Josh Martinez Traders

Minimalist composer, electronic whiz kid, and frequent Steven Soderbergh collaborator Cliff Martinez wraps an Eno-esque blanket of chilly sunlight and subdued dread around the Josh Hartnett thriller Wicker Park. Martinez's hypnotic work on Traffic and Solaris complemented Soderbergh's intimate narrative style, so it's no real surprise that he attacks the suspense genre with the same amount of elegant subtlety. Plot boilers like Wicker Park are at their most effective when the lights are low and the only sound is the mounting of a boot at the foot of the stairs, and Martinez's ability to lay back and let the blood pressure rise is apparent throughout, utilizing loops and whistles - as well as strings - like Thomas Newman scoring an episode of The X-Files…

Cliff Martinez has been Steven Soderbergh's go-to composer ever since the director started out. When Soderbergh made his directorial debut with Sex, Lies & Videotape it was Martinez who did the score and what would end up being one of the most significant Director/Composer pairings in Hollywood. While Soderbergh does use David Holmes for certain projects he does rely on Martinez for the heavy stuff such as Traffic, Solaris and now Contagion.
The score for Contagion is a blending of tones and ambience that creates a world of suspense. The approach immediately gives the score a sound that evokes technology and science and considering the subject matter it's appropriate. It borders on being a science fiction score rather than a thriller score, but the emotions and beats all hit…

Directed by Nicholas Jarecki and starring Richard Gere - in the best performance of his career - Arbitrage tells the story of a troubled hedge fund magnate desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire. Cliff Martinez - who did the music for Drive - composed the beautiful and electronica driven score. It features all the musical elements that have made Cliff Martinez one of the most interesting and sought after composer of our time. The soundtrack features also music by Bjork, Billie Holiday, Jobim/Getz and a great cover of "My Foolish Heart."

Director Steven Soderbergh and composer Cliff Martinez have been collaborating together for over 25 years, but Martinez was shocked when Soderbergh asked him to create the music for his current series on Cinemax, “The Knick.” Set in 1900s New York City, the former rock drummer (Red Hot Chili Peppers) turned one of the most sought-after composers working today was pessimistic about how his electronica-focused sound would work for the show, a period hospital drama set during the turn of the 20th century. Then Soderbergh had Martinez watch a rough cut of the show, which included a temporary score filled with music Martinez created for movies like “Spring Breakers,” “Drive,” and “Contagion.”
“It seemed extremely wrong,” Martinez told Business Insider over the phone…

Turina's take on Spanish folk idioms is unmatched, and showcased quite nicely on this CD. The "Danzas fantasticas" are the highlight, but the romantic flair of all the works on this recording is not to be missed. The orchestra is brilliant throughout, and the technical aspects of the recording are lacking nothing. Absolutely no complaints, only pure enjoyment. You can't go wrong with this one.

With 2023's PORTALS, Melanie Martinez further fleshes out her high-concept pop, crafting an album that plays enticingly like Alice in a goth Wonderland. Arriving on the heels of a two-year hiatus, the record is the singer's first not to feature her empath "Cry Baby" persona, the focus of both 2015's Cry Baby and 2019's K-12. Thematically, PORTALS is an album about death and rebirth with songs that speak to Martinez's ongoing knack for reinventing her sci-fantasy baby girl aesthetic in ever more musically nuanced and diaristic ways. Produced with collaborator C.J. Baran, PORTALS sounds similar to her past work, a textural blend of electronic grooves and instrumentation that she smartly blends with more organic strings, woody bass, and sundry other analog instruments. Vocally, Martinez also still has her distinctively cherubic style, like an anime alien who listened to a lot of Feist and Rihanna.

Is Cliff Martinez's soundtrack album Solaris (2002) the best science fiction film score since Vangelis' opus for Blade Runner? Martinez's score may have equals in the sci-fi sphere, but nothing surpasses it for originality and haunting atmosphere. Martinez and American filmmaker Steven Soderberg have worked together for many years and their collaborations have always been interesting, notably Traffic (2000), Contagion (2011) and Sex Lies & Videotape (1989), even if the accompanying soundtrack albums for those films are hit and miss affairs. Solaris, however, is completely unified as a standalone album…

The Spanish baroque ensemble Forma Antiqva rescues forgotten masterpieces. The conductor and artistic director Aarón Zapico opens the musical treasury in the archives of Oviedo Cathedral and presents Spanish masterpieces of the 17th century to the world. Each individual work is a premiere recording, including six vocal pieces by Joaquín Lázaro (1746-1786) — the soprano Jone Martínez brings these love arias about the highest, divine love to life again — and two anonymous instrumental pieces and a violin concerto. Forma Antiqva, conducted by Aarón Zapico, is one of the most outstanding baroque ensembles in Spain. Zapico places special work on the discovery of Spanish baroque music. The maestro unearths gems and performs them with his ensemble as if the ink were still wet on 17th-century sheet music. Very exciting!