Lakeshore Records releases James Newton Howard's score for Nightcrawler. The movie is a pulse-pounding thriller set in the nocturnal underbelly of contemporary Los Angeles. Lou Bloom is a driven young man, desperate for work, who discovers the high-speed world of L.A. crime journalism. Finding a group of freelance camera crews who film crashes, fires, murder and other mayhem, Lou muscles into the cut-throat, dangerous realm of nightcrawling - where each police siren wail equals a possible windfall and victims are converted into dollars and cents. Aided by Nina, a veteran of the blood-sport that is local TV news, Lou blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story...

James Newton Howard's score for Nightcrawler feels, in places, a bit like a retro score. Tracks like 'Moving the Body' and the electric guitar based 'If It Bleeds It Leads' have a distinct '80s vibe to them.

The album contains 28 tracks (51 min, 04 sec) and while, on the whole, the music is of the atmospheric background noise variety, there's still a lot here to be enjoyed.

While there's nothing here that's overly memorable or noteworthy, I did find myself rather enjoying this score.

6

Darren Rea