BT - ITTEFAQ

There are few if any artists from the electronic music domain that studied at a conservatory, much less can write, orchestrate and conduct a full orchestra. BT is completely unique in the electronic music realm as he does this, well… all the time. 

This month sees BT return to a musical realm in which he is uniquely versed. Since cutting his teeth scoring cult crime caper Go in 1999, the US composer has provided OSTs for an incredible diversity of films. He’s written groundbreaking scores for everything from The Fast & The Furious to Oscar winning Monster and even Pixar shorts.

In association with Black Hole Recordings, this December sees him release a beautiful intricate, emotionally soaring, orchestral and modular hybrid score. It is one though that presented the composer with a myriad of new and distinct challenges.

‘Ittefaq’ (English title: ‘Coincidence’) is the US composers first non-English language film. Written and shot in the twisting, turning, Akira Kurosawa-forged Rashomon-style (where mutually contradictory interpretations of events are presented), BT found himself in uncharted composition territory.

To overcome this multi-faceted scoring challenge, while synchronously echoing the fast moving events of the whodunit, BT drew on his most eclectic palette of musical forms to date. Amongst its 29-track span, BT sits classical instrumentals and cooler, more downtempo electronic pieces (written primarily with a large modular synthesizer), alongside orchestral and symphonically led numbers, in turn featuring any number of sub-styles, techniques and methods. It’s a truly remarkable and unique tour de force - wild ride; elucidating the bleeding edge of what is possible in modern score.

Currently holding a rare ‘100% Fresh’ rating on review aggregator RottenTomatoes.com, ‘Ittefaq’ has been one of Bollywood’s biggest word-of-mouth sleeper hits this year. While initially proving a hurdle, the intricacy of the Mumbai-shot thriller’s plot ultimately proved to the strongest spur for Brian Transeau’s score. Centered on the story of a man falsely - or otherwise - accused or murdering his wife, BT crafts one atmospheric, suspenseful and evocative set piece after another. Swift-yet-fluid musical pivots mirror the film’s unfolding events/conflicting dialogues (‘Ittefaq’s strapline “2 Murders, 2 suspects, 2 versions” saying much). Throughout though Brian maintains an overarching air of intrigue, expectation and anticipation to the music.

Track list:

Disc 1

01. ITTEFAQ Theme Suite 

02. Vikram, Katherine, Maya Theme

03. Modularis 

04. Prologue Chase 

05. Night Market Arrest 

06. The Crime Scene 

07. A Murderer Loose 

08. Discovering Katherine’s Body 

09. Vikram’s Great Escape 

10. Into the Apartment 

11. Maya’s Story 

12. End of a Life 

13. Investigation Theme Suite 

14. The Faulty Light 

15. Hostage 

Disc 2

16. Two Sides of the Story 

17. Flight 

18. The Aftermath 

19. Was it Maya? 

20. Is it Vikram? 

21. The Video Argument 

22. The Accused 

23. Maya’s Theme Suite 

24. Truth in Photos 

25. Dev’s Suspicion 

26. Vikram Finishes the Story 

27. The Two Brothers Theme 

28. Blackout 

29. The Peak