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DJ Shadow

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DJ Shadow

Josh Davis, a.k.a. DJ Shadow, (born January 1, 1973 in Hayward, California) is a turntablist musician. His recordings are noted for their lush, atmospheric, sample-based sound.

Biography

DJ Shadow spent his late teenage years in Davis, California and was a DJ at the community radio station KDVS. During his time as a disc jockey, DJ Shadow was significant in developing the experimental hip hop style associated with the California-based Solesides record label. His early singles for the label, including In/Flux and Lost and Found (S.F.L.), were genre-bending works of art merging elements of funk, rock, hip hop, ambient, jazz, soul, and used-bin found records. DJ Shadow is often cited as a leading creator of trip-hop, though this is a label he strongly contests.

Although he previously released a couple of original works (during 1991-1992 for Hollywood Records) by the time Mo' Wax's James Lavelle contacted him about releasing In/Flux on the fledgling imprint, it wasn't until his distribution association with Mo' Wax that his sound began to mature and cohere.

Shadow's first full-length work, Endtroducing....., was released in late 1996 to immense critical acclaim. Endtroducing made the Guinness World Records book for "First Completely Sampled Album" in 2001. Preemptive Strike, a compilation of early singles, followed in early 1998. Later that year, Shadow produced tracks for Psyence Fiction, the debut album by U.N.K.L.E., a long-time Mo' Wax production team that gained superstar guests including Ian Brown, Thom Yorke (of Radiohead), Richard Ashcroft (of The Verve), Mike D (of the Beastie Boys) and others. His next project came in 1999, with the transformation of Solesides into a new label, Quannum Projects. Nearly six years after his debut production album, his second album, The Private Press, was released in June 2002. In the same year, the movie Scratch (2001, Doug Pray) was released to DVD with DJ Shadow appearing several times throughout the movie. A video for his track "Six Days" was also released in 2002, directed by Wong Kar-Wai.

The documentary films Dark Days and Wisconsin Death Trip feature music from DJ Shadow.

DJ Shadow has also collaborated with fellow hip-hop DJ Cut Chemist. Together they have created two popular mixtapes entitled Brainfreeze and Product Placement. These mixes fuse jazz, funk, and soul in the framework of a cohesive concept. Shadow himself has stated on his website that if you own either of these on vinyl you are the owner of a bootleg, as they were only ever released on CD and distributed to a selection of outlets for sale.

In the year 2004, Shadow's feature length DVD, In Tune and On Time was released. The DVD features a live performance in London, emphasizing intricate visuals.

In 2005, Mo' Wax released a Deluxe Edition of his first album, Endtroducing....

Also in 2005, Brian Udelhofen began work on the Shadow Percussion Project, an attempt to adapt some of the tracks from Endtroducing... for a live performance group. The result was largely successful and well-received by DJ Shadow himself.

He has also collaborated with several other artists, including Blackalicious, Zack de la Rocha, Keak Da Sneak, David Banner and Dr. Octagon (Kool Keith).

In 2006, he signed a deal with Universal Records.

On May 17, 2006, Pitchforkmedia.com revealed that Shadow's third full-length album will be titled The Outsider. This album was released on 18 September 2006. A special edition CD box set was also released containing 'The Outsider', the album on CD and a DVD entitled Tour Visuals.

His song titled "Six Days" was featured in The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift.

Saturday, August 12, 2006, DJ Shadow guest programmes on Rage, ABCTV Australia.

Discography

Solo Albums

with Q-bert

with U.N.K.L.E.

with Cut Chemist

with Dan The Automator

  • 1998 - Bombay the Hard Way: Guns, Cars and Sitars

Mixes

Singles

  • 1991 - Lifer's Group/DJ Shadow - The Real Deal (Shadow Remix)/Lesson 4 Promo 12" Only
  • 1993 - Asia Born/DJ Shadow - Send Them/Count and Estimate (Dub)/Hip-Hop Reconstruction from the Ground Up 12"
  • 1993 - In/Flux / Hindsight 12"
  • 1994 - Lost & Found (S.F.L.) (Split 12" with DJ Krush - Kemuri)
  • 1995 - What Does Your Soul Look Like
  • 1996 - Fully Charged on Planet X / Hardcore (Instrumental) Hip-Hop (by Chief Xcel/DJ Shadow - Hardcore (Instrumental) Hip-Hop and Last Stop are Shadow tracks)
  • 1996 - Midnight in a Perfect World
  • 1996 - Stem CD/7" (His only top 10 hit-it reached number 9 in the Republic of Ireland singles chart.)
  • 1997 - High Noon CD/12"/7"
  • 2000 - Dark Days (Music from Dark Days Documentary Soundtrack) CD/7"
  • 2002 - You Can't Go Home Again CD/12"
  • 2002 - Six Days CD/DVD/12"
  • 2003 - Mashin' on the Motorway / Walkie Talkie CD/DVD
  • 2003 - March of Death (with Zack de la Rocha) mp3 only
  • 2004 - Would You Buy A War From This Man? 7" Picture disk (Remix of Radiohead's The Gloaming)
  • 2005 - Keane - We Might As Well Be Strangers (DJ Shadow vs. Keane Mix) 10"
  • 2006 - 3 Freaks - DJ Shadow feat. Turf Talk & Keak da Sneak 12" Promo
  • 2006 - Enuff - w/ Q-Tip and Lateef

Live DVDs

  • 2000 - Freeze VHS/DVD
  • 2004 - Product Placement on Tour CD/DVD
  • 2004 - In Tune and On Time CD/DVD

Live Appearances

  • BBC Radio One: Breezeblock (06/01/99)
  • La Route Du Rock Festival, St Malo, France (8-13-99)
  • BBC Radio One: Breezeblock (12/04/00)
  • Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY (06/04/02)
  • BBC Radio One: Essential Mix (03/30/03)
  • O2 Wireless Festival: Hyde Park (06/23/06)
  • Splendour in the Grass, Byron Bay, Australia (07/22/06)
  • The Electric Picnic, Stradbally, Co. Laois, Ireland (03/09/06)

See also

Similar artists

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