The Conductor
DJ Shadow in tune and on time
2004-06-28
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Twenty, hell maybe even ten years ago, the idea that a DJ could tour the world
and sell out arenas from San Francisco to Seoul was unimaginable. Now, the idea
isn’t so far fetched as thousands flood concert halls to watch, not dance,
as one individual cuts and mixes records all night. For some, this concept may
be hard to grasp, but today’s DJ is more than just a disc jockey, he is a
musician with vision that exceeds switching from one record to another. DJ Shadow
is the prototype of this new breed. He is not only the producer; he is the drummer,
the organ player, the vocalist and the horn section. He is the conductor of a
one-man orchestra, and nobody does it better than Shadow.
The latest installment to his discography is a live album entitled In Tune and On Time, a CD / DVD recorded at London’s Brixton Academy in 2002. "There’s been a lot of bootlegs of different live shows floating around for a few years,” Shadow says. “When I did the 2002 tour, it was a tour that I was really proud of, and I said I was proud of so I wanted to make sure and document it in a professional way in case I ever did want to do my own live album." In a way it’s like a greatest hits album as Shadow mixes and remixes tracks from his four studio albums, including the collaborative UNKLE project, as well as some B-sides and rare demos. The live performance was also captured on video, and the DVD includes four extra songs, a drumming and scratching session with Malcom Catto, and the amazing "Pushin’ Buttons" segment which features Cut Chemist and NuMark joining Shadow in an MPC orchestra.
One thing that makes Shadow so unique as a DJ is that he produces all of the music he plays. His performances are translations of what he has cut into wax, and because of the intricacy of his music, two turntables isn’t enough. In order to capture the layers of instrumentation, Shadow reached out a little further than the conventional DJ and included two CDJ’s, which are CD players that function like turntables with scratching and backtracking capabilities, as well as a MPC sampler that he has loaded with voices, drums and other sounds, along with the traditional two turntables and a mixer. Each machine is connected in some way through a jungle of quarter-inch wires, and is transmitted as one.
Built up only to be broken down and built up again, In Tune and On Time is truly a DJ masterpiece. The set is constructed with precision and bears a consistent progression of emotion and energy. "It took about a month initially to put it all together, and then I took another three weeks off half way through the tour to do a different hour, like swap out an hours worth because I was going back to some of the same markets again, and I didn’t want to have the exact same show," Shadow explains.
Hours of practice give Shadow the cool and collected demeanor on stage, and falsely give the impression that what he’s doing is easy. The assumption that a DJ just mixes prerecorded music does not apply to him as he clearly descends the line between a club DJ and a musician. Due to technological advancements in the past 10 years the tools a DJ can utilize has made artists like Shadow really thrive and find themselves within the music. "The more tools that DJ’s have to express themselves, the better they can get their personality across," he says.
With In Tune and On Time, Shadow goes even further than the music to express himself by including visuals that play continuously and depict a certain mood, or theme. "I didn’t want it to be like random, psychedelic images,” Shadow clarifies. “I wanted it to be stuff that pertained either to the inspiration of the song, or in some cases I was showing video samples of stuff because I sample from video as well as records."
The visual aspect took about three months to put together, and as he says in the liner notes, was an opportunity to step up his game. Like a window into his brain, the visuals offer a glimpse into the imagination of a person who has only spoken to us through woofers and tweeters.
I can’t help but think that this is the future of music. Just by looking at how Shadow’s debut Endtroducing has influenced hip-hop and the concept of sample-based instrumental records, it appears that he has just opened the can of worms again. As the music moves forward, and video continues to merge into live performances the opportunities seem limitless. There is no doubt that DJ Shadow will be amongst the pilots of this movement because he is not afraid to try something different, as well as continuing to challenge himself. He has redefined what is expected of a DJ, and performers as a whole.
The latest installment to his discography is a live album entitled In Tune and On Time, a CD / DVD recorded at London’s Brixton Academy in 2002. "There’s been a lot of bootlegs of different live shows floating around for a few years,” Shadow says. “When I did the 2002 tour, it was a tour that I was really proud of, and I said I was proud of so I wanted to make sure and document it in a professional way in case I ever did want to do my own live album." In a way it’s like a greatest hits album as Shadow mixes and remixes tracks from his four studio albums, including the collaborative UNKLE project, as well as some B-sides and rare demos. The live performance was also captured on video, and the DVD includes four extra songs, a drumming and scratching session with Malcom Catto, and the amazing "Pushin’ Buttons" segment which features Cut Chemist and NuMark joining Shadow in an MPC orchestra.
One thing that makes Shadow so unique as a DJ is that he produces all of the music he plays. His performances are translations of what he has cut into wax, and because of the intricacy of his music, two turntables isn’t enough. In order to capture the layers of instrumentation, Shadow reached out a little further than the conventional DJ and included two CDJ’s, which are CD players that function like turntables with scratching and backtracking capabilities, as well as a MPC sampler that he has loaded with voices, drums and other sounds, along with the traditional two turntables and a mixer. Each machine is connected in some way through a jungle of quarter-inch wires, and is transmitted as one.
Built up only to be broken down and built up again, In Tune and On Time is truly a DJ masterpiece. The set is constructed with precision and bears a consistent progression of emotion and energy. "It took about a month initially to put it all together, and then I took another three weeks off half way through the tour to do a different hour, like swap out an hours worth because I was going back to some of the same markets again, and I didn’t want to have the exact same show," Shadow explains.
Hours of practice give Shadow the cool and collected demeanor on stage, and falsely give the impression that what he’s doing is easy. The assumption that a DJ just mixes prerecorded music does not apply to him as he clearly descends the line between a club DJ and a musician. Due to technological advancements in the past 10 years the tools a DJ can utilize has made artists like Shadow really thrive and find themselves within the music. "The more tools that DJ’s have to express themselves, the better they can get their personality across," he says.
With In Tune and On Time, Shadow goes even further than the music to express himself by including visuals that play continuously and depict a certain mood, or theme. "I didn’t want it to be like random, psychedelic images,” Shadow clarifies. “I wanted it to be stuff that pertained either to the inspiration of the song, or in some cases I was showing video samples of stuff because I sample from video as well as records."
The visual aspect took about three months to put together, and as he says in the liner notes, was an opportunity to step up his game. Like a window into his brain, the visuals offer a glimpse into the imagination of a person who has only spoken to us through woofers and tweeters.
I can’t help but think that this is the future of music. Just by looking at how Shadow’s debut Endtroducing has influenced hip-hop and the concept of sample-based instrumental records, it appears that he has just opened the can of worms again. As the music moves forward, and video continues to merge into live performances the opportunities seem limitless. There is no doubt that DJ Shadow will be amongst the pilots of this movement because he is not afraid to try something different, as well as continuing to challenge himself. He has redefined what is expected of a DJ, and performers as a whole.
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