DJ Shadow-like Recommendations?

[AKbruin]

Three years of law school and relative poverty have left me more or less disconnected from the current music scene.

I'm looking for some new instrumental jazz/hip-hop sound-scapey music along the lines of DJ Shadow (think Endtroducing), RJD2, Amon Tobin, DJ Cam, David Holmes, Blockhead, Bonobo, and, perhaps, Mr. Scruff, Cinematic Orchestra, Kruder & Dorfmeister, and Air.

Any suggestions within whatever genre this music fits?

[pappag]

St. Germain - "Tourist"
Coldcut ... not a fan, but people I know that like Shadow, like his stuff
King Britt ... I guess you can call it nu-jazz ... some cuts have the hips and hops
LTJ Bukem - "Logical Progressions, Vol. 1" ... quite possibly the definitive dnb album ... 2 CD / has an instrumental side ... jazzy
Kruder / Dorfmeister - "K & D Sessions"
Groove Armada - "Back to Mine" ... top 10 DJ mix ever IMO ... suits your wish-list
Groove Armada - "Northern Star"

You might also what to check the DJ Kicks series off Studio !K7.

[AKbruin]

Thanks for the suggestions Walter, f2f, and Nick.

The problem with my question is that the genre is so hard to limit or define. But I'm definitely interested in some of the suggested artists.

Orb: I liked them in 1999; should check out their newer stuff.
9_lazy_9: intrigued.
Amorpous_Androgynous: never heard of 'em.
Apollo_440: intrigued.
Boards_of_Canada: I've got a couple of their singles; good call.
DJ_Cam: got him covered; listening to MBJ at the very moment.
DJ_Krush: another good call; I think he get's a little too hip-hoppy at times though. I don't know how to put it better than that.
De-Phazz: intrigued.
Fila_Brazilia: intrigued.
Funki_Porcini: very intrigued.
Herbaliser: Have some singles, should check out their albums.
Hint: Should I just check out all Ninja Tunes artists?
Kid_Koala: listened to him in Aemoba, wasn't a big fan.
Nightmares_on_Wax: been tempted in the past.
Photek: intrigued.
Royksopp: intrigued.
Skalpel: I've heard good things; very intrigued.
St_Germain: like 'em a lot.
Thievery_Corporation: like 'em a lot.
Urchin: intrigued.
Zero 7: like 'em.
Coldcut: are they like Shadow?
King Britt: very intrigued.
LTJ Bukem: always thought he was hard-core drum and bass, but now intrigued.
Kruder / Dorfmeister: like 'em a lot.
Groove Armada: like 'em a lot; been to a couple concerts even.

[AKbruin]

coldcut are the founders of ninja tune. dj food is also of their making, although somebody else releases as dj food nowadays. yes, you can definitely check out most of ninja tune, just beware that some trip-hop artists do a lot of rap (so does dj shadow on his latest album). if you're not into that you can just remove all rap from your playlists and be left with a smaller, but nicer musical collection. this goes for Cam, Herbalizer (check out Session One, which is their entirely instrumental album), Krush, Vadim and even Bonobo, who has a lot of collaborations with singers, although not rappers, in his latest album.

DJ Krush I value a lot (I think he has some of my most favorite stuff after Amon Tobin) because his beats are really dark. I've even incorporated his music in my silly videos. i can't think how one would consider this hip-hop and not jazz (sound, not the video):

http://mirtchovski.com/movies/2007-03-31-Wolf_Creek.mov

kid koala is a taste thing. i admit i liked him since i first saw him with dj food (strikly kev) as a student.

Thanks again. I actually saw DJ Krush DJ a set at a club in Osaka once (no mcs, just a couple turntables). It was very cool, much more ecclectic than I expected, and kinda what I imagine a DJ Shadow concert to be like. But I also recall buying an album in which he had a bunch of mediocre underground mcs rap, which, in my opinion, tainted the music. (Ditto for some RJD2 and Shadow tracks). It's not that I dislike rap, but I just prefer that it didn't dominate the music. Anyhow, I should give Krush another try.

[f2f]

about krush: i very strongly recommend you listen to Kakusei and Ki-Oku (especially kakusei, i think it's his best), both are purely instrumental. if you like MBJ you'll truly enjoy them.

try his namesake album for some more lively instrumentals which are not that dark.

[pappag]

Thanks for the suggestions Walter, f2f, and Nick.

The problem with my question is that the genre is so hard to limit or define. But I'm definitely interested in some of the suggested artists.

Orb: I liked them in 1999; should check out their newer stuff.
Herbaliser: Have some singles, should check out their albums.
LTJ Bukem: always thought he was hard-core drum and bass, but now intrigued.
Groove Armada: like 'em a lot; been to a couple concerts even.

I'll just state how super jealous I am in that you've seen Groove Armada perform live (I take it that this was before Goodbye Country, Hello Nightclub when the group was built like an orchestra). One of the few live acts (including Orbital) that I've yet to see and probably never will. Sigh.

As for the Orb, I used to listen to them a lot when I was younger, but only really like the Insides album (brown was pretty good, too). As for Herbaliser, check out, "Very Mercenary" was an album that was stuck in my car's CD player for a couple of years. Very good baselines, non-cheesey lyrics. And LTJ Bukem is as far from hardcore dnb as you can get ... actually, he's probably about the smoothest MF on the planet. You can also check out his Earth series as well which is a collection of lesser-known but attention-deserving artists. His Progression Sessions mixes (I think there's 7 or so), include one CD with an MC and another that's purely instrumental.


And good call on DJ Krush.


And tyrone shoelaces just reminded me of someone like Shadow.... Cut Chemist - who has collaborated with him in the past.




And not sure what's on the list, but you can check out tons of free downloads here:

http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86330





And more not like Shadow, but worth a listen is Jungle Brothers (has the hip-hop element you want).

[pappag]

Groove Armada - Essential Mix - 18-03-2007
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BMSD9KJ4



More DnB:

Calibre - Live At Subtronics - 2007.03.24
http://www.grassrootsmedia.org/Calib...s-20070324.mp3

LTJ Bukem ft MC Conrad - Live @ Club Prive - 2006.07.20
http://www.grassrootsmedia.org/LTJ_B...e-20060720.mp3

LTJ Bukem + MC Conrad @ Distillery Leipzig - 2006.01.06
http://www.grassrootsmedia.org/ltj_b...2006_01_06.mp3

LTJ Bukem - Live @ Fabric - 12.24.2005
http://www.grassrootsmedia.org/LTJ_B...12.24.2005.mp3

[AKbruin]

I'll just state how super jealous I am in that you've seen Groove Armada perform live (I take it that this was before Goodbye Country, Hello Nightclub when the group was built like an orchestra). One of the few live acts (including Orbital) that I've yet to see and probably never will. Sigh..

Thanks, Nick.

I'll check out the links when I get home and away from Big Brother, and I'll try to search out some LTJ Bukem.

I saw GA first during their Love Box tour in SF, but they played a lot of stuff from their older albums. The best part was that they did everything live with the exception of the vocal sample from At the River. Everything else--trombone, vocals, piano, etc.--was done live on stage. The second time they just dj'd a few sets while a dude played the bongos. It was fun but much less impressive.

[mitch buchannon]

As for the Orb, I used to listen to them a lot when I was younger, but only really like the Insides album (brown was pretty good, too).

Insides was Orbital. And the best Orbital album is Orbital 2 (the brown one). The best The Orb album is probably adventures beyond the ultraworld.

[pappag]

Insides was Orbital. And the best Orbital album is Orbital 2 (the brown one). The best The Orb album is probably adventures beyond the ultraworld.

My mistake.

Orb did Little Fluffy Clouds (Tenaglia and Digweed remixes) and their Best Of is pretty good from what I remember, although it was the only album I've heard so I can't really comment.

[f2f]

AKBruin, something else to suggest, which i missed yesterday simply because they're in a subdirectory: if you like K&D try "Tosca" and "Peace Orchestra", which are essentially their solo projects. Peace Orchestra's namesake album is of very high quality, again purely instrumental.

[BLOOD SWEAT STEEL]

Dang, this thread got me reminiscing about my Las Vegas clubbing days. Imma hafta bust out some old school shit tonight.

"Must be an organ donor..... the song has so much body."

[Arty50]

I'm looking for some new instrumental jazz/hip-hop sound-scapey music along the lines of DJ Shadow (think Endtroducing),

Shadow's "Preemptive Strike" is really good. And don't forget UNKLE "Psyence Fiction." It's pretty much a Shadow album and it's great.

Massive Attack "Mezzanine" is really good also.

But the one MUST OWN album is Massive Attack v Mad Professor "No Protection." It's fucking brilliant, seriously.

Some other suggestions:

Quannum Spectrum is more on the hip-hoppy side of things, but it's a really good album.

Waldeck "Balance of the Force" is a top notch album too. It's got a great flowy old R&B/soul vibe to it (I'm really lousy at describing things).

Check out Talvin Singh too. His music has a heavy Indian influence and flows incredibly well. "O.K." is incredible, and he put out a compilation album called "Anokha" that is excellent too.

[lax]

the avalanches

for lyrics try
mattafix
nightmares on wax
neon golden is the album of the last artist

[mitch buchannon]

But the one MUST OWN album is Massive Attack v Mad Professor "No Protection." It's fucking brilliant, seriously.

Second, third, fourth, and fifth vote for Massive Attack - Protection (any of the versions). Probably my favorite downtempo tune of that era. The girl from EBTG's voice is haunting in that tune.

[AKbruin]

Massive Attack: love 'em as well as other Bristol-based trip-hoppers like Tricky and Portishead.
Avalanches: own an album, which isn't bad but is a little to turntablist for my tastes
Unkle: love 'em, wish Lavelle would do another album with Shadow
Talvin Singh: like Ok a lot (and some of his stuff with the Asian Dub Foundation); should check out his later stuff.
Tosca: good call, f2f. They were on my buy list a number of years and somehow got forgotten.

I've never heard of Peace Orchestra, Mattafix, Quannum Spectrum, or Waldeck, but I'll keep my eyes and eyes open for them. Thanks again for the suggestions.

[f2f]

Peace Orchestra is a musical solo project from Viennese trip-hop-dub producer Peter Kruder, best known as one half of Kruder & Dorfmeister.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Orchestra

[Shepherd Wong]

A lot of good recommendations, I'll add one I haven't seen yet,
DJ Signify, Sleep no more.

Similar to Shadow, but much darker. Has some of the Anticon dudes on it also.

[String]

Check out:

Blue Sky Black Death - a heap of broken images

The album is a double disc with one being tracks they've done with numerous artists that are ill, both familiar and not so familiar. The main reason I purchased the album was for the instrumental disc (not the same beats as the first disc nor are they structured for lyrics). I didn't take it out of the player in my car for about 3 months when I got it, unbelievably cinematic beats! Highly doubt many people have even heard of these two geniuses but hopefully they will get the credit they deserve soon enough. Seriously, check them out.

these are some of the artists on the first disc: Jus Allah, A-Plus, Guru, Chief Kamachi, Awol One

[dookeyXXX]

Since Shadow has shifted from all out turntablism to ambient to electronic (house, trance, big beat, etc) to rap (hyphy, etc), IMHO these are some noticeable omissions of other artists who have traveled similar paths:


On the more soundscape tip, definitely check out:


WAX TAILOR - Tales of the Forgotten Melodies
his first album is solid, all instrumental with found sound (his later albums got more vocal oriented and away from the turntable/instrumental/trip-hop vibe).





DJ WALLY - Mrs. Miller's House (really needs to be listened to as a whole).
also check out his other stuff, it's all pretty solid.





LODEK and OMEGA ONE - Postcards from the Third Rock
great album that I find myself reaching for time and time again.





WILLIAM ORBIT - any of his Strange Cargo efforts, but I'm partial to Hinterland in terms of soundscape immersion.





DJ VADIM - U.S.S.R. Reconstruction (a remix album of his first album)




On the more turntablist tip, definitely check out:

DJ Z-TRIP - Live at the Future Primitive Soundsession Vol. 2 ; Uneasy Listening, Vol. 1
both essential listens as far as I'm concerned.


DJ REVOLUTION - In 12's We Trust



MR. DIBBS - any of his early mixtapes are pretty sick.





PEANUT BUTTER WOLF - My Vinyl Weighs A Ton





DJ Q-BERT - again, any of his early mixtapes are classic.




On the more Big Beaty tip:


CHEMICAL BROTHERS - especially when you get to their later almost post-big beat albums and their soundtrack work

[funkendrenchman]

Emancipator....

[grskier]

How did I miss this the first time around!?

This is mostly what I listen to at work, have a few different Pandora Stations and a few on the iPod now too


Alt-J
Battles (some kinda in this 'genre' most not though)
Beats Antique
Blue Break Beats - 50 of the best
Chris Joss
Compilation album Deadly DJ cuts (turntablism)
DJ Woodoo (b-boy breaks)
Him Jenson
El-P
Esone (b-boy breaks)

Guitar (Japanese flavor)
ghostfunk (remix album, fun if you like Wu)
The Herbaliser
Little People

I'll need to take time to find more..

Love the Wax Tailor stuff too.

[grskier]

Gramatik

[mc_roon]

DJ Z-TRIP - Live at the Future Primitive Soundsession Vol. 2 ; Uneasy Listening, Vol. 1
both essential listens as far as I'm concerned.

playing this saturday (1/12) in park city, tiny venue. So pissed im in california. Any utah people should really go

[Wildman]

There are so many...

Off the top of my head...Not all exactly like SHADOW (but then again who is)...

Burial
Caribou
Zero7
Royksopp (Senior)
Pretty Lights
Aesop Rock
Mogwai
Gold Panda
Dan Deacon
and my favorite: Four Tet