DJ Shadow Album: “Outsider [Bonus Track]”

Am I confused here? Did I just give DJ Shadow 1 star?

I sure did. I am not a "I like your old stuff better than your new stuff" zealot, but I have my limits. This is just terrible, piss-weak crunk trash. I really dont have anything else to say about this other than thank god that I can still turn to Diplo and RJD2 to help me forget i heard this.

Please DJ Shadow - come back to us and ditch this daarrrty soouuth crap!

I was really disappointed in this album, but I can't say it was totally unexpected. Outsider is completely different than other Shadow album and he should at least be credited with doing something different than he's done before, but the album just has too many problems with it to be considered good. Maybe my standards are higher than other's, but here's some reasons why Outsider is crap..

Hyphy and crunk, for the most part, sucks. This may seem like an opinion, but it's a fact: this stuff is simple, contrived party music. It's intentionally shallow. It's whole purpose is to be the party song of the month or whatever and then to be forgotten. So, half the album is automatically garbage..

Lame rapping. Again, my standards may be higher than others, but I've heard so many amazing emcees that crap like this makes me wonder how these guys manage to make a living.. And I have as many fond memories of Q-tip as the next, but I would hope this crap is not his second coming..

Lack of cohesion. The intro sets the stage for some darkness and six straight party songs follow. Then some blues guitar and some fast drums. Then later there's some dude who sounds like the Coldplay guy.. Basically, Outsider sounds like two or three different eps crammed together.

So, any Shadow fan who doesn't know by now:

Do not automatically buy this album because of who made it. Give it a listen first.

First of all im a huge fan of Endtroducing and the first Unkle record. This record is nothing like these two seminal records except in parts closer to the Unkle project. The problem here really is the "hyphy or "crunk" rap that dominates large sections of Outsider. To be fair the album starts off great with the pulsing spoken word Outsider intro then "this Time" which though simple is a tasty funk soul throwback that is actually good. The next four tracks(3-4-5-6) however were terrible- i mean terrible. Track 7 a rap rant on Katrina is not half bad if not naive in political sloganeering. Track 8 instrumental is more traditional shadow albeit with a bluesy guitar riff. Track 9 artifact is not very good. Then something happens- songs ten through 15 actually start to redeem the album alittle. This is where the Unkle vibe comes in- a mix of guest rock and pop vocalists- the tiger featuring members of Kasabian) is pretty good as is the instrumental Triplicate. Nothing great but solid. The chris james vocal tracks are good but he sounds like hes trying to hard to imitate Thom Yorke or Coldplay.- musically however its rewarding. This is where in my opinion the album could have ended admirably- instead the last 3 tracks (mostly rap stuff) start sinking this faster than you can say man overboard. With some heavy editing on my Ipod the album comes across as reasonably solid- as a ten track record free of the generic hiphop stuff it kind of resembles a new Unkle record- not as dark or heavy but interesting. * just a note as far as fans feeling slighted i dont think DJ Shadow cares what we think nor should he- musicians and artists should make their art for themselves first and foremost(if it fails as a large portion of Outsider does) theres no one to blame except themselves- thats why there is so much bad music- people trying to please fans radio record companies etc. If you think you can do better then try- you might suprise yourself or find out how hard it is to continue to write good stuff. Though i know its personal and special to have an intimate relationship with an artists music- in the end he doesnt know you your life and doesnt and shouldnt care.

I don't know about you, but when I heard that DJ Shadow was going to be branching out, making as he says "credible" rock, rap, folk, etc., I was pretty excited. Endtroducing... happened over a decade ago, after all, and one can only listen to "The Number Song" so many times. I thought The Private Press was a great departure, incorporating other sounds and styles while still sounding like Shadow, and his various side projects (notably UNKLE) have been mostly inspired.

So to say I was anticipating this CD would be an understatement. After all, who wouldn't want to hear a premier producer like Shadow apply his studio wizardry to some new styles? He has a knack for taking different genres and redefining them - I couldn't wait to hear Shadow's take on punk or mainstream hip-hop.

What I didn't expect was an aimless, underwhelming album. "The Outsider" is diverse, yes, and when done right, a diverse record can be great. So what if one cut is folk and the next cut is hip-hop? Good music is good music. There is something to be said for cohesion, however, and (judging from his posts) Shadow seems to think that we'll just pick and choose the cuts we want for our Ipod playlists and junk the rest of the album. I don't know about you, but I still dig a good full-length record, and the best records don't have filler just for filler's sake. To me, this is just an excuse for lazy sequencing and weak production.

And make no mistake, many of these cuts are weak. "Backstage Girl" is a half-baked idea that goes nowhere, and "Turf Dancing" sounds like a manufacturer's demo for a sequencing program. "The Tiger" recalls UNKLE the way Sum 41 recalls The Descendents (that is, a rehashing that pales in comparison).

There are a handful of tracks that hit the mark. "Artifact" is proof that Shadow should produce a Bad Brains reunion, as he nails the perfect combination of grit and enthusiasm that punk requires (though the programmed drums are occasionally to rigid, which can be distracting). "3 Freaks," though essentially a one-trick-pony track (very unlike Shadow), nevertheless has a catchy hook and well-programmed beats. The MCing is a whole other story, however. Turf Talk and Keak da Sneak sound like they would get laughed off the stage at an open-mic night; lord only knows what they're doing on this record. On the other hand, Lateef and Q-Tip show what Shadow can do with some good MCs, making "Enuff" one of the best party tracks to come out in a long time.

But really, "The Outsider" comes down to 2 or 3 good tracks, a small handful of a-little-less-than-decent tracks, and a large handful of forgetable, ordinary tracks. And one thing Shadow has never been is "ordinary."

To me, the strangest thing about this album's release is Shadow's apparent contempt for his fans. Dude, I understand that you want a larger audience and all, but you're talking about your fans as if we're all losers just because we dug a record you made some years back. Now I can't speak for all Shadow fans, but I never wanted another Endtroducing... I love it when artists evolve in an exciting new direction. Like I said, good music is good music. But "The Outsider" is a lazy step backward. This is surprising and depressing coming from an artist whose work usually rewards repeat listens with hidden depths. It might sound alright at a frat party in-between cuts from Nelly and Paris Hilton, but it would pale in comparison on a mixtape next to TV on the Radio.

Hopefully, on his next record, Shadow will be able to tackle the broad, diverse sensibilities of "The Outsider" with some stronger material.

First of all I'm going to say that I rep the bay and am an avid supporter of the hyphy music. Hyphy music is a way of combining bay area street culture with mainstream tempo's that are acceptable to radio format. Many of the beats are instrumentally sparse, but create a trance by which people can get crazy and let go of their inhibitions. You could compare this to punk music in that respect. Keak Da Sneak's voice is annoying at first, but if you're a part of hyphy culture, and you understand the context and the vibe of East Oakland, it has a genius of it's own. A lot of these raps would also be difficult to understand if you don't know the "slanguage" as we call it.

Being eclectic in my taste, I appreciate both hyphy music, and classic DJ Shadow.

That being said, Entroducing was DJ Shadow's best album, and this is his worst. One of the most important things when releasing a musical project is cohesiveness. In other words, each song should flow together to form a unified whole. The Outsider, while it has some decent songs, sounds all over the place. In a perfect world (no pun intended), I think that Shadow would make albums of breakbeats and atmospheric soundscapes for his fans of that, and produce beats for hyphy rappers on the side, or as another project. While he has talent in both styles, they do not mix together well on one album.

His non-rap songs were mostly decent but unphenomenal and below the work he's done before. They didn't have the same gritty analog feel that his previous efforts did. Triplicate is an example of that. Nice to relax to, but won't change your outlook on life.

Most his rap songs good / decent, although I don't think his expedition into crunk was necessary, and track #6 with Nump was wack as hell. It sounded like two people who wanted to collaborate with each other based on name recognition, but with no chemistry in the studio.

Now if you want the old Shadow back, you have to become that yourself. Get a turntable and start digging! You can't force an artist to make music he doesn't want to make! I would love to see the old DJ Shadow back, but he's made it clear that it's not going to happen! Where's the next generation of instrumental hip hop beat diggers?