DJ OF THE WEEK 12.20.10: DJ SHADOW

I had to go digging real deep into the digital crates to find a hosted mix by the one and only DJ Shadow. I’ve known of this particular mix for quite some time, but I was holding out in case he, his label, or anyone, would upload a more recent mix. Well, I simply couldn’t wait any longer, DJ Shadow is simply too major a DJ to be ignored any longer.

DJ Shadow, Joshua Paul Davis is from San Jose, California, where he also went to college and began his professional career as a disc jockey on the college radio station KDVS while working on his own productions. He dropped some of his first works on the Hollywood BASIC label that same year, and soon was working with the now defunct Mo Wax out of London, all this was simply preparation for his magnum opus.

‘Endtroducing…’ was released in 1996 and not only did it put DJ Shadow on the map, it changed the entire landscape. It contained no live instruments, no live vocals; it was produced using nothing but samples, a little accomplishment that landed it in the Guinness book of world records. If one is quick to judge or doesn’t know any better, this might not sound appealing, but the album is a true masterpiece; tracks such as ‘Building Steam With A Grain of Salt,’ ‘What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 4),’ ‘Stem/Long Stem,’ and ‘Midnight In A Perfect World,’ are undeniable works of art. In case, you think I’m selling it a bit too much, then all you have to do is check out what others have said. SPIN placed it at 69 in its 100 greatest albums between 85-05 and Time magazine selected it as one of the best albums of “All-Time”!

What DJ Shadow did with ‘Entroducing…’ alone makes him a must feature, but he didn’t stop there. He followed up with yet more critically acclaimed full-length works with ‘Preemptive Strike,’ ‘The Private Press,’ ‘In Tune and On Time,’ and ‘The Outsider,’ each must-haves in any serious music aficionados collection. All the while, Shadow has stayed true to the art form, performing all over the world, and even taking it to the next level via his major contribution to the DJ Hero video game.

I think, it’s easy to see why DJ Shadow deserves to be featured and why I simply couldn’t wait any longer. The following 2-hour long mix dates back to a 2003 appearance he made on BBC 1’s radio show Essential Mix, and we are ok with that. I try providing the latest mixes possible in DJ of The Week, but this feature is about the DJ, their contribution to the craft, and of course, their skill, and DJ Shadow ranks high on all of these. Now, sit back and chill, DJ Shadow is going to take you on a journey. Enjoy!