Review: DJ Shadow, Entroducing

For the uninitiated, hip-hop doesn’t require rap; just as graffiti doesn’t require a turn table; and break dancing doesn’t involve spray paint. Moreover, when an artist calls themselves a “DJ”, it does not necessarily mean that they play “techno”, “house”, “jungle”, “drum&base”, “trance”, “happy hardcore”; it doesn't even mean that beats will be the main emphasis of their set.

So before you cast aside DJ shadow as being “hip-hop”, therefore disagreeable to your ears, let me say this: I’m a total musical snob. Overall, my favorite genre is classical music, specifically those composers between Beethoven and Prokofiev. However, hip-hop turntablism is my second favorite genre. I have no problem in arguing that if there was one modern musical movement worth watching, it’s turntabalism. The genre’s best introduction, in my opinion, is DJ Shadow’s 1996 debut album, Entroducing

With over 60,000 LPs, DJ Shadow holds the record for the world's largest private record collection. That collection is not a sign of vanity; it’s a physical monument to his commitment to music, and his art. Its difficult to describe "what he does". However, one pithy way of putting it might be that he specializes in going to second hand record stores around the world, and digging up old, virtually unknown recordings. After listening to them, he remixes them into musical collages.

Midnight In A Perfect World [listen in WMA] is probably the best song on the album. DJ shadow has (as far as my ear can tell) combined no less than 5 different tracks – ranging from vocal/instrumental, to funk, to rap, to indy rock – to create this particular master piece. The track’s seamless sound is an illusion; it is the true mark of a turntable grandmaster.

However, don’t get the wrong impression that everything on the album is trancy and beautiful. Number Song [listen in WMA], will appeal to any lover of hard music. The contrast between the two tracks speaks for DJ Shadow’s diversity as a musician.

Like all good albums, however, Entroducing is best listened to as a whole, from start to finish. DJ Shadow put thought into its structure; the sum of the whole is greater than te sum of parts. ****