Movement in Still Life

Movement in Still Life
Studio album by BT
Released	October 8, 1999
Genre	Electronica
Length	73:52 (UK) 56:35 (US) 74:04 (4xLP)
Label	Headspace Recordings/Pioneer Entertainment, Black Hole Recordings Nettwerk America/EMI Records (U.S.) 0670 0 30154 2 4 W2-30154
Producer	BT
BT chronology
ESCM (1997) Movement in Still Life (1999) Emotional Technology (2003)
Alternative covers
The US cover.
Singles from Movement in Still Life
"Godspeed" Released: 1998 "The Hip Hop Phenomenon" Released: 1999 (promo only) "Mercury and Solace" Released: 1999 "Namistai" Released: 1999 (promo only) "Dreaming" Released: 1999 "Never Gonna Come Back Down" Released: 2000 "Shame" Released: 2000 (promo only) "Smartbomb" Released: 2001

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(73/100) [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	(A-) [3]
Pitchfork Media	(7.6/10) [4]
Q Magazine	[5]
Slant Magazine	[6]

Movement in Still Life is the third album by electronica artist BT. Released, in the United Kingdom in 1999, with a modified version for the United States in 2000. The album features a transition towards hip hop and includes the singles "Godspeed", "Dreaming", and in the US, "Never Gonna Come Back Down".

Overview

Movement marks a transition toward hip hop, while continuing with BT's trademark trance methods; the opening four tracks of the UK pressing exemplify the newer hip hop techniques, while the rest of the album is more trance-based. The entire record was mixed so that all songs transition into one another, creating a continuous mix. The album opens with an answering machine message left by an un-named, upcoming rapper who wishes to work with BT, despite not having any records produced nor a convenient line of contact ("if my mother answer the phone, she give you my cousin beeper number [sic].")

In the United States, Movement was entirely revamped for an American audience. This pressing edits every track by a few minutes and appears in an unmixed format with pauses between songs. The tracklisting was also re-arranged: acoustic closer "Satellite" was moved to the middle of the record and was replaced by straight hip hop track "Love on Haight Street", while the album's opening was also moved to the centre of the record, and was replaced by "Madskills Mic-Chekka" and the US single "Never Gonna Come Back Down", which featured Mike Doughty of Soul Coughing on vocals. "Ride", "The Hip Hop Phenomenon", "Giving Up the Ghost" and "Namistai" were replaced with "Shame" and "Smartbomb"; the latter of which would be sampled for *NSYNC's international hit "Pop", which was also produced by BT.

The Australian pressing of Movement in Still Life uses the UK track listing, but replaces "The Hip Hop Phenomenon" with "Never Gonna Come Back Down", mixing it into it surrounding tracks with transitions.

There exists two versions on vinyl: a double-LP version containing a variant of the UK track listing, and a quadruple-LP version featuring eight tracks, with one song per side; this second version wholly features extended mixes. Several of these extended mixes were later added to a Special Edition double-CD set from Hong Kong, which also included other extended mixes.

Cover art

The art of the main album cover is a photogram, Invocation [1], by Adam Fuss.

Track listing

UK CD pressing "Movement in Still Life" – 6:32 "Ride" – 4:56 "Madskillz-Mic Chekka" – 5:36 "The Hip Hop Phenomenon" – 5:17 "Mercury and Solace" – 7:42 "Dreaming" – 9:15 "Giving Up the Ghost" – 6:43 "Godspeed" – 6:44 "Namistai" – 6:51 ° "Running Down the Way Up" – 8:36 "Satellite" – 5:40 UK Limited Edition bonus disc "Never Gonna Come Back Down" – 5:47 "Fibonnaci Sequence" – 9:28 "Godspeed (Hybrid Mix)" – 7:03 "Mercury and Solace (Reach Out) (Mark Shimmon Remix)" – 6:43 "Dreaming (Evolution Mix)" – 10:11 "Dreaming (Libra Mix)" – 9:19 "Namistai (Extended Version)" – 9:28 ° US CD pressing "Madskillz-Mic Chekka" – 4:52 "Never Gonna Come Back Down" – 5:47 "Dreaming" – 5:19 "Shame" – 3:21 "Movement in Still Life" – 4:30 "Satellite" – 5:11 "Godspeed" – 5:10 "Running Down the Way Up" – 5:51 "Mercury and Solace" – 5:07 "Smartbomb" – 5:10 "Love on Haight Street" – 6:17

2x vinyl version Side A "Movement in Still Life" – 6:32 "Ride" – 4:56 "Madskillz-Mic Chekka" – 5:36 Side B "The Hip Hop Phenomenon" – 5:17 "Mercury and Solace" – 7:42 "Godspeed" – 6:44 Side C "Dreaming" – 9:15 "Giving Up the Ghost" – 6:43 Side D "Namistai" – 6:51 ° "Running Down the Way Up" – 8:36 "Satellite" – 5:40 4x vinyl version Sides A-B "Movement in Still Life" – 8:02 "Madskillz-Mic Chekka" – 7:20 Sides C-D "The Hip Hop Phenomenon" – 8:46 "Dreaming" – 10:19 Sides E-F "Giving Up the Ghost" – 9:12 "Namistai" – 9:27 ° Sides G-H "Running Down the Way Up" – 9:30 "Fibonacci Sequence" – 9:28

• ° - This track was renamed "Namasté" on the UK Limited Edition release. However, the original name, "Namistai," is considered to be the official title by fans.

Singles

Movement in Still Life ties These Hopeful Machines with the most singles BT ever released from one album, largely due to the differences between the UK and US versions. Tracks like "Godspeed" and "Mercury and Solace" did well in the UK, but would not fare well on US radios, where "Never Gonna Come Back Down" and "Shame" performed well on American alternative rock stations. "Smartbomb" was used in several films, most notably in 3000 Miles to Graceland, and was used in the video game FreQuency. The Plump DJs remix of "Smartbomb" and "Hip Hop Phenomenon" were featured in the video game SSX Tricky. A remix of "Never Gonna Come Back Down" was featured in FIFA Football 2002.

Personnel

• Peanut Butter Wolf: record scratching on "Movement in Still Life" and "Love on Haight Street"
• Sasha: Co-production on "Ride"
• Planet Asia: Vocals on "Madskillz-Mic Chekka"
• Adam Freeland: Co-production on "Madskillz-Mic Chekka"
• Hutchi: Vocals on "Madskillz-Mic Chekka"
• Rasco: Vocals on "Madskillz-Mic Chekka", "Smartbomb" and "Love on Haight Street"
• DJ Davey Dave: "cuts" and "scratching" on "Madskillz-Mic Chekka" and "Smartbomb"
• Kevin Beber: Co-production on "Madskillz-Mic Chekka"
• Tsunami One: Co-production on "The Hip Hop Phenomenon"
• Jan Johnston: Vocals on "Mercury and Solace"; backing vocals on "Dreaming"
• DJ Rap: Vocals on "Giving Up the Ghost"
• Paul Van Dyk: Co-production on "Namasté"
• Kirsty Hawkshaw: Vocals on "Dreaming" and "Running Down the Way Up"
• Hybrid: Co-production on "Running Down the Way Up" and co-credited with "Godspeed"
• Scott Frassetto: Live drums on "Satellite"
• Richard Fortus: Guitars on "Shame", "Running Down the Way Up" and "Smartbomb"
• Mike Doughty: Vocals on "Never Gonna Come Back Down"
• Fifty Grand: Vocals on "Love on Haight Street"
• BT: All other vocals, instruments and programming

References

1. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/music/movement-in-still-life
2. ^ [http://www.allmusic.com/album/r454038/review
3. ^ http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20263483,00.html
4. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/music/movement-in-still-life/critic-reviews
5. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/music/movement-in-still-life/critic-reviews
6. ^ http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/bt-movement-in-still-life/27