BT – This Binary Universe (DTS DVD-Video/CD Set)

 

Picture: C     Sound: B     Extras: D     Music: B-

 

 

BT is the pseudonym of Brian Wayne Transeau, best known for his score to the critically acclaimed film Monster, but has found himself working on lesser projects like the remake of Gone In 60 Seconds, The Fast & The Furious, Zoolander, Stealth and additional songs for more disposable films.  This Binary Universe is his new studio album and it gives him a chance to be freed of the limits of silly commercial fare to create another instrumental album.

 

DTS Entertainment has issued a new DVD/CD set of the album, but unfortunately right off the bat, the DVD is not the higher-definition DVD-Audio format the company was supporting, but a standard DVD-Video with still solid if not spectacular sound.  The tracks include:

 

1)     All That Makes Us Human Continues

2)     Dynamic Symmetry

3)     The Internal Locust

4)     1.618

5)     See You On The Other Side

6)     The Anhtkythera Mechanism

7)     Good Morning Kaia

 

 

The final track is a message to his daughter, with the rest of the music more abstract and centered on its technologized focus.  It is good music that is better than much of what he has done lately for film and TV, but is still not a Tubular Bells or the like.  Instead, it plays like something in the Moby mode, which is not bad, though we have heard this style before.  It is something to get a piece to have the same feel, but it does, intentional or not.  Overall, it is an interesting listen and if you like electronic and/or instrumental music, you will want to take a listen yourself.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 16 X 9/1.78 X 1 image for the DVD-Video clips are nothing to write home about, with its mix of good and degraded images throughout, so they are not your typical short films, clips or Music Videos.  The sound fares better, with both 16bit PCM 2.0 Stereo discs (44.1kHz for CD, 48kHz for DVD) are good and solid, but the 24 bit/48kHz DTS 5.1 mix is a little better with a good use of surrounds throughout and a bit more music detail as a result.  There are no extras, but having a set like this covers all your BT needs and is typical of how the DTS Entertainment label goes out of its way to do top-notch releases.  You can read about the previous DVD-Audio/CD set DTS issued of BT’s Monster soundtrack at this link:

 

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1247/Monster+DVD-Audio/CD+Soundtrack+by+BT+(DTS)

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo