DJ Shadow - Endtroducing... (the up of this was taken down, so you'll have to hunt it down yourself)
Sampling is not difficult to do. In fact, it’s so easy that many people discredit it as an artistically fulfilling form of music. The pros will tell you that sampling is only meant to be used as a base to leap off of, a foundation for a great piece of music. Sampling is crisp and precise, but it’s not organic, it’s not natural, and it’s not a form of music that most people would describe as being “alive”.
It’s strange then that Endtroducing…, an album composed of nothing but samples is one of the most deeply ethereal albums ever made. It’s so special to so many people that nearly every song used in it was backtracked, and you can find almost every piece of music that was used to create this marvelous collection. Finding negative criticism for this album is like finding a needle in the Amazon Rain Forest.
It holds a record in the Guinness book for being the first album ever made using only samples, and it started a wave in the world of hip hop that is difficult to qualify (it all seemed to come at once in the mid-to-late 90s). DJ Shadow didn’t really stand out then to most people, but today his first album is regarded as one of the most important ever made. It’s still difficult, though, to grasp the idea that an album made entirely of samples could be moving.
But then you pick up the album and your mind shifts. You start to hear a sound that seems entirely transcendent of efficient beats and perfectly timed drum sets. Shadow doesn’t just sample, and he doesn’t just lay out beats to bob your head to. He finds the passion in records and whirls it into a veritable eddy of harmony. Sure it sounds corny, but that’s what you get with this album. It’s absolute, and it puts you at ease with the idea of being more passionate about hip hop than you might normally be. Lord knows I’m not a connoisseur of the genre, but I definitely took it less seriously before listening to this album. Maybe it takes a couple listens to fully grasp, but I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t level with me after hearing it. When you can go on for 20 minutes about how special this album really is—and refer someone to the ridiculous amount of praise and recognition that it has received just for being primordial in the world of hip hop—the feeling is pretty undeniable.
There are certain songs that epitomize this feeling more than others, the feeling of the music being slowly dripped into your eardrums. Songs like “Changeling/Transmission 1” or “What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1): Blue Sky Revisit / Transmission 3” come to mind immediately. The latter deserves a review all of its own. Blue Sky Revisit is just magical, there's no other way I can describe it. Those legendary saxophone notes, the mashed up drum beat from David Young's “Joe Splivingates”, Shawn Phillip’s intro, and the elegant, soothing vocals used throughout. This song is, for me, the most entrancing. It starts and ends so perfectly, so beautifully, it’s honestly difficult for me to keep coming back to the fact that I’m essentially listening to a compilation of beats. But that’s the great thing about Endtroducing…, it doesn’t fool you. You're aware of the process the entire time, you're aware of the fact that this music wasn't recorded live, but it just makes it that much better. The tracks are so goddamn perfect, they're so beautifully crafted that you can’t help but listen in awe.
“Changeling” invokes a similar feeling but on a different level, it's another perfect ensemble of songs, but it doesn’t dip into your psyche like Blue Sky does. It’s just a complete embodiment of the word “cool”. From the very beginning you feel like everything is moving in slow motion, and like you’re wearing sunglasses. Then that succession of notes kicks in at 1:38, and you’re now smoking a cigarette and leaning back in your chair with that “I don’t need anything or anyone because I’m just that fucking content” look on your face. Then the guitar riff comes in at the end and you walk away from the cool and into the epic. Clearly these analogies have a silly undercurrent, but trust me, listen to the song and you’ll understand one way or another.
I’ve used the word “special” a number of times in this review, and in the end I feel it’s the best way to sum this album up in one word. The people who have grown to love this album have a relationship with every single song, a memory that is more permeated than most because it is accompanied by “Midnight in a Perfect World” or that immortal drum session on “Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain”. There are stories to go along with every song, and always something new to listen for every time you play it back again. The specialty of the album may seem obvious at first, but the genius is impossible to miss if you know what you’re looking for. The perfection, the craftsmanship, that’s really what makes this album great. The meticulousness and efficiency translate into spirituality and essence in ways that I honestly still don’t understand.
I don’t know if I would feel more comfortable calling Shadow an artist or an engineer. Either way, though, he is truly a master craftsman. Sometimes it’s difficult to truly immerse yourself in any kind of electronic music, people are often attached to the idea that music needs to be living and breathing in order to be artistically valuable. But that attachment can be severed, and I can promise you that if you listen to this album all the way through, your musical perspective will change.
-Sean Canzone (Guest)
No comments:
Post a Comment