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Composed and Produced by:
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Cliff Martinez
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Release Date:
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January 9th, 2001
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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Traffic: (Cliff Martinez) Steven Soderbergh has a history of directing
moody suspense, drama, and action films involving the law, and Cliff Martinez,
the Red Hot Chili Peppers' former drummer, has been Soderbergh's regular
composer for those projects. The two have combined on such films as Sex, Lies
and Videotape and Out of Sight, and Martinez is accumulating a following of fans
who enjoy his electronic, ambient style. Working closely with Jeff Rona, who
himself is garnering attention at the moment for his writings about the scoring
industry, the music for Traffic is an offshoot of the Media Ventures
group of composers, the pioneers of the modern, synthesized genre of scoring.
Regardless of film score fans think of the album, the general populus has
greeted it warmly, with talk about award nominations and hefty sales figures.
Most editorials have referred to the score as highly evocative and rich with
subtle texture.
As a traditional film score scholar, my ears interpret the same music as simple
noise. The ambience that the score creates in the film is, no doubt, effective.
The music has an undeniable edge of unease to it. But even in its very
construction, Martinez's music for Traffic lacks some of the basic
charachteristics of a film score. It disregards changes of scene, elaboration of
moods, and singular events of the film. And not only does it feature no hint of
thematic material, the score sets up no motif... no particular aspect with which
to distinguish itself from the ramblings of bored synthesizer. While some would
say that this kind electronic ambience requires careful and amplified attention
in order to appreciate its subtlety, my third full listen to the 35-minute score
has yielded absolutely nothing of interest. Occasionally, a rhythm will
establish itself with a bit of regularity, but even these percussive hints of
life fade away into the muddled wash of synthesized undertones. The most
interesting track on the album, the thirteenth and final score track, picks up
the tempo with heavy drums and an active attitude. It should be no surprise that
with this change, the cue was ultimately left out of the film.
The album itself wanders in its second half. The Beethoven piano piece does not
entirely fit in with the Morcheeba and Fatboy Slim performances thereafter
(score/songs that seem to carry on indefinitely) The final track is a reprise of
Brian Eno's "An Ending" theme, which has at least a more angelic and
contemplative mood than Martinez's music. The Eno piece is very much as you
would expect from him (you Dune fans could insert it easily into his
contributions to that film and you would never know the difference). Overall,
the disc is an example of film scoring at its most low-budget, minimalistic
levels. It is the type of music that makes for a score reviewer's nightmare,
because its nature is so dull that there is really nothing that can be said
about, and for it. Even for someone who enjoyed hearing the ambient techno
sounds in the film, you might be disappointed by its lazy performance on CD.
Another low-budget disappointment. *
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Helicopter (2:55)
• 2. No Swinging the Club in the Car (2:35)
• 3. Immunity (1:25)
• 4. What's Your Daughter On? (3:51)
• 5. You Two Don't Like Me (1:32)
• 6. La Cagaste (2:56)
• 7. The West End (2:38)
• 8. I Know She's In There (3:07)
• 9. La Pura Verdad (2:35)
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• 10. Just Shoot Him (3:05)
• 11. Loading the Plane (1:50)
• 12. I Can't Do This (1:46)
• 13. The Police Won't Help You Find Your Car (3:55)
• 14. Piano Sonata #1 in F Minor (Beethoven) (6:32)
• 15. On the Rhodes Again (Morcheeba) (7:01)
• 16. Give the Po' Man a Break (Fatboy Slim) (5:50)
• 17. Rockers HiFi (Kruder and Dorfmeister ReMix) (4:33)
• 18. An Ending: Ascent (Brian Eno) (4:20)
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Insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
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