SIN CITY

Set in dark, slickened streets and populated by a stellar ensemble cast, this adaptation of Frank Miller's hard-edged, film noir inspired graphic novels plays like comic-book-come-to-life?not surprising, as Miller is credited as Robert Rodriguez's co-director (with a bit of help from Quentin Tarantino). The soundtrack to this bleak, compelling exercise in pure noir stylism is provided mostly by director Rodriguez, with an occasional assist from past collaborators John Debney (Spy Kids and its sequel) and Graeme Revell (From Dusk Til Dawn). While their largely synth-driven cues tend naturally towards brooding atmospheric soundscapes, their tense electro-rhythms are seasoned with bracing doses of sinewy, sensual sax and dotted with the occasional bongo flourish, details that musically evoke both a shadowy humanity and the film's genre-savvy roots. Also featuring disparate, yet wholly integrated contributions from techno-house savants Fluke and 20th century Mexican classicist Silvestre Revueltas, it's the sinister flipside to the future-jazz sheen of Vangelis' classic Blade Runner.

1. Sin City
2. One Hour to Go
3. Goldie's Dead
4. Marv
5. Bury the Hatchet
6. Old Town Girls
7. Hard Goodbye
8. Cardinal Sin
9. Her Name Is Goldie
10. Dwight
11. Old Town
12. Deadly Little Miho
13. Warrior Woman
14. Tar Pit
15. Jackie Boy's Head
16. Big Fat Kill
17. Nancy
18. Prison Cell
19. Absurd -
20. Kiss of Death