DJ Signify: Of Cities

DJ Signify: Of Cities
[2009]

7.8/10

A lot of people will contend that the turntablism/ instrumental hip-hop genre is spent. There are two extremes a lot of the genre's output falls into: a compilation of boring, basic beat-work that is passed off as a final product, when in reality it was just pieces of work laying on the cutting room floor that no emcee could be bothered with. The other extreme are the guys digging for esoteric samples for hours on end, meticulously crafting giant opuses that are supposed to be the next Endtroducing... . These are perhaps more disastrous since most of them come out as complete clusterfucks, a "shove as much as we can into the crockpot and hope it comes out a masterpiece" usually blows up in their face and to our ears, abrasive and cluttered soundscapes that are aimless and do not warrant (or quite frankly encourage) a revisiting.

Luckily, DJ Signify's Of Cities is a rare and welcomed release that manages to sound wholly listanable and fresh. Perhaps not fresh in the extent that it is breaking new ground, but his grimy grooves and foreboding atmospheres choose to explore alleys and backstreets not yet walked down by his predecessors or contemporaries. Aesop Rock lends his presence to two of the tracks, with no real real aim but adds to the confused and lost wandering of the music.

It is hard for me to pick out any stand out or weak tracks. "Delight to the Sadist" is menacing, and at its core is a dark surf-guitar riff which drone and synth parts bow down to, and different drum beats try their best to battle it but fail. "1993" is haunting with its deft bass and potent drum breaks, horn motif, and devastated but calm voice who tries to convince us "I'm not as crazy as I used to be." The six "interludes" spread throughout hint at their own tales to tell, and are nice keek-da-sneek, head-boppin funk slices in nature that disappear just as they've caught your attention. But this is an album, in the sense that a complete listen is necessary for the overall vibe. It is the soundtrack for a late night stroll downtown, and each track is either a new block or stopping to take a glance inside one of the shop windows. At first I wasn't thrilled, but it has revealed itself as a fine combination of solid grooves, subtle melodies, and a beautiful balance of serenity and forbearance . If anything this album just may grow more on me.

-Unkie Clamz