NR Essentials #5: DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
 

 

DJ Shadow
Endtroducing
1996, Mo Wax Records

When I was 15 years old, the local college station had a once a week hop hop show from 10-midnight that played deep cuts, b-sides and rare remixes. Best of all, they did NOT play radio edits, but let the F-bombs fly in the face of the FCC. Every week I'd stay up and tape the show, hitting the pause button during commercials and PSA's. Then I'd have a new mixtape to listen to for the week, and new tracks to pour over and give me inspiration to hunt down albums.

But one night everything changed. One night the 2nd half of the show was dedicated to playing AN ENTIRE RECORD! By an UNKNOWN ARTIST! A record with no VOCALS! 'whats going on???' I thought. 'should I even bother recording this?' Back then it didnt make sense to me that a song without words could hold yr attention. Nevermind an entire album.

But I listened. And by the middle of that record, I was addicted to this DJ Shadow person. I listened to that dubbed tape over and over. And when my birthday rolled around, I had my mom bring me to the 'big city' so that I could find a copy on vinyl. And once I realized the CD had a different tracklist, I got that as well.

This one record made a lot of confusion suddenly iron itself out to me. All the sudden jazz music made sense. I started to hunt down jazz records and soundtrack scores that would be sampled by the Pharcyde or A Tribe Called Quest or De La Soul. I started to investigate the burgeoning electronica scene. I started to consider a tracks producer as much of an artist as the musicians. A new world had been opened up to me by this album.

It's an album that even DJ Shadow couldnt live up to. So he's never tried. He's done it. So he's moved on to new sounds. He invented a genre, and then denounced it. DO NOT CALL IT TRIP HOP. But do listen to it. Many, many times. Like I have, still do and always will.

somehow i have never listened to this album.

Oh my goodness. Please. Please go listen to it.

I always found this to be possible the least exciting album I've ever heard.

WHAT??? When exactly did you hear it?

I mean, I understand everyone's got an opinion. That's fine. You dont like it, you don't like it. I'm just saying, that's a pretty bold statment. There's a LOT of albums out there, so to call THIS "the least exciting" is pretty weird to me.

It's funny, as although I totally respect what DJ Shadow did on this album , I never got into it at all - there was something missing from it, an atmosphere or something. I really should give it another listen. I did however like "The Private Press" a lot - it seemed a lot more natural and flowing to my ears, somehow.

Wow, that seems surprising to me Melly. I found PRIVATE PRESS to feel very forced and directionless. I mean, I liked most of the tracks ("Blood On The Motorway" is probably my fav Shadow track ever), but I didnt find it to have an album-like cohesion. Just me.

one of my all time favorites, i wrote about it on my blog a long long time ago.

here's what i think of this album: http://oscillatorzine.blogspot.com/2...troducing.html

exactly. I'll try to rep you for that, i'll see if I succeed.

edit: unfortunately not.

co-sign. shadow fucking owns.

The Darkside Of The Moon of Hip-Hop. Masterpiece through and through.

That pretty much sums it up, man!

Endtroducing is wonderful.

Great LP.
I don't like half of it though. But the tracks i like, i LIKE!!!

Although I love this album, I completely understands Glice's point. Its a excellent album, but the music itself and perhaps the build up by fans can push into the realm of grey. Me, I love grey.

I love it.

cant agree with that. entroducing is a great album and in no way overrated and boring!

endtroducing? great, great album. rules.

private press? nah. can't beat his first album.

Love it. Most effortless use (and most unique use) of samples in the history of everything. Could have fooled me into thinking a real band was in the studio on some bits. I just can't get over how one man can make something so brilliant.

its good, not groundbreaking or anything but its a good listen.

NOT ground breaking? yr fucking kidding right?

um, the thing is... it WAS COMPLETELY GROUND BREAKING.

from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti...groundbreaking

"Main Entry: ground·break·ing
Pronunciation: \-ˌbrā-kiŋ\ Function: adjective Date: 1907 : markedly innovative"
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from: http://www.solesides.com/endt2000.htm

"September 14, 2000
Guinness World Record Entry! DJ Shadow made the 2001 Guinness World Records book for First Completely Sampled Album with Endtroducing. This is in the new "Dance, Rap, & R&B" section, p 103."

yeah, the fans are so vocal and twatish about their extreme approval, they even pushed josh to do dross reggaetton and crunk because he got sick of people saying he was gawd.

but it is a groundbreaking record, there's a before and after with sampling.

co-fucking sign. somebody got told. :)

I feel ambivalent towards this record.

can somebody please tell what should be that groundbreaking about that record?
dont wanna be mistaken, I like it, but I cant make out any groundbreaking elements which havent been done before or something

"September 14, 2000
Guinness World Record Entry! DJ Shadow made the 2001 Guinness World Records book for First Completely Sampled Album with Endtroducing. This is in the new "Dance, Rap, & R&B" section, p 103."

yes ok. completely sampled. but what about that is groundbreaking?

It's groundbreaking because... it's the first completely sampled album?

exactly. if it's never been done before then in my book it's groundbreaking. whether it's good or not.

This is the first one of these 'essentials' that I actually agree with.

yes I get what all of you mean. but for me is making a record in a specific kind of way not groundbreakin...ah forget about it.
I like it. its a good record for me, not more or less

have any of you cunts read what i've written about this album?

not yet

fantastic stuff. haven't heard any of his others, and i don't think i want to

I've always preferred Preemptive Strike.

'Groundbreaking' is one of those terms that means fuck all to me. Moby, I believe, was in the Guiness book of world records for the highest BPM. The song itself was shit. Have you head the Tristan chord? It's groundbreaking, but in itself, it's just shit. Total serialism - shit. Seriously though, is it a good record, or a ground-breaking one? The Carpenters, or Abba, broke no ground, but they made fucking awesome music. Playing to the crowd, Sonic Youth broke no ground, but they made good music.

This isn't particularly a criticism of DJ Shadow, he just bores me personally.

Just read Herr Neurotic's bit on it - fair shout lad.

Glice, and all others caught up on the word "Groundbreaking"... it should be noted that no one (including myself who started this thread) is saying that "groundbreaking" and "great" are synonymous.

Groundbreaking means simply that it "broke new ground." Or in this case, was the first album made up entirely of samples. We can agree that that is true. Right? Okay. Then it is a groundbreaking album.

COMPLETELY SEPARATE from it being groundbreaking, I think it's a great album. But not BECAUSE it was groundbreaking.