DJ Shadow spent his teenage years in Davis, California and was a DJ at the community radio station KDVS. During his time as a radio disc jockey, DJ Shadow was significant in developing the experimental instrumental hip-hop style associated with the California-based Solesides record label. His early singles for the label, including In/Flux and Lost and Found (S.F.L.), were genre-bending works of art merging elements of funk, rock, hip-hop, ambient, jazz, soul, and used-bin found records. DJ Shadow is often cited as a leading creator of trip-hop, though this is a label he strongly contests.
Although he previously released a couple of original works (during 1991-1992 for Hollywood Records) by the time Mo' Wax's James Lavelle contacted him about releasing In/Flux on the fledgling imprint, it wasn't until his distribution association with Mo' Wax that his sound began to mature and cohere.
Shadow's first full-length work, Endtroducing....., was released in late 1996 to immense critical acclaim. Following the success of this album, he acted as a shadow producer for Rage Against The Machine for their album, Evil Empire. It is said he influenced the solo on their song "Bulls On Parade". Endtroducing... made the Guinness World Records book for "First Completely Sampled Album" in 2001. Preemptive Strike, a compilation of early singles, followed in early 1998. Later that year, Shadow produced tracks for Psyence Fiction, the debut album by U.N.K.L.E., a long-time Mo' Wax production team that gained superstar guests including Thom Yorke (of Radiohead), Richard Ashcroft (of The Verve), Mike D (of the Beastie Boys) and others. His next project came in 1999, with the transformation of Solesides into a new label, Quannum Projects. Nearly six years after his debut production album, his second album, The Private Press, was released in June 2002. In the same year, the movie "Scratch" (2001, Doug Pray) was released to DVD with DJ Shadow appearing several times throughout the movie.
The documentary films "Dark Days" and "Wisconsin Death Trip" feature music of DJ Shadow while "Scratch" features an interview and more music.
DJ Shadow has also collaborated with fellow artist Cut Chemist. Together they have made two CDs entitled Brainfreeze and Product Placement. These albums fuse jazz, funk, and soul in the framework of a cohesive concept. The second of these (Product Placement) followed a very similar pattern to the first, but using remixes/other versions of the songs in roughly the same order.
In the year 2004, Shadow released his feature length DVD, In Tune and On Time. The DVD features a live performance in London, emphasizing intricate visuals.
In 2005, Shadow released a Deluxe Edition of his first album, Endtroducing.... and a new album, titled "The Outsider" in 2006.
While Shadow's earlier works, especially 'Endtroducing.....', are known for their innovation in genres such as hip-hop, ambient, and trip-hop, his fourth full length album, The Outsider, had several tracks dedicated to Hyphy. This decision has been controversial, leaving many fans feeling alienated. DJ Shadow addressed this point in an August, 2006 interview, in which stated, "Repeat Endtroducing over and over again? That was never, ever in the game plan. Fuck that. So I think it's time for certain fans to decide if they are fans of the album, or the artist."
Also in 2005, Brian Udelhofen began work on the Shadow Percussion Project, an attempt to adapt some of the tracks from Endtroducing... for a live performance group. The result was largely successful and well-received by DJ Shadow himself.
In 2007 DJ Shadow was contacted by the Hollywood Bowl to do a show featuring Freeze with Cut Chemist. However, not wanting to repeat old material DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist came up with a whole new routine entitled The Hard Sell. In 2007 and 2008 they went on The Hard Sell tour and were accompanied on stage by two large video screens with visuals created for the tour.
Discography
Solo Albums
* 1996 - Endtroducing.....
* 1998 - Preemptive Strike
* 2000 - Dark Days
* 2002 - The Private Press
* 2003 - The Private Repress (Japanese Remix Album)
* 2004 - In Tune and On Time
* 2005 - Endtroducing... (2xCD Deluxe Edition)
* 2006 - The Outsider
* 2007 - The 4-Track Era Vol.1 Best of the KMEL Mixes
* 2007 - The 4-Track Era Vol.2 Best of the Remixes and Megamixes (1990-1992)
* 2011 - The Less You Know, the Better
with Q Bert
* 1997 - Camel Bobsled Race (Q-Bert Mega Mix) CD-EP
with UNKLE
* 1998 - Psyence Fiction
with Cut Chemist
* 1999 - Brainfreeze
* 2001 - Product Placement
* 2004 - Product Placement on Tour
* 2005 - Freeze
* 2008 - The Hard Sell
with Dan The Automator
* 1998 - Bombay the Hard Way: Guns, Cars and Sitars
02 Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt
DJ Shadow Lyrics
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From listening to records i just knew what to do
I mainly tought myself
And, you know, i did pretty well
Except there were a few mistakes
But um, that i made, uh
That i've just recently cleared up
And i'd like to just continue to be able to express myself
As best as i can with this instrument
And i feel like i have a lot of work to do
Still, i'm a student - of the drums
And i'm also a teacher of the drums too
What makes cancer tenatious?
The moon rules the fluids
Including the inner juices of human beings
That which assimilates and feeds the body
So the crab feeds his astral plane
Assimilating and distributing all he receives
Slowly, until it becomes apart of you
I fly to the strangest lands
And i would like to able to continue
To let what is inside of me
Which is, which comes from all the music that i hear
I would like for that to come out
And it's like, it's not really me that's coming
The music's coming through me
The music's coming through me
In “Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt,” DJ Shadow includes a spoken-word introduction that speaks to his methods for learning and creating music. The producer, who is largely self-taught, states that he learned from listening to records and expressing himself through his instrument. He sees himself both as a student of the drums, always with room to improve, and a teacher, as he knows others can learn from him as well. This humble yet confident approach to music-making is evident throughout the song, as it showcases DJ Shadow’s ability to blend a variety of instruments and sounds into a cohesive and dynamic track.
The lyrical content of “Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt” goes beyond just discussing DJ Shadow’s creative process. The lines about cancer being tenacious and the moon ruling the fluids may seem confusing at first, but they work to create a mysterious, slightly ominous atmosphere throughout the song. The idea of the crab, being slow and steady in its assimilation and distribution of all it receives, adds to the mood. The final lines, “I fly to the strangest lands” and “the music’s coming through me,” convey a sense of otherworldliness and unpredictability, as if DJ Shadow is tapping into something beyond himself to create his music.
Line by Line Meaning
From listening to records i just knew what to do
I taught myself from records and learned well, but made a few mistakes that I've corrected recently.
I mainly tought myself
I am self-taught in music.
And, you know, i did pretty well
I did well despite my lack of formal training.
Except there were a few mistakes
I made a couple of errors in my self-teaching.
But um, that i made, uh
I've recently corrected those mistakes.
And i'd like to just continue to be able to express myself
I hope to keep expressing myself through music.
As best as i can with this instrument
I want to keep playing my instrument as well as possible.
And i feel like i have a lot of work to do
I'm aware that I still have a lot to learn and improve on.
Still, i'm a student - of the drums
I consider myself a perpetual student of drums.
And i'm also a teacher of the drums too
I also teach others to play the drums.
What makes cancer tenatious?
The crab zodiac sign symbolizes tenacity and emotional assimilation, like how the moon controls fluids in our body and the crab assimilates what he receives slowly until it becomes part of him.
The moon rules the fluids
The moon has power over the fluids inside us.
Including the inner juices of human beings
This includes the bodily fluids and substances that nourish us.
That which assimilates and feeds the body
These fluids and substances are assimilated by the body for its sustenance.
So the crab feeds his astral plane
The zodiac sign Cancer, represented by the crab, assimilates and distributes all he receives slowly until it becomes a part of him.
Assimilating and distributing all he receives
The crab slowly absorbs and distributes everything it receives.
Slowly, until it becomes apart of you
The crab transforms what it receives until it becomes a part of its essence.
I fly to the strangest lands
I explore new and unfamiliar places.
And i would like to able to continue
I want to keep being able to express what's inside me musically.
To let what is inside of me
I want to let the music within me come out.
Which is, which comes from all the music that i hear
My music comes from everything I hear and listen to.
I would like for that to come out
I want my music to be expressed and shared with others.
And it's like, it's not really me that's coming
Sometimes it feels like it's not even me playing the music, but rather the music coming through me.
The music's coming through me
I feel like I'm a vessel for the music to flow through me and out into the world.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JEREMY STORCH, JOSH DAVIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind