BT
Ima


5.0
classic

Review

by WashboardSuds USER (61 Reviews)
December 31st, 2011 | 219 replies


Release Date: 1995 | Tracklist

Review Summary: The full spectrum of the material world

It all starts with nothing. Call it God or call it a big bang, in the center of absolute darkness there is an invisible light, shining brightly but remaining unseen with no eyes to see it. It’s filled with infinite potential, for everything that ever happens in what we know as life. Discovery, love, procreation, pain, and growth; just a few of the many elements we as organisms recognize. It all came from one source, whatever that may be.

And all at once, everything is there: life, with all its beauty, sensations and perspectives, in full detail and as rich as anything comes. The stars illuminating the sky, day and night cycling ever onwards, living things dying and being born, everything we know is interweaved, and the most deviant and opposing features reveal themselves to be siblings. Origin is a mystifying and elusive thing. However it happened, it happened quickly and it happened only once. What was it like? It must have been truly beautiful; Brian Transeau’s Ima takes creation itself and slows it down for all to see.

With his debut, BT’s brand of progressive electronic music could be seen as a beefy, fashionably late entry to the 90’s dance scene. It’s when you see the imagery when all that changes: Pitch black space suddenly sends waves of blue across the atmosphere like spilled paint, and massive gusts give way to the circulation of air. The area fills up like a balloon, then like a red carpet, soil rolls out in all directions before meeting again in a full sphere. Grass sprawls out from under the dirt and the color green is created. Seeds spurt like bullets under the ground, in the most graceful patterns imaginable, and quickly mature into a full rainbow of flowers of many different families. The trees creep and crawl branch by branch, while its foliage forms from under its skin. Ground is morphed and molded like clay into a vast population of hills, mountains, and canyons. Mist materializes in the sky in the form of thick clouds, seeping at every seam before exploding with a torrential downpour that fills up bowls in the earth to make oceans. Heat suddenly booms many miles away, cooking everything without burning it, and the sun is born to give warmth. Everything is put into motion, including the entire mass of land that was just created. Cycles start, and like the beating of a heart the Earth is a self-watering, self-sustaining source of life. Man is born, and time is measured. Things begin and things continue for the rest of eternity.

Past, present or future, it doesn’t matter. Ima’s painting is that of the world at the core of everything; every flower picked for a lovely lass, every tree cut down for resources, every animal, every sediment, everything belonging to the never-changing constants of the Earth, and every last particle of life and feeling involved. What Transeau has created here is all-encompassing and far-reaching. At the core of everything is one basis, and that is life. There’s no personal emotions to be found on Ima, but rather the grand emotion that is beauty, and for BT that beauty lies in creation. The progressive elements of his music represent the sense of growth and blooming energy Ima has to offer. One star at a time, one cell…the ultimate outcome doesn’t question where it all came from, but instead emphasizes the beauty of life by going on a vivid journey through the creation process. Whether it came from a God or a big explosion, an artist is definitely at work here.



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user ratings (147)
4.1
excellent


Comments:Add a Comment 
WashboardSuds
January 1st 2012


5101 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Happy new Years

BroFro
January 1st 2012


516 Comments


pos

Deviant.
Staff Reviewer
January 1st 2012


32288 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

This is some of that metaphorical shit



Also: how fucking sad is it that I had to put this in the db? All these apparent BT fans and all they did was wank over This Binary Universe

Rev
January 1st 2012


9882 Comments


I bought this for a dollar

Deviant.
Staff Reviewer
January 1st 2012


32288 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

album got ripped off

Rev
January 1st 2012


9882 Comments


my local record shop has a pretty poor electronic selection, most of it is just trance compilations and the like, so I was thrilled to find a used copy stashed under a pile of shit

pizzamachine
January 1st 2012


27747 Comments


"This is some of that metaphorical shit"

oooo I love metaphors.

Tyrannic
January 1st 2012


3296 Comments


i feel like i'm on acid.

Cells
January 1st 2012


1875 Comments


Sasha's Voyage of Ima is simply majestic.

Cells
January 1st 2012


1875 Comments


Nah im bout to sleep

Cells
January 1st 2012


1875 Comments


no thats dumb

Cells
January 1st 2012


1875 Comments


no nj, and all this talk about tokin up is makin me want, great u got me packin a bowl now

Tyrael
January 1st 2012


21108 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Best BT release by far



good review

DoubtGin
January 1st 2012


6879 Comments


lol

Restrikted
January 1st 2012


1889 Comments


Thanks for reviewing this, one of my all time favorites

TheMushuPork
January 1st 2012


462 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

YES!! FINAL FUCKIN LY!

I tried my hand at reviewing this. It was very hard.

luci
January 1st 2012


12844 Comments


this is pretty good

TheArkitecht
January 1st 2012


1673 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

An interesting review and an enjoying read! However it doesn't really describe the sounds of the album, I've heard it already and I think it's a fantastic album but someone reading this review with no prior knowledge is going to be baffled.

Gyromania
January 1st 2012


37605 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

One of my favorite albums of all time! Nice review, dude!

TheMushuPork
January 1st 2012


462 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

I have to get this on vinyl. Then all will be right with the world.



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