DJ Shadow

Product Details

* Audio CD (June 4, 2002)
* Original Release Date: 2000
* Number of Discs: 1
* Format: Explicit Lyrics
* Label: Mca
* ASIN: B000067AT9
* Other Editions: LP Record
* Average Customer Review: based on 60 reviews. (Write a review.)
* Amazon.com Sales Rank: #26,264 in Music (See Top Sellers in Music)
Yesterday: #9,632 in Music

Listen to Samples
To hear a song sample, click on "Listen" by that sample. Visit our audio help page for more information.

1. Letter From Home Listen Listen
2. Fixed Income Listen Listen
3. Un Autre Introduction Listen Listen
4. Walkie Talkie Listen Listen
5. Giving Up The Ghost Listen Listen
6. Six Days Listen Listen
7. Mongrel... Listen Listen
8. ...Meets His Maker Listen Listen
9. Right Thing/GDMFSOB Listen Listen
10. Monosylabic Listen Listen
11. Mashin On The Motorway Listen Listen
12. Blood On The Motorway Listen Listen
13. You Can't Go Home Again Listen Listen
14. Letter From Home Listen Listen
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Countless copycats have landed on the bandwagon since Josh Davis's debut, Endtroducing..., wreaked havoc in the dance and hip-hop world. But Davis, a.k.a. DJ Shadow, kept on top of his game with various collaborations--Blackalicious, U.N.K.L.E., Cut Chemist--and superlative 12-inches like "High Noon" and "Pre-Emptive Strike."

Now, a full six years later, he's back with a follow-up that is every bit as impressive as his debut, albeit in a different way. Once again, the producer has pushed his sampler to the limits, but this time he's brought with it a deeper, hungrier, more bad-ass spirit that's rarely found in modern dance music. There's a fabulous '80s vibe throughout (principally on tracks like "Monosylabik" and "You Can't Go Home Again"), along with the expected forays into b-boy culture (check the growling, massive "Treach Battle Break" and the funky-ass "Mashin' on the Motorway"). While it's identifiably Shadow, it ain't Endtroducing...Part 2. It is, however, a worthy and imaginative follow-up, with humor, wisdom, and musical understanding aplenty. --Paul Sullivan
Tag this product (What's this?)

Your tags: Add your first tag
Spotlight Reviews
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Search Customer Reviews


20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
Junkmedia.org Review - You can't go home again ..., March 26, 2003
Reviewer: junkmedia (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
It is incredibly difficult to release a second full-length album and have it make a strong, positive impression after one's debut release is considered a classic innovation. That is exactly what DJ Shadow is facing with the release of The Private Press. His debut release, Endtroducing..., created a genre. It was based in hip-hop, yet dark and philosophical. Endtroducing... scared people because it seemed like many of the records were specters trying to whisper something in your ear. Call it "cinematic hip-hop" or "ominous turntablism;" there was an incredible rawness to it. Edges weren't smoothed out. Sometimes this was intended, and other times it was a result of the artist jumping headstrong into his first major release. The Private Press will not break ground like Endtroducing... did, but it showcases an older, more versatile Shadow, and in many ways it is a better record.

DJ Shadow's style often unfolds like cinema, with many sweeping scenes that ultimately fit together. This causes several tracks to go well over the seven minute mark. These arresting, epic tracks stand out for their originality and amazing production quality. "Monosylabik" is a track that Shadow himself admitted will be hard for many of his fans to grasp, because it is so different from past work. There is a cold, mechanic quality to the different samples that fly at the listener in rapid, dizzying succession. "Monosylabik" is actually made up of several different sections with dissimilar colors; however, they are linked into a congruous whole by the rhythmic cadence that is present in the melody of each part. Even though the song is somewhat segmented, it works well together as a piece of music.

"Blood on the Motorway" has a mystical feel, and, like other songs in his catalog, it shows Shadow's interest in the afterlife as a theme. Envision the journey that might originate from the time a heart stops beating until a bright light of some sort is encountered, and that's where this epic travels. A three-second silence is boldly placed mid-track, separating the instrumental section from the entrance of the vocal. This increases tension to captivate the listener, while adding to the narrative aspect of the track.

Even though he has one of the largest and most varied record collections in the US, Shadow likes to use primarily newly purchased records to construct each of his releases. Since 99% of his music is sample-dependant, whatever genre predominates local record stores at the time tends to define the album's sound. On The Private Press, that sound is heavy in new wave and '80s rock. "Right Thing" and "You Can't go Home Again" are two tracks on which the "me decade" comes through full force. "You Can't Go Home Again" is the most impressive track on the disc, because it is the first lengthy song that does not bog itself down. Several dramatic changes are not necessary to hold interest in the song, and the upbeat, Devo-style bassline commits the track to memory. "You Can't Go Home Again" is evidence that Shadow has matured, as it makes a strong statement ("here's a story about being free") without having to rely on dark timbres or flailing drum lines to drive the point home.

So, does Shadow play hip-hop, or is it merely an influence of his? Many feel that DJ Shadow does not fit into the traditional hip-hop niche well enough to be classified as part of the genre. Some want to make Shadow a turntablist, while others claim he doesn't scratch or trick enough for this distinction and want to place him in a trip-hop category. As The Private Press continues to show, Shadow is trying to innovate and expand the hip-hop horizon. He recently described his record making process to Jockey Slut Magazine, "To me, it's about manifesting my original understanding of hip-hop, which was taking what's around you, subverting it and spitting it back out through a hip-hop paradigm." RZA continues to dip into the Portishead fountain for Wu-Tang samples, and Madlib uses any bizarre sound/audio filter combination that his spliffed out mind can come up with, and this question does not arise with either of them. The hip-hop community should not be asking "Does this fit in?" Instead, it should be embracing releases like The Private Press as an elevation and continuation of the paradigm that Shadow talks about.

There will never be another Endtroducing..., but Shadow has added new shades to his musical palette. He no longer relies on stock tactics such as dry, aggressive snare drums and dark strings to carry many of his songs. There is more sonic variety from track to track, and Shadow has proven he can make upbeat, even danceable, records. Every detail of the release is placed to further the narrative, and the tracks flow well together in the style of a classic rock LP. DJ Shadow can't create a brand new sound with every release. With The Private Press, however, he's shown he can continue to fuse his varied influences to explore the many uncharted territories of hip-hop.

Will Monroe
Junkmedia.org Review… (plus d'informations)

Product Details

* Audio CD (November 19, 1996)
* Original Release Date: November 18, 1996
* Number of Discs: 1
* Label: Full Frequency / Pgd
* Catalog Number: 124123
* ASIN: B000005DQR
* Other Editions: Audio CD | Audio Cassette
* Average Customer Review: based on 182 reviews. (Write a review.)
* Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,389 in Music (See Top Sellers in Music)
Yesterday: #5,577 in Music

Listen to Samples
To hear a song sample, click on "Listen" by that sample. Visit our audio help page for more information.

1. Best Foot Forward Listen Listen
2. Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt Listen Listen
3. The Number Song Listen Listen
4. Changeling Listen Listen
5. What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 4) Listen Listen
6. Untitled Listen
7. Stem/Long Stem Listen
8. Mutual Slump Listen
9. Organ Donor Listen
10. Why Hip Hop Sucks In '96 Listen
11. Midnight In A Perfect World Listen
12. Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain Listen
13. What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1-Blue Sky Revisit) Listen
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
DJ Shadow, a.k.a. Josh Davis, could be credited with bringing newfound introspection to the gloating sounds of hip-hop. Condensed with urban oscillations and scatological beats, Endtroducing shutters with eclectic samples and aural montages that reach beyond the constraints of hip-hop style. Enhancing the mix with fundamentals of rock, soul, funk, ambient, and jazz, the modern fusions fail to go unnoticed, even by the casual listener. While most of the tracks are compiled by layering samples from vinyl treasures found in used-record bins, the production quality of the mosaic is unmatched. Darkened melodies carry throughout the album with its eye on the end of the tunnel. The narration samples come from numerous sources and keep the listener involved and waiting for resolution. With a message as fragmentary as an overheard conversation, Endtroducing conveys no apparent conclusion, but begs the mind, body, and soul for some rewind. --Lucas Hilbert

Product Description
DJ Shadow, a.k.a. Josh Davis, could be credited with bringing newfound introspection to the gloating sounds of hip-hop. Condensed with urban oscillations and scatological beats, Endtroducing shutters with eclectic samples and aural montages that reach beyond the constraints of hip-hop style. Enhancing the mix with fundamentals of rock, soul, funk, ambient, and jazz, the modern fusions fail to go unnoticed, even by the casual listener. While most of the tracks are compiled by layering samples from vinyl treasures found in used-record bins, the production quality of the mosaic is unmatched. Darkened melodies carry throughout the album with its eye on the end of the tunnel. The narration samples come from numerous sources and keep the listener involved and waiting for resolution. With a message as fragmentary as an overheard conversation, Endtroducing conveys no apparent conclusion, but begs the mind, body, and soul for some rewind. Universal. 2004. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
Tag this product (What's this?)

Your tags: Add your first tag
Spotlight Reviews
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Search Customer Reviews


65 of 67 people found the following review helpful:
The master of aural collage makes his debut., April 19, 2004
Reviewer: Erik R. Olson (Benicia, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
In 1998 I had a crush on a girl named Ellie. On a rainy day we decided on an awkward quasi-date to Rasputin's Records and Blondie's Pizza. I sat down in the passenger seat of her beat-up Accord, she started the engine, and her tape player introduced me to a twinkling piano and hypnotizingly slow breakbeats. The notes fell like raindrops on her windshield, and forever in my mind, that moment, Ellie's perfume, my nervous tension, and DJ Shadow's "Building Steam With A Grain of Salt" were locked inseparably together. Whenever the rain starts to fall -- not a hard rain and not a sprinkle, but a steady, plodding, relentless patter of water on earth -- I think of this song.

Josh Davis, also known as DJ Shadow, makes that kind of impact with the arcane record samples he artfully merges into cohesive, thoughtful, revelatory aural collages. He is obsessed. He digs up sounds you and I have never heard before, and maybe a thing or two we have heard before, and fuses them into some brilliant new heterogeneous dream with the power to stir the subconscious and induce sheer awe.

Once I bought his CD and broke free of the hold that "Building..." had on me, I got accustomed to the other twelve tracks of the album. There were many pleasant surprises. I found "Midnight in a Perfect World" just as addicting as the song that got me hooked in the first place, a loping, seductive, scratch-heavy, impossibly beautiful five minutes and two seconds. "Changeling" was another fast favorite, like a lush sunset after a long summer day. "Stem/Long Stem" creeped me out with pernicious string samples surrounding a single lonely chime. And although it took some time, "Mutual Slump" eventually won me over with its dual personality: crashing percussion and ugly guitar riffs on the one hand, and a mournful, echoing backdrop offset by a shy girl's spoken diary on the other.

Many have already mentioned what an impact this album had on a number of prominent artists such as Moby and Radiohead. DJ shadow's influence has reverberated for several years now in the music industry. But for me, I can only attest to what it did for me when seated next to an unreachable girl, in the midst of my quixotic quest, on a gray and rainwashed early spring afternoon.

It was nothing short of an epiphany.… (plus d'informations)