Release Date: October 4, 2011
Josh Davis, aka DJ Shadow, might have alienated a large swath of his fan base when he dropped The Outsider in 2006, but he’s back working in the roots of his earlier works with his latest record, The Less You Know, the Better. When he abandoned the instrumental hip-hop that was his calling card on his earlier albums and switched to what he termed “hyphy” with The Outsider, it was a wonder whether he would ever get back to the likes of Endtroducing (1996) and The Private Press (2002). The Less You Know is reminiscent of a time when Shadow wasn’t wearing the producer hat and was a dedicated DJ.
The characteristic sound that DJ Shadow is most known for, the striking soundscapes combined with samples from places not known by the ordinary DJ, is resurrected in stunning bravura. Shadow spent time working and reworking his sound to give a pure solo record to his fans. Most of the tracks on the album feel as though they are giving the listener a hard hit in the face, starting with the awkward 1980s revitalization entry “Warning Call” with guest singer Tom Vek, a self-taught multi-instrumentalist from the UK.
“Sad And Lonely” conjures the affectionate sound of lowly folk music with a slow piano and whining violin. “Stay The Course” takes the listener back to early hip-hop and also features a guest appearance from De La Soul rapper Posdnuos. Songs such as “Enemy Lines” and “I’ve Been Trying” are a one-two combo of throwback tunes along with the repetitive “Let’s Get It (Bass, Bass, Bass)” that showcase the nonlinear talent of DJ Shadow.
A track called “I’m Excited,” co-starring the incredibly captivating Afrikan Boy, was released on an EP in July, but it was ultimately kept from The Less You Know because of a copyright dispute. As today’s music market begins to morph more and more, the legalities of it all can become a harrowing mess. Had the song made it to the album, it would have garnered success for the masterful DJ.
The album is 16 tracks long, and although it wiggles through a variety of tempos, styles and guest appearances, it manages to be a bridge between the latter days of DJ Shadow and a look into the future to the cut-and-paste man behind the turntables.
The song “I’ve Been Trying” is more along the lines of a Vietnam War hippie-protester song than a dedicated hip-hop anthem. With the acoustic strumming and Ben Harper-esque vocals, it takes a page out of the street performers book with the train in the background as the track fades off. It’s as though Shadow set up shop at a subway stop and commissioned a homeless guitar player to go in halvsies on a sub sandwich so long as he played along with him.
All things considered, The Less You Know is a stand-up album. With its ever-changing motif, it is an easy listen all the way through and shows Shadow’s desire to ride into the future with the rest of the electro hip-hop community.
DJ Shadow – The Less You Know, the Better tracklist:
- “Back to Front (Circular Logic)”
- “Border Crossing”
- “Stay the Course”
- “I’ve Been Trying”
- “Sad and Lonely”
- “Warning Call”
- “Tedium”
- “Enemy Lines”
- “Go Nowhere”
- “Redeemed”
- “Run for Your Life”
- “Give Me Back the Nights”
- “I Gotta Rokk”
- “Scale It Back”
- “Circular Logic (Front to Back)”
- “(Not So) Sad and Lonely”
