Let the break beats roll

Since 1991, DJ Shadow has been an innovator in electronic music and hip-hop, though the two don't usually go hand-in-hand. His finesse as a master turntablist and sampler, and as a postmodern storyteller (using spoken word samples, rappers and vocalists) is unrivaled.

As one of the premier DJs of his time, DJ Shadow has remained resistant to labels and trends - and also to doing interviews in recent years, perhaps due to the negative critical response to his last major album, The Outsider (2006, Universal/Island Records).

Up until then, he had been riding a wave of unprecedented critical acclaim and racking up relatively strong sales for his hard-to-categorize sound, which he assembled using samples from vinyl and an Akai MPC60 sampler/drum machine. In interviews, he most comfortably identified with hip-hop, but his music has always ranged far beyond that simple categorization.

DJ Shadow is the stage name for Josh Davis, born in 1972 in San Jose, California. He studied at UC Davis (near Sacramento), where he was a college DJ influenced by funk, jazz, hip-hop and rap, rock, ambient and soul. These are genres that he collects obsessively (on vinyl), and driving break-beats still form the core of his sound. Snippets of soundtracks from American films and vintage television shows are also critical to his message, often used before tracks to explain his motives and philosophy.

When he was talking to the press, Davis cited the hip-hop classic "The Message" by Melle Mel of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five as a key influence in his development.

"When I first heard 'The Message,' I was listening to Devo, Blondie - new wave groups that were sort of cutting edge," he said. "I remember you heard Foreigner and Blue Oyster Cult on the radio. When I heard 'The Message,' what struck me about it was that the music was almost a nonexistent soundscape. It was very raw, the lyrics were so direct; it wasn't just poetry. That was so powerful, it was like, boom!"

DJ Shadow's most popular albums include his debut, Endtroducing (1996, Mo'Wax), a soundscape of densely layered hip-hop beats with cinematic, psychedelic, garage and progressive rock explorations. By the time Private Press was released (2002, MCA), he was hitting an even higher gear with phat break-beats, this time flowing into a head-on collision with new wave and indie rock. He also has a sublime compilation of singles released from 1991-1998 on Mo'Wax titled Pre-Emptive Strike.

In all their different approaches, DJ Shadow's records showcase his efforts as a pioneer in experimental hip-hop, including his earliest tracks, which were the first to be labeled "trip-hop" by music critics. Overall, the trajectory of his recordings follows a constant progression of meandering, mind-expanding, multidimensional sounds. In short, DJ Shadow is always doing something new.

With his third full-length album, The Outsider, DJ Shadow stumbled, or at least took a fall from grace in the eyes of many of his fans. The very first cut, "This Time (I'm Gonna Do It My Way)," was an explosive, soulful, rock song surprise. The remainder was mostly a low-fi, dirty-sounding genre of rap called hyphy, recorded with rappers from Oakland, and some brilliant blues and punk filler.

While The Outsider lacks the multilayered, sampled sounds of his earlier work, along with the narrative concepts, it's commendable as an earnest collaborative effort. And as he clearly warned at the beginning of the album, DJ Shadow simply did the music his way, and let the critics be damned.

The only cut released from his forthcoming album is titled "Def Surrounds Us," and it is an amen appeal to drum & bass and electro beats. So there's no telling what to expect at his Lucerna show next week.

But seeing DJ Shadow live is like no other musical experience. So it's time to simply let the uncompromising virtuoso's ever-changing music and message roll.

Tony Ozuna can be reached at
features@praguepost.com