"Midnight in a Perfect World"

DJ Shadow
(Mo'Wax/ffrr, 1996)

Instrumental hip-hop lets nerdy white kids revel in rap's potential for boundless sonic experimentalism without confronting their fear of public speaking or claiming specious Compton roots. But only DJ Shadow, a disciple of both John Williams and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, has managed to work backward from beat-head austerity, making his rhyme-free compositions signify with the self-expressive depth of great MCing. On "Midnight," Northern Cali fog, mood-indigo orchestration, pensive funk guitar, and a space-ghostly moan (by Meredith Monk) swirl around a kickdrum as heavy as the weight of the world.

-- Alex Pappademas