Director Michael Mann is known for modifying moods through music, particularly in urban settings. There were all those rain-slicked tracking shots in #Miami Vice, for example, accompanied by Phil Collins and Dire Straits. For 1995's #Heat it was Moby, Lisa Gerrard, and Kronos Quartet, all contributing pieces that heightened the film's dense, psychological air. And for Mann's return to the crime caper genre in 2004's #Collateral, it's a stellar mixed bag of gripping, tense instrumentals and evocative, sonically varied artist contributions. Producer Tom Rothrock gets things rolling in a Mann-ish direction with Briefcase -- the track throbs like a power cable buried under a city street. Score excerpts from James Newton Howard and #City of God composer Antonio Pinto are equally powerful, offering a mix of knives glinting in shadows (Pinto's Car Crash) and serviceable chase scene dynamics (the Howard piece Vincent Hops Train). Latin-flavored selections by Calexico and Green Car Motel hint at the film's traverse through L.A.'s ethnic patchwork, there's a lovely excerpt from Miles Davis' Bitches Brew classic Spanish Key, and the Roots with Cody ChesnuTT offer some streetwise, vibey soul with The Seed (2.0). The only misstep here is a noneventful remix of Oakenfold's Ready Steady Go. Its substance-less big beat thump feels like 21st century soundtrack filler; in fact, it fits better with Oakenfold's work on #Swordfish. Sequence out Ready Steady, and Collateral is comparable to Mann's greatest meetings of music and film. ~ Johnny Loftus, Rovi

1		Briefcase
2		The Seed (2.0)
3		Hands of Time
4		Güero Canelo
5		Rollin' Crumblin'
6		Max Steals Briefcase
7		Destino de Abril
8		Shadow on the Sun
9		Island Limos
10		Spanish Key
11		Air
12		Ready Steady Go [Remix]
13		Car Crash
14		Vincent Hops Train
15		Finale
16		Requiem

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