Having put together various funk and hiphop mixes, both solo as DJ Devastate and as part of the Create & Devastate duo, renowned US label BBE signed DJ Devastate in 2009. The result, his debut album Movement / Silence, floats in and out of various moods, with a seemingly Swedish appreciation for melancholia—or vemod, for those familiar with the concept.

A turntable instrumentalist/producer from Helsingborg, Sweden, DJ Devastate’s 14-track album blends jazz and hiphop, with an obvious appreciation for vinyl and the bi-products its sound produces. DJ Devastate talks about ”defining a moment” when he creates music, and whether the instrument played is a set of turntables, a sampler or a live guitar, the album’s organic and improvised sound lets its listeners take part in the moment of each song’s creation.

High points include the up-beat and celebratory ‘Spinnin’’, Zoltan Csorsz Jr.’s drums treading softly over a hypnotic bassline and free-flowing piano on ‘Spoken’ and Segerfalk’s masterful keys on ‘Don’t Stop’, a vibrant hip-hop jam. Buy it, listen from beginning to end, and let its melodies creep into your subconscience.

words Sven Carlsson