Endtroducing (20th Anniversary)

I bought this CD because it was in Mixmag's "Best 50 albums of all time" … which upon scrutiny has missed out some absolute classic, perfect dance albums, and instead includes some highly questionable titles. "Endtroducing" sounds like a clever assemblage of samples a la Fatboy Slim, and even reminds me of a much older album called "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" by Brian Eno and David Byrne in 1981. What you get is drum loops, break beats, and sometimes quite overly insistent snare drums juxtaposed with piano and synth washes, and a sprinkling of random spoken samples. The result is an interesting album, a listenable album, but top 50 ever? Nah ...

Took a gamble on this a little bit as can be seen from my reviews (mostly Rock & Metal) but I'm very taken with this!Progressive, experimental, ambient, are all expletives to describe this almost cinematic soundscape. Sometimes dark, sometimes beautiful, it's almost impossible to believe this is the work of only one man & his turntables.Some interesting samples are to be found; the most recognisable to me being the bass intro to Metallica's Orion. There are strings, little bits that remind me of Wendy Carlos' version of Dies Irae from The Shining, Classical sounds, really cool, chilled out drumbeats and some really fat, deep, throbbing basslines. There's no actual rap or singing as this is INSTRUMENTAL hip hop but there are some cleverly integrated vocal snippets that serve more as music than the usual cliched posturing of the Rap genre. It's hard to single out one single track as this feels very much like a musical odyssey, maybe even conceptual.I've enjoyed this as I'm used to samples & turntables within a Rock framework ala Linkin Park or Mordred, but this is a real step into another world. Certainly better than the X-Ecutioners albums that I have.This will appeal to fan's of Moby, Consolidated, Classy Hip Hop, Electronica fans, the open minded Rock fan, maybe even devotees of darker ambient music such as Burzum's later material. Something here for everyone!

In the 1970s if you had a teenage party it was essential to play a Pink Floyd album or Mike Oldfield's "Tubular bells" - they were the hip, spacey, unconventional music of their day. They were built around, but were outside, mainstream music conventions. In the 1990s and early into the 2000s this album was their equivalent.This album proved once and for all that audio clip-art could indeed be a mainstream art form. IMHO a couple of these tracks are just plain tedious, but the majority of it is very listenable and is great unwind music to just let your mind drift along.If you're an old fart like me, and want to sample some tracks to see if this is for you or not, sample "Building Steam..." or "Midnight in a Perfect World". Don't expect normally structured hooky pop, dance or rock songs, expect to surrender yourself to repetition and musical mesmerism: Relax and then maybe, like me, you'll have a great time.Alan T

I'm not really the biggest fan of sampling, seeing how I enjoy the fresh, vibrant sounds in a studio being produced for the very first time, regardless of genre or any clear or unclear or signs of plagiarism, intentional or not. Despite that, this being spotlighted as the very first album to be constructed from samples, I just had to give it a little bit more attention. In all honesty, I've grown to enjoy certain samples, specifically if they're obscure (Daft Punk's Discovery makes good use of this) and are used not just as an uninspired backdrop for the boastful, snobbish lyrics of today's hip hop. Endtroducing..... by DJ Shadow accomplishes both of these and more, to create a work that is not just cohesive like most great albums should be (with the exception of 'great sprawl' albums e.g. The White Album, Sign O' the Times) but is also in a euphoric, brave and bold world of its own. The way I describe this albums' soundscape would probably be akin to The Matrix if the sequels were actually on the same level as the original: hypnotising and fills you with a unique and unabashed feeling of ecstasy while paying many indebted homages. Seems appropriate then when a track off it is used in the online documentary series Everything is a Remix, but I'm getting ahead of myself.Through a combination of tireless record collecting and mastery of the sampler, DJ Shadow crafts cinematic grooves out of rock, jazz, soul, hip hop, electronica, archive interviews and anything else he can get his deeply refined hands on. The only sample here I recognise is from Bjork, and she's not even what I would call mainstream, thus proving that this guy likes the unknowns. Get this album ASAP because like I said, it's in a world of its own, and sets a new benchmark for accomplished debut albums and original albums in general.

Guess who's back. Guess who's back. Just your favourite DJ saviour. Puts a smile on your face like Ultra-Bright.

Classic album. Must buy

Been a fan of DJ Shadows for a couple of decades. This is a great album

Some nice sampling, something different to listen to rather than the drones of "popular" cack that's around lately.