It's been more than two decades since Entroducing..., one of the rare albums that came out at the right place in the right time, carefully filling the void between trip hop and new drum 'n' bass trends (different production, more melodies). DJ Shadow, aka Josh Davis, patiently waited for a moment to release his debut. Midnight In A Perfect World became instant stoner anthem. As a composition, it opened many doors for collaborations with many influential artists, mostly realized through project UNKLE.
Mountain Will Fall, his fifth full-length studio album delivers equally priceless material and it's been been very successful on the charts, especially collab with Run The Jewels on Nobody Speak which targets Trump's administration through profuse use of layered metaphors that include Snoopy and Sarah Niagara. I am not going to dissect Mountain Will Fall, rather guide you through what I believe to be DJ Shadow's landmarks.
Back in 1997, my brother got myself Bulgarian disc with album Entroducing. I remember fenomenal album cover and a magnificent trip hop sound flavored with samples of Carpenter's The Prince of Darkness and the closing part of Midnight In A Perfect World. My brother incorporated the album in the context of post-war Serbia: chaos, failed student protests and desire to migrate. Album was shamelessly spinned on MTV (those were the times when MTV was still a music television that actually played music). Then it came the next delicatesse from DJ Shadow kitchen - UNKLE. Collaboration with frantic genius Ian Brown and song Be There with hypnotic chorus I don't see you falling and attached video in which a girl grows fifty years older in one night made a lot of people in my country feel less alone.
One To Grow On is not even on any official list of DJ Shadow albums. It is a collection of remixes, some sort of best of that preceeded one of the official releases. Here is what stands on his website: "One To Grow On was designed by Shadow to remind radio and other industry types of what has been accomplished musically in the anticipation of the new Private Press album. Think of it as The Best Of DJ Shadow 1993-2000." In my case, it represented a recent discovery and more than a pleasant surprise. It starts with easy downtempo In Flux. Combining samples, hip hop rhythm, scratch, it prepares a serene atmosphere for the rest of the collection. Then come Lost and Found, extended remix of Midnight In A Perfect World, great The Number Song remixed by Cut Chemist and High Noon. There was even space for UNKLE's Lonely Soul. The album closes with Dark Days, number from the documentary with the same title about a group of people who live in abandoned tunnel.
It is rare to see someone putting so much effort into some kind of best off remix album. In every second, you hear meticulous dedication and aim to make sound that would differ from the original. One To Grow On is some sort of introspection of the author whose music is both melancholic and optimistic, a crossover between despair and hope that you can get out of the hole. Shadow is on the venture of constructing his own music vision that falls somewhere between hyper-evolved hip hop that sounds both sci-fi and vintage. We might as well join him in his adventure.
