To cut straight to the point, DJ Shadow’s “Endtroducing” from 1996 is quite possible the most innovative record of all time. Trip Hop first saw the light of the day in the early 90’s with acts such as Massive Attack, Portishead and DJ Shadow, but the real revolution started around 5 years later and it came with the release of “Endtroducing.” Unbelievable as it sounds, the whole album is built purely of samples. No live instrumentation and no recorded singing – that leaves us only with a DJ named Shadow and his MPC60 sampler. The result is astonishing.

It’s hard to describe the sound of the album because it’s a lot more than just sound, it’s a feeling. To press play is to enter a mind-state; a mind-state of unknown sounds, gloomy piano keys dropping with such a depth you can’t help but shiver, emotion filled drum-breaks with intense hi-hats only interrupted by playful but sharp guitar riffs, and just so many other sounds from small horn build-ups to huge epic backdrops. The overall feeling of “Endtroducing” is to some extent way too much information for the mind to take note of in a single listen or even 10. Ranging over 13 tracks that go from everything between 30 seconds to 9 minutes long, it’s a constant surprise to flow through DJ Shadow’s universe of lost and forgotten LP’s, and that’s the real strength in the album how you can’t help but getting drawn into this amazing piece of surreal film music. “Endtroducing” contains well over 100 tracks sampled together in ways you wouldn’t think possible, therefore there will be moments where you can hear a glimpse of something familiar, but turned and twisted in a way that your brain is convinced there’s nothing to look for. Moving along as a surreal piece of film music, the album takes sharper turns than Michael Schumacher, entangled with classic compositions, jazz empowered horns and 50 different weather sounds, it evolves in an incredible unique and bizarre blend of chaos and calmness at the same time.

I intentionally choose not to describe the album track by track since the important and vital thing about “Endtroducing” is how it feels, not separately but as a whole. It’s one 64 minute trip into a world only to be explored with this as the soundtrack. There’s no way around it, if you haven’t heard it before there’s no reason to delay this journey into your soul. Without a doubt an ingenious piece of music, a once in a lifetime lightning-strike composed by a hell of a creative mind.

by Oskar

A glimpse of what made this album turn out it way it did: