The hype machine has been working in overdrive for this album recently. In the six years since Endtroducing, his only proper solo album, he's been releasing countless projects to keep himself busy. They've been satisfying, but always left me with the question: did Shadow blow his load on Endtroducing? The Private Press answers this question by ignoring it completely. The tracks take you all over the place, using new styles and old styles, and it's busy, busy, busy. There's a different production sound that's sharper, more distinct. It feels like Shadow got more inside these songs, unlike the more layered Endtroducing, where you could pick and separate the samples from each other as they progressed slowly. Take "Fixed Income(1)," whose build-up, switches and lulls betray a clearer understanding of what makes a piece successful. "Giving up the Ghost(2)" also shows an evolution of that instrumental style so prevalent on Endtroducing. Perhaps the appeal is that Shadow's strength has always been through the headphones: the way in which his music can comment on what you're doing as you listen to it, making things become cinematic with a personalized, intimate sound. You can be listening to Shadow while tying your shoelaces, and it becomes Tyson vs Lewis (ed. Note: don't ever mention that fight again). There's some new stuff going on here as well. Some 80s Kraftwerk dance type stuff that pretty New Yorkers are so enthralled with at the moment. A track like "Right Thing(3)" feels like a good ol time with cut and paste, while "Monosyllabik(4)" takes you on what hippies like to call a "sonic journey." Best of all, they make me not like them the first time I hear them. This album also sees the addition of vocals and in the same way that I feel like vocalists weakened the Psyence Fiction album, I'm not crazy about them here either. I was wincing the first time I heard the singing on "Blood on the Motorway," and the track with Lateef works, but feels out of place. However, it does connect on "Six Days(5)," one of the stronger cuts on the LP. It's taken awhile for me to wrap my head around this album, and I may never fully digest it. But there's a lot going on from beginning to end, and it's satisfying in the same way that never fully knowing something can be satisfying. A worthwhile investigation for anyone.

reviewed by The Woodman