by: Sean Boy
DJ Shadow has said that he doesn’t want to make the same record again and again. He’s definitely got a different vibe going on with this record, has obviously pulled much of his source material from a different record bin, but by no means loses his signature sound—the dark, moody, dare I say shadowy, musical stylings. Plus those drums. I’m still confounded at how he comes up with such dry, raw and strong hip-hop beats. On this record, six long years after Endtroducing, there’s still the sinister tracks like “Giving Up The Ghost,” and “Mongrel Meets His Maker” that would fit well as post-modern soundtracks to some desert ghost town flick. Wacked-out, old school hip-hop joints such as “Walkie Talkie,” “Right Thing/GDMFSOB,” and “Monosylabik” would certainly get hardcore breakdancers lockin’ and poppin’ the night away. Missing is a lot of the jazzy feeling to DJ Shadow’s music. Instead we get several instances of ‘80’s era synth pop: a stripped down “You Can’t Go Home Again” could easily be mistaken for an early Depeche Mode b-side. And then there’s “Blood On the Motorway:” a reprise to Endtroducing’s “Midnight In A Perfect World.” Only it breaks in with Steven Perry like vocals and turns into Shadow’s power ballad. He’s not straying too far from his early recordings, and that’s a good thing.
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