Marco Beltrami's The Minus Man evokes the sinister underbelly of smalltown Americana in quietly horrific detail -- this is a score that calmly but relentlessly creeps under the skin, employing piano and muted strings to create music of uncommon subtlety. If anything, The Minus Man is a bit too subtle -- the score requires more attention than the average listener is likely to devote, and to be honest, its gray-toned palette wears thin over the long haul (so to speak, as the disc clocks in at only half an hour). But Beltrami nevertheless establishes an atmosphere of dread that's virtually palpable, and as cinematic tone poems go it's an impressive achievement, albeit in small doses.