David Holmes
Out Of Sight OST
(RCA/Universal)
First off, I think that I need to explain that not all of this soundtrack was composed by David Holmes. Out of the 15 tracks on the disc, 6 of them are classics by the likes of Dean Martin ("Ain't That A Kick In The Head"), The Isley Brothers ("It's Your Thing," "Fight The Power Pt. 2"), and Walter Wanderly ("One Note Samba"). Like the movie, these classics are sprinkled in over the course of the 9 original compositions by electronic music artist David Holmes. Before you laugh or think that it sounds like something that doesn't go together, let me just say that the combination of the two styles of music doesn't sound the least bit out-of-place. If anything, Holmes stylings work even better here than in his last album Let's Get Killed. One of the things that didn't always work with me about that album was that sometimes tracks simply went on for too long without changing up enough. On this release, however, none of his work outstays it's welcome and the compositions fall into place nicely right alongside the more classic ones.
Another interesting thing about the disc is that in addition to the music, different sound bites of dialogue from the music are inserted into most of the tracks (either at the very beginning or end). It's something that's been done before numerous times on different soundtracks (to varying degrees of success), but it works almost every time here. Unless you haven't seen the movie (and you should, because it kicks ass) or things like this simply bug the hell out of you, the little talking bits don't sound out-of-place with the music and in some places actually add a bit of flavor to the proceedings.
After starting off with the already mentioned (and very familiar) funked-out "It's Your Thing," the disc moves into the first original piece of music "I Think You Flooded It" (all the tracks by Holmes are either named for the bits of dialogue that flavor them or from the particular scene they played in). In this tracks case, the track moves along with a great little swagger provided by some light guitar work, a slight beat, and some playful dueling keyboards. "Jailbreak" ramps up with some freestyle drumming and bass work before busting into one of the funkiest bits on the soundtrack. Even though it goes on for less than 2 minutes, the live drumming sounds and lively keyboards again make it a winner.
Holmes slows things down a ton (for good reason if you've seen the movie) on the sly sounds of "The Trunk Scene" before moving right back into more 70s sounding keyboards and wah-wah guitars that sound like they could have come straight out of a blaxploitation film on "Foley Part 2." "Rip Rip" brings back the live drumming sounds and lays down one of the fattest analog keyboards I've heard in quite awhile. It's thick as molasses, yet smooth as all get out. Things get sultry again with "Tub Scene" before the one minute freestyle freakout of "Bitch Out." The soundtrack closes out with the soothing sounds of "No More Time Outs" and puts the cap on an excellent release. The whole thing clocks in at just under 45 minutes, and goes from big band to electro-samba to deep-fried funk and back. It's a perfect accent to the stylish-ness of the movie and some darn fine music to boot.
Rating: 8
