DJ Shadow(aka Joshua Paul Davis) released his debut album Endtroducing… back in 1996 to critical acclaim. That album was a revelation in sample-based electronic music(even making it into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2001 as being the only all sample-based album.) It blended the world of DJing, hip hop production, and the ethereal psychedelia of trip hop. It was groundbreaking, to say the least.
From 1996 to 2023 DJ Shadow released six well regarded albums, building exquisite pieces of music through the ghosts hidden in breakbeats and melodic samples he found in dusty record crate digs. His music always toes the line between hip hop grind and dreamy cinematic scope. Though he’s not performing these songs per say, he is arranging and conducting like a proper composer.
On his latest and seventh full length, Action Adventure, DJ Shadow delves into more 80s synth pop territory. Building an album as if scoring some long lost action series – somewhere between Airwolf and Johnny Quest – DJ Shadow builds a convincing sound world dipped in both nostalgia and a sense of looking forward.
DJ Shadow approached Action Adventure with a sense of wanting to make something for himself, not concerned with making beat-heavy hip hop adjacent tracks for MCs to rap over. Instead he dug into his massive(60,000+) record collection – as well as buying 200 tapes off Ebay with 80s radio mixes recorded on them – to cull together a personal and propulsive set of synth-heavy pieces.
“Ozone Scraper” opens the album. A propulsive synth pop banger that feels like the opening theme to some 80s childhood action series. Driving rhythm, dreamy synth, and even some theremin for good measure gives this song just enough mystery to keep it engaging throughout. “All My” has touches of earlier work; ghostly vocal sample, hip hop-heavy beat, and just enough swirling production to give things a dreamy feel. “Craig, Ingels, and Wrightson” has a Massive Attack vibe, echoing back to the Mo’ Wax days. It’s the kind of track you can sink your teeth into.
Over 14 tracks and nearly an hour runtime Action Adventure dives and sways with synth-heavy tracks and groove-heavy rhythms that keep you engaged and paints visions of some non-existent series or film in your head. “Witches Vs. Warlocks” goes hard, while “You Played Me” sounds like something that could have been in a Michael Mann film, complete with Billy Ocean-like vocals for good measure. “Reflecting Pool” is nearly 8 minutes of glitchy, eerie electronica, sounding more Squarepusher than Depeche Mode.
Nearly 30 years into his career DJ Shadow continues to find something new to say through sound and samples. Action Adventure is a big step away from what came before, but never completely turns its back on the past.
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