NEW ON CD
"CSI: Miami the Soundtrack"
Various artists (Hip-O/UMG)
CSI Miami CD tracks
a winning musical formula
"Sexy" is not an adjective one would normally associate with the crime TV genre -- that is, until "CSI" came along.
CBS' immensely popular shows revolving around forensic science investigations have an alluring glow about them, boasting attractive casts and production values that stress mood over the starkly-lit, just-the-facts-ma'am shows of the past.
The shows' producers have also been very savvy in choosing the right source music to help augment the cool ambience of "CSI." A soundtrack for the original Las Vegas-based show's been out since last year, but it doesn't hold a coroner's scalpel to this just-released soundtrack album from the Miami spinoff.
Both shows use Who classics for their opening title segments -- the only time familiar rock songs are featured. While the "CSI" soundtrack offered a truncated version of "Who Are You," this latest offering at least has "Won't Get Fooled Again" in its full glory.
With the exception of two American acts -- "I Am Loco" from Latin metal band Ill Niño (appropriate to the show's Spanish-tropical locale) and Citizen Cope's looping "Let the Drummer Kick It" -- the remainder of the collection comes off as a particularly good ambient mix CD filled with British artists.
(Besides the Who song, Oasis is the only other big-name act here, but instead of using one of the band's big cross-Atlantic hits, the lesser-known "The Masterplan" is chosen, and it's a fine bit of Brit rock sung here by Noel Gallagher.)
That country's trip-hop is featured here, though, filling the soundtrack with private, idiosyncratic songs, some with intimate and whispery vocals. More familiar singers include Horace Andy (Massive Attack's "Everywhen"), Louise Rhodes of the duo Lamb (a radio edit version of "Gabriel") and Martina Topley Bird, the female countervoice of Tricky, with "Need One" from her solo debut last year.
Other than that, the selection is rounded out by more relatively obscure trip-hop tracks. The best of them include "Hayling," a narcotic bit of chill-out from FC Kahuna and Icelandic guest singer Hafdis Huld, Bent's mid-tempo "Invisible Pedestrian," Nitin Sawhney's Indian-inflected downtempo number "Say Hello" and "A Tune for Jack" with its canny use of loops and samples courtesy Lemon Jelly.
The only question is: Will the upcoming "CSI: New York" follow the same winning musical formula of its predecessors?
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