A Short History of DJ Shadow - Josh Davis

By the time he got to University, Josh Davis was already making his own hip-hop inspired music. He was introduced to DJ Zen and rapper Lyrics Born on the student radio station. They soon formed a music collective called Soulsides who played wherever and whenever they could. This led to DJ Shadow picking up a deal with Hollywood Basic who put out a few singles. 'Entropy' featured the vocals of Lyrics Born and was seventeen minutes long. It was heard by Mo'Wax records' James Lavelle. There followed almost two years of sonic experimentation before DJ Shadow's debut album 'Entroducing' was released.

The album adopted the philosophy promoted by Afrika Bambaataa of unity through music. It's a montage of turntable breaks and samples which goes beyond anything by the Dust Brothers of Prince Paul. DJ Shadow's approach was more organic. He merged a cross-section of styles within his samples, moving from one to another with a subtle touch and letting the loops run their course before delicately altering the focus and textures. He was also into micro-mixing, where he would cut up the beats into minute fragments and use each fragment as a musical note within the track to create a complex sonic jigsaw. He doesn't stick to traditional dance time signatures either avoiding the groove wherever possible. The groove does appear of course, but it never rests in loop for long, usually being cranked up or slipping down. 'Midnight In A Perfect World' is an example of some fantastic slippage between drums and piano.

His second album was called 'Psyence Fiction'. It's billed as UNKLE and was created with MO'Wax's James Lavelle. Electronic sounds and lush arrangements have been added to the hip-hop basslines and there are vocals from a number of contemporary music icons via Lavelle's packed address book. Badly Drawn Boy sings on a suitably lo-fi track with tinny drums and guitars. Thom Yorke features on a track with off-kilter piano 'Rabbit In Your Headlights'. Richard Ashcroft is cast adrift in an ocean of strings on the epic 'Lonely Soul'. The styles and setting all being created with the vocalist in mind.

'Entroducing' was followed five years later with 'The Private Press'. It's more cinematic and soundtrack-based than the predecessor, maybe influenced as much by his soundtrack hero David Axelrod than the likes of Grandmaster Flash and Bambaataa. It could be seen as somewhat of a sell out but maybe that's the nature of modern music.

DJ Shadow has continued to tour with the original Soulsides collective as well as his friends at Mo'Wax like Quannum which includes Blackalicious and some members of Jurassic 5. Along with Cut Chemist from the band he has created some DJ mixes made from old 45rpm singles, which were intended for fans only but have become collectors items. The idea of digging out some old 45s and turning them into something being the essence of old-skool hip-hop.