Records: DJ Shadow's Entroducing

By Andrew Guenzer

Shadow shows his hip-hop roots throughout the album; tracks like "The Number Song" and "Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain" have all the funk and flava of the pre-Puffy hip-hop scene. However, while he may sample and borrow from rappers and hip-hop artists, DJ Shadow is out to transform hip-hop, not imitate it. The album permeates the sexycool groove one finds in the slowjamz of today's R&B, but this sensibility is realized within a distinctly techno context. Entroducing is composed primarily of inventive, surprising synth bass lines that Aphex Twin would be proud to call his own, and spare interplays of abstract rhythm reminiscent of Roni Size or Photek, with ambient soundscapes à la Orb interspersed for good measure. DJ Shadow's accomplishment here is his ability to fuse the cool raw materials of techno with the sexiness of hip-hop to create something different from both, something impossible to classify.

Besides the material drawn from standard hip-hop and techno, DJ Shadow adds his own unique musical touches. The extended conversation samples, the quasi-prophetic words of tracks titled "Transmissions," and the conceptual progression of the tracks make it clear that the album was conceived and designed as an aural journey, not just a collection of catchy tunes. Regardless of the success of DJ Shadow's message, the music is wildly fresh, engaging, and entertaining, making Entroducing well worth having.

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