DJ Cam - Substances

This has to be one of the nicest trippy instrumental Hip-Hop albums of it's kind. If you like Shadow, Kruder and Dorfmeister, Nightmares on Wax, you have come to the right place.

The tracks here are just outstanding, Friends and Enemies is basically a minimal track with a Piano loop, synth strings a drum machine and repeated vocal samples, yet it works so, so well. Sound System Children is a nice 130something BPM breaks track that Mr. Scruff fans will like, while Hip-Hop pioneers has an interesting collage of Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, Jeru The Damaja, Rakim and Gang Starr samples, interlaced with a moody beat. Twilight Zone switches from Beefy trip-hop to drum and bass, and feels really cinematic, and Kakoli Sengupta provides some nice eastern vocals on Meera and Lost Kingdom.

If you just want to relax and rest, I suggest you put this on, and chill.

Substances is undoubtably a good album, but it doesn't really match up to DJ Cam's previous release, Underground Vibes (Mad Blunted Jazz in the US). The album seems to move at a slower pace than its predecessor, and in terms of genre it leans more towards electronic and jazz rather than hip-hop. I'm also not a big fan of the vocals on "Meera" and "Lost Kingdom" - there's something about that style of ethnic singing that I can't really get into. Also, the multiple under-a-minute, primarily beatless interlude tracks placed in between the longer songs don't really go anywhere and unfortunately don't add much to the album. But other than those minor things, Substances is an excellent album and worth buying if you're a fan of downtempo.

As good as Mad Blunted Jazz is, Substances is ten times better. It’s one of my favorite downtempo albums ever -- and I don’t make a claim like that lightly. From the first track, “Friends and Enemies,” a slow and meditative, a perfect melding of jazz and hip-hop, you’re in for a treat. “Meera,” an exquisite track with dark and mournful vocals, conveys exactly what heartbreak is like, despite the language barrier; “Lost Kingdom” follows the same shadowy path. “Sound System Children” gives us some light breaks, while “Innervisions” throws us back headlong into the jazz, surrounded by harp and bass. “Angel Dust” is languorous, moody, and peaceful; “Twilight Zone” sounds like a death march through wintry Siberia that’s interrupted by machine-gun fire. This album will never be far from my side. It’s evocative, moving and intimate. It’s a classic.