Pitchfork

There are so many DJs these days. It's gotten to the point where the English language is running out of nouns for DJs to use as pseudonyms. Let's see, we have DJ Food, DJ Ninja, DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, DJ Icey, DJ Vadim, DJ Acucrack, DJ Soul Slinger, etc. Now France offers us DJ Cam, and homage to le hip-hop.

Aside from the Parisian dance- floor groove of "Pressure," DJ Cam serves up atmospheric, dreamy hip- hop that draws from dusty jazz and grainy filmscores. It's a bit refreshing to hear a DJ whose sounds are veiled in a cloud of smoke, as nothing here is overpowering. Don't look for the breaks and sample- heavy melange of DJ Shadow; DJ Cam subtlely weaves over steady, mid- tempo thumps, like a mellow DJ Krush utilizing samples of chimes, bells, piano, whistles, and sax. But despite the fact that DJ Cam's subcutaneous style offers relaxing reprive from the saturated hip-hop market, his stuff just isn't all that interesting. Sure, he sent in guest rappers to keep the disc from becoming sonic wallpaper, but sadly, they lack any real personality, charm, or originality. Their rhymes merely serve as forgettable accompaniment.

So, both DJ Cam and his record, The Beat Assassinated, prove themselves somewhat disposable, not unlike the majority of other DJs struggling to gain credibility in the electronic scene. Is the name DJ Generic taken yet?