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Track Listings
| 1. Back To Front (Circular Logic) |
| 2. Border Crossing |
| 3. Stay The Course - DJ Shadow, Posdnuos, Talib Kweli |
| 4. I've Been Trying |
| 5. Sad And Lonely |
| 6. Warning Call - DJ Shadow, Tom Vek |
| 7. Tedium |
| 8. Enemy Lines |
| 9. Going Nowhere |
| 10. Redeemed |
| 11. Run For Your Life |
| 12. Give Me Back The Nights |
| 13. I Gotta Rokk |
| 14. Scale It Back - DJ Shadow, Little Dragon |
| 15. Circular Logic (Front To Back) |
| 16. (Not So) Sad And Lonely |
Product Description
Review
DJ Shadow - aka Josh Davis - emerged during the last decade of the 20th century, helping to bring the art of turntablism to a new crowd outside of the hip hop arena. And didn't he do well. His debut, 1996's Endtroducing, is a disc which stands alone, towering above any potential parallels from would-be peers. Seriously, if Davis had never made it to a second LP, it would have been fine - with his first attempt, the man created a classic, confirming his status as a legend with what remains the final word in crate-digging genius.
When a follow-up did arrive, in the form of 2002's The Private Press, it initially sounded like Davis had perhaps been too distracted by his work on UNKLE's Psyence Fiction LP, released in 1998, resulting in a less-instant, less-impressive collection. But given time, his second record seeped into the senses, ultimately revealing itself as a slow-burn wonder. But album three was a different matter: 2006's The Outsider pushed the patience of the firmest supporter, adding neither light nor tunes to Shadow's catalogue.
So, what now? Davis is in a nothing-left-to-lose situation to regain lost ground, and on The Less You Know, the Better it seems like he's on his way back from the tune-free abyss. Memorable melodies in check, he's railing against the all-pervasiveness of technology: it's either sent the listener lazy, or denying him of a decent return on his investments back in the sample-heady haze of the 90s.
Highlights of this set include the very lovely Sad and Lonely, on which a female voice emotes from yore about the fecklessness of young men over a piano which recalls Carole King's Tapestry. Less successfully, Davis tries to reinvent Tom Vek as Billy-Idol-doing-White-Wedding on Warning Call, and it doesn't do either party any favours. Collaborators du jour Little Dragon shed lead vocalist Yukimi Nagano for the track Scale It Back, on which the singer elevates proceedings in a Prince-like fashion, while De La Soul's Posdnuos is joined by Talib Kweli to pleasingly old-school up Stay the Course.
Davis is a great and nifty producer, more in his element working on collages and atmospheres than acting at being a rock star - something his massive highs of the 1990s may have led him to believe he was. The Less You Know, the Better isn't a bad album at all, and will likely grow into something far more impressive, something that isn't quite evident on first play. Like The Private Press, it could be one the listener returns to down the line and wonders how it didn't initially click. But however excellent this set may prove to be, it will only ever stand in the vast, well, shadow that its creator has cast since releasing the unprecedented Endtroducing.
--Ian Wade
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Product Description
New 2011 album from San Francisco's turntablist titan ... his first in 5 years! Includes "I Gotta Rokk" and "I'm Excited".
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
You have the feeling that DJ Shadow will always be judged based on his first album Endtroducing. Although it was a masterpiece and a very relevant when released I personally found after a great start it got lost within itself and faded away too much the end. His follow up, The Private Press, seemed to an opposite, whereas it was structured and rarely rambled, but lost the excitement of Endtroducing because of that.
Well, The Less you know the better essentially takes the best of Entroducing and combines it with the best of The Private Press. There's hardly a weak moment on this album and, despite the fact you have to let it grow on you, it rewards you so well for your perseverance. From the opening track announcing that DJ Shadow is back to the rock of Border Crossing, which is tailor made for any action movie, you move onto the beauty of Sad and Lonely which somewhat stands out as a Great Gig in the Sky moment in the album. Half way through it feels like the album takes a rest with a few instrumental tracks and then kicks back into life with the great Redeemed and I Gotta Rock.
Overall this album will rate up there with his first 2 (notice I haven't mentioned The Outsider...too right as well). It really is a move on from his last album and yet a return to the DJ Shadow of former years.
Well, The Less you know the better essentially takes the best of Entroducing and combines it with the best of The Private Press. There's hardly a weak moment on this album and, despite the fact you have to let it grow on you, it rewards you so well for your perseverance. From the opening track announcing that DJ Shadow is back to the rock of Border Crossing, which is tailor made for any action movie, you move onto the beauty of Sad and Lonely which somewhat stands out as a Great Gig in the Sky moment in the album. Half way through it feels like the album takes a rest with a few instrumental tracks and then kicks back into life with the great Redeemed and I Gotta Rock.
Overall this album will rate up there with his first 2 (notice I haven't mentioned The Outsider...too right as well). It really is a move on from his last album and yet a return to the DJ Shadow of former years.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
DJ Shadow is an artist who I have always had a bit of difficulty with. Sometimes I think he is great, other times not! This album has me veering to the great side! When you listen to the album all the way through it's refreshing to hear something different for these days. It's a nice mix between rock and dance as any DJ Shadow album always should. From the almost Floydesque sounding 'Enemy Lines' to rocking tracks like 'Border Crossing' to more easy going tracks like the luscious 'Scale It Back' collaboration with Little Dragon. Talking of collaborations, my stand out track on the album is collaboration with Tom Vek, 'Warning Call' which works so well, in a Cure-esque kind of way. Possibly a combination prior to hearing that song that you may think won't work but it definitely does! There are some lighter moments which I don't believe work as well but are still perfectly acceptable, namely, 'Redeemed' and '(Not So) Sad and Lonely'.
All in, I would say this is a worthy album to buy and the variety of tracks keeps it engaging.
Highlight track: Warning Call
Not so Highlight: Redeemed
All in, I would say this is a worthy album to buy and the variety of tracks keeps it engaging.
Highlight track: Warning Call
Not so Highlight: Redeemed
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Even though I found Shadow's last offering 'The Outsider' a rather mixed affair (with 'Broken Levee Blues' the stand out track for me), I was nonetheless excited to hear about a new long-player from the master turntablist. And it does not disappoint! There is so much to digest, across a variety of music styles, drawing on the typically eclectic mix of source sounds. And just for a change, I even recognised some- is that a snippet of Pink Floyd I hear on 'I've Been Trying'? Once you admit it's probably impossible for Josh Davis to produce anything better than the incredible Endtroducing, one of my all-time fave albums, you'll probably agree that this is wonderfully crafted, that it rewards repeated listens, and that it sounds great!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent!
I brought this CD because of one track I heard on 6Music and I'm really pleased - the entire album is excellent!
Published 4 months ago by Cat
FIRST!
Originally I gave this album five stars but I'm downgrading it to four stars.
Before you read this let me just say that I like the album, I like the fact that Shadow... Read more
Before you read this let me just say that I like the album, I like the fact that Shadow... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mr. L. Adams
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