History Music / DJShadow

Joshua Paul "Josh" Davis (born June 29, 1972) better known as DJ Shadow, is an American DJ, producer and songwriter, known for his groundbreaking use of {{sampling}} and massive record collection of over 60,000 [=LPs=]. He and the Music/BeastieBoys are generally cited whenever you're trying to convince somebody that sampling can, in fact, be used to make good music.

Davis began his career as a DJ for his university's campus radio station. His first two singles under the "DJ Shadow" moniker, "In/Flux" and "Lost and Found", were released between 1993 and 1994. They are considered the TropeCodifier for the genre of trip-hop[[note]]Fun fact: "In/Flux" actually inspired the coining of the term "trip-hop" when it was used to described the single by music journalist Andy Pemberton[[/note]], which had been [[TropeMaker already invented by]] Music/MassiveAttack in 1991. The songs were generally [[EpicRocking long and complex]], made up entirely out of samples and [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly fused together funk- and hip-hop-derived beats and occasional rock guitars with an ambient-jazz atmosphere]], plus the occasional oddball sample of SpokenWordInMusic. These singles attracted the attention of the British experimental hip-hop label Mo' Wax, with whom Shadow signed a contract shortly afterwards.

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly - HipHop, ElectronicMusic, Drum'n'Bass, Ambient, Jazz, Funk, Soul, 60's Pop...

Joshua Paul "Josh" Davis (born June 29, 1972) better known as DJ Shadow, is an American producer, DJ and songwriter, known for his extremely well-done [[{{Sampling}} sampling-based sound]] and massive record collection with over 60,000 [=LPs=]. He and the Music/BeastieBoys are generally cited whenever you're trying to convince somebody that sampling can, in fact, be used to make good music.

Davis began his career as a DJ for his university's campus radio station. His first two singles under the "DJ Shadow" moniker, "In/Flux" and "Lost and Found", were released in 1993-1994. They are considered the TropeCodifier for the genre of trip-hop[[note]]Fun fact: "In/Flux" actually inspired the coining of the term "trip-hop" when it was used to described the single by music journalist Andy Pemberton[[/note]], which had been [[TropeMaker already invented by]] Music/MassiveAttack in 1991. The songs were generally [[EpicRocking long and complex]], made up entirely out of samples and [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly fused together funk- and hip-hop-derived beats and occasional rock guitars with an ambient-jazz atmosphere]], plus the occasional oddball sample of SpokenWordInMusic. These singles attracted the attention of the British experimental hip-hop label Mo' Wax, with whom Shadow signed a contract shortly afterwards.

Shadow's first release for the label, ''Music/{{Endtroducing}}'', was composed entirely using an Akai [=MPC60=] sampler, a pair of turntables and the aforementioned massive collection of [=LPs=]. Besides getting a Guinness World Record for being the first completely sample-based album, the album only refined the style he had established on his earlier singles, employing expert sampling from more varied sources either known (Music/BeastieBoys, Music/{{Metallica}}, ''Series/TwinPeaks'', etc.) or obscure (''Prince Of Darkness'', Pekka Pohjola, Rotary Connection, etc.) to create a unified album that one critic described as "[[JustForFun/XMeetsY a cross between]] ProgressiveRock and Music/PublicEnemy". ''Endtroducing.....'' was greeted with unanimous acclaim by critics and fans and became Shadow's most well-known and liked album. [[FirstInstallmentWins You know what that means]]...

After ''Endtroducing.....'', he laid low for a while, releasing the singles compilation ''Preemptive Strike'' and producing Music/{{UNKLE}}'s debut album ''Psyence Fiction''. He also lent several of his tracks to ''Dark Days'', a documentary about people who live in an abandoned section of the New York subway. A new album by DJ Shadow finally appeared six years after the first, titled ''The Private Press''. ''Press'' saw him slightly reduce his sampling due to increasing sampling fees, focusing mostly on unknown sources and didn't have any more Nightmare Fuel material, but otherwise continued with the cinematic trip-hop style he was famous for. While not as well-reviewed as ''Endtroducing'' since that was a ToughActToFollow, ''Press'' still won acclaim from fans and critics.

A shorter hiatus ensued this time, smoothed over by the release of the live album/DVD ''In Tune and on Time'' in 2004. A new album emerged in 2006 named ''The Outsider''. This album retreated a bit from his prog-hop sound, featuring more collaborations with rappers and a few hyphy tracks. It received predictably mixed reviews with lots of TheyChangedItNowItSucks.

More recently, he released ''The Less You Know The Better'', as well as two compilation albums of old material. In late 2012, he was playing a set at Miami's Mansion Club and was kicked off the decks for being "too future" (he was not the first DJ to receive this treatment, and was replaced with in-house DJ No Mas), fans were understandably outraged, prompting the club to issue an apology.

Discography:

Shadow's first release for the label, ''Music/{{Endtroducing}}'', was composed entirely using an Akai [=MPC60=] sampler, a pair of turntables and the aforementioned massive collection of [=LPs=]. Besides getting a Guinness World Record for being the first completely sample-based album, the album only refined the style he had established on his earlier singles, employing expert sampling from more varied sources either known (Music/BeastieBoys, Music/{{Metallica}}, ''Series/TwinPeaks'', etc.) or obscure (''Prince Of Darkness'', Pekka Pohjola, Rotary Connection, etc.) to create a unified album that one critic described as "[[JustForFun/XMeetsY a cross between]] ProgressiveRock and Music/PublicEnemy". With material varying between TearJerker, NightmareFuel and heavy breaks, ''Endtroducing.....'' was greeted with unanimous acclaim by critics and fans and became Shadow's most well-known and liked album. [[FirstInstallmentWins You know what that means]]...