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
Changeling **Transmission 1
DJ Shadow Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Underground
Pulsating through
Street Parade
Day arcade
No cloning you
Uniform
Won't conform
Find a boy
Kill a toy
Get no reply
Changeling
Well changeling for you
They're coming out of you
Vision
Lost
Out of control
Lost
Down in the club
Beau bells can ring
Look good in blue
Help me to sing
Expose
Fade away
Contact erased
Call a friend
Tailor made
Do as I say
Changeling
Well changeling for you
They're coming out of you
Vision
Lost
Out of control
Lost
Overground
Underground
Overground
Underground
Down in the club
Down in the club
Down in the club
Club
The lyrics to DJ Shadow's song "Changeling Transmission 1" are poetic and mysterious, dealing with themes of identity, conformity, and lost vision. The first verse begins by contrasting the overground and underground, suggesting a tension between surface appearances and hidden depths. The pulsating rhythm of the street parade and day arcade are juxtaposed with the idea of "no cloning you," implying the uniqueness of the individual. The idea of uniformity and conformity is rejected in favor of a heroic individualism that ultimately leads to death and disconnection ("get no reply"). The title "Changeling" suggests a transitory or fluid state of being, perhaps referencing the idea of shape-shifting or transformation.
The second verse shifts to a different scene, that of a club, where the Beau bells can ring and the singer implores the listener to "look good in blue" and "help me to sing." The language becomes more fragmented and abstract, as the vision is lost and control slips away. The contact is erased and the situation becomes tailor-made, with instructions to do as I say. The final repetition of "Changeling" reinforces the idea that identity is mutable and unstable, and that something new is emerging from within.
Overall, the lyrics to "Changeling Transmission 1" are enigmatic and full of potential meanings, defying easy interpretation. They evoke a sense of restlessness and unease, suggesting that the search for self and meaning is an ongoing process that is never fully resolved.
Line by Line Meaning
Overground
The world around us is the setting for this song.
Underground
Even beneath the surface, the energy of the song flows.
Pulsating through
The song moves with a strong, rhythmic beat.
Street Parade
The energy of the song is reminiscent of the lively, colorful atmosphere of a parade through the streets.
Day arcade
The bright lights and sounds of an arcade during the daytime bring a sense of excitement and wonder to the song.
No cloning you
This song is unique and cannot be replicated.
Uniform
Conformity and sameness have no place in this song.
Won't conform
The song refuses to follow any set patterns or expectations.
Hero who dies
The lyrics allude to the loss of a heroic figure, adding a sense of tragedy and sorrow to the song.
Find a boy
The search for something or someone important is central to this song.
Kill a toy
The song presents a sense of danger and violence with the idea of destroying a toy.
Get no reply
The song is unable to receive a response to its call to action.
Changeling
The song is about transformation and change.
Well changeling for you
The song offers up that transformation and change for the listener to experience.
They're coming out of you
The transformation or change being offered is coming from within the listener, and not from an external source.
Vision
The concept of sight is an important element of this song.
Lost
With such a strong emphasis on sight, the idea of losing one's sense of vision carries great weight in the song's themes.
Out of control
This song takes on tones of chaos and disarray.
Down in the club
The listener finds themselves in the setting of a nightclub or similar venue.
Beau bells can ring
The sound of bells, perhaps a reference to wedding bells or similar celebration, are present in the song's atmosphere.
Look good in blue
The color blue and the accompanying mood of calmness or melancholy add to the atmosphere of the song.
Help me to sing
The song urges the listener to participate and be a part of the experience, to lend their voice to the music.
Expose
The idea of revealing something hidden or unknown carries weight in this song.
Fade away
The transformation and change offered by the song carry a note of impermanence, of things disappearing or dissolving.
Contact erased
The song takes on tones of loss and separation with the idea of complete and total disconnection.
Call a friend
Even in the face of disconnection, the urge to reach out and connect remains present in the song.
Tailor made
The song is personalized and designed for the individual listener.
Do as I say
This song asserts control and authority over the listener, dictating their actions or behaviors.
Overground
The song's opening refrain returns, anchoring the listener back to the world and atmosphere of the song.
Underground
The energy of the song flows beneath the surface, uncontainable and dynamic.
Down in the club
The refrain returns, bringing the listener back into the setting of the nightclub or other venue.
Club
The song comes to a close with a reminder of the communal, shared experience of nightlife and music.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management
Written by: CHARLES BURCHILL, DEREK FORBES, JAMES KERR, MICHAEL MACNEIL, BRIAN MC GEE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
TheMysticShaman
All the known samples in order of apparition :
Imagination Flight by The Chaffey College Jazz Ensemble (1978) : Synth at 0:02
Soft Shell by Motherlode (1969) : drums at 0:18
Klondyke Netti by Embryo (1976) : bass at 1:21
Touching Souls by Kay Gardner (1975) : guitar riff at 1:40
Inner Mood I by Kay Gardner (1975) : flute at 1:59 and 2:39
The Man Who Couldn't Cry by Loudon Wainwright III (1973) : vocals at 3:03
Invisible Limits by Tangerine Dream (1976) : electronic synths at 5:17
Berkshire to Valley Forge Transmissions scene from the movie ''Silent Runner'' (1972) : sound effects/voices at 7:04
Scene from the movie ''Prince of Darkness'' (1987) : vocoded voice saying ''This is not a dream'' at 7:33
EDIT New sample found! : For All The Times I Needed You by In Sync (1984) : saxophone at 3:31 and throughout
Kelvin Foote
Tim Broere I agree, but I reckon whole album did . I think DJ Shadow may hold the claim to being the first 'pop' artist to compose an album entirely of samples.
Have you ever heard anything by 'Avalanches''? They have a much more upbeat even danceable style, but also compose their entire tracks by use of samples, using more vocal samples than Shadow. They're Australian and were formed in '97, releasing their groundbreaking album 'Since I Left You in 2000 , so I would assume they must have been influenced by him . Check out the track 'Frontier Psychiatrist' as a great example of what they do. However the whole albums pretty damned good.
https://youtu.be/qLrnkK2YEcE
Sadly, they've only released one subsequent album, 'Wildflower' in 2016.
As for the first band to put popular (ie listenable) tracks together ALMOST entirely using samples, check out the great 'Just Give 'em Whisky' by Colourbox from right back in 1985. It was truly far ahead of it's time. I say ALMOST entirely, as I believe the drum track was theirs as well as possibly the piano refrain too . Colourbox were on the very arty 4 AD label, and stuck out like a sore thumb from most of the other ethereal bands on there at the time.
These were the same guys from M.A.R.R.S , who did the classic 'Pump up the Volume'.
Enjoy.
https://youtu.be/9dm_iq5OicM
kakabukkake0
This album turned my 16 year old drummer head into mush. I couldn't properly speak or think correctly for an entire week knowing this kind of sound existed. This track reprogrammed my brain. I would come home from high school and play the album front to back to make sure it wasn't a dream. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I felt like I was viewing the entire world through those square glass cubes they make walls with. I was already a huge fan of the private press, and decided to check out his earlier album. I wasn't even the same human being after that decision. Even to this day, I always think, what other tracks are hiding out there that I just haven't heard or will never hear that will have that same effect?
Gudlaugur Robertsson
same for me man, this album changed everything for a 17 year old metealhead.
moonsofix
Easy Muffin by Amon Tobin has that same effect on me
JM UK
alot of stuff by Bonobo blew my mind and still does
BALMAIN RICHARD
Listen to Donuts by J Dilla, it is hailed by many alongside Endtroducing as the best instrumental hip hop album of all time
TheMysticShaman
All the known samples in order of apparition :
Imagination Flight by The Chaffey College Jazz Ensemble (1978) : Synth at 0:02
Soft Shell by Motherlode (1969) : drums at 0:18
Klondyke Netti by Embryo (1976) : bass at 1:21
Touching Souls by Kay Gardner (1975) : guitar riff at 1:40
Inner Mood I by Kay Gardner (1975) : flute at 1:59 and 2:39
The Man Who Couldn't Cry by Loudon Wainwright III (1973) : vocals at 3:03
Invisible Limits by Tangerine Dream (1976) : electronic synths at 5:17
Berkshire to Valley Forge Transmissions scene from the movie ''Silent Runner'' (1972) : sound effects/voices at 7:04
Scene from the movie ''Prince of Darkness'' (1987) : vocoded voice saying ''This is not a dream'' at 7:33
EDIT New sample found! : For All The Times I Needed You by In Sync (1984) : saxophone at 3:31 and throughout
SoNextJenn
Oh hey! Angry Wire from r/theavalanches right?
TheMysticShaman
@SoNextJenn Hey bro :) You're right !
Anxziety
People like you are why i love youtube man. Thank you brother.
Andrew Ferguson
Would love to know the horn sample that starts at 3:21, if anyone can help?