The Lincoln Lawyer: 2 Great CDs

The Lincoln Lawyer is the new Matthew McConnaughey movie based on the novel by Michael Connelly. It's a terrific flick that's full of double-crosses and twists and turns, great characters and a lawyer of great character. One of the highlights of the film is the music. The score, by Cliff Martinez, supports the mysterious underbelly of  L.A., whose streets supply the lawyer's world, office, and client pool. Using a mix of synthesizers and what sound like ethnic or tribal instrumentation, Martinez has composed music that's sometimes dark as pitch and sometimes rife with tongue-in-cheek commentary, with some healthy introspection tossed in at the right moments. The score sounds, to me, like a throwback to the synth scores of the 1980s, when Giorgio Moroder and others eschewed acoustic colors for electronic ones. Here, Martinez uses electronics to comment, I think, on the artificiality of L.A., an artifice that contrasts sharply with the very real struggles of the men and women who are (and could be) Haller's clients.

In addition to the score itself, the movie features a bunch of great songs. The best of these is a remix of the classic Ashford and Simpson-penned "California Soul," originally sung by Marlena Shaw. Here, it's been revamped, reorganized, and recreated with Ya Boy, who supplies a new rap layer to the proceedings. The result is a new, kick-ass version of the song. The instrumentation is deeper, with a new bed of strings to contrast the hard-edged rap. I can't say enough good things about it. The other highlight is the deadmau5/Kaskae collaboration "I Remember," a techno trance track that positively hypnotic.

The Lincoln Lawyer's music is available at the usual outlets on two CDs: one featuring the score, one with the songs. You can't go wrong with either—but my recommendation is to grab both.