Endtroducing.....

Some of the best beats I’ve ever heard, crazy that it’s all sampling

techy

Loved this album so much. Felt very SH2/SH3, and made me think a lot about Akira Yamaoka. Good stuff.

Ich liebe es!

midnight in a perfect world is so dreammyyyyy .... ! mutual slump (without overdubs) is also so peaceful ... it is reminding me a bit of what i recognise in OLI XL's music? there is also this 'pling' in the background that triggers me because it is similar to the sound of receiving an email on outlook lol

An album I know very well, although it makes me feel old knowing i was listening to this 30 years ago

Comfortable classic, comfortable 5. RYM: Y (#67) Saved a song: Y

I don't know what to think of what I listened to, other than I definitely will need to revisit it many times. I liked a lot of the beats and sampling choices, the thing that stood out the most was the repeated motifs throughout, and the sampling of Twin Peaks in the final song. I liked this. I want to listen to it more. Edit: I changed the rating. Upon many relistens, this album is near perfect. Each song could be singled out as a masterclass in sampling and instrumental hip-hop.

Not sure how I haven't heard this album before. This isn't RAP but a journey through some moody music through the mind of an artistic genius.

dj shadow going beast mode with the samples tbqh

great music for when I want to get a lot of work done and I'm also maybe thinking about the backrooms

A classic!

Unfassbar abwechslungsreicher Klassiker

No notes. Quite simply one of the best and most important albums of all time.

In my top 10 albums of all time...magnificent stuff 5/5

tenho uma certa inveja dos anos 90

Fucking the best

I liked this album much more than I thought I would after hearing that it was the first completely sampled record. If true, the album gets additional cred for its innovation and influence. Considering that this was really a bunch of bits strung together, the resulting tunes are much more cohesive than I was expecting. I found myself really enjoying the trippy vibe. When reading up on the album after my first listen, I learned that DJ Shadow felt like vocals would clash with the mood he was trying to evoke on the album. I agree. I especially think that forcing rap over these beats would not have worked. As someone who hoped this project would help me gain a greater appreciation of hip hop, I think I’m going to explore more instrumental work. I will be listening to this album again in the future. Both of sources of personal inspiration for new musical journeys factored into my rating.

There's subversive, there's immersive, & there's inventive: Entroducing..... is all three. The best trip-hop album out there, mainly b/c it's more hip-hop than it is trip-whatever, DJ Shadow's masterful debut simultaneously gives you an entrance & an exit point for the hip-hop universe. In other words, it is an elevated project that we're somehow still catching up w/, but it never asks too much of the listener - if you'd like, you could just turn this thing on & saunter thru its textures, excited now to check out what else the rappers & djs have to say. What I love most about it is that it's futurism & nostalgia at the same time: that's the gift of sampling, no? Here you are, blessed w/ this technology, but a dj's mind is historical, i.e., digging as dialectics, dig?

So good. Starts off strong and seems to get better and better as it goes on.

One of my go-to albums when it gets dark. Night drive? Perfect Night walk through town? Perfect Night train? Perfect Night cap before bed? Perfect

I tend not to read the site reviews before I leave my own, but I'm quite familiar with this album...I've owned it since I heard it at college. So I decided to read some of the reviews while giving it another listen, and maybe I shouldn't be shocked, but I was surprised at how many people see this as purely an album of samples. Which it is, 100%. But I guess that's the last thing on my mind when listening to this album. It's just a great and emotive album, regardless of the origin of its sounds. It's a hip hop record, but also ventures a little outside that, too. I came to this record back in the 90s just knowing "Midnight In A Perfect World", but fell in love with all of it. And I'm very happy to be listening to it again tonight.

Elsker at få en 5’er jeg aldrig har hørt før

Det trækker jo nok en smule op at man ved hvordan den er lavet, men ejjj hvor lyder det også bare lækkert helt i sig selv!

Wow! So inspired! Total art! Wow!!! I mean this so genuinely. This is just such inspired art I'm kind of speechless

Absolutely masterful production and sample work

god tier.

masterful work. the perfect display of what sampling can do, an artform under constant attack by outdated copyright laws and record labels…

Love love love. Fun, vibrant. Will happily let this soundtrack bits of the day.

One of my favourites from way back. Seen him live.

One of the best albums on the 1001 list. Shame it took so long to get here.

oh sick i actually have this one on cd. the sleeve is completely yellow now tho... i remember ripping it so i could load it onto my phone in the late 00s and listening the fuck outta it thru the most dogshit headphones imaginable. the quality was abysmal by that point but i didnt even care. its that fuckin good. honestly this is another easy 5. my only gripe is that it only has the 2 minute version of "organ donor" instead of the almost 5 minute extended cut that's on the second disc of the deluxe edition. i guess it's not too surprising given the album is already over an hour long as is, although there's so much variety even within each track that it never felt it. still, it was my favourite track on my first listen and it's my favourite now, 2 decades later. which is saying something for an album as packed with bangers as this is. thinking about it this album probably is what got me into hip hop/trip hop in the first place, as well as (along with a few coldcut tracks and like, early ytpmvs) being my introduction to plunderphonics as a concept. there's a good chance i wouldn't be making the kind of sounds i make now without this album. and i picked it up entirely on a whim. crazy....

Didn't need to listen to this to rate it, but listened to it twice anyway.

Standing on the shoulders of giants, quite literally. Created only by sampling others art, and yet builds something totally new. What's amazing is he was able to keep producing new things that were just as engaging, he wasn't a one trick pony.

Probably redefined the use of sampling in music. Really enjoyed it. There's lots of interesting unconventional sounds. Stem / Long Stem and Midnight in a Perfect World were my favorites.

Rating: 10/10 I love the top review of this album. It perfectly and succinctly describes the breadth of Entroducing..... as art and the questions and ideas it poses. One of the finest and most unique pieces of musical experimentation and a display of the limitless possibilities of the medium. In terms of quality and enjoyment, to me it's an otherworldly sound collage that hypnotizes through its run, like something out of a dream. The density and technicality in these songs through its meticulous sampling is incredible. There's so much personality expressed purely through instrumentals that still manage to maintain a sonic cohesion, while remaining distinct from each other and never staying in once place for too long, even within the same track, like in the long medleys. Enveloped with a trippy and dark atmosphere further driven by a cool vocal sample or the sound of a scratch or crackle in the production. All in all, this album has so much that keeps me intrigued listen after listen, and probably always will. A classic

Historical landmark

Amazing album.

a classic. forgot how much I liked this.

One of my favorite albums of all time. It is basically a work of architecture. Another Green World is like 14 different pastoral / rural environments and this album is like 1 giant slab of urban architecture.

I found my album <3

@wizkid - I love this game, you only missed mine by 1! Love the album for all the reasons you mentioned, also see everything I said for Moss Side Story applies here, he's just not sticking one movie genre. Spoiler: If you're liking this approach to worldbuilding soundscapes out of samples, Since I Left You by The Avalanches is coming up sometime in the next 3 years on this list, same idea, often with more humour, also brilliant.

Fun! First time hearing about DJ Shadow. Impressive to see some more original roots for DJing using vinyl samples. Apparently the early days of mixing music with vinyl was a pain to haul all the physical media around. Hauling milk crates full of records and all your gear to play at a dingy bar instead of just bringing in your laptop these days.

This was sick! What a gem. The album title, art, and sound all fit together perfectly, and I cant put my finger on why exactly, but it just does... and its extra cool that it does... Anyways, this is right up my alley and had me wondering... IF you guys were to guess what I would rate this album before knowing my score whether or not you would guess correctly... Which had me trying to guess what ratings this was gonna get from all of the regular raters! So... here are my guesses, I think I will get atleast 1 guess right... Kori - 5 Ksigz - 4 Brahm - 4 Here4thesnax - 3 Classically trained musician - 5 GnarlyOwl - 4 (Im not confident in this guess hahaha) Christian - Did not listen We will see how many ratings this does actually get from the group. Its not the most eye catching of albums, however the music itself begs to differ. 9/10

FAntastic, makes me wanna look up all the samples he used

The quintessential instrumental hip hop album from a master.

Really liked this one, very chill vibes n good to listen to

Just one of my favorite albums ever. The vibe this gives from the very beginning is incredible. The way it shuffles samples and voices is so ahead of its time and so so fun. My favorite off the album is Midnight in a Perfect World

Oui

The concept, along with the album cover, is really interesting, but I did not expect the music to sound so good! Some songs can get a little repetitive, but it's definitely a record to vibe to, more than anything.

Fantastisch. Noch nie was davon gehört. Kannte nichts davon, und ich hab hunderte Stunden lang Sample Mixes gehört.

yeahhhhh!!! fuuuuck it's so good

Holy shit this is fucking excellent. 9/10

I have liked this album since it came out, and it was one of the "awakening" albums for me with EDM. I still believe it stands up as a timeless album, as there really has not been much else that really does the same thing as "Endtroducing..." It has some trip-hop, a lot of the same feel that was going into other electronic acts at that time, which remains a unique period with Chemical Brothers, Crystal Method, Daft Punk, Fatboy Slim, Moby, Massive Attack, Prodigy, and so many others getting radio play, big budgets, and record sales that led to an influx of that music in a way that still feels special. But, anyway, I think "Endtroducing..." stands out even amongst those and still sounds brilliant to me.

Fuck it, its a 5. I've heard this album so many times, and everytime I absolutly love it. "Midnight in a Perfect world" maybe the best song ever???

This has aged really well to my ears. I think it is hugely influential. To be able to craft so many different samples into something coherent is quite an achievement.

One of those albums that knowing more about its creation just enhances the overall experience. Knowing that so many individual samples were pulled together in such a coherent way, drawing from so many influences but itself then influencing so much to follow just boggles my mind. It’s still an album I really enjoy and one that really benefits from listening to in an album format as, even though some tracks stand out here more than others (‘building steam with a grain of salt’, ‘midnight in a perfect world’) how it flows really does take you on a journey, both through the archives of tracks from bygone days, but also through the creative intent of DJ Shadow himself.

Really enjoyed that chilled music :)?)

Never knew I'd be so mesmerized by "background music"... some fantastic beats.

this album is SO GOOD. Makes me feel like the coolest person. Will listen to it in my autumn walks.

Only knew of DJ Shadow from his Run the Jewels collab before this. I love the arrangements on this album and can absolutely see myself becoming more of a trip hop guy after this.

Have listened to this album many times, and it gets better each one

goated study album

Amazing. The reason I'm doing this list.

I've only heard a couple tracks in my years, and I'm mad I haven't heard this before! Amazing stuff!

Really cool and the best one generated so far.

Beautiful production.

Came into this album expecting to love it, and I was still blown away. Easily the best album I've listened to so far in this project. Absurdly ahead of its time. Heavily reminds me of peak Aphex Twin with a hip-hop bent. I've already spun this 2-3 times since I first listened, and it'll be in my regular rotation for a while. Favorite Songs: "Building Steam with a Grain of Salt", "Changeling", "What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 4)", "Stem / Long Stem (Medley)", "Transmission 2", "Organ Donor", "Why Hip Hop Sucks in '96", "Midnight in a Perfect World" Least Favorite Songs: N/A High 5.

A little dated, but excellent

Suena muuy bien

The biggest thing I’ve learned from this endeavor so far is that I dig trip hop something fierce!

Maybe my favourite album of all time. Subsequent work by Shadow has revealed he’s not as great as the material he sampled and the gimmick only goes so far. But when it worked, there’s complexity here both meta and in the text that far outstrips whatever daydreaming I do when listening to a group of guys in a room playing the usual setup.

Oui ! Certains sons me parlent ! Vraiment pas mal en ambiance et franchement ça change tellement de tout ce qu’on a pu entendre jusqu’à présent

Way too short album, love it

One of my favorite instrumental albums of all time

Очень многослойный и интересный альбом. Это совершенно точно один из тех альбомов который должен послушать каждый хоть раз, потому что подобных ему нет.

DJ Shadow shows off his cool-ass record collection: the album. 5/5

Now approaching midnight

Wow. Had heard of this but never listened to it. Easy to hear the influence this had, not just on hip hop, but also trip hop bands like Portishead. Really enjoyed it and will definitely hunt a copy down

9/10

One of my all time favourites. One of the greatest TripHop albums.

LOVED. The perfect WFH album

Already got

One of a kind incredible album. Made me want to become an organ donor

Tung og stemningsfull.

Weird but cool. Should definitely listen to again + other stuff by him. Hip hop-inflected instrumental stuff, with electronica flavor and some strange shit -- sort of meow wolf vibes

10/10

Great, listened to again and again.

Loved it

A masterpiece of sound collage; a moody, atmospheric album created from well-chosen jazz, funk, hip-hop, and soul samples and beats. A favorite of mine for a long time. On the surface, if you're not paying attention, it can sound very simple and samey. But I argue that he knows just how to keep a groove as a canvas and switch up subtle bits as paint on that canvas to make every bar different from the next. Most of the feel on this is dark with foreboding bass and minor keys in the samples which almost makes it sound like the score to an old horror movie sometimes. Warm analog synths and ambient samples abound. His follow-up album, The Private Press, is not on this list but is equally enthralling. Every track on this is excellent, but my favorite is Changeling, which layers a 70s organ riff, muffled and distorted distressed guitar riffs, and what sounds like a Loudon Wainwright vocal sample over a looped soul drum track and two-note bass riff - it sounds exactly like what a slow midnight drive in the rain through a sketchy and deserted part of a big city would sound like if it were music. Just sublime...

Just effortless cool.

добавлю к себе, много раз переслушала. игра с сэмплами феноменальная, запоминающаяся. создать альбом полностью собранный из семплов винила, имея один только драм машину и одолженный сетап по настоящему завораживает. является ли это его творением? общим голосом и сотней рук, собранными кем-то еще? And I would like to able to continue to let what is inside of me Which is, which comes from all the music that I hear You know, I'd like for that to come out And it's like, it's not really me that's coming The music's coming through me

I was so pumped to see this today. I absolutely love this album. I first encountered it in high school when I watched the documentary Dark Days, about the people who were living underground in the NYC train tunnels. And the soundtrack was basically all DJ Shadow, and I started doing a deep dive. I can't listen to some of these songs without remembering the dark and gritty shots from that film though. The sampling is wild and beautiful. I can't claim to understand the technique or half of the sample references. But it is so impressive and like grandiose and cinematic. Building Steam with a Grain of Salt, Midnight in a Perfect World, and What Does Your Soul Look Like (Pt 1) are my favourites, equally haunting and beautiful. Also, as if it's 30 years old this year.

My beloved

Amazing. RIP records on K. St.

I had never heard of this album before, but as I was listening to it I did some research on it. It was the first album to be completely almost completely composed of samples, and as one review I read said, it was the first to use samples in a way that blends into the music seamlessly. Upon reading into this album, I gained some deep appreciation for it, and I can understand why it's on this list. The sound is so smooth, it reminds me of some Radiohead, and also of older rap from the 80s and 90s, like Kwames music. I really liked this album a lot!

Considering this album turns 30 years old this year, it still feels completely timeless. It’s been over 25 years since I last heard it, but revisiting it felt like hearing it for the first time again, and I had completely forgotten how many great tracks were on here. I love how it balances raw, gritty turntablism and hip hop elements with the smoother, more soothing textures of trip hop and downtempo.

Umm amazing. Love the vibes.

Hyggelig og uventet overraskelse

9/10

Superb album. I’ve enjoyed Endtroducing… since it came out, and this is a 5 for me. At the time it opened up a lot of new music for me (Ninja Tune) and this is one of few that stuck. Nothing else I’ve heard from DJ Shadow has held my interest, but this is a great album.

Incredible. I've always loved trip hop while rap has taken some getting into for me. There's rappers I love and listen to often, but just speaking generally. I think that using the art form, DJ Shadow makes a popular appeal to his audience. THIS SHIT FUCKS.

Peak

recien lo empiezo pero es BUENISIMO

the clock on the wall reads a quarter past midnight. 10/10. insane how this album sounds so good with production primarily being obscure samples.

Awesome

Never heard before but absolutely love it and now looking for a vinyl copy

Fantastic

This is a top ten all time play for me and hip hop’s greatest achievement.

Fav tracks: changeling, stem/long stem, what does your soul look like pt 4, mutual slump, building steam with a grain of salt This was a masterpiece. the ambience that would immediately morph with breakbeat.. chef’s kiss.

Love this album and had the CD years ago. Favorite songs: Changeling, What Does Your Soul Look Like, Pt. 4, Transmission 2, Midnight in A Perfect World

I discovered this album in the early 2000s as part of my job as an editor (there are a lot of great tracks to cut to) and I've listened to it regularly since (and still sometimes cut to it). It is a remarkable achievement when you know how it was crafted and really stands the test of time. "Changeling" is one of my all time favorite tracks.

Very cool album. Love the drums. Could vibe to this all day

This maybe doesn't stand out as much today as when it first came out, but it's still so well crafted. It will never cease to amaze me that this whole album was basically created on an MPC 60 and some turntables. I love seeing technology pushed to new limits.

Killer record. DJ Shadow’s magnum opus. 5/5

This felt like Midnight In a Perfect World.

Outstanding. Reminds me of those comedown Sundays, spliffs on the sofa, those dark grooves. The number song is already in my top 20. I love the drums throughout. I get stuck on the melody that shifts forever autumn by half a bar. But this is great and it was a pleasure to listen again. It was fresh when it arrived, and it has survived the production test of time. Great

Flawless

9/10

Bon, ben que dire, si ça n'est que cet album est un pur chef-oeuvre qui mérite largement les 5/5 ? Ambitieux, ambiancé, riche et ultra-créatif, c'est vraiment un de mes albums préférés de tout les temps et je suis bien content de voir qu'il fait partie de la liste et que c'est ce que je dois écouter aujourd'hui !

Enveloping atmosphere that instantaneously puts you in an urban mood. Very enlivening stuff. "Organ Donor" is one of the coolest rap instrumentals ever

Хипхоп

Here we have DJ Shadow putting on an absolute sampling clinic. I have listened many times and will listen many more, this is a fantastic record. I’m ranking this at the top alongside Paul’s Boutique as the best sample based album of all time. Endtroducing is such a well crafted album, one he took two years perfecting and the end result is a masterpiece. To add a side-note I believe that Organ Donor is a track that should be heard every Halloween. This is an undeniable 5 stars

“From listening to records, I just knew what to do.” DJ Shadow said it best. He really has an incredible knack for taking diverse sounds and combining them into a cohesive work. All-time great album for me.

Classic

Top 10 albums of all time for me. No notes. Well maybe a couple but its still 5 Stars

cool

What a gorgeous piece of Art!

Det hele er sampled fra obskure plader han har fundet. Levet alene i isolation og dermed også lidt det udtryk og følelse man får når man lytter til det. det hører åbenbart under genren plunderphonics/sample art som er netop det. Det er meget sådan drømmende og stemningsfuldt (det er ambient hiphop med trip hop influence) føler virkelig man falder hen i sine egne tanker når man sidder og lytter til det.

Pretty fun, dug this

hell yeah

This album is amazing. Plenty of people had done songs exclusively using sampling, but this is the first completely cohesive album using 100% sampling, with every single sound pulled from vinyl. Not only that it sounds great and has all the same features traditional albums do emotional narratives, tension and release. It's mind blowing.

good

Love DJ Shadow and this record working with James Lavelle was ground breaking in my opinion. They would later go and work together on the UNKLE first release, which also was an amazing record.

I could write almost forever (read: 15-20 pages) about this album, but there are many albums to write about so I'll try and be concise. Yes the album was made entirely with samples/sample manipulation and it's beautifully executed. But I'd like to add something more personal: There's music you like and can really relate to in one way or another, personal experience to something that connects to your metaphysical sense of reality and aspires you to act or change and/or hopefully improve yourself from it. Endtroducing(...) was the definitive album that made me want to become a musician. Then I looked into sampling laws and getting copyright approval, and went to buying a bunch of synthesizers instead as an alternative means to recreate the feelings and general soundscape Endtroducing provides. Fear, anxiety, wonder, chilled out, mellow, groove. There's a lot of emotions that run through the album and it never feels like it's out of place (IE: for 90s hip hop, the filler parts are working too). It's a transformative remix of humanity working as a reflection of 20th century art. With the horrific advent of "AI Music", this album will stand the test of time as one of the best testaments to the creativity of homo sapiens.

Truly one of the best albums of the 90's (of all time?) and a record DJ Shadow is forever either trying to live up to or haunted by. It's gotta be weird when your debut is such a classic and clearly stands head and shoulders above the rest of your ouvre but what can you do... Myself, I got into this a bit later in college so 98-2000. Shadow was everywhere, he had just dropped Unkle's Psyence Fiction with Lavelle and his second album and it felt like he was the true king of West Coast hip hop production only to go full punk fuck you and peter out into niche sounds and uninspired beats on a steak that lasts until this day. He still rips it live though. But that late 90's era was pretty peak. Also bay area artists ftw Also nice to have an album worthy of this list for once in minute

Absolute classic. Foundational record of electronic, sample-based music that enabled generations of beat-junkie producers to craft and release instrumental albums. And a bay area native to boot: he recorded most of this record with the help of fellow producer (and roomate) Dan The Automator at his studio the Glue Factory, a glorified basement under his parents' home somewhere out in the Sunset. Dan is a legend in his own right, and he continued to further-define a distinctive, alternative hip-hop influenced sound following Endtroducing that is all over this 1001 list (see Gorillaz, Dr. Octagon, Cronershop, and Primal Scream).

Someone described this as an album that you feel. It’s absolutely the case; since it’s more made up of samples and sounds it kinda lends itself to being that. It’s all crafted to feeling highs and lows throughout. Nothing here to sing out loud to, but more an album to be in the moment with; to observe your world through the lenses of these songs.

This hit

Classic 5/5

This album was by entry into the world of sampling by the likes if of UNKLE, Burial, RJD2 etc. I can understand why it might not be to everyone’s taste, but I think it’s great. Just loads of samples spliced together in a simply sublime way.

10/10

Super Dope

Best ever

A collection of samples coming together as something new and unique.

Brooding and menacing in equal portions. Not been equalled since. Its an album to be listened to in its entirety on a yearly basis. Hard to pick out highlights as the whole piece is excellent but stem/long stem is the most memorable.

Good Transtions Good Beats

This album was super great. Was not sure what to expect. very cool grooves and soundscapes. Actually a pretty big fan.

Иногда, бывает, что-то включаешь такое, не ожидая ничего особенного, и спустя некоторое время, может секунды, а может минуты, понимаешь, что касаешься чего-то действительно великого и влияющего на весь жанр или вообще создающего свой. Вот это тот самый момент. Такого подхода к семплингу и раздвигания границ "дозволенного" в рамках хип-хопа сложно найти где-то еще. Это воистину невероятная работа. Я не изучал историю альбома, но это чувствуется во время прослушивания. Реально легендарная вещь. Не хочу спойлерить, просто послушайте.

Brilliant. Loved every second!

Absolute masterpiece. Spawned many imitators, but nothing comes close. Astonishing considering the relatively primitive tech used, and still sounds fresh today. Would give this six stars if I could...

One of my favorites

Good

Enjoyed listening to this a lot

haunting, thrilling, a magnificent tour de jockeying

This album continues to impress and relax me into a place of pure comfort. I don't know what is so relaxing about the scratchy and disjointed mixing heard on this album but it makes me want to lay down and float. The main reason for the score drop are some of the interludes and small choices in sounds that I feel make them a bit clunky at times. This album and Portishead's Dummy continue to put me in such a relaxing trance and have dug a deep hole in my heart where they will forever stay treasured and praised. I listen to this album at least once a month for the past couple years and never once has it gotten old or repetitive in my eyes. Such a thought-provoking and impressive piece of music.

This shit was so smooth and relaxing that I fell into such a deep slumber that I drifted off into another dimension. Whizzing by planets and galaxies til I landed on the planet Gorkon 11 which is where I met the Kraglons. They begged and pleaded that I save their elvish princess. Now I know what you are thinking, why would the Kraglons have an elvish princess? They are an asexual race of blob creatures. And what does this have to do with the album? Well first of all that was a little racist towards the Kraglons, I’m not sure what they did to you to elicit that kind of response. And yes they are slightly blob like but they are deeply offended by that comparison. Anyways, after the princess was saved, they rewarded me with their greatest jewels and berries. Believe me when I say that you have never tasted a jewel as delicious and juicy as a Gorkon 11 Lamex. And the berries you can sell for goods and services or get set into a ring or necklace. Great weekend!

Quality beats

Another one of my all time favorites!

I’m sort of amazed I hadn’t heard this album before. It’s super interesting, the production is fire, and I will be making it my personality for the foreseeable future.

It's an iconic album. It's one of the most creative pieces of modern, popular music and it blew me away the first time I heard it. It still slaps, would listen to Shadow all day. Cover is also good, appropriately DIY and relevant, it gets a solid 4, but the album is a 5.

I was already somewhat familiar with this album, but I'd never listened to it all the way through. What a masterpiece.

…Endtroducing restored my faith in hip hop. At the time it just seemed boring & bloated. Then along came this! Every song is genius level with all the samples & cuts & scratches. Do yourself a favour & listen to the deluxe edition to hear some alternate takes & remixes (especially Cut Chemist’s remix of The Number Song) you won’t be disappointed.

I felt like the main character. This album is such a viiiiiiibe

Easy 5. Sounds incredible and can see how it's influenced so many other artists that I like, such as Flying Lotus. Particularly enjoyed the bits that sound like Boards of Canada...by which I mean all the 60s/70s style "Dr Who" synths.

Sounds like I’ve bought a 20 bag in the mid 2000’s. Weird considering I was 9 when it came out. Tight buds, inner city pubs and adidas clothes. Top album, love it.

It’s 30 years old and feels fresh out the box. Excellent stuff, loved it.

Great album!

Excellent, de la musique smooth. Les tunes sont tellement variées. C’est planant, ça met vraiment une belle ambiance dans le salon

The more you learn about how this album was created, the better it gets. I tend to think of this album as one piece of art and through countless listenings over decades, I can’t name a single “song” on it. This record gets at the project of this book in that it’s something every pop music fan ought to hear at least once.

it grew on me

Rating: 10/10 One of my favorite albums of all time, this is the definition in beauty in sampling. This album is absolutely gorgeous and deeply relaxes me, literally therapeutic.

Loved the drums. Sometimes driving amd often atmospheric.

I had not heard this before and really like it.

Already like this one

Love this, and I’d never heard of DJ Shadow before. I will definitely be listening to other albums. I probably would of never found this artist without the challenge

It’s the money 💰

Endtroducing is a plunderphonic masterpiece. It's known historically as the album that truly legitimized the sample-flip on its own terms, but beyond that its legacy as inspirational and endlessly re-listenable can hardly be overstated. Endtroducing has been favourably called the Hip/Trip-Hop equivalent of a Velvet Underground or Aphex Twin and there's hardly a greater compliment. Deep, rich, organic, and boundary-pushing, these tracks feel like deep meditations on sound and a love letter to music as a whole. We'll never get an Endtroducing again, not just because clearing all these samples would be a financial and logistical nightmare in the 21st century, but because this album was too far ahead of its time. fav track: [all of them], Short Stem/Long Stem, Building Steam..., Midnight In A Perfect World

Brilliant

Excellent start. Great look into the alternative dance music scene in the 90’s

I mean, this is like perfect. I've heard this in full before, and I already love this album. I don't want to say conclusively that this is the all time greatest instrumental hip hop album: artists like J Dilla and Nujabes have albums that may be better (especially Donuts, holy shit) but no one else had reached these heights in 1996 (as far as I know). The way this is constructed is truly genius: like it's kind of a plunderphonics thing, it's kind of a trip hop thing, and it's still very much its own. On a sensory level for me, it sounds *extremely* burnt orange, and very dusty. Like, I'm not sure this has ever really been replicated, and so much work went into this to ensure this. Like *exactly* what makes this truly one of a kind is kind of locked in a black box like I am almost completely unable to analyze it: it's just beautiful. Like sometimes it's very fragmented: the weird little interludes, the sampled nature. But, it's still incredibly cohesive: the sound palette is very internally consistent, there are motifs and everything. I dunno, I can't get into what's up behind the scenes here, it's like all made on one Akai sampler and then like a magic spell cast by DJ Shadow for good measure. I'm just in awe here.

Vibes!!! Before it’s time! Vapor wave OG. Napalm brain and what does your soul look like crushed it. Loved this.

This album transformed the mix landscape and made me want to be a dj so bad.

one of my favorite albums ever. totally revolutionized music, imho. just amazing samples that are so obscure, great production, visionary work. 5 stars.

You need this album heard. You need to listen to this. You want an album that is the predecessor to Lofi Girl? This is it. This album? Amazing. You need to listen to this album. Brother I am telling you. Listen to this album.

god damn! this was a journey i enjoyed the whole way through. a smorgasbord of sound that never got smorgasboring. vibes both chill and spicy. yet somehow it still feels like a coherent album. incredible. 100% listening to this next time i get stoned

every. single. beat. is. immaculate. perfect.

Fundamentally important album for sample-based music. I’ve always loved this record - feels like you’re on a different planet. My guess is this is going to be a polarizing one, but for me one of the best.

Great!

jako dobro

One of my favourite albums of the 1990s - and of all time. Atmospheric, unsettling, euphoric, intense, intriguing and always interesting - one that rewards repeated listening and explorations. Highly recommended. An essential album by any measure.

i won't have any idea that this album is fully built from prexisting samples if you don't tell me about the fact. Certainly one of two certified classics in the genre of Plunderphonics (the other one is Since I Left You.) 4.5/5

Have to love the fact that this album got picked the day I had to return to work and that it is one of my favourites. Before talking about the album, I want to say that I first discovered this LP on my last year in college when I was leaving behind my life as an elitist metalhead and finally expanding my musical taste, so I have a bit of affection for this one. The main point behind this record, as well as what makes it so interesting, is that it only uses samples from existing songs by other artists, creating entirely new and different soundscapes. To do so in such a sophisticated as this LP does, is just mind blowing. I can't even imaging how difficult had to be to produce and master all of this and make it sound as good as it does. So, what else makes this album special apart from how it was crafted? It sounds beautiful and very spacy. For me, it even works as an ambient work, not to the point as some of Brian Eno's pieces considering the very present hip-hop type of drums. Nevertheless, it still has this meditative, ethereal and dreamy feeling very characteristic of the atmospheric genre. All of the tracks share this trait and they are all fantastic in their own. Even so, I would highlight the following tracks: - 'Building Steam With a Grain of Salt' for doing an incredible job at stablishing the general mood of the album. - 'Changeling', because it reminds a lot to 'Marble Blast Gold' soundtrack (for some reason). - 'What Does Your Soul Look Like, Pt.1', as I consider it to be the most beautiful song in the album. It may has it little flaws, but I think this is near perfection and for that, I'm giving it 5 stars.

A couple years ago, I was watching an interview with the Tallest Man on Earth and he mentioned loving this album when he was growing up. Naturally I was intrigued because I always love looking into my favourite artist’s inspirations. So I threw it on and was so confused; it wasn’t at all what I was expecting as an inspiration for an indie folk artist. Listening to this now and I find myself surprised again. Electronica and hip hop have been some of the worst genres for me to explore on this list, but I actually really enjoyed this. You can tell a lot of time went into collecting and arranging these samples. It sounds so much more natural than the standard 4 on the floor dance beats that every other electronica album has had so far and the instrumentals have been the best parts of several of the hip hop albums. It honestly feels closer to a jazz album than an electronica or hip hop album.

Every single second of this album is a gem. Every beat, scratch, sample, hook, whatever is perfect. Iconic and deserving of that adjective.

soah

Got it on CD and loved it

What can you say really???? Faultless? Could listen to it all day on repeat, its going to be the first 5 star.

Dope beats. Pre Lofi

Really good album, got better the further I went through it. Classic dark hip-hop, love it.

It's a great album. Loved it.

Excellent! never heard it before.

heard this some months ag for the first time. rating excludes interludes Building Steam With a Grain of Salt - 5/5 The Number Song - 5/5 Changeling - 5/5 What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 4) - 4/5 Stem / Long Stem - 5/5 Mutual Slump - 5/5 Organ Donor - 3/5 Midnight in a Perfect World - 5/5 Napalm Brain / Scatter Brain - 5/5 What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1 - Blue Sky Revisit) - 5/5 Average score: 4.7/5 (rounding up) all i can say is it's a vibe. solid beats, solid sampling, love how much it sounds like trip hop. i'd consider this essential listening

Really nice and chill

This is an all time great for me.

This album is blessed. I used to listen to, “Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt” a lot in 2018 in early high school. This song was on repeat when Spotify first showed it to me. Now listening to the full album is just so goooooood! I love the music, the editing, and the good emotions it releases. Quite-a-feel-good-music!

"The only pieces of equipment Shadow used to produce the album were the AKAI MPC60 12-bit sampling drum machine, a pair of turntables and a borrowed-by-visiting Pro Tools setup from an early adopter of the technology, Dan 'The Automator' Nakamura." -Wikipedia I don't know what's crazier, that sentence or the fact that it sounds amazing.

Fantastico. Álbum lindo do início ao fim. É impressionante que este disco é composto inteiramente por samples. Ele faz um matrimônio exemplar entre o passado e o presente (que agora, quase 30 anos depois, também é o passado). É tudo em ótimo gosto e em ótima forma. Cada instrumento, cada chop vocal, tudo encaixa perfeitamente. Disco atemporal e infinito. Inesquecível. Perfeito para todo estado de vida, e toda tarefa. Como acompanhamento ou como prato principal. Perfeito. Top 10 até então na minha lista.

Love it. Love DJ Shadow

Okay -- I fucking loved this? One of the best examples I've seen of the ART of DJing: hearing new music in old music, and cutting and splicing to get there. Addictive grooves, pioneering art (he did this by himself? With just an Akai MPC60??), and a sonic landscape that just completely transports you. This rules..... Fave songs: - Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt - The Number Song - Changeling - What Does Your Soul Look Like, Pt. 4 - Mutual Slump - Midnight In A Perfect World - Napalm Brain / Scatter Brain - Medley - What Does Your Soul Look Like, Pt. 1 - Blue Sky Revisit

This is a classic breakbeat instrumental hip-hop album. DJ Shadow is a master at making beats and this album shows the depth of his ability. I love this type of music and was already familiar with this album.

5 Breakbeats. MPC. Sample-delic Hip-Hop. Production is all a blur now. Beats. Hook. Title line. AND REPEAT. Shadow broke the mold and created music from other music. He could find just the right sample for every aspect of songwriting. Create moods and atmospheres. "Entroducing" is a planet all to itself now. Bonus points for the 2CD Deluxe Edition, the live excerpt on there shows how his skills were not just limited to the studio.

This is what I was looking for when I wanted instrumental music to play in my classroom back when I was an art teacher.

The best late-night drive.

PEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAKPEAK PEAK PEAK

Absolutely stunning. Every moment hits, and the vibes are immaculate throughout - all the more impressive for how this album is almost completely built on samples of older music! No garden variety of samples either - DJ Shadow is an expert crate-digger and it shows. "Midnight in a Perfect World" alone contains: 0:03: Organized Konfusion - "Releasing Hypnotical Gases" (boom bap, New York, 1991) 0:09: Pekka Pohjola - "Sekoilu Seestyy" (jazz-rock, Finland, 1974; also appears in "Transmission 2") 0:21: Meredith Monk - "Dolmen Music (Part 1)" (post-minimalism, New York, 1981) 0:33: Marlena Shaw - "California Soul" (soul, New York, 1969) 0:34 (and throughout): Rotary Connection - "Life Could" (psychedelic soul, Chicago, 1968) 0:48: Baraka - "Sower of Seeds" (psychedelic folk, Los Angeles, 1976; this wasn't even found until over a decade after Endtroducing came out and even now it's an incredibly obscure album, seriously how the fuck did he even find this to sample it) 1:10 (and throughout): Meredith Monk - "Biography" (post-minimalism, New York, 1981) 1:37: David Axelrod - "The Human Abstract" (baroque pop, Los Angeles, 1969; also appears in "Transmission 2") 2:30: Akinyele - "Outta State" (boom bap, New York, 1993) And all of these disparate elements - from the cellos and voices of an experimental post-minimalist composer to an e-piano riff from a Finnish jazz-rock band to drum parts cribbed from 60s soul to midnight-themed lines from East Coast hip hop collectives of the day, even to indistinct murmurings from an extremely obscure folk album that it took people 15 years to identify - cohere into an excellent song that perfectly captures a nocturnal atmosphere and all runs together like clockwork. Genuinely how does he do it? 5 stars, easily. You're doing yourself a disservice if you don't like this, because this album puts paid to the idea that sampling means you're not a real artist for good.

Man....this is an album you can really appreciate not just by how it sounds, but by the work it took to get there. I don't think every song on here is perfect, but I have to appreciate the craft of putting it together. Artistry at work. Making humor out of samples deserves some recognition, too.

this is pretty much hip hop perfection

L'album qui a fixé la manière de produire un disque de hip hop instrumental depuis 30 ans. C'est vraiment très bien bravo 5 étoiles

42/1001. Own? Yes (a cd though, which kind of seems like a disgrace here). For me, a dj has always been a person, who spent their lives picking on LPs as depicted in the cover, and through that knows some kick ass music history, can introduce some crazy funky beats on top of familiar melodies you almost don't recognize anymore and spices it up with some speech samples. At least I'm like that as a dj :) I don't think mash-ups or bootlegs were yet a too hot thing when this came out, and while most of them are fun they present two of three top pop songs which fit together so nicely that they sound like another pop hit song. A totally different aesthetic is at play here. Crafting new songs out of samples which don't seem to belong together is a rare skill and DJ shadow is the master of it. I highly also recommend to search for the project where someone digged out all the original songs where the samples are from. Actually the word sample doesn't do proper justice here - song building blocks maybe? A classic, a milestone, adventure in modern recording for sure.

Fucking love this album

Just yes

This is amazing!

Bro this is like the Urfather of all video game music... fucked hard like a spooky castle type thing

Very surprised by this album. I read the description of it and thought it would just be repetitive boops and bops. This has real compositions, with a lot of variety. Great stuff.

This sounds nearly as fresh as the day it came out and at the same time so emblematic of that wonderful strain of deeply chill and soulful ‘90s hiphop. Both a love letter to and a brilliant melding of samples, DJ Shadow’s opus, two years in the making, is a luscious and hypnotic soundscape. Add in some classic riffs (“We live in Brooklyn, baby” to name one) and rando found audio clips from the archives, like old B-movie dialogue, for delightful Easter eggs. Finally, the tracks deepen, stirring questions of meaning, of life itself. I love this even more now than then. 5 stars

Super Fun! The samples are used great with the beats, and the middle of this album shines. Midnight in a Perfect World is the perfect song. 9/10

An evergreen classic debut. I was a bit down on this album when it came out as it was so hyped, but I still listen to it regularly 30 years later which proves I was just a stupid teenager. It has a dreamy, hazy quality and all the tracks are good and full of character.

classic

Significant

So glad to be able to re-listen to this after a while on the side (although Midnight In A Perfect World was on regular repeat in the meantime). Absolutely deserves to be considered one of the pinnacles of instrumental hip-hop. Not a weak song on the album. Really brings hip-hop to the next level in a way, it's an album that should be able to convey to even the most hip-hop sceptical person the musical credentials of the genre. 5 STAR! (Highlights are #2, #4, #6, #8, #13, #14, #15)

Maybe I’m getting older but this got the head nodding like I’m some old man listening to jazz for the first time.

biggest album ever, obviously. drawing some easy comparisons to the other two points of the plunderphonics holy trinity, it feels like it expands outward where donuts dives inward, creating whole Landscapes. and where since i left you is maybe the most successful at creating its own entirely new and cohesive sound, entroducing often seeks to make its seams and disparate sources more Obvious, taking a ton of advantage of the original presentation and timbre of its various samples. but ofc all three records create the same feeling of being music About listening to music in some way, they make me think about how even when hearing the same soundwaves we all perceive them differently, we can all extrapolate different worlds and feelings and colors. idk if this record still has the full gut-level Fave feeling it once did for me but in some ways i admire it more than ever, and the impression it creates of the Night That Changes Your Life Forever, as it itself demonstrates new ways of Seeing and Hearing that which is around you. the idea of advocating for a world without these records for the benefit of idea landlords is truly , heinously evil to me in a way few things are....its the money!

I’m not familiar with this artist and so I didn’t know what to expect. But I really love this album. When I used to do video editing, I would listen to instrumental hip-hop a lot because it works so well as a background soundtrack. I can really appreciate the musicality of an artist like this.

This is a seminal album for me. When i first heard it, my mjnd was blown. It sounded like the future and was exciting and different, but above all good. When i discovered it was made in the way it was i was even more inpressed. There is such variety in this, from big beats to lovely hooks to quiet emotional pieces. Its exactly what this list is for.

one of my favourite albums of all time. transcends hip-hop

Wonderful album with many teen memories infused in it. I think this has also been used in a bunch of soundtracks! Whee

was already thinking 5 star and then it ended with the twin peaks sample

Absolutely fabulous

This is very different, and I love it. It must have been incredible to hear this when it first came out. All the samples and layers. This is a laid back sound with a big beat manifesto. Plus a lot of this takes me back to Bristol: Thekla, Schmike on the decks, Lemon Jelly, all those sweaty caverns of joy.

Another one of those hip hop / rap / beat albums that absolutely resonates with my soul. Really really cool instrumental tracks on here. LOLITAS

Génial! Influence de Daniel Bélanger. Vraiment bon album.

God damn this album is so fucking good.

A seminal masterpiece in instrumental hip-hop and by many accounts the genesis of trip hop

Love it

The best hip-hop record of the '90s, endlessly creative and exciting. That transition from Building Steam into The Number Song is pure electricity. Stem/Long Stem does the GY!BE angry-man sampling better than GY!BE. The second What Does Your Soul Look Like track is the pinnacle, particularly when that opening sample breaks into the drum fill. It is happening again. I cannot believe that working at a student newspaper as a stupid 18-year-old gave me the opportunity to interview this guy, a true musical genius, and got me on the guest list for his show. I have been chasing that level of cool ever since.

I know I'm only three albums in, this is by far my favorite, and feels like it really belongs on a list of best of all time. It's fun, surprising, and mesmerizing.

Really sick beats, and great sampling.

A really fun listen, was not expecting it

This is a phenomenally well crafted album, I have absolutely nothing negative to say about it. Had it on 3 times in a row now.

Fascinating sound. So interesting and dynamic and beautiful. also just really nice chill vibes.

This album is an interesting easy listen. It's great for paying attention to and for letting it ride in the background while you focus on other things. Great vibes for getting shit done.

Made entirely from samples from obscure old albums. Incredible.

I loved this album. I have been obsessed with various Ambient and sample heavy electronic albums in the past but have never explored either genre seriously. Another win for me on this excessively long list of albums!

Just pure vibes throughout. I was expecting this to be closer to Dilla, but this was surprisingly beautiful.

Entroducing is one of those albums which I used to love, but subsequently disappeared out of consciousness when the ex-wife insisted we make space and go digital as opposed to keeping my separate system which had served me well for many years. No visual cues, no DJ Shadow. So excited to see this pop up, and man has it aged well. It’s still as engaging as it was upon release. Genre defining and experimental in its sampling. Probably not one an album I will return to as often as I once did, as I don’t have enough “chill sessions” to do that these days. Still a great album. 5 stars all the way!

Probably like a 3.5 musically but the vibes are incredible and I used to listen to this in college so we're rounding way up.

Absolutely iconic. As a teenager, this album is what showed me turntablism was more than just scratching.

Master sampler, show me the ways. How to do low-fi beats before it was a thing.

I bloody love it

One of the key albums of the 1990s. Redefining the music making process and opening up the imigination of thousands of dj/producer/sampling musicians that would deconstruct and rebuild pop on Akai's MPC, turntables and other tools enabling not-formally trained creativity to find new ways to come up with sound designs/tracks/sets in the following decades. Hardly anyone (incl. Shadow) could follow up the feat of condensing this into a cohesive album like "Endtroducing..." though.

10

One of my favourite albums. So many cool sounds! So cinematic!

probably the core album for me . mateen kinda forced me to buy a used copy of this at dr disc when i was like 14 and im glad he did! it really changed about what i thought music could look like and also introduced me to a lot of older rap music which I still really love... dont tell mateen tho...

Rlly liked it Loved all of the instrumentation

5/5 Certified hood classic

outstanding stuff. 5

Excellent.

Really unique album and I just love a hip hop drum beat

!!!

A landmark, a monument. The ultimate lp of its kind. The only thing that comes close is Donuts. The ability to tell a compelling story using only samples and beats is remarkable.

Top 10 albums of all time. A fuckin' masterpiece.

Simply immaculate electronic. Solid 5 Stars.

That’s an easy 5. This is a little more in the Fatboy Slim / Prodigy type of instrumental drum & bass album genre than it is a “hip hop instrumentals” album (ala MF DOOM’s Special Herbs), but I’m totally fine with that – this exceeded any and all expectations I had for it. It’s a breezy 60 minutes of some incredibly varied beats & soundscapes that feels innovative beyond its years, in a way that feels more attuned to the mid-2000s than 1996. I really don’t have THAT much to say about it – a lot of my praise would come down to “really cool percussion” or “neat synth work” or “great sampling throughout” or “this sounds like this video game I really like”. It’s really just an audio journey that’s meant to be experienced with headphones in, ears attentive, eyes occasionally closed to bop your head to, and your hands available to hit some sick air drums. If I have any knocks, it’s that some of the shorter, intermission-y tracks feel out of place (not the alien transmission ones, but stuff like “Untitled” & “Why Hip-Hop Sucks In '96”) & a few songs enter some repetitive states,but those are incredibly minor knocks – I really, really enjoyed this. It’s a wonderful listen, a great album experience, and a very welcome surprise for my ears; an album like this is the reason I’ve stuck with this for 412 albums so far, and it’s a very easy 5.

Reading some of the reviews I think some people really miss the point of this exercise. It is not a list of all your favourite albums, it's there to challenge you and get you to try to listen to things that you would otherwise never have listened to. When you approach it this way, it truly makes sense, it's a percentage of what I have listened to I would never have tried and my life is better for it. Hot Buttered Soul was a revelation, plus some of the rap I wouldn't have listened to either. So please embrace the true spirit of the app😁 This album is "cool" love the laid back beats. On the issue of ownership of samples the artists are paid and also how many chord combinations are now original? You have to be at the front edge of creativity to come up with original music eg Radiohead etc which most people are not to create totally new music Great experience 5*

Mutual Slump might be the highlight for me?

понравилось. процесс создания думаю был чем-то средним между музыкой, поиском и каталогизированием)

Classic!

Groundbreaking and trailblazing when it came out, Still influencing to this very day!

Another album that I was fortunate enough to buy on release and have listened to more times than I can count. It's another ground-breaking album. There really wasn't anything like this at the time it came out. It spawned thousands of replicas which all fell short of this masterpiece.

This is one of my earliest Techno/ DJ Albums that I listened to as a kid and I love this album start to finish is a complete masterpiece! I love the laid back grooves that DJ Shadow showed us on this album before he really blew up, this is the album to introduce people to DJ Shadow

Classic

Surprisingly chill; hip-hop-ish

Веселая нарезка сэмплов 9/10

Easy 5. So good. Good for intense listening. Good for chilling. Good for working. Good anytime. Classic. Great cover art.

Perfect chill out album

It’s about mood. Mood and range. A melancholic journey through beat making with a truly eclectic sample base. The vocal samples help create an atmosphere of mystery. A complete new beat oriented world filled with chopped up drum breaks, funk guitars, organs and the wish to go roller skate. It’s no coincidence the album ends with a sample from twin peaks - this is the otherworldly red room of 90’s hip hop (RIP David Lynch who just passed). My favourite tracks were always ”building steam with a grain of salt” ”stem/long stem” and ”midnight in a perfect world” but lately it might be ”mutual slump” and the druggy slow break beat of napalm brain turning into the hectic jungle beats of scatter brain. Not to forget the closing track what does your soul look like part 1 - especially the scratching on the outro of the track. But every song is its own little world connected to the greater universe that is this album. My favourite album of all time. Although I like most of shadows output he never has come close to the magic of Endtroducing…

The type of album that you can love in any situation, whether you’re stone cold sober writing a PhD thesis on thermodynamics, or you’re so violently high that you become convinced that you will be the first person to OD on weed, even though you only took half a gummy. There’s a level craftsmanship displayed on Endtroducing… that makes you forget that every element of this record is sampled. Sure, the turntable work is obvious, but the way some of the drums and instruments blend together, it sounds so seamless. Endtroducing… is like a magic trick, but unlike a magic trick, it never stops being impressive. Thankfully, it’s also so buttery smooth, so silk, that you don’t need to be paying attention 100% to get it. It’s also the birthplace of the ✨vibey✨ hip-hop album; the entire Lo-Fi Beats to Chill & Study To™️aesthetic is basically the grand-child of Endtroducing… It’s truly sad that DJ Shadow is a One Album Wonder™️, and for all his talents, never could meet this level of beauty again. But that’s also what makes this album so special, so singular, so unique. It’s Hip-Hop in a hyper-traditionalist sense, before sampling became fodder for lawsuits, and it’s a love letter to digging culture without overthinking what it means to love to dig through a stack of warped, water-damaged records in a basement. DJ Shadow was never going to match this; the entire genre of hip-hop was never going to match this. It’s pure in mind, body, and spirit, and while that doesn’t mean it’s the best hip-hop has to offer, it’s the Platonic Ideal of Hip-Hop as a genre, and a timeless classic that can still blow your mind and also chill you out.

Wanted to listen to this 2 years ago but I found out that it was on the list so I held off I have been listening to it for the past 5 hours, it's so fucking tight.

I enjoy this album far more than the me before I ever heard it would expect me to. Can't even explain why, it's just eminently listenable.

a masterclass in sampling……my dad has loved dj shadow for his experimental take on his medium, somewhere between trip hop and ambient. listening on headphones rly highlighted the weirdness this time.

This is pretty awesome. Great samples, impeccable vibes, an exploration of the potential of an entire genre of music. Favorite track: "Midnight in a Perfect World."

always dug this album

Fantastic instrumentals. Great use of samples. Beats are bumping and calming.

Really enjoyed this. Like ambient hip hop or somet

Very cool concept for an album, opening tracks are so open and honest, can’t imagine taking all these samples and layering back in 96 Metallica sample was cool af Organ Donor is a banger Such a chill, atmospheric, melancholy album.

A masterpiece. Listened to it a billion times as a teenager. Grateful to be revisiting it now.

I wouldn't have discovered and loved this record were it not for my late Gozitan friend - who introduced me into the world of left field electronic music. This record might not feel much on face value, but the layers of genius to build up this record is mind blowing - and it's a groovy, fun, at times funny, wonderful record. A pastiche that is actually cinematic and cohesive in it's wildly differently sourced samples. Modern and analogue, and cool - not only is this to me objectively genius, but keeps the memory alive of a person I wish the world did not lose so soon.

I listen to this once or twice a year it’s not perfect but i need to sit back and immerse myself in this occasionally as it evokes great memories

sounds insanely cool