Product Description

Though the sleeve notes of DJ Shadow's exhilarating long-playing debut speak of his devotion to "vinyl culture" and "sample-based music" (a guide of which is contained within), it's all just double-speak for hip-hop. Undoubtedly, this is the musical culture that lit up the life of young Cali-boy Josh Davis, inspiring him to construct these vocal-less, found-sound collages. Not the hip-hop that a dime-a-dozen MCs have turned into a cartoonish, excess-filled formula, but the hip-hop of such sonic anarchist producers as Afrika Bambaataaand The Bomb Squad. To put it mildly, DJ Shadow sides with the dope beats, not the bland blah-blah-blah.
Shadow's skills with a drum machine power ENDTRODUCING... as much as his innovative def-ness with a sampler--which says a lot for someone who's been called the Jimi Hendrix of sampling. The songs shift tempos in a blink, incorporating multiple time-signatures, and it's to Shadow's credit that he's as comfortable hinting at Elvin Jones' or Dave Grohl's rhythmic attacks as he is citing old faithfuls like Clyde Stubblefield. His wide array of samples colour the album's beat-heavy text. Ethereal horns, ambient keyboards, orchestral strings, vocoder vocals, whole film scenes--each is made a part of the sweeping focus, part of a grand postmodern design.

Track Listing

1. Best Foot Forward
2. Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt
3. The Number Song
4. Changeling
5. Transmission 1
6. What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 4)
7. Untitled
8. Stem/Long Stem
9. Transmission 2
10. Mutual Slump
11. Organ Donor
12. Why Hip-Hop Sucks In '96
13. Midnight In A Perfect World
14. Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain
15. What Does Your Soul Look Like
16. Transmission 3

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1874 in Music
• Released on: 2002-03-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 63 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
DJ Shadow, a.k.a. Josh Davis, could be credited with bringing newfound introspection to the gloating sounds of hip-hop. Condensed with urban oscillations and scatological beats, Endtroducing... shutters with eclectic samples and aural montages that reach beyond the constraints of hip-hop style. Enhancing the mix with fundamentals of rock, soul, funk, ambient, and jazz, the modern fusions fail to go unnoticed, even by the casual listener. While most of the tracks are compiled by layering samples from vinyl treasures found in used-record bins, the production quality of the mosaic is unmatched. Darkened melodies carry throughout the album with its eye on the end of the tunnel. The narration samples come from numerous sources and keep the listener involved and waiting for resolution. With a message as fragmentary as an overheard conversation, Endtroducing... conveys no apparent conclusion, but begs the mind, body, and soul for some rewind. --Lucas Hilbert

Customer Reviews

Insight, foresight, the clock on the wall reads a quarter past midnight...
I first got into electronic music a while ago, and frankly couldnt have asked for a better induction. I was recomended this by a friend when I said I liked the electronic stuff on Kid A and he told me that most of it was influenced by this man.
He was right, Shadow is a genius. His skill with a drum machine is matched only by his skill with a sampler and his talent for mixing, perfectly capturing an ever shifting mood with changes of tempo, time signature, key, instruments and genre. Its all captured here, like a beautifully preserved insect in a peice of amber. Jazz, soul, blues, and that ever present loaded-gun backbeat, tying every interesting sample and gorgeous melody together into an amazingly cohesive journey of beats.
It is, like the best albums, prismic and ever changing. Nothing is repeated, and everything is brilliant, but specifically, the best examples of its genuis are The Number Song, Stem/Long Stem, and the stunningly beautiful Midnight In A Perfect World. However, unlike The Private Press, you really have to lsten to it all, right through. You simply cannot skip tracks. the thought of missing anything...well...
Anyway, I would personally reccomend this to anyone new to electonic music, and when you're done here (as if you will ever be 'done' with Endtroducng) I reccomend The Private Press, anythng by Massive Attack (Mezzanine, Protection) and then for the unltimate in trip-hop, Dummy by Portishead.
Rejoice, brothers. Go forth and preach the gospel of the beat...

One of the most influential albums ever!
Ok, not too many adjectives can describe how good this album is, but it is important to point out how influential this album is. Basically there would be no Ok Computer (not just Kid A) without Endtroducing and they are considered to be two of the best albums ever, so it's logical to suggest that Endtroducing is better, something I always try and explain to Radiohead fans.

This is simply brilliant, I would not change a thing about the album and track 4, "Changeling" is just stunning. Buy it please.

Record breaking
Superb from start to finish - Shadow in his finest hour. The first album to be made entirely from samples. Sounds derivative? Buy it, listen and learn. May take you a few playings to get your head round some tracks, but don't worry you've heard most of it all before as ironically this is now one of the most sampled albums around, certainly by advertisers and tv execs. If you get a chance to see him live don't miss it..