Satchmo's Jive Essence 42

SATCHMO · 07-01-2009, 12:19 AM

#31 DJ Shadow - Endtroducing

Fuck....

Ugh....

This album....

Shit.

A lot of people have tried to pigeonhole DJ Shadow's 1996 monumental debut album into various different genres. Some will say it's trip hop, others will disagree and say it's down tempo (that's always a fun argument). You see it shoved into the "turntablism" genre once in a while, which is funny because there's not a single DJ cut on the album that isn't a sample of a DJ cut from another album. As a matter of fact this album is actually listed in the Guinness book of world records as the first instrumental album ever produced composed entirely of samples. Most hardcore Shadow fans are pretty adamant about classifying it as instrumental hip-hop, but as cohesive as this album is, it may just be one of the most unclassifiable albums I've ever run into, or maybe it's just jazz. As a matter of fact I'm sure of it.

Endtroducing is the album on my list where I'm tempted to simply say "Just listen to the album. If you don't own it, If you've never heard it, send me a PM and I'll set you up", which I will, but that would be letting myself off easy and not really serving you as the tour guide of this crazy field trip.

Endtroducing is the product of a brilliant mind's obsession with the collection of obscure sounds. Vinyl, but not just boutique shops, dirty church bazaar basements too. Television shows, commercials, what have you. To be able to do what he did; to compose a "moveable feast" of music composed of the distilled essence of the marginalized scraps of the unwanted or forgotten pieces of media from our collective past is beyond brilliant, it's a gift.

And in a sense the end product is exactly what we see when we observe the collective dynamic of a jazz ensemble with an uncultivated ear. We see an amalgamation of a bunch of elements that have been, as i mentioned before, distilled to their essence. With traditional jazz that "end product" can come across as chaotic, a mess, or as many have put it like "a bunch of musicians are isolated in separate rooms playing separate song with separate instruments". despite this overall structural similarity, the same disparate sense of chaos does not come across with Endtroducing, because ,while the album still uses a similar rhetoric of instrumentally communicating themes that are stripped to their bare essence, musically we are still in the sphere of a "rock" rhetoric.

I'm not going to really offer much more in the way of an actual description of this album. A song overview would be pointless. This is yet another album that needs to be appreciated as a single piece of music, a composition if you will. It flows nicely one song into the next with a very ethereal backdrop that provides a nice contrast for the beautiful evolution of beats, sometomes eclectic, sometimes heavy and abrasive, that progress throughout the album from start to finish. There are many surprises along the way and they usually come just when you think you've fit things into a nicely shaped box. I find that It's a fantastic album for a very rainy day, and that the rain seems to add a missing instrument track to the entire mix. Beyond that, it's really best if you just listen to it. and if you are at all reluctant, PM me and I will gladly sort you out with no hesitation. I'm gonna' let this walk. When you listen you'll understand why.

6underground · 07-01-2009, 12:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SATCHMO

Most hardcore Shadow fans are pretty adamant about classifying it as instrumental hip-hop, but as cohesive as this album is, it may just be one of the most unclassifiable albums I've ever run into, or maybe it's just jazz. As a matter of fact I'm sure of it.

Something just clicked.
I think I'll be listening to this with a whole new perspective now. (Which I suppose was the point.)
Frick-frackin' awesome write-up, btw.
Keep it up.

SATCHMO · 07-01-2009, 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6underground

Something just clicked.
I think I'll be listening to this with a whole new perspective now. (Which I suppose was the point.)
Frick-frackin' awesome write-up, btw.
Keep it up.

That's what I like to hear.

Thank you.

dac · 07-01-2009, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SATCHMO

#31 DJ Shadow - Endtroducing

Fantastic fucking review for a fantastic fucking album. It's really one of those records that makes you appreciate music in an entirely different way. Great list so far, keep up the good work

SATCHMO · 07-01-2009, 12:36 PM

Thanks! I used to think of the album as my own little secret. I forget how much of an audience it's cultivated since then.

lucifer_sam · 07-01-2009, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SATCHMO

Thanks! I used to think of the album as my own little secret. I forget how much of an audience it's cultivated since then.

yeah, the lid's off on that one for sure.

i think my brother got me into DJ Shadow around the same time the first UNKLE LP was released. it's hard to believe that was more than ten years ago.

SATCHMO · 07-01-2009, 10:00 PM

I actually had Preemptive Strike for a while before I heard Endtroducing .

boo boo · 07-09-2009, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SATCHMO

#31 DJ Shadow - Endtroducing

Fuck....

Ugh....

This album....

Shit.

A lot of people have tried to pigeonhole DJ Shadow's 1996 monumental debut album into various different genres. Some will say it's trip hop, others will disagree and say it's down tempo (that's always a fun argument). You see it shoved into the "turntablism" genre once in a while, which is funny because there's not a single DJ cut on the album that isn't a sample of a DJ cut from another album. As a matter of fact this album is actually listed in the Guinness book of world records as the first instrumental album ever produced composed entirely of samples. Most hardcore Shadow fans are pretty adamant about classifying it as instrumental hip-hop, but as cohesive as this album is, it may just be one of the most unclassifiable albums I've ever run into, or maybe it's just jazz. As a matter of fact I'm sure of it.

Endtroducing is the album on my list where I'm tempted to simply say "Just listen to the album. If you don't own it, If you've never heard it, send me a PM and I'll set you up", which I will, but that would be letting myself off easy and not really serving you as the tour guide of this crazy field trip.

Endtroducing is the product of a brilliant mind's obsession with the collection of obscure sounds. Vinyl, but not just boutique shops, dirty church bazaar basements too. Television shows, commercials, what have you. To be able to do what he did; to compose a "moveable feast" of music composed of the distilled essence of the marginalized scraps of the unwanted or forgotten pieces of media from our collective past is beyond brilliant, it's a gift.

And in a sense the end product is exactly what we see when we observe the collective dynamic of a jazz ensemble with an uncultivated ear. We see an amalgamation of a bunch of elements that have been, as i mentioned before, distilled to their essence. With traditional jazz that "end product" can come across as chaotic, a mess, or as many have put it like "a bunch of musicians are isolated in separate rooms playing separate song with separate instruments". despite this overall structural similarity, the same disparate sense of chaos does not come across with Endtroducing, because ,while the album still uses a similar rhetoric of instrumentally communicating themes that are stripped to their bare essence, musically we are still in the sphere of a "rock" rhetoric.

I'm not going to really offer much more in the way of an actual description of this album. A song overview would be pointless. This is yet another album that needs to be appreciated as a single piece of music, a composition if you will. It flows nicely one song into the next with a very ethereal backdrop that provides a nice contrast for the beautiful evolution of beats, sometomes eclectic, sometimes heavy and abrasive, that progress throughout the album from start to finish. There are many surprises along the way and they usually come just when you think you've fit things into a nicely shaped box. I find that It's a fantastic album for a very rainy day, and that the rain seems to add a missing instrument track to the entire mix. Beyond that, it's really best if you just listen to it. and if you are at all reluctant, PM me and I will gladly sort you out with no hesitation. I'm gonna' let this walk. When you listen you'll understand why.

This is one of my all time favorite albums. If there's such a thing as progressive hip hop, it's this.

This guy has such an incredible ear for music, to be able to take ANYTHING and make something new out of it.

Who says DJs can't be brilliant composers?

And the "rainy" comment, f*cking A. I've always felt that way about this album too. There's certain albums that have what I'd call a "rainy" sound to them, Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation is one of them, and so is this one.

SATCHMO · 07-09-2009, 02:13 AM

#30 Kayo Dot - Choirs of the Eye

And now for something not so completely different......

Throughout the course of this trip we've been deviating away from our comfort zone of the Rock based aesthetic; sometimes in small increments and sometimes in giant leaps, and sometimes back again.
For this particular entry I have to come clean and say that this is a new album, as well as a new band for me. As a matter of fact I've had this album for roughly 24 hours now, and while I certainly did think that perhaps it wouldn't be proper for me to begin flying the flag over this one so quickly, I also realized upon hearing it that it was something very special and worthy of attention.

It's not too frequently that something so avante garde doesn't make you immediately think "Ornette Coleman" when jazz comparisons are made. I would certainly make an exception with this album. my first impressions are of darkness intertwined with bittersweet beauty, a definite heavy metal aesthetic but the structure, even in the macro sense is very open and ethereal.The dense wall of noise breathes in an almost organic way giving rise to many surprises: horns, a beautiful electric piano, and spoken word at various points throughout the piece. There is a communication that is conveyed by the harmonic overtones that arise from the sheer density of sound that culminates on this record that is simply breathtaking and quite unlike anything I've ever heard. I liken it to receiving a blowjob from a sledgehammer.

This album and this band are quite new to me and because of that I'm going to leave you all with this vague and brief musing. Sorry if it sounds like a copout. Chastise me if you will or make further comments about this amazing album to supplement my first impression. If you want an up give me a PM. I couldn't let this one go without immediate comment. It definitely deserved immediate inclusion in this thread.

jackhammer · 07-09-2009, 07:20 AM

Kayo Dot are fucking immense. Stunningly serene yet hard as nails too. They need more love for sure. I am completely undecided which of their albums are my favourite though as they all hit me at different points with the excellent multilayers.

07-01-2009, 12:19 AM	#91 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,708	#31 DJ Shadow - Endtroducing Fuck.... Ugh.... This album.... Shit. A lot of people have tried to pigeonhole DJ Shadow's 1996 monumental debut album into various different genres. Some will say it's trip hop, others will disagree and say it's down tempo (that's always a fun argument). You see it shoved into the "turntablism" genre once in a while, which is funny because there's not a single DJ cut on the album that isn't a sample of a DJ cut from another album. As a matter of fact this album is actually listed in the Guinness book of world records as the first instrumental album ever produced composed entirely of samples. Most hardcore Shadow fans are pretty adamant about classifying it as instrumental hip-hop, but as cohesive as this album is, it may just be one of the most unclassifiable albums I've ever run into, or maybe it's just jazz. As a matter of fact I'm sure of it. Endtroducing is the album on my list where I'm tempted to simply say "Just listen to the album. If you don't own it, If you've never heard it, send me a PM and I'll set you up", which I will, but that would be letting myself off easy and not really serving you as the tour guide of this crazy field trip. Endtroducing is the product of a brilliant mind's obsession with the collection of obscure sounds. Vinyl, but not just boutique shops, dirty church bazaar basements too. Television shows, commercials, what have you. To be able to do what he did; to compose a "moveable feast" of music composed of the distilled essence of the marginalized scraps of the unwanted or forgotten pieces of media from our collective past is beyond brilliant, it's a gift. And in a sense the end product is exactly what we see when we observe the collective dynamic of a jazz ensemble with an uncultivated ear. We see an amalgamation of a bunch of elements that have been, as i mentioned before, distilled to their essence. With traditional jazz that "end product" can come across as chaotic, a mess, or as many have put it like "a bunch of musicians are isolated in separate rooms playing separate song with separate instruments". despite this overall structural similarity, the same disparate sense of chaos does not come across with Endtroducing, because ,while the album still uses a similar rhetoric of instrumentally communicating themes that are stripped to their bare essence, musically we are still in the sphere of a "rock" rhetoric. I'm not going to really offer much more in the way of an actual description of this album. A song overview would be pointless. This is yet another album that needs to be appreciated as a single piece of music, a composition if you will. It flows nicely one song into the next with a very ethereal backdrop that provides a nice contrast for the beautiful evolution of beats, sometomes eclectic, sometimes heavy and abrasive, that progress throughout the album from start to finish. There are many surprises along the way and they usually come just when you think you've fit things into a nicely shaped box. I find that It's a fantastic album for a very rainy day, and that the rain seems to add a missing instrument track to the entire mix. Beyond that, it's really best if you just listen to it. and if you are at all reluctant, PM me and I will gladly sort you out with no hesitation. I'm gonna' let this walk. When you listen you'll understand why. Last edited by SATCHMO; 07-01-2009 at 01:03 AM.

07-09-2009, 02:13 AM	#99 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,708	#30 Kayo Dot - Choirs of the Eye And now for something not so completely different...... Throughout the course of this trip we've been deviating away from our comfort zone of the Rock based aesthetic; sometimes in small increments and sometimes in giant leaps, and sometimes back again. For this particular entry I have to come clean and say that this is a new album, as well as a new band for me. As a matter of fact I've had this album for roughly 24 hours now, and while I certainly did think that perhaps it wouldn't be proper for me to begin flying the flag over this one so quickly, I also realized upon hearing it that it was something very special and worthy of attention. It's not too frequently that something so avante garde doesn't make you immediately think "Ornette Coleman" when jazz comparisons are made. I would certainly make an exception with this album. my first impressions are of darkness intertwined with bittersweet beauty, a definite heavy metal aesthetic but the structure, even in the macro sense is very open and ethereal.The dense wall of noise breathes in an almost organic way giving rise to many surprises: horns, a beautiful electric piano, and spoken word at various points throughout the piece. There is a communication that is conveyed by the harmonic overtones that arise from the sheer density of sound that culminates on this record that is simply breathtaking and quite unlike anything I've ever heard. I liken it to receiving a blowjob from a sledgehammer. This album and this band are quite new to me and because of that I'm going to leave you all with this vague and brief musing. Sorry if it sounds like a copout. Chastise me if you will or make further comments about this amazing album to supplement my first impression. If you want an up give me a PM. I couldn't let this one go without immediate comment. It definitely deserved immediate inclusion in this thread. Last edited by SATCHMO; 07-19-2009 at 04:22 AM.

07-09-2009, 07:20 AM	#100 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	Kayo Dot are fucking immense. Stunningly serene yet hard as nails too. They need more love for sure. I am completely undecided which of their albums are my favourite though as they all hit me at different points with the excellent multilayers. __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”

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07-01-2009, 12:36 PM	#95 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,708	Thanks! I used to think of the album as my own little secret. I forget how much of an audience it's cultivated since then.

07-01-2009, 10:00 PM	#97 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,708	I actually had Preemptive Strike for a while before I heard Endtroducing .