TURNTABLE LAB

DJ Shadow
Endtroducing 2LP

You know that really impressionable period in your life where you don't really know anything about anything, and you meet a bunch of cool people and they introduce you to a bunch of bands, movies, concepts, etc that you take as gospel, and you're really excited because you look around and are like "this is the golden age of me! Everything is new and exciting!" During this fertile time for me (AKA "college"), I heard the Portishead, Let Us Play!, and Endtroducing albums for the first time and, collectively, they BLEW MY MIND. I admit, this was a corny time for me (snowboarder pants + eyebrow piercing = ugh), but if I hear these albums I'll still bliss out idiotically to them. Fortunately, they're all watersheds of mid/late 90s electronic music production, and have dated well. The full length that established DJ Shadow as "the Jimi Hendrix of the sampler" (what does that even mean) is still an eminently impressive production debut, almost 10 years later. Everyone knows it was made entirely out of samples, but at the core of this album, each track transcends beyond this limitation and becomes something truly new, making it a desert island pick. OK, enough blowjobbing already, here are the songs: "Building Steam With a Grain of Salt(1)" has a crazy drum breakdown, "Number Song(2)" is based off a Metallica sample, "Changeling(3)" is in like 3/7 time, "Midnight In a Perfect World(4)" is a genre-defining masterstroke, and "What Does Your Soul Look Like Pt 1(5)" is the elegant capstone on the whole affair. If you were to ask me if this album is a must-own, I would stamp my fist into an open palm and screech "Yessssss!" 12 tracks total.
reviewed by the Woodman

file under:
downtempo + electronic - recommended / downtempo + electronic - vinyl / mo wax - vinyl / downtempo + electronic - all

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Amy Winehouse
Back To Black LP

second studio album from Amy Winehouse

Finally available on vinyl! Didn't think much of this album when we first saw it advertised - now it's heading for instant classic status. Retro sounds from Ms. Winehouse in that Mark Ronson meets the Dap Kings kinda way. Check out the big ones - "Rehab(1)" and the Ghostface(2) and non-Ghostface(3) versions of "You Know I'm No Good" - and you'll see what I mean. This stuff is hard to resist, sweet and soulful with that super dark undercurrent. For reference, I went into my local comic shop the other day and even they were bumping this album. (And comic nerds HATE almost all music that's not from "the trilogy.") Also check the Salaam Remi-produced "Me & Mr. Jones(4)," the Lauryn Hill-meets-The Supremes vibe on "He Can Only Hold Her(5)" or the "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"-sampling "Tears Dry On Their Own(6)." Forget the hype, this is just some well-crafted music. Mark Ronson = new school Phil Spector? 11 tracks total.
reviewed by Chris Lemon-Red

file under:
rock + new wave + 80/90s / new rock / funk soul disco - albums / funk soul disco

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Portishead
Portishead 2LP

It was natural that people were let down after the first Portishead. You couldnt get better then that. I never really gave it a chance, but years later with no equal substitution, I am really feeling this album. Darker than Dummy, this LP goes real deep into the murky shit. Its definitely more moody, sometimes goin to the edge of taking a rusty spike and dedicating your life to binary digits. The same complex production (give it a deep listen and be amazed) is there, and the standout tracks: "All Mine, Only You, Half Day Closing." I feel so cold all hookers and gin. This mess were in.
reviewed by the mgmnt

file under:
downtempo + electronic - vinyl / downtempo + electronic - all

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