCM was full of genre experiments in drum 'n bass, breakbeat and even grunge rock.
So if you want to analyse Ima's overall importance in "changing the course" of progressive music, it was mainly to convince Sasha to plunge headlong into that transitional "epic house" sound, which produced some great records but also some very self-indulgent moments. Taken in its own right, I've been listening to Ima since I was a teenager, and I still have a nostalgic love for it. It sounds very dated in 2022 and some of the more blatant New Age sample collage bits are very cheesy to modern ears, but it's one of those albums that creates an entire universe of sound all of its own.
Thanks for this awesome comment. I really learned a lot
@@SuperProgressive I've just edited it to add a bit more and make it read clearer. It all came out as one big keyboard splurge.
Amazing narrative on BT. ✨👊🏽
Thanks so much for watching!
Good stuff bro!!! 🤩
Simply Outstanding
Thanks!
Amazing (back)story about BT and Ima! You should do a full documentary about progressive house Willy!
Lithuania catch BT ima Sasha at 1995. was favourite for long
Unghhhh…. This was so well-done! Thank you
Wow thanks! Means a lot coming from you!!
Great story thanks 😁
this is excellent!
Excellence!
Great video but don’t forget the use of whalesong in three songs!
Of his three 90's albums IMA has aged the best.
This should be made into a movie as you said at the start.
With all the shit movies out there, this would be something else.
When I first started listening to trance I thought Armin, Tiesto, Above & Beyond were gods amongst men. Then I found Sasha, Digweed, BT, PvD. The former had fairly cliche origins: get a hit record or remix on an already established dance label, get a few gigs then grow from there. The latter had no beaten path. No careers of others to look up to. Just creativity, genius, and most importantly authenticity. They were simply themselves
There is so much bass in the voiceover I find it really difficult to hear/understand what's being said
Willy you're the shit
Lol you are bro
This album changed my life, like literally changed the direction my life went in….it merged with my soul, and took me places most people only dream of.