BT showed the packed house just how far he's gone to distance himself from his "dream house" beginnings, rocking the house a la the Prodigy with an explosive blend of progressive house, funk, rock, and wild abandon. Hopping about the stage like a mad genius and switching effortlessly from guitar to synthesizers on springs (which he almost managed to overturn anyway), BT and his full band of a guitarist, bassist, drummer, and vocalist provided an intense, genre-bending set taken almost entirely from his new album,

Movement in Still Light.

The infectious energy of songs such as "Smart Bomb," "Movement in Still Life," and "Madskillz -- Mic Chekka" had the crowd on its feet throughout the almost two-hour-long set, and a solid block of progressive house (featuring "Godspeed" and "Dreamin'") kept fans of BT's more traditional dance work happy. A surprising, rock-influenced version of "Blue Skies" and a rather emotional "Satellite" (during which Transeau encouraged the audience to sing along) were highlights, and roof-rattling closer "Never Gonna Come Back Down" proved that BT has more to offer a crowd than just his boyish good looks. (Kirsten Terry).

Saturday (Oct. 21) night found many CMJ attendees wandering New York in search of some dancefloor action after being turned away at Moby's sold-out Hammerstein Ballroom gig. Relief could be found at Centro-Fly, perhaps New York's finest locale for DJ scoping, as David Holmes (the DJ-producer, not that annoying MTV sloth) played his brand of urban pastiche and tracks from his latest album, Bow Down to the Exit Sign. Later, at Irving Plaza, Ian Pooley stumbled through a set of his Latin-tempered deep house. Constant skips and sloppy mixes epitomized Pooley's struggles, making his night-closing set a

disappointment for those impressed by Since Then, Pooley's tasty new record.

After a Sunday night with sets by Armand Van Helden and State of Bengal, it's safe to say that more than a few New Yorkers called in sick Monday, probably sore and exhausted from this DJ onslaught. (Peter Gaston)

If you missed our reviews of Thursday (Oct. 19) night's showcases, click here for the story. To read about the rock/pop shows of CMJ, click here.

8.30.00 16:45 EST  LINK

BT, Hooverphonic To Play First Jensenergy Tour

BT and Hooverphonic have just signed on to headline the premier Jensenergy tour, an electronica outing sponsored by Jensen, the car and home audio manufacturer, slated to kick off on

September 28 in Austin, Texas.

BT, the composer-producer-performer also known as Brian Transeau, will front a six-piece live band

during his headlining stint for the 31-date North American tour that will continue through a

November 6 show in Vancouver, British Columbia.

In July and August, Transeau took to the road to support his new album, "Movement In Still Life."

The solo trek was built around BT's DJ and turntable skills, but even then, he was already

looking forward to enlisting more personnel into a larger scale live production.

Transeau plans to play keyboards and sing vocals for the tour, and his backing band will include Richard Fortus of Love Spit Love on guitar, Nate Morton on drums, Nicki Tedesco on bass, Tony Stewart on the turntables, and singer-actress Toddy Walters  ("Orgazmo," "South Park") providing backing vocals.

Touring aside, BT is also in the midst of scoring the film "Redline," as well as writing the music for the game sequences in the remake of "Rollerball" (see "BT To Score, Appear In 'Rollerball,' 'Redline' Films"). Transeau will also appear in the latter film, which stars rapper L.L. Cool J.

Confirmed dates for the inaugural Jensenergy tour, featuring BT and Hooverphonic:

9/28 - Austin, TX @ La Zona Rosa

9/29 - Dallas, TX @ Deep Ellum Live

9/30 - New Orleans, LA @ House Of Blues

10/2 - Jacksonville, FL @ The Edge

10/3 - Tampa, FL @ Janus Landing

10/4 - Miami Beach, FL @ Crowbar

10/5 - Orlando, FL @ House Of Blues

10/6 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade

10/7 - St. Louis, MO @ Mississippi Nights

10/9 - Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre

10/10 - Minneapolis, MN @ Quest

10/11 - Madison, WI @ Barrymore's

10/13 - Chicago, IL @ House Of Blues

10/14 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews

10/16 - Cleveland, OH @ Odeon

10/18 - Boston, MA @ Avalon

10/20 - New York, NY @ Roxy (CMJ Music Festival)

10/21 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club

10/22 - Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero

10/23 - Buffalo, NY @ Sideshow Mix

10/24 - Toronto, ON @ Phoenix

10/27 - Denver, CO @ Fillmore

10/28 - Salt Lake City, UT @ DV8

10/29 - Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint

10/31 - San Francisco, CA @ Warfield

11/1 - Los Angeles, CA @ Mayan Theater

11/2 - San Diego, CA @ 4th & B

11/4 - Portland, OR @ Roseland

11/5 - Seattle, WA @ DV8

11/6 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore

-- Tina Johnson, with additional reporting by David Basham.

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For more on BT, Hooverphonic, and more, check out the MTV News Gallery.

BT, Hybrid, DJ Dan Electrify CMJ Electronic/Dance/DJ Shows

Oct 23, 2000, 1:55 pm PT

While the rock lineup at this year's CMJ conference -- held in N.Y. from Thursday (Oct. 19) through unday (Oct. 22) -- may have been somewhat sub-par, those interested in checking out exceptional dance and electronic music had no shortage of options. From trance to techno to house to crossover acts, DJs were all over New York, definitely constituting the best few days of DJ activity in the States all year.

Aside from venue-fillers like BT and Moby -- whose tours conveniently stopped in New York during CMJ -- other big names within the genre such as DJ Dan, Hybrid, David Holmes, and others left CMJ attendees with some tough club-going decisions. Here's a rundown of some of the shows:

One of CMJ's best DJ lineups took to the decks at swanky midtown hot spot Float on Friday  (Oct. 20) night for a fete co-hosted by Kinetic Records and Urb magazine. Those who made it through the doors early (and held CMJ badges or VIP status, of course) were treated to an up-close-and-personal set by Dave Ralph, who later zipped off to Philadelphia to spin another set just a few hours later. Ralph, whose Live at the Love Parade mix dropped earlier this month, certainly upheld his reputation as one of trance

music's promising talents.

Downstairs in the main room, the party definitely kicked into high gear when Hybrid's Mike Truman and Chris Healings took the controls. Taking a break from their opening slot on Moby's current tour, the Hybrid boys entertained the beautiful people with a set of emotional progressive house. Both the DJ sets and the opening slot on the Moby tour provide a wonderful opportunity to experience a group that's sure to attain next-big-thing status here in the States once their album, Wide Angle, gets a proper U.S. release next

year.

DJ Dan followed later in the evening, giving the fashionistas a workout with his trademark breakbeat house sound. A veteran of other New York palaces like Twilo, Dan didn't seem to mind the trendy crowd (who were infinitely more likely to be toting Christian Dior bags and StarTAC phones than glowsticks and lollipops), and his usual enthusiasm and exuberance came through in the set. (Peter Gaston)

Also on Friday, BT's show begged the question: Has the electronic artist sold his soul to rock and roll? Well, not exactly, but -- to the surprise of some fans (especially the ones bearing light sticks) -- the Brian Transeau who performed at Roxy was not exactly the BT of "Blue Skies" or "Embracing the Future." Nor does he want to be.