Some artists never outshine their debut album. Some, after releasing what in hindsight is the best work of their career, try and replicate prior success and fail. Some follow a creative itch that leads to a revamping/re-evaluation of their music. Some implode, or explode. And some are so burdened by that first album that it does not matter what they do afterwards. DJ Shadow falls squarely in that last category.
Since 1996, when his first album, Endtroducing…, dropped, Josh Davis (a.k.a. DJ Shadow) has been stuck in its shadow. Not unduly of course: Endtroducing… is a masterpiece of instrumental hip-hop, a must have for anyone even casually interested in record sampling and producing. But it has had a pronounced effect on everything that followed. Namely, in light of this regarded masterpiece, everything seems inferior.
This was the train of thought that generated criticism and scorn for his last album, The Outsider. Panned despite Shadow's own belief that it was his best, the largest complaint lodged against The Outsider was, frankly, that it was not Endtroducing… or a clone of that album.
Perhaps it is unfair to judge artists in this manner, but it is still a compelling school of thought. We are apt to venerate what we love and admire. So what does this mean for DJ Shadow's latest release, The Less You Know, the Better? To start with, it is no Endtroducing…, but that is beside the point. Taken as a product separate from Shadow's debut album, The Less You Know, the Better is an enjoyable demonstration of the possibilities of sampled music and certainly an enjoyable listen.
Unlike Endtroducing…, which functioned as samples seemingly strung together and cohered as spectral, eerie soundscapes, The Less You Know, the Better has the feel of an album, as a work instead of a statement. Composed of a wide smattering of sampled genres, Shadow runs the gamut from bass and drum loops, metal guitar runs, to straight up hip-hop on a few tracks. Best of all, DJ Shadow actually seems to be having fun with all this.
He's certainly raucous on lead off single, ""I Gotta Rokk"", with its alternating guitar crunch and bizarre clipping vocals, which is a treat despite its six minute plus run time. As well as on ""Warning Call"" which features guest Tom Vek yelling in line with a wall of mounting guitars. And ""Stay the Course"" demonstrates Shadow's strengths as a producer, letting guests Talib Kweli and Posdnuos unravel bitter lines and homilies over a smooth (not saccharine) beat.
Sometimes, DJ Shadow is downright frightening: on ""Give Me Back The Nights"", over a deep bass groove, an unnamed narrator rants about his stolen nights of love, descending into a fit of screaming by the end of the track. And other tracks and samples (spoken word pieces, acoustic guitar strums, a particularly mournful violin track that runs through ""Sad and Lonely"" and ""(Not So) Sad and Lonely"") demonstrate a tunefulness found lacking even in Endtroducing…
That The Less You Know, the Better is not Endtroducing… is not sufficient criticism. Certainly it lacks many of Endtroducing…'s apparent qualities (some would argue its profundity) and it does not outstrip it. But The Less You Know, the Better remains a solid album, precisely because it avoids the gambit Shadow took with The Outsider: he is not trying to outdo himself. He is just having fun doing what he loves.
