The music is performed by The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and The London Sinfonietta, with the former conducted by Peter Eotvos and the latter by George Benjamin. The soundtrack to the movie Traffic is an extraordinary listening experience. It is a relaxing mix of compositions that provide a background that closes off reality, engulfing the listener in a warm shelter of rich soundscapes. Having become very friendly with the CD before seeing the movie, I was concerned that the music's calming effects would be spoiled by the dark, at times disturbing, themes of the movie. Although Traffic is an excellent film, thankfully the music stands on its own, disassociated from its visual counterpart.
Traffic is a mix of movie score and original songs.
Cliff Martinez composed the original motion picture score, with each of these 13 tracks running from about two to four minutes. He created a variety of textural constructions of floating synthesized tones that lazily shapeshift in euphoric electric waves, with short punctuations of melodic keyboard and guitar phrases. Two of the tracks veer more toward light jazz fusion and feature the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea on bass and Herbie Hancock on electric piano.