Csi: Miami Soundtrack CD

The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" serves as a rousing theme song for the CBS spinoff hit CSI: Miami, and it opens the show's soundtrack as well. From there, Miami tries on some thickheaded nu-metal (Ill Niño's self-explanatory "I Am Loco"), but it's only afterburning background music. The set's remainder consists of oddly England-centric rock (Oasis, Ian Brown) and the kind of crackling modernist electronica that's perfect for CSI's stylized version of true crime. The requisite Massive Attack track appears in the form of "Everywhen," while FC Kahuna, Baxter, and Nitin Sawhney contribute variations on the Clicky Downtempo with Female Lead motif. Lamb's "Gabriel" leads down that duo's darker electronic path, while "Invisible Pedestrian" is a chattering atmospheric piece in the vein of Air. There aren't a lot of risks taken here -- most of these tracks have made the chillout compilation rounds. But the CSI brand and David Caruso's mug on the front cover should get their grooves into some new places. Credit goes to CSI: Miami: The Soundtrack's producers for not clogging it with second and third-tier modern rock and neon holdovers from the Miami Vice years. ~ Johnny Loftus

The Who/Massive Attack/Oasis/ Martina Topley Bird/Lemon Jell

Rolling Stone (p.123) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[T]his TV crime-drama soundtrack settles down to deliver one of the most satisfying down-tempo collections in recent months."