DJ Wally & DJ Willie Ross – Mrs Millers House (The Agriculture)

DJ Wally aka Keef Destefano has been a NYC beat maker since the early 90s. His earliest records were creaking trip hop which earnt him some recognition in Europe through inclusion on MoWax’s Headz 2 compilation. Back then it was clear he had a keen ear for samples and odd atmospheres, and along with The Prunes probably should have gotten more recognition than he did. From the start he would play with double tempos and quickly moved into producing and mixing drum & bass as well as his deeply stoned hip hop. With NYC’s illbient scene petering out and diversifying towards the end of the 90s – like most of the interesting producers of that era he has ended up on DJ Olive’s The Agriculture label. Mrs Millers House is probably his eleventh or twelfth album and arrives just in time for the US to celebrate Halloween. A little reminiscent of Jack Dangers’ Tino moniker and his Halloween series, DJ Wally has a lot of fun with the horror movie concept basing it around a freaky house and owner (Mrs Miller) from his childhood in Queens. The 30 short tracks all run together with suitably dusty mid 90s beats, well chosen samples and moods. In many ways it feels like a well structured and cleverly mixed mixtape dredged up from 1996 – a reminscent journey back in time – more than anything groundbreaking or genre-smashing.