Like some of the early Wu-Tang releases - in particular the solo projects, of which I always found RZA's 'Bobby Digital' album the most interesting, DJ Devastate's 'Movement / Silence' constructs a sonic landscape as the backdrop to his lyrical meanderings that veers between bleak and hypnotic, and chilled out and vibey.
The album's opening gambits are dark and bleak, before the introduction lighter moments, in the form of the jazz-infused 'Don't Stop,' and disco-funk workout 'A Days Work,' and while the laid-back grooves are both more accessible and a form of strategically-placed relief from the darker ambience of the album overall, as illustrated by the sweeping piano-led epic 'Space & Time.'
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This is a long album, and by the end, things do appear to have settled into a rut of predictability, pedestrian acid-jazz hip-hop that's content to bimble along in the background. Perhaps that's the intention, but for me it feels like the ideas and atmosphere are at the front end, and peter out about two-thirds of the way through.
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