DJ Devastate is finally here with his long awaited debut album entitled, Movement/Silence. He is joined by various Swedish musicians on this venture which include; DJ Create, DJ and producer; Fredrik Rixman, guitarist and producer; Fredrik Segerfalk, keyboardist and studio technician and finally Silvia, vocalist/singer...

Movement/Silence is a 14 track jazz, hip-hop and soul album. It's chilled, funky and very mellow.

All tracks on this album have that hissy sound you get when using a turntable to highlight the importance of the vinyl era. I love this, it keeps it real and gives it an edge and quirkiness that would otherwise not be there.

This album opens with 'Start Movin', a mellow soulful track. The beat is strong and I love the melody on the piano. Good opener.

'The Motion Ft. Silvia' is heavily laden in the intro with harps which move to the background when the beat kicks in. This gives it that softer side to an otherwise harsh hip-hop track. Genius.

'Don't Stop Ft. Segerfalk' has great vocals which are distorted and fit well with this style of funky hip-hop. This is mellow and cool enough to melt anyone.

Transporting us back to the 'Shaft' era is 'A Days Work Ft. Segerfalk'. This is truly '60s sounding American cop music but with a little more sophistication.

The woodwind in 'Movement-Silence Ft. Segerfalk' takes this track to a different level of mellowness and soul. It gives it the edgy feel of a mysterious night.

Bringing back the hip-hop feel and moving away from the cheesiness is 'Space-Time'. Add to the hip-hop beat and vocals with the sound of the piano mixed with woodwind and you have something cool and fresh.

'Quiet Stream' is a little cheesy and very slow so it's quite good this is a short track.

Moving up a notch in speed and style is 'Takin It Slow'. This has a funky jazz and hip hop feel. I never would have put this style together in this way but it really works. This is something that has been thought about in detail.

'Uncut Dope' opens with rapping style vocals only to move on to a cool melody and then back into hip-hop styling. This is a little darker than previous tracks but I like it.

Lighter and more upbeat is 'Spinning Ft. Silvia and DJ Create'. The plink plonk of the keyboard keeps this cleaner and fresher sounding, although the melody does get a little repetitive.

Returning to more of a hip-hop style is 'Some Nights Ft. Segerfalk'. The vocals open the intro which leads on to the beat. The melody, like many tracks on this album, is softer and keeps the hip-hop from being too serious and dark. It's a good sound.

I love the intro on 'Spoken' the piano is quite emotional, especially when the percussion comes in. This has a real sophisticated sound to it.

'With The Groove Ft. Segerfalk' is again mellow and slow. The beat is lazy sounding, the whole track I feel needs a little bit of a wind up to get it going.

Back to the cheesy sound of the whiny keyboard is 'The Sound Ft. Segerfalk'. Although it's very cheesy I do like this track. It has a cool beat and the rhythm fits.

On the whole this is a good album but having said this I really don't know where it would be played apart from being used as background music in wine bars and funky retro bars.

8

Helena Rea