DJ Shadow - The Outsider

I think I've made a record that is hard to imitate and hard to categorize, DJ Shadow recently told The Skinny. Indeed, in a world where the MP3 player shuffle rules as your own personal radio station; 'The Outsider' ought to fit right in.

From the opening bars of This time (I'm Gonna Try It My Way), Shadow prowls his lab, blending disparate sources - from Gil Scott-Heron-era soul with the Bay Area's latest patent, 'hyphy', to 70s flavoured rock. One minute Keak Da Sneak and Turf Talk are bandying around nonsensical rhymes to the backdrop of erratic scratching and rump-shaking synthesis, the next, half of Kasabian are running amuck (who let them in?) and jamming to an acid-laced tribal beat. And so 'The Outsider' goes for its sixty-six minute duration. It's an unprecedented voyage, and it's hard not to get seasick on the first ride. Depending on your seaworthiness though, you might have the bends by your fifth. This, Josh Davis's third album proper, stops feeling like a 'start-to-finish' listen by track three.

Beyond the varied range of sonic influence on display, this is easily the most lyrically driven Shadow LP to date; touching on heavyweight topics ranging from Hurricane Katrina to the lighter fare of 'myspace hoes', 'The Outsider' is intrinsically tied to 2006. Of most notable mention, Backstage Girl is the undeniable lynchpin; trademark breakbeats are spliced with more conventional song structures and bridge breakdowns to create the most unassuming rock epic conceivable from "a guy who mainly works with samples." DJ Shadow does it like John Bonham. Who knew? [Dave Kerr]