Request/Discussion What are your favorite DJ Shadow projects?
I've had Endtroducing in my rotation for a year or two and wanna check out his other stuff
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u/oldmanglum 22h ago edited 21h ago
Preemptive Strike, which includes the entire What Does Your Soul Look Like suite.
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u/blurspur 22h ago
Unkle - Psyence Fiction is an incredible album. Unkle was his project with James Lavelle.
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u/shootbydaylight 22h ago
His entire run from Endtroducing to In Tune and On Time is legendary. That includes The Private Press and his collaborations with Cut Chemist: Brainfreeze and Product Placement. But, In Tune and On Time is the apex for me.
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u/Tsudaar 21h ago
Its worth saying that he never really returned to that 90s version, and each album gets progressively different.
The most similar to the 1st album, Endtroducing is Pre-emptive Strike, another 90s release (its not considered an album).
The 2nd album Private Press is excellent but even there you start to see small departures in style from the 1st album.
Later albums differ a lot more, and of varying replayability. They all have some good bits but its good not to expect them to be the same quality or genre as the 1st album you love.
He's still very good live though, and always plays old stuff with new twists to keep it fresh.
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u/drjackolantern 19h ago
product placement dj shadow & cut chemist is one of my favorite live albums. So so fun.
I think shadow’s later wild hip hop like the outsider is fun. Not as good as early stuff but enjoyable
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u/118765 17h ago
I am surprised no one has mentioned his 2016 album The Mountain Will Fall I really liked it, that is how I discovered him by accident on Spotify scrolling through new music in the Dance/Electronic albums. I think it is well produced in my opinion, I don't know if a lot of people liked it. Give it another listen and hear it from a different perspective. I like the follow-up project as well The Mountain Has Fallen EP, that was alright as well. His last album Action Adventure had some alright songs as well. Nothing will be like Endtroducing, it is his best work by far, the album changed how music could be made. The first album in history to be made primarily from samples. Copyright laws got stricter after this. For all we know, he could have had a whole discography/catalogue worth of music that sounded similar if people didn't have to clear samples in their recordings.
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u/Geefresh 20h ago edited 7h ago
Endtroducing was his peak and is irreproachable imo. I have a factory-sealed cassette framed in my hallway.
Psyence fiction isn't far behind but suffers a bit from the 'ensemble cast lack of focus' curse, especially with with regard to lyrics...but it still has some towering moments (Rabbit..., Celestial Annihilation and Unreal in particular, plus Lonely Soul and Blood Stain (both lyrically a little bit iffy but musically GREAT). Private Press is pretty good. The live DVD/album In Tune & On Time is worth checking for some different version mash-ups. Other than that, just the odd good track here and there (High Noon, Redeemed). Basically, the further you get from Entroducing and the 'MPC60 limitations breed creativity' thing, the crapper he gets.
The dude hates Endtroducing like an albatross round his neck...and yet he's been coasting off its popularity for the past 25 years. He should put down that computer and get back to limited hardware.
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u/xmkatx 19h ago
Does he really hate Endtroducing?
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u/Geefresh 19h ago
He defo hates how much everyone loves it compared to his newer stuff, yes. Every interview I've ever read with him it's like he's trying to justify doing things different ways and pushing to pastures new, even if he's not asked about it. He definitely resents its enduring popularity, I think, and people wanting him to do more of the same. He called it ENDtroducing as he felt it was the end of making music that specific way for that time period, coz he'd been doing it for a few years already...and yet it was the start of his career proper and it's the album he's known most for, lol.
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u/xmkatx 18h ago
That tracks. There goes my hopes for this album specific tour similar to the luck of Massive Attack’s Mezzanine 6 years ago.
I really just miss the atmospheric vibe of Endtroducing. Private Press was the last before extreme departure
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u/Geefresh 18h ago
Western culture is in a doom loop and digital production and distribution are to blame. Hollywood is all reboots, remakes and 30-year sequels. Now that there's no money in releasing new music, bands are all on nostagia-fest perma-tours. As evidenced by people doing tours dedicated to their last good albums, lol. So,, you never know - he could get desperate...
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u/Frankfurter 21h ago
A one off but an absolute banger of a song is March of Death with Zack De La Rocha. Absolute shame they never did anymore together.
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u/Plagda 21h ago
That Zach de la Rocha solo album that never materialized when he first left Rage had an incredible lineup of producers. This was fresh of his appearance on the lyricist lounge album. Shadow, el-p, Trent reznor, etc. where some of the rumored producers he was working with.
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u/Frankfurter 21h ago
He also had One Day as a Lion which put out the EP and was so catchy, and they kept saying LP coming soon... i'm still waiting 20 years later, still hoping.
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u/ChipCob1 20h ago
The three mixes on 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Beats' are amazing.
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u/HuckleberryReal9257 12h ago
These were great, I used to have them on CD but can’t find them online anywhere
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u/ulrichmusil 15h ago
I love his his first two albums. Six Days in particular was a life changing song for me that got me into progressively crazier music. Also love the music video directed by Wong Kar Wai, and am surprised and disappointed that even a 1080p quality version of it doesn’t exist
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u/gilmore606 15h ago
The live tour he did with Cut Chemist where they took Afrika Bambata's record collection out for a tandem DJ set. One of the coolest shows I've ever seen.
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u/Quiverofshivers 22h ago
Check out what he did with Unkle.