Cliff Martinez

The Profile

Cliff Martinez is an American composer and former rock drummer best known for atmospheric, electronic film and TV scores. He moved into scoring with Steven Soderbergh’s sex, lies, and videotape (1989) and later became noted for works like Traffic, Solaris, Drive, and The Knick.

American film composer and former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer; frequent collaborator with Steven Soderbergh and Nicolas Winding Refn; acclaimed for hypnotic, ethereal, gamelan-tinged textures with acknowledged influence from György Ligeti; Solaris score highlighted in the review.

A lyrical, emotional tribute to Cliff Martinez’s Solaris score. The review highlights hypnotic, ethereal textures, gamelan colors, and Ligeti’s influence. It connects Lem’s novel, Tarkovsky’s vision, and Soderbergh’s film, celebrating music as the conduit to Solaris’s mysterious heart.