Sleeper Cell: TV Original Soundtrack Recording

Though "Sleeper Cell" failed to find the audience Showtime was hoping for, the accompanying soundtrack I hope has a better time of it.

Executive produced by Nona Hendryx (who also contributes a few tracks alongside Paul Haslinger) who's been absent from the spotlight for some time, the Sleeper Cell soundtrack is a remarkable compilation of ethereal, eastern influenced electronica... and that is a sentence that shouldn't make the sense that it does.

Paul Haslinger, who's responsible for the original material, has mirrored much of the tension and latent despair that inhabits the soul of the series. Likewise, Ms. Hendryx it seems completely understands what her duties are here, as I don't think I've ever heard her sound quite as fitting to the music around her as I do here (save possibly for "Lady Marmalade" with the LaBelle's). Her smokey, soulful, mature voice is forever surrounded by droning keyboards, striving to break free much of the time from the core of the sound, but always drowning in the sounds washing over her. For her tracks alone I'd buy this CD.

Then there are contributions from Citizen Cope (nee Clarence Greenwood) a not quite new artist who sounds like a hung over Adam Levine from Maroon 5, who hasn't found his mass audience as of of yet. After discovering this track however, I'm hopeful for his career. The downbeat minor tonality of "Bullet and a Target" matches the rest of this album well, and the downbeat social commentary of the song is as equally weighted as the TV show it helped musically frame.

Further contributions from trumpeter Jon Hassell ("Memento Mori") are equally as engaging, and Mr. Hassell fits into this disc perfectly as his "4th World" ideology -a term he uses for the type of aesthetic he is trying to achieve- a blend of East Indian interpreted vocals played on flugal horn and accentuated by electronica, seems more indigenous to the culture of the people whom the drama showcases than it has the electronic right to be.

Rounding out the notable artists is Aj Racy, whose "A Life of Struggle", and "Beginning to End" are trancelike eastern electronica for the 21st century set. I'll just say that this is a man who needs to cut an entire record with Sting. Listen to his tracks and you will understand (Sting's "Desert Rose" is an upbeat club version of what Mr. Racy accomplishes). Actually, an entire album comprised of collaborations between Sting, Ms. Hendryx, Mr. Haslinger and Mr. Racy would be a world music wet dream.

If you like the series, you'll love this album. If you don't like the series, you should still love this album. If you've never seen the series... well, you get this idea... go out and buy this album. It's not going to put a smile on your face, but it will do what music is supposed to. It will speak to you. You may not like what it's always saying, but when the music's this good, you just deal with it.