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…is what it should of been called. I’ve been a big fan of DJ Shadow for a while. It’s through his collaborations with people like Mos Def that I got  listening to a whole range of hip-hop and other electronic music. To me, Endtroducing is one of the most important albums ever. Shadow has released a hell of a lotta stuff (a great deal of which I’ve listened to) and he always kept it fresh and exciting; working with different MCs and experimenting with different styles. A musician can’t dwell on his first album but to much of his fanbase (who managed to close down his forum due to excessive angst) his new album, The Outsider, is disappointing. Sure; he did something different, but imho it was mediocre at best. Embracing the ‘Hyphy’ bay-area hip-hop sound meant that the complex, lush, alt-hip-hop soundscapes that fans loved Shadow for were replaced by… god knows, basically. It just sounded like any other bling-heavy hip-hop trash and I nearly didn’t bother getting tickets when I found he’d be performing near my new home in Sheffield.

I’m glad I did. Very glad. As were my two mates; Ed (who bullied me into buying tickets) and Ste. We got into the venue; the Sheffield Octagon, in time to catch the last couple of songs by the 1st support. Not worth mentioning here. The 2nd support however went by the name of Akala and from the start seemed determined to put us in a good mood…

This was not a name that I was instantly familiar with, however it later emerged I’d heard what could arguably be called the highlight of the set; Bullshit, before on a FabricLive CD that the Scratch Perverts mixed for Big Issue magazine. Akala was just brilliant. I’ve since got his album (and managed to encourage a pal to do the same). UK Hip-hop is always a bit of a mine-field, but if we have more guys like Akala then it’s definitely going to start looking healthier. Okay, some of the stuff Akala comes out with, doesn’t seem too well thought out and carries a somewhat youthful naivety, but sod it, he speaks with commitment and a nice healthy dose of reality. This was backed up with him appearing on stage and ranting about the current state of mainstream hip-hop and the bitches/rollers/bling garbage that fills the airwaves. He couldn’t of found a more receptive audience. I can’t recommend his new album enough to anyone with even the slightest interest and he’s a must-see live.

Next up; Shadow. I can’t say an awful lot about this gig except it was everything I could of hoped for and more. I’ve heard some of his live releases so I thought I knew what to expect, but the variety of stuff played was a lot wider (spanning a good few albums, about 10 years worth). We got U.N.K.L.E, we got Private Press, we got Lateef The Truth Speaker working genius with Mashing on the Motorway and as a scroller appeared on the screen behind Shadow we read “I’ve been playing this since 1997, but it always seems to get people dancing” (or words to that effect) and in kicked Organ Donor. Nice one. My take? An unmissable act, regardless of what he may be producing right now.
It was so good that I almost feel a little guilty that whenever he started talking about his latest release we (and a few others round us) started booing and jeering. Almost. You could see he got the message; both praise and disapproval from the audience, even if we were being dicks.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 17th, 2006 at 7:01 pm and is filed under Jaunts, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.