SHADOW, DJ Endtroducing - Deluxe Edition (Universal) 2cd 30.00
Believe it or not, one of our fave albums and all-time best sellers, Josh "DJ Shadow" Davis' seminal Endtroducing debut, currently only has a one-word review on our website. Certainly it deserves more than that. Although, at least the word we chose is "amazing". The album's original release on MoWax in 1996 (almost ten years ago!!) more or less predated our obsessive reviewing schedule, so like quite a few other classics it never got its multi-paragraph due on our new arrivals list. And chances are, we figured that listing it our our site with the simple "amazing" recommendation was enough, 'cause it's hard to imagine that everyone hadn't heard of/heard/bought a copy by now. But since, after all, we still sell it steadily, clearly there must be those as yet to discover it. Now, with the release of a double disc digipack "deluxe" edition in a plastic slipcase (a treatment afforded by the same label to the likes of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, by the way, making this something of an honor for DJ Shadow!), we have the perfect excuse to basically take a few hundred words to say "amazing" again! Shadow's masterpiece (disc one, "The Album") is a brillant example of hip hop DJ-as-composer, sample-based songwriting, a mostly instrumental suite of songs built entirely from sounds, hooks and grooves sourced from the depths of Shadow's extensive record collection. He didn't invent the idea, of course, but he did do it better than almost anyone before (or after!) him, garnering for himself worldwide fame and heaps of deserved critical praise.
And even if you scratch (heh) your head when we talk about turntablists and sampling, rest assured that, process aside, this is a great album that transcends genre tags and easy categorization. It's dark, dramatic, bright, hip-hop, soul, and jazz. It is very accessible. Shadow picked cool samples (like the Pugh Rogefeldt bit that helped us sell a ton of reissued cds by that particular Swedish '60s psych-folkster so recently) AND also turned these samples utterly into his own, new music. Music that's groovy and moody and challenging, never all that easy to figure out, and not at all about turntablist hi-jinx or trickery, just about careful listening and the love of all kinds of old LPs!! Cut Chemist, in the liner notes, is quoted as calling DJ Shadow "The King Of Digging" and vinyl collecting/crate digging for sure is celebrated by Endtroducing, from the famous cover shot of the racks in the vast Sacramento shop simply called Records to the grooves reborn within. As Shadow himself put it: "this album reflects a lifetime of vinyl culture". He never topped it (opinions here were mixed about his many-years-later follow-up The Private Press in 2002) and probably never will. Not that anyone else has either! So if you don't have it already, what the heck are you waiting for? And to further underscore the point that this a great and important album, we're told that there's a book in the 33 1/3 Series coming out about it soon too!
Then there's disc two, what (aside from the packaging, which includes a booket of photos, essays, and track notes from Shadow himself) makes this a "deluxe" reissue. Disc two, entitled "Excessive Ephemera", features a slew of Endtroducing-era cuts -- alternate takes, demos, remixes, and a live radio performance. In addition to a few tracks that made it out on now-out-of-print MoWax singles, a bunch of these are unheard-before, work-in-progress versions of tracks from the album, so as bonus material this is more about providing insight into the creation of Endtroducing and less about any long-lost tracks that shoulda been on the album. It is kind of a way to listen to Endtroducing again with new ears. And it's nice to have the "extended overhaul" of the all-too-brief album track "Organ Donor", a mix that Shadow created expressly for James Lavelle's DJ use. So, a lot of added value for all Shadow fans who want to pick this up again and re-enter the world of Entroducing.
Amazing.
MPEG Stream: "Mutual Slump"
MPEG Stream: "Midnight In A Perfect World"

SHADOW, DJ In Tune And On Time (Geffen) dvd + cd 30.00
Isn't it astounding that DJ Shadow is still milking the accolades of his stellar, career-highpoint debut from six years ago? And we don't mean to belabour the subject but... how's this for obnoxious? On the introduction to this new live cd/dvd, DJ Shadow gives a thorough 'shout-out' NOT to his fans and homies, but instead to all of his releases... including eps and comp tracks! Ack, unbelievable! Aah, 'tis such a love/hate relationship!
Alright, now that we've got that out of our system... In Tune And On Time is comprised of a 20-track cd documenting his 2002 performance at the London Brixton Academy and a dvd with that very same performance (expanded to include a couple extra tracks) as well as an additional invigorating performance in L.A. (which also stars his pals Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark of Jurassic 5), an interview and other candid footage. Good stuff. It always is. But how many times do you really need to hear the same old songs, especially live? They're not ever all that different, after all he's not a band, he's a DJ, playing records. But if you want more Shadow, this will have to suffice, at least until he gets around to making another record as good as Endtroducing.
MPEG Stream: "In/Flux"
MPEG Stream: "Lonely Soul"

SHADOW, DJ Midnight in a Perfect World/The Number Song (MoWax/ffrr) cdsingle 6.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
5 pieces, 3 of which are non-album. "The Number Song" is given a kickass remix by the Bay Area's own turntablist maestro the Cut Chemist. And if "Midnight in a Perfect World" is one of your favorite songs from the record, you'll want to hear the version here which includes more of Baraka's rousing sermon...

SHADOW, DJ Pre-Emptive Strike (MoWax/ffrr) cd 14.98
Collects Shadow's old singles (the great "What Does Your Soul Look Like" included) plus his recent import-only "High Noon" track.

SHADOW, DJ The Less You Know, The Better (Island) cd 14.98
Not our favorite outing by DJ Shadow. Though we do suspect there's a Magma sample in there somewhere, so that's cool! But also, maybe, Rage Against The Machine??

SHADOW, DJ The Outsider (Universal) cd 15.98
Not sure if the title of DJ Shadow's new production refers to himself or the listener, but there's no doubt there is something schizophrenically off-kilter here, and the jury is still out on whether this is a successful quality or merely a string of increasingly bad ideas. Chock full of guest appearances (mostly guest rappers-never a good sign!) including
local hyphy hip hop stars, Keak da Sneak and Turf Talk, Christina Carter from Charalambides and Chris James from Stateless doing his most earnest Chris Martin/Bono/Thom Yorke imitations. While the consensus from most of us here is that The Outsider as a whole is better than Shadow's last outing, The Private Press, what's missing here is that killer single track that makes the whole worthwhile. That said, we'll give Josh Davis the benefit of the doubt that The Outsider is definitely a grower with patient listeners reaping the most rewards from his erratic multiple personae.
MPEG Stream: "3 Freaks"
MPEG Stream: "Artifact"
MPEG Stream: "Erase You"

SHADOW, DJ The Private Press (MCA) cd 17.98
DJ Shadow's second full length is finally here, and I do believe I (Windy) am the only AQ-er who likes it. Well, Jim thinks it's ok, but the general consensus 'twixt my colleagues is that the rest of the field has caught up to him, and he hasn't hitched up his britches to keep ahead of the herd. Hmm. I disagree. Certainly The Private Press is no Endtroducing (his acclaimed debut full length), but neither should it be. It's a lot more accessible and crowdpleasing than the debut, the layers aren't as impenetrably mysterious, and yeah, it requires less work to like it (i.e. not as challenging). But there's nuthin' wrong with that. He's keeping it interesting for himself. The Private Press is a likable, listenable (might we even say, at times lighthearted?) trip. It's got everything from the moody arpeggiated piano lines that're DJ Shadow's signature, soul divas, sad minor key laments, funny Cut Chemist / Kid Koala-style spoken bits, super epic percussive climaxes, and an all over hip hop flavor. And the heartbreakingly sincere audio letters that bracket the album are incredibly well chosen, framing the songs as an emotional musical narrative. *Very* well done.
We have to wonder, though, why he used that old "pure energy" sample. Why don't ya just throw in "I got the power!" too? Not to mention the overused tired, sad android voice (y'know just like the one Radiohead used).
Cup sez: We had a DJ Shadow 12" here a little while ago, and I thought one of its tracks sounded as if he'd just plugged in his Playstation 2 system and recorded the sounds of someone playing the game REZ. If you're at all familiar with the game you'll undoubtedly find the Shadow track ringing familiar too. REZ is basically a shooter game, but with an astounding combination of rave-ready sounds and gorgeously trippy visuals - both of which are manipulated by your performance. Oh yeah, and the level bosses are pretty spectacular. Stunningly beautiful and deluxe fun! Really, you could just project the game action on a wall, pump the sounds through a bad-ass sound system, and *POOF!* instant party. Anyways, that track is included here too. And it sticks out like a sore thumb which makes the REZ theory all the more plausible!
RealAudio clip: "Fixed Income"
RealAudio clip: "Monosylabik"
RealAudio clip: "Giving Up The Ghost"
RealAudio clip: "Blood On The Motorway"

SHADOW, DJ The Private Press (MCA) lp 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We finally got some copies of the vinyl version of the new Shadow album. Here's what Windy wrote about the cd a month ago:
DJ Shadow's second full length is finally here, and I do believe I (Windy) am the only AQ-er who likes it. Well, Jim thinks it's ok, but the general consensus 'twixt my colleagues is that the rest of the field has caught up to him, and he hasn't hitched up his britches to keep ahead of the herd. Hmm. I disagree. Certainly The Private Press is no Endtroducing (his acclaimed debut full length), but neither should it be. It's a lot more accessible and crowdpleasing than the debut, the layers aren't as impenetrably mysterious, and yeah, it requires less work to like it (i.e. not as challenging). But there's nuthin' wrong with that. He's keeping it interesting for himself. The Private Press is a likable, listenable (might we even say, at times lighthearted?) trip. It's got everything from the moody arpeggiated piano lines that're DJ Shadow's signature, soul divas, sad minor key laments, funny Cut Chemist / Kid Koala-style spoken bits, super epic percussive climaxes, and an all over hip hop flavor. And the heartbreakingly sincere audio letters that bracket the album are incredibly well chosen, framing the songs as an emotional musical narrative. *Very* well done.
And now for my co-workers to have their say:
We have to wonder, though, why he used that old "pure energy" sample. Why don't ya just throw in "I got the power!" too? Not to mention the overused tired, sad android voice (y'know just like the one Radiohead used).
RealAudio clip: "Fixed Income"
RealAudio clip: "Monosylabik"
RealAudio clip: "Giving Up The Ghost"
RealAudio clip: "Blood On The Motorway"

SHADOW, DJ / CUT CHEMIST Freeze (Pirateria Fonografica) cd 16.98
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By now you may be familiar with the all-45's sets performed worldwide by famed DJs Cut Chemist (Ozomatli) and DJ Shadow and their accompanying cd recordings (when we have them, which isn't often as they are quasi-legal!). Here's another installment of their funk-fueled, sweet soul hipswayin', rare groove-y, hip hop spirited sessions. While the first three tracks are underwhelming yet but welcome opening sets by NuMark (doing his cute "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" bit) and rockwrangler Z-Trip, on the body of the disc is where Shadow and Cut Chemist really shine. Consists of 6 practice tidbits and 10 lengthy live performance clips. Lots of happy "oh shit!"'s and frenzied speedracer scratching showstoppers. High energy and a ton (80 minutes!) of nonstop fun. If you've already got all the other Brainfreeze discs, you could *maybe* skip this one, but then again one always needs another play-it-all-night party disc...
RealAudio clip: "Live I (excerpt 1)"

SHADOW, DJ & CUT CHEMIST Freeze dvd 21.00
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Not sure how much needs to be said about this. An awesome live film of Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow performing their legendary all-45 Brainfreeze set. Really fun and crazy and just a total blast. Also included are excerpts of the opening sets by Marvski, Dante, Nu-Mark and a really funny, amazingly dexterous set from Z-Trip. Extras include rehearsals, photo galleries and discographies. Not sure how long we're gonna have these so act fast! And for our international customers, it's all region!

SHADOWHUNTAZ Valley Of The Shadow (Skam) cd 15.98
It's been so long since we had some crazy crew of brain meelting tongue twisting outer space hip hop visionaries. Disconnected rhymes, sputtering, glitched out beats, total mind melting confusional free funk freakouts. For a while Antipop Consortium were pushing the envelope, Anticon definitely have their own avant angle. But we've been hankering for someone like Kool Keith. Paging Dr. Octagon. We want some damaged stuttery beats, warped warbly synths and fuzzy glitched out grzzzzt. Most importantly, some maddening slurred, drug drenched, space age, conspiracy theory WHATTHEFUCK flows. Maybe that's why we've been leaning toward Grime so much lately. It just feels so much more dangerous and fucked up and unconcerned with hip hop convention. But now we've got the Shadowhuntaz. A rogue band of futuristic hip hop explorers, who mix the perplexing sci fi / high as fuck mush mouthed ramblings of Dr. Octagon with the glitched out hip hopped electronic squelch and thud, skitter and skid, slowed down IDM beatscapes of Antipop (they are on Skam after all) into a fucking killer trip hop skittery groove. The beats, hiccup and slither, bounce and bump, the music is a claustrophobic swirl of haunting loops, weird industrial clatter, moaning drones, and all sorts of production fuckery, effects swirl and shift, vocals are chopped and looped, skipping samples, warm washes of ambient whir, and then there's the vocals, all different and distinct, some laid back and stoned as fuck, some amped up and rapid fire, all dense with incredible tales of this or that, all sort of druggy and tripped out. Plus there's some totally fucked up scratching, little snatches of DJ freakout, but those scratchfests are run through the Shadowhuntaz supercomputer and spit out the other side a careening chaotic crush of chopped up, impossibly complex textural collages of scratch detritus, like they dropped 3 or 4 DJ's, wildly scratching and tearing shit up, into a huge blender, and then sprayed the resulting funk flecked gore funk all over these tracks.
Funky, fucked up, freaked out, cool and creepy and quite possibly contender for hip hop record of the year!
MPEG Stream: "2020"
MPEG Stream: "Massive"

SHAN, MC The Best of Cold Chillin' (Cold Chillin') cd 17.98
Newest volume in legendary label Cold Chillin's "best-of" series. This focuses on MC Shan of the Juice Crew who put the Queensbridge Projects on the map with his incredibly deft vocal stylings backed up the spare booming production of Marley Marl. So old school, so dependably great. Recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Jane Stop This Crazy Thing"

SHAN, MC The Best of Cold Chillin' (Cold Chillin') 2lp 17.98
Newest volume in legendary label Cold Chillin's "best-of" series. This focuses on MC Shan of the Juice Crew who put NYC's Queensbridge Projects on the map with his incredibly deft vocal stylings backed up the spare booming production of Marley Marl. So old school, so dependably great. Recommended.

SHANTE, ROXANNE The Best Of Cold Chillin' (Cold Chillin') cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Yay! Here's a nice best-of disc dedicated to Roxanne Shante , the Queens teenager who recorded "Roxanne's Revenge", the legendary answer track to UTFO's "Roxanne, Roxanne", and which itself spawned so many answer tracks. Shante's voice is young and bratty as she crisply enunciates various slyly worded insults and boasts. As the one and only female member of Marley Marl's Juice Crew, she teamed up with producers Marl, Kool G Rap, Large Professor, Eric B, etc., all of whom kept the music spotlessly clean and spare, the better to showcase her voice right out front.
RealAudio clip: "Def Fresh Crew (feat. Biz Markie)"
RealAudio clip: "Have a Nice Day (Original 12" Version)"

SHIGGAR FRAGGAR Battle Beats, Breaks, Loops, and Shit (Hip Hop Slam) 12" 5.98
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Culled from the Shiggerfraggar radio show records that've been lovingly reissued by Billy Jam on disc, this is a prime breaks record for all you turntablist DJs. Speaking of which, has everyone heard about the cool turntable festival happening in LA November 2002? Looks incredible! Everyone from Kid Koala to Philip Jeck. http://http://www.turnament.com/index2.html

SHIGGAR FRAGGAR SHOW Vol.4 (One Eyed Slug Entertainment) dvd-r 23.00
DJ Disk brought this in the other day, a dvd (or dvd-r, we're pretty sure, it's blue on the playing side, whatever that means) version of this video document of the infamous Invisible Skratch Picklz, originally released on VHS ten years ago. Disk, Q-bert, Flare, Shortkut, and the devilish brown-bag masked Shiggar Fraggar himself skritch-skritch-scratch the hell out of a bunch of vinyl on an array of turntables, in a crazed DJ jam session. It's pretty amazing to see them do this live, even today. Indeed, it's what Time Magazine (TIME MAGAZINE!) called "the greatest turntable scratch show ever created". Frenzied fun showcasing mad skillz. For live visuals of classic "Turntablist Orchestrated Music" with a wacky sense of humor, look no further!

SHINGO2 Homo Caeruleus Cerinus (Revolg) 2lp 17.98
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Cool Japanese hiphop with unexpected twists and turns, so it will appeal to fans of DJ Shadow, Mo'Wax, and the Future Primitive series. Double LP, cd any day now.

SHINGO2 / TERRACOTTA TROUPE XGND My Nation (Moja Nacija) (Mary Joy) 12" 6.98
From our favorite hip hopper from Japan comes this new 12". Six tracks of one piece, My Nation, all flavored with reggae, due to the collaboration between Shingo and the Japanese dub duo Dry & Heavy. While the modern dub is light and bouncy on Dry & Heavy's side (which also contains a fun acapella track), Shingo and Terracotta Troupe's side is gloriously scratch-laden and very good, gleefully messing with JFK's "Ask not what you can do for your country..." speech. Wish we could make you a sample, but this is vinyl only.

SHINGO2/CAPITAL/DJ NOZAWA s/t (Homo Caeruleus Cerinus) 2cd 18.98
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Super good Japanese hip hop with unexpected twists and turns. Will appeal to fans of DJ Shadow, Mo'Wax, and the Future Primitive series. Comes in a beautiful book-like package. Recommended.

SHORTEE The Dreamer (Bomb Hip Hop) cd 16.98
We haven't had a chance to review this yet but here is Bomb Hip Hop's opinion:
Don't sleep on this one. Shortee's debut solo release is the first ever female turntablist/DJ/producer full length album, making it a first of its kind! Prepare to be shocked, this girls got skills and she's not only hanging in there with the boys - she's kicking it with a fresh style like no other. Listen to this album and you're guaranteed to hear an assortment of funky beats with fat bass kicks, jazzy bass lines, pianos, trumpets, flutes, soulful scratches, tons of percussion and so much more... In addition to Shortee's DJ production skills, she has been a drummer/percussionist for 17 years.
Shortee takes her musicians experience and evenly balances it with her advanced DJ skills to create an extremely musical album with a variety of hooks, chorus, bridges and beats that are constantly changing up along with a creative story line, making you want to listen to it again and again. Each song symbolizes a dream and each dream is different - ranging in hip-hop, dub, drum 'n' bass, go-go and swing... Shortee has toured the world performing with her partner DJ Faust as part of the dynamic duo of Faust & Shortee along with other acts such as Prince Paul, Afrika Bambaataa, Shortkut, Babu and 1998 DMC Champion Craze."

SHORTKUT (CUT CHEMIST VS. SHORTKUT) Live at the Future Primitive Soundsession cd 14.98
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Excellent! SO GOOD it's hard to believe this happened in one 70-minute live set. Cut Chemist's crowd-pleasing dancefloor-aware set is perfectly complemented by judicious scratching courtesy The Invisible Skratch Picklz' Short Kut. That's right, they got 5 turntables spinning at once and it WORKS. It takes them about 15 minutes to find their stride but then it's all uphill; the crowd loved it so much you can hear them too (the needles picked up the roar!) Currently the best record of this rapidly-expanding genre. Locally grown.

SHRED, DJ TED Hip Hop Vs. It All! (Upper Playground) cd 11.98
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In the burgeoning new field (heh, not really) of hip-hop-destroys-rock-music mixes, as typified by DJs Z-Trip and Jester, local DJ Ted Shred breaks out with a totally weird and hilarious cd. He'll throw on P. Diddy next to Night Ranger, Biggie Smalls vs. Peter Gabriel, UTFO vs Paul Simon. Yes, this disc is as gimmicky as Jester and Z-Trip, but it is also kickass and ballsy. Ted Shred's own twist on the formula is that he is constantly shifting the speed of the records. Whether he's a really bad beatmatcher trying lamely to sync up his mixes, or if he's a brilliant prankster who loves changing speeds, melodies, and pitches to surreal effect, we're not sure (imagine something like DJ Z-Trip meets DJ Screw). But hey, his phone number is on the disc, so you can ask him yourself... or get him to spin at your next party. Love it!
Oh, and Allan wants you to know: the track "Van Halen vs. Van Halen" illustrates the obvious similarities between deft turntable scratching and fleet-fingered guitar wanking, as well as demonstrating the superiority of the latter. Volume two coming soon! Highly recommended!
RealAudio clip: "Funkdoobiest VS Kansas"
RealAudio clip: "P. Diddy VS Night Ranger"
RealAudio clip: "Queen. We Will Rock You VS"
RealAudio clip: "Billy Squire VS Sunshine Adams"

SHRED, DJ TED Mix Tape #2 (Upper Playground) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
In the burgeoning new field of hip-hop-destroys-rock-music mixes, as typified by DJs Z-Trip and Jester, local DJ Ted Shred breaks out with a second totally weird and hilarious cd. He'll throw on The Stanley Bros vs DJ Rectangle, Armenian music on top of Method Man, Q-Tip vs Blue Oyster Cult, Dr. Dre vs Bad Brains, Busta Rhymes vs Dio. Yes, it's as gimmicky as Jester and Z-Trip, but it is also kickass and ballsy. Ted Shred's own twist on the formula is that he is constantly shifting the speed of the records. Whether he's a really bad beatmatcher trying lamely to sync up his mixes, or if he's a brilliant prankster who loves changing speeds, melodies, and pitches to surreal effect, we're not sure -- and you'll certainly find yourself befuddled as well, but also looking forward to the next track! And, his phone number is on the disc, so you can ask him yourself... or get him to spin at your next party.
By the way we've got a few more copies of his debut cd too; this is the one that made into Art Forum and Tower Pulse magazine tops of the year 2001 lists!
RealAudio clip: "DJ Rectangle beats vs. The Stanley Brothers"
RealAudio clip: "Dr. Dre vs. Bad Brains"
RealAudio clip: "Aremnia vs. Bubba Sparx and Method Man"

SHRED, DJ TED Mix Tape Vol 3 (Sicmats) cd-r 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The notorious DJ Ted Shred is back. SF's own local master of messed-up mash-up returns with a third volume (a cd-r this time) of his mix tape madness. Ted, if you haven't heard him, is an anything-goes DJ who likes to play hip hop not just next to but right on top of some classic rock...kinda like some of the stuff DJ Z-Trip does. But Ted's even more reckless, less concerned with careful beat-matching than with fitting square pegs into round holes for laffs...and he's got NO concern for 'musical correctness'. So, I guess this is a novelty record, but so much fun. Some examples: CCR vs. Da Beat Minerz, Don Henley vs. Puff Daddy, Whitesnake (and Toto!) vs. Nas, Johnny Cash vs. Arrested Development, Cory Hart vs. Run-DMC, Scorpions vs. Missy Elliott... and on and on. He also has a big collection of old children's records that get much play. You'll also hear the Lord Of The Rings theme, the Oompa Loompas, Dave Chappelle, Conan The Barbarian, and Def Leppard... Ted gets props for doing this stuff with live skillz rather that on a computer, like most of the 'mash-ups' that are all the rage these days. And he puts some thought into the segues, like answering Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walking" (vs. Mos Def) with the Allman Brothers' "Rambling Man" (vs. Mix Master Mike). Good fun!
MPEG Stream: "Volume 10 vs. Peter Shilling (Major Tom)"
MPEG Stream: "Nancy Sinatra vs. Mos Def"

SILKK THE SHOCKER Charge It 2 Da Game (No Limit) cd 15.98
Another rapper from the No Limit/Master P stable, a newer release than the above. His best, one of our favorite No Limit releases!!

SILKK THE SHOCKER My World My Way (No Limit / Priority) cd 17.98
No Limit, uh huh, No Limit. Master P protege Silkk The Shocker (who is neither silky nor shocking, really) unleashes his latest, 23 tracks (including the obligatory skits) of sure-to-be-big-selling ghetto hiphop, with guests Snoop Dogg, C-Murder, Mystikal, Master P and others from that crew... Not as great as his Charge It 2 Da Game from a few years back, but still fulla thumpin beats for your trunk or whatever. "Seems Like A Thug" should be the hit for its faux-Destiny's Child singing and Timbaland knockoff beats. Lovely how that's followed by "Them Boyz" with Mystikal's frothing maddog rappin'. A guilty pleasure I guess, and certainly low attention span stuff (except for the skits) as there's always a new beat or guest rapper around the corner.

SILVER BULLET Bring Down The Walls No Limit Squad Returns (Original Dope) cd 16.98
Not long ago, we hope you recall, we highlighted a pretty rad release on the Rephlex label, a double disc compiling the entire recorded output of early '90s "Britcore" rappers The Criminal Minds. They had been billed as being something akin to a "UK Public Enemy", and we agreed! In our review we made mention of some of TCM's contemporaries, that we were now also quite curious to hear: Hijack, Silver Bullet, the Demon Boyz...
Well, we just discovered that emcee Silver Bullet's debut full-length from 1991, Bring Down The Walls The No Limit Squad Returns, was recently reissued by a new label called Original Dope, an imprint of Cherry Red that's focused on UK hiphop. Cool beans! 'Cause on eBay, original copies of this Silver Bullet cd were going for like 40 bucks - plus this is remastered, with worthy bonus tracks and brand new liner notes.
And hearing it, it's for sure something that anybody who liked TCM will dig. Fast, funky, and frantic, with a definite dark vibe. SB's rough, raw, rapidfire flow is well matched by the uptempo beats of his DJ Mo, the disc is energetic and intense from start to finish, and dense with sampling. Like TCM, this has got that PE/Bomb Squad feel as well, but especially apocalyptic and adrenalized. In fact, Silver Bullet was hand picked by PE to open a European tour of theirs, and one of the 4 bonus tracks tacked onto this reissue is a Bomb Squad remix of SB's "20 Minutes To Comply" (a track built around a sample of ED-209's "dialogue" from the movie RoboCop, by the way).
Movie soundtracks, particularly horror movies, were a big part of the Silver Bullet sound... you'll hear John Carpenter stuff, the Twilight Zone theme, etc.; in some sense Silver Bullet could also be said to have pioneered the "horrorcore" subgenre of rap (a la Gravediggaz), lyrically too. Just check out signature cut "Bring Forth The Guillotine"! Which, of course, is also political, as are tracks like "Undercover Anarchist", which also probably attracted PE's attention.
This reish is nicely done, with detailed Silver Bullet bio provided in the cd booklet, wherein we learn that his career derailed after this album due to run-ins with the law (as he admits now, he was young and dumb, and is lucky that in living out his gangsta rap fantasies, playing around with guns and stuff, things didn't turn out worse for him than they did). He should have paid attention to his own tune, "Guns Of Mind Alone"...
MPEG Stream: "20 Seconds To Comply"
MPEG Stream: "Rough Carnage"
MPEG Stream: "Bring Forth The Guillotine"

SIXTOO Duration (Ninja Tune) cd+dvd 21.00

SIXTOO Songs I Hate (and Other People Moments) (Six Months) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Part of that whole advanced hiphop Anticon label collective, Halifax rapper Sixtoo (MC/producer for Sebutones and 1200 Hobos as well) presents his second (I think) solo disc, all written, recorded, produced and mixed by him. The lyrics are clever, the music dark and downtempo (lots of melancholy piano loops, that sort of vibe). Anticon crewmembers Sole, Buck65, Adeem, and others guest MC as well. The verbal/musical flow here is unrelenting and kinda mesmerizing, especially on the thirty-five minute track "The Canda Project" that concludes the disc.

SKALPEL Konfusion (Ninja Tune) 2cd 15.98
Skapel are two electronic musicans from Poland who do an incredible sample/cut/paste job with some obscure and anonymous (to us) '70 Eastern European jazz LPs being used for their sound sources. This duo is right on in their constructions built from mellow bass grooves, funky drum loops, glistening vibes, horn vamps, snatches of soulful female vox, etc., generating a head-nodding, smokey, noir-ish atmosphere of breakbeat jazz plunderphonica. Imagine an extremely jazz-oriented DJ Shadow and you'd be close... DJ Shadow meets '70s Miles Davis or Herbie Hancock maybe. Throw some of David Shire's the Taking Of Pelham 1-2-3 soundtrack in there too. As with Shadow, these tracks are built from other folks' records but stand on their own, the edits all flowing, the samples (including some record crackle to hint at their origin) integrated seamlessly, such that you might be fooled into thinking you were listening to the product of a real live band of musicans actually all playing together at the same time and place... though some electronic manipulation and looping will clue you otherwise. Still, there's no wip-wip-wap turntablism going on to get in the way of the music and mood. Really nice (though you've gotta like jazz of course). And it certainly makes us wish that the Skalpel guys would put together a compilation of Polish '70s fusion so we could check out the originals too!
The cd version of this comes with a bonus remix disc entitled 1958 Breaks, featuring remixes by Skalpel and others (Quantic, Dr. Rubberfunk, Backini, Paradowski, etc.) of stuff from Skalpel's first album. It has its moments but I won't be listening to it as much as the main disc 'cause the more techno/hiphop/whatever mixes tend to detract from the "I can't believe it's not real live jazz" authenticity that Konfusion does so well.
MPEG Stream: "Flying Officer"
MPEG Stream: "Test Drive"

SKALPEL Konfusion (Ninja Tune) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Skapel are two electronic musicans from Poland who do an incredible sample/cut/paste job with some obscure and anonymous (to us) '70 Eastern European jazz LPs being used for their sound sources. This duo is right on in their constructions built from mellow bass grooves, funky drum loops, glistening vibes, horn vamps, snatches of soulful female vox, etc., generating a head-nodding, smokey, noir-ish atmosphere of breakbeat jazz plunderphonica. Imagine an extremely jazz-oriented DJ Shadow and you'd be close... DJ Shadow meets '70s Miles Davis or Herbie Hancock maybe. Throw some of David Shire's the Taking Of Pelham 1-2-3 soundtrack in there too. As with Shadow, these tracks are built from other folks' records but stand on their own, the edits all flowing, the samples (including some record crackle to hint at their origin) integrated seamlessly, such that you might be fooled into thinking you were listening to the product of a real live band of musicans actually all playing together at the same time and place... though some electronic manipulation and looping will clue you otherwise. Still, there's no wip-wip-wap turntablism going on to get in the way of the music and mood. Really nice (though you've gotta like jazz of course). And it certainly makes us wish that the Skalpel guys would put together a compilation of Polish '70s fusion so we could check out the originals too!
MPEG Stream: "Flying Officer"
MPEG Stream: "Test Drive"

SKEPTA Greatest Hits (Boy Better Know) cd 21.00

SKULL SNAPS s/t (Aztec Music) cd 24.00
Who are the Skull Snaps, you say? Well, if you have been paying attention to hip-hop of the last eighteen years, you will instantly recognize the opening drum break of "It's A New Day" sampled by The Pharcyde, Gang Starr, Lords of The Underground as well as dozens of others who have sampled that riff and tons of others from this obscure New York soul group. Recorded in 1973, The Skull Snaps, a trio of guitar, bass and drums with killer vocal harmonies, had a more popular following overseas in the Northern Soul scene for such tracks, as "I'm Your Pimp" and "My Hang-up Is You" than they did in the US. Chock full of hooks and breaks, The Skull Snaps lone album is an amazing lost soul document that is finally getting its due. Plus it gets points for being one of the best album covers ever! Hip-hop legacy aside, this is a soul record right up there with Baby Huey, Curtis Mayfield and The Chi-Lites. Features 2 bonus tracks not on the original album. So Cool!
MPEG Stream: "It's A New Day"
MPEG Stream: "I'm Your Pimp"

SLEEP OF OLDOMINION Christopher (Up Above) cd 15.98

SLIM THUG Already Platinum (Geffen) cd 15.98

SLUMPLORDZ, THA Present: Tha Yakuza In Don't Worry About The Kaliber (Stray) cd 12.98

SMASHER Everything Happens For A Reason (BOB) cd 14.98

SMUT PEDDLERS Porn Again (Rawkus) cd 16.98
Nasty, smutty hip hop, that's surprisingly pretty good. Great production, great beats, and two whiny white MCs that don't sound all that white. Starts off really strong but wears a little thin after a while. Guests include Kool Keith, Kool G. Rap, R.A. The Rugged Man, and Howard Stern Show regular Beetlejuice.

SNOOP DOGG Ego Trippin (Geffen) cd 15.98
Just watch the video.

SNOOP DOGG Rhythm & Gangsta (Geffen) cd 15.98

SNOOP DOGG The Last Meal (Doggy Style / No Limit) cd 17.98

SO-CALLED ARTISTS Paint By Number Songs (Mush) cd 14.98
More experimental hip hop from the Anticon collective, this time under the monicker So Called Artists. We have loved almost everything Anticon has come up with, unfortunately, So Called Artists is probably the weakest project so far. The bizarre samples and creative loops are still present but the rapping is painful. Reminds us of a bad poetry slam (as if there could be a good one). Lots of positive uplifiting stream of conciousness drivel, sung but mostly spoken, delivered in a monotone 'spoken word artist' style. Wouldn't even make it on open mic night at the Brainwash unless it was that homeless guy with just one shoe and the newspaper hat. Pass.

SOLAAR, MC Cinquieme As (Sentinel Ouest) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Brand new album from French hip hop superstar MC Solaar. Pretty good album, certainly the best since Prose Combat: heavy beats, nice production and even some decent scratching. To be sure, there are a few weak slow jams on the album, but somehow they don't sound all that bad. I think this is partly due to the fact that they're sung in French, which not only sounds nicer than English, but also saves us (the Franco-ignorant that is) from hearing the lyrics. Then again I'm a big supporter of more English speaking artists in the popular music realm either picking up a second language or dropping the words all together. But that's another story. Besides, all we really care about here in the States is image: Has it got a sexy cover? And it does. It's got a sexy cover featuring a bare chested Solaar. What more do you need?
RealAudio clip: "Degats Collateraux"
RealAudio clip: "L'Aigle Ne Chasse Pas Les Mouches"

SOLAAR, MC Prose Combat (Cohiba) cd 16.98

SOLE cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Originally a tour only cd, we managed to snag a handful of these full length cds from Anticon all-star Sole. Recorded, according to the liner notes, "in midnight rampages" and assisted by Odd Nosdam, Jel, Why? and Dose One, this stacks up pretty well against his other two full lengths considering this was done on the fly. A little more lo-fi than his proper albums, Mansbestfriend still manages to capture all the stuff that makes Sole, and Anticon for that matter, so exciting: Dark and creepy ambience, weird and unlikely samples, off-kilter and stuttering beats, and of course Sole's spastic, whiny flow, extrapolating on everything from politics to dreams to sex to outer space to sucka mc's to the enviornment and anything else that strikes his fancy. The lo-fi production actually works in his favor, adding lots of distortion and crunch and grit to the already expansive sonic palette.
MPEG Stream: "Poor Is Cool"
MPEG Stream: "The Devil's A Travelling Man"

SOLE Bottle Of Humans (Anticon) cd 14.98

SOLE Learning to Walk (6Months / Anticon) cd 14.98
Man, these Anticon folks are prolific. Seems like someone from this crew has a new disc every couple weeks. This is a collection of previously recorded stuff spanning 1994-1998 from Anticon head honcho Sole. The tunes on 'Learning To Walk' sound a lot more simple and less experimental than a lot of the Anticon stuff. That's not to say it isn't good, 'cause it is. It's just straight ahead. But it still manages to be dark and creepy and catchy, with Sole's nimble white boy flow over looped downtuned guitars and simple funky beats. If you dug the Them record and the Aesop Rock definitely check this out.
RealAudio clip: "3rd Person"
RealAudio clip: "Prosperity"

SOLE Live From Rome (Anticon) cd 14.98
Live From Rome is not in fact live at all. And was not recorded in Rome. But IS the new record from Sole. And the latest in the neverending Anticon onslaught. And as always, it's a perfectly peculiar slab of outsider hip hop full of tweaked samples, unlikely arrangements, skittery loops, and weird white boy flow, dense and tongue twisting and confusionally clumsy, but in a good way. Production duties are split between the usual Anticon suspects: Odd Nosdam, Alias, Telephone Jim Jesus, and Controller 7 except for two tracks which are produced by Gooom bliss pop hip hoppers Abstrakt Keal Agram, and those two tracks are probably the strangest of the lot, which is saying a lot since on most Anticon records ALL the songs are strange. AKA add some of their Gooomy magic to the mix, a little disco groove, some fuzz guitar, some shuffling glitch and bass, some weird sing songy pop, and plenty of cut and paste and stop and stutter. Those may be the weirdest tracks but the record as a whole still manages to push the musical envelope just a little further, twisting and tweaking traditional hip hop into weird and wonderful new sonic shapes.
MPEG Stream: "On Martyrdom"
MPEG Stream: "Drive By Detournment"

SOLE Live From Rome (Anticon) lp 14.98
Live From Rome is not in fact live at all. And was not recorded in Rome. But IS the new record from Sole. And the latest in the neverending Anticon onslaught. And as always, it's a perfectly peculiar slab of outsider hip hop full of tweaked samples, unlikely arrangements, skittery loops, and weird white boy flow, dense and tongue twisting and confusionally clumsy, but in a good way. Production duties are split between the usual Anticon suspects: Odd Nosdam, Alias, Telephone Jim Jesus, and Controller 7 except for two tracks which are produced by Gooom bliss pop hip hoppers Abstrakt Keal Agram, and those two tracks are probably the strangest of the lot, which is saying a lot since on most Anticon records ALL the songs are strange. AKA add some of their Gooomy magic to the mix, a little disco groove, some fuzz guitar, some shuffling glitch and bass, some weird sing songy pop, and plenty of cut and paste and stop and stutter. Those may be the weirdest tracks but the record as a whole still manages to push the musical envelope just a little further, twisting and tweaking traditional hip hop into weird and wonderful new sonic shapes.
MPEG Stream: "On Martyrdom"
MPEG Stream: "Drive By Detournment"

SOLE Mansbestfriend cd 14.98