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Born on 29 June 1972 in San Jose, California, Shadow began his music career during his time as a student at the University of California at Davis radio station as a disc jockey. With Shadow combining different styles of funk, hip-hop, jazz and soul, he was part of the first group of artists that developed what is now known as trip-hop. Between 1991 and 1992 Shadow’s remixes were released on Hollywood BASIC, a short-lived subsidiary of Hollywood Records, and in 1993 he, along with Blackalicious and Lyrics Born, was a part of the creation of Solesides, an underground hip-hop label. Along with working with Soleside, Shadow also worked with London based Mo’ Wax studios, releasing his tracks “In/Flux” and “Lost And Found.”
Shadow’s first full length album, “Entropy” was released in 1996 and was met with great acclaim; eventually earning the Guiness Book of World Record’s “First Completely Sampled Album in 2001. In 1998 he released a compilation album of his early work entitled “Preemptive Strike” followed by a soundtrack for the documentary “Dark Days” in 2000. Shadow didn’t release a new full-length album until six years after “Entropy,” but when he did, he made a limited 1000 copy release of “Diminishing Returns” in 2003.
While continuing to tour, DJ Shadow made a few announcements for new music, however it wasn’t until 2011 that he released “The Less You Know, The Better.” Shadow ran into a bit of controversy in 2012 when he was replaced as a performer for the Miami nightclub, Mansion; Shadow was quoted (via Twitter) that “I don’t care if I get kicked out of every rich kid club on the planet. I will never sacrifice my integrity as a DJ…ever.” In 2014 he launched his own launched his own label that he named Liquid Amber.
DJ Shadow will go down in history as one of the most prolific DJs of all time, mainly in part to his debut LP, “Endtroducing..…” That album, released in November of 1996 is a landmark release as it is the first album to be created solely by using samples.
DJ Shadow is a huge crate digger searching for vinyl records anywhere he can get his hands on them and was able to create “Endtroducing…..” by diving deeper and deeper into his vinyl collection.
While performing live DJs have to be very careful to create an atmosphere that’s unique, exciting, and goes far beyond a guy hiding behind his laptop. Being a pioneer of modern DJ culture Shadow doesn’t have much to worry about in those aspects. He’s very open about what instruments and technology he uses during concerts and before the music starts is willing to discuss his techniques to his fans. On stage he uses an array of turntables and samplers to create the music. DJ Shadow is very busy behind his fort of tables, constantly on the move and mixing up the records. It’s a great experience and quite inspirational to witness a pioneer in action and seeing how they go through the motions of creating music via samples.
So if you’re in the mood to dance you’ll have a brilliant time, but you can also kick back and study a master and become inspired to create your own music.