Endtroducing.....

Maybe one of the first hip-hop albums we’ve listened to that made me think, huh that’s pretty decent. No coitus skits. Highly instrumental, but usually unpredictable. Actually enjoyable. Maybe it’s rap I don’t like and not necessarily hip-hop.

Very cool beats, Mr. Shadow

Brandon called this "prog-rap," and now I'm disturbed. Despite that revelation, I mostly enjoyed this! This is 7x77 times better than that Fatboy Slim record. Once again, I don't exactly understand the function of an instrumental hip-hop album...with the right rapper, this would be even better because the beats rock...but they are, at the end of the day, just beats in their current form. I can hear the shape of hip-hop production that was to come. Can you imagine Ye or Kendrick or Travis over these tracks??

MUYY BUENO, superó mis espectativas, re instrumental con mucha bata y scratch (muy mi palo, it's giving gorillaz) tmb es bastante chill pero m gusta cmo jugaron con los ritmos y los sonidos q son excelentes. Temas re largos, añadí 3

Groovy, funky, and sometimes pretty mesmerizing. Overall enjoyable, even if it’s not something I’d necessarily rush to relisten to. 4/5

Was aware of this one and planned to listen someday. It's pretty neat and super impressive how this record is built nearly entirely by samples. He's able to build some very different moods throughout, sometimes sounding glitch or jazzy or trippy. Fun listen for some instrumental hip hop.

This is so boring it actually makes me angry.

Endtroducing..... wasn't what I was expecting, but I quite enjoyed it!

Wikipedia has informed me that this album was the first to be entirely created from samples. And that it inspired Radiohead to sample and loop drums on OK Computer. 3.5.

Organ Donor, especially with the video, makes this album.

Dj Khalid

Chill asf

What a fun, funkalicious drumtastic time! The samples of old movies were great. Masterful mixing. 10 out of 10.

This album is classic end-to-end and I still enjoy listening to it as much today as the first time way back when it was unlike anything I'd ever really heard before. Great production, great samples, everything just flows so organically.

Fire

A landmark album that showed what turntables were capable of.

Owned this since it came out, bought it in Selectadisc on Berwick St in Soho. Track 2 is an all-timer.

Foundational to the genre and several others besides.

Historien om skivan får det att låta banbrytande 1996. 2026 låter det som espresso house

Boards of Canada but make it hip hop. Aldrig lyssnat igenom hela förut, tycker ändå det näääästa håller upp till hypen. Svag fyra

Över förväntan! Delvis pga låga förväntningar. Riktigt ballt att det är vinylsamplat. Stark 3a

Sinnessjukt att det är lejonparten vinylsamplingar! Tänk va kul han hade i skivaffärerna när han letade samples. Så jävla imponerad av sånt här, stark 4a

Det är säkert otroligt skickligt DJande, men det är galet bjäring för undertecknad. Olyssningsbart

Good. Could be shorter

I mean as a technical achievement it’s impressive but

Википедия пишет что это первый альбом, составленный целиком из семплов. И на удивление звучит цельно и бесшовно.

this is the debut album of dj and producer joshua paul davis, better known by his alias as dj shadow. the album itself is a hip-hop styled collection of beatflips, featuring an absurd amount of record sample usage, programmed using an akai MPC. the album was quite successful in europe, but it took a little bit for it to find success in the united states. even with that in mind, the album is VERY critically acclaimed, with various lists, notably RYM hailing this record as one of the best ever album releases of 1996. i absolutely love how mysterious and misty this album sounds. in the world of electronic music, not just downtempo, but the overlaps between IDM and other similar beat-focused genres, instead of music to dance to, it's music to sit and think about. and i love music like that. both electronic and hip-hop heads will sit in awe of the mixing, looping and audio-playing expertise on display... this is probably some of the best sample-heavy music you'll ever hear in your life. two big thumbs up.

Very good Hip Hop Album. Definitely not the last time I listened to it. (On Apple Music)

I'm not that much a fan of the longer ambient stuff but some of the album was pretty good

I liked the beats more than I expected for a fully instrumental album. It's very listenable

I just don’t dig this scene, man

this was nothing

At the time it came out I struggled a bit but returning to this again I really enjoyed it.

The pride of KDVS, and SoleSides crew innovator; DJ Shadow stretched the limits on his debut LP. Taking inspiration from The Bomb Squad and other sonic innovators that came before him, Shadow set out with his trusty Akai MPC and Technics SL-1200 turntable, as well as a Alesis DAT Recorder and forever changed the Hip Hop landscape.

conceptually, it's an interesting album. however, I often found myself digging the individual samples more than the final product.

It’s really pretty boring honestly. Nobody is listening to hip hop for the musicality- its heart is in its lyrics and rhymes - so what exactly is the point of removing it all? And then to go on for over an hour. A few of the tracks were okay, some were downright annoying.

own

A pretty impressive display of craftsmanship and astute sample work. I won’t be listening in full again, but it made for interesting an office listen. All in all it didn’t bother me, but I was riveted either.

Listening session: september 29th/30th, while getting ready in the morning Listened to before: no Thoughts: I really like when sampling is done well so this was an interesting album Favourite tracks: Building Steam With A Grain Of salt, Midnight In A Perfect World & What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1) - Blue Sky Revisit

Do you need to hear this? Yes. Does that mean you’re going to enjoy it? Probably not. Really impressive crate digging, really cool instrumentals, but I have to give it a 3 for the fact that I don’t think I’d ever come back to it. But it rips, it’s so good. We’ll give it the four it deserves.

I found this strangely compelling. I enjoyed it.

If you’re into 90’s rap but thought it would be better without any rapping, boy do I have the album for you.

The Ship of Theseus for your ears....is this something? I love this shit....just doesn't have a ton of replay-ability for me, so I can't give it a five.

An absolutely legendary album and one fully deserving of its place in the book. Whilst officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the first album composed entirely of samples, I think reducing this record to purely that fact completely dulls the point. This album is a marvel and really a flawless showpiece of creativity and emotional intelligence. How Josh Davis managed to painstakingly mesh so many disparate samples from such a broad range of crate-dug records together into something so profound and impactful really ought to be studied if it hasn't already. It's a tapestry of sound with a wonderfully nocturnal vibe shrouding it, invoking such a range of feelings all the way from muscular urgency to melancholy, and it still sounds just as vital and unique in today's landscape. I don't think anything about this album is in any way replicable or attributable to any nook of time. Simply a work of genius.

This is... yeah, not my cup of tea

7/10

Dope, one of the dopest

4.5

Enjoyed this more than I thought or should have. Second day in a row I’ve used that sentence. Nearly didn’t bother even listening to this such is my aversion to all things hip hop and rap. Glad I did in the end because some of the more ambient pieces did appeal to me. Must admit there is some clever work done on the more quiet and neo classical samples to make some of the tracks strangely hypnotic. Did not get too carried away though as there is a good smattering of all that I hate about this genre. Away from the music the album cover gave out good vibes of a bygone age when I spent hours in my local record stores thumbing through LP’s (note - not vinyls) Don’t count recent resurgence of ‘vinyls’ the same. Exorbitant prices and extreme marketing ploys to make you think a 180g recoding on blue vinyl is a necessity, does not resemble the youthful experiences I had at the Record Bar in Wakefield City Centre. 3/5 23/9/26

Not at all familiar with DJ Shadow before today, but this is a really impressive album. Considering this was put together from vinyl samples in the days before digital music production was really a thing makes it quite a feat. Chill grooves throughout, this is a great listen when you need something low key.

Endtroducing… is undoubtedly one of the strongest, most fascinating instrumental hip-hop records of all time. There might be an argument for the same amongst all instrumental or hip-hop albums individually, but it’s so unique that it almost feels difficult to categorize. The amount of effort and care that went into these beats might be one of one, which is good because without rapping the production has to be extra special and it is. Shadow manages to create so much atmosphere and emotion through only beats, samples, and effects and that makes it a pretty incredible record in and of itself. It’s unbelievably creative throughout and the more you listen the more there is to appreciate. 1 re-listen Favorite Tracks: Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt, Midnight In A Perfect World, What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1), Changeling, Stem / Long Stem, The Number Song

There is a definite mood here and this would be great to play when my mood fits. Very hypnotic at times. An excellent album.

Pretty epic background music tbh. Bro really did that with a turntable and sampler. This is so unique and experimental. Usually I diss on these albums with no lyrics, and no exact destination per se, but the songs here (even when not sonically cohesive with one another) take you to their own universe. Kinda like how I feel with Pink Floyd tbh. I gotta come back to this one for those late night drives, cause this seems like the perfect vibe for that.

This is iconic! Producing… I’ve seen Dj shadow live and this is really good and well made and the drums on this thing are gnarly. I love number song I love organ donor I love why hip hop sucks it’s all great but the broader story is one I need to delve into. 30 years man wow this is great but upon relisten feels a bit sterile in some of the songs that aren’t the hits. I would still bump this any day but out of all the instrumental hip hop this one is the one that hasn’t stayed with me as much from this era

Nope

Some good bits but not quite my cup of tea

Good vibes when your consciousness is fractured.

Paired well with a spacey drive back from the North Shore. Low 3

Interesting samples but after listening to it twice it doesn’t track as something I need to hear again

1/5

I rock with it

One of my favorite plunderphonics albums that I constantly go back to after all these years. Excellent sampling and mixing, and every song flows into each other.

Heavily sampled/chopped up music. Various instruments and styles (piano, funk, soul, jazz), but percussion and bass is carrying it. Strong big beats, occasionally disrupted/chopped. Heavy bass on Changeling. Is it all instrumental? Vocal sample here on Changeling. Giving me Moby vibes here, but more ambient, less hook-driven Ooh, Stem / Long Stem - Medley, what is that sample that starts halfway through? I recognise it immediately! Oh it's Forever Autumn from War of the Worlds! And it's back in Organ Donor too. Shame that the best moments for me so far are just based on nostalgia for a song I knew already! Though I do like when Organ Donor goes all improv Best track - Stem / Long Stem - Medley, Organ Donor 3 stars - overall it's a fairly easy listen, well made. But I just want more hooks and memorable tracks.

Long and a bit repetitive but pretty good background beats I'd say. Could do without the weird distortion effects.

what? how is this on here?

Another enjoyable electronic album. Liked the samples used.

Not my sorta thing. Gave it a couple of song but couldn’t get into it

“There’s four elements: there’s DJin’, there’s breakin, graffiti, and then there’s the MC” ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Lovely

Amazing sampling. So much atmosphere in the beats. Could keep finding little things in this.

Immaculate vibes. I can't necessarily put my finger on exactly what I like about this album, but I like it a lot. Makes me feel like I'm flipping through records at a store with a great selection, just marvelling at all the sounds that exist out there. Love it.

I like it I feel like it's a little ahead of its time. This album could easily come out today and be accepted as the current sound. I could see myself listening to this while I work its mellow and upbeat but not too much. Kinda reminds me of Hey Arnold music

Endtroducing..... DJ Shadow 1996 Genres: Hip Hop, Electronica Styles: Downtempo, Trip Hop, Instrumental, Cut Updj 1. Best Foot Forward (★★⯨☆☆) -Contexto: Es un collage sonoro de scratches y samples vocales de hip hop, apenas 49 segundos. Funciona como una declaración de intenciones antes de arrancar el disco propiamente dicho, no tiene "tema" en sí. 2. Building Steam with a Grain of Salt (★★★★☆) -Contexto: Construida sobre un loop de piano sampleado de "I Feel a New Shadow" de Jeremy Storch. Arranca con la voz del baterista de jazz George Marsh diciendo que es "estudiante y también maestro" de la batería, frase que funciona como resumen de todo el disco: una lección sobre el poder del ritmo. Se suman coro femenino, bajo y guitarra funk. No hay letra narrativa, es puro mood. 3. The Number Song (★★★★★) -Contexto: Tema instrumental armado a partir de múltiples breaks de batería y samples vocales de "conteos" (voces que cuentan números), con un sample de "Orion" de Metallica escondido en la mezcla. Es puro ejercicio de ritmo y corte, sin mensaje lírico. -Fav 4. Changeling (★★★★☆) -Contexto: Cambia el tono respecto a los temas anteriores, más uptempo: acá entra un clima new-age que va creciendo hasta un final espacial y suspendido. 5. Transmission 1 (★★★☆☆) -Contexto: Es un sample de la película Prince of Darkness (1987) de John Carpenter, una de tres "transmisiones" que puntúan el disco como si fueran señales de radio interceptadas. 6. What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 4) (★★★⯨☆) -Contexto: Cantos sin letra (voces usadas como textura, no como palabra) sobre un groove de bajo repetido, generando un clima de techno "incómodo" según la crítica. Es la parte 4 de una serie de piezas que Shadow venía trabajando desde antes del álbum. 7. Untitled (★★☆☆☆) -Contexto: Interludio muy breve (24 segundos) con un hombre recitando un monólogo sobre una mujer y sus hermanas, sobre una base funk. Es una de las piezas más crípticas y menos analizadas del disco, casi un chiste privado en el medio del tracklist. 8. Stem / Long Stem - Medley (★★★★★) -Contexto: El tema más "épico" y ambicioso del álbum, dividido en dos partes: "Stem" arranca con cuerdas y una batería errática y agresiva, casi militar; "Long Stem" la sigue con un clima mucho más etéreo y fantasmal. Usa un sample de "Love Suite" de la banda británica Nirvana (no la de Kurt Cobain). La crítica lo describe como una suite melancólica que se niega a encasillarse en un solo estilo. -Frisson -Fav -Comentario: Frisson al minuto 7, casi al finalizar. 9. Transmission 2 (★★★★★) -Fav 10. Mutual Slump (★★★⯨☆) -Contexto: Voces femeninas habladas con clima onírico, montadas sobre samples bien reconocibles de "Possibly Maybe" de Björk. Tiene partes habladas (sobre ajedrez, perros, patinaje sobre hielo, según reseñas) que le dan un aire de anécdota cotidiana en medio de la atmósfera. 11. Organ Donor (★★★★★) -Contexto: Tema muy corto y minimalista: un solo de órgano contra un break de batería, casi como un ejercicio de scratch en estado puro. Se convirtió en una de las piezas más usadas por otros DJs para hacer scratching en vivo. -Fav 12. Why Hip Hop Sucks in '96 (★★☆☆☆) -Contexto: Interludio de apenas 43 segundos con un beat repetitivo estilo G-funk y una voz gritando "it's the money" (es la plata). Shadow lo compuso explícitamente para expresar su bronca con el estado comercial del hip hop mainstream de mediados de los 90. 13. Midnight in a Perfect World (★★★★★) -Contexto: El tema más popular del disco, con una línea vocal soulera y un beat lento y pesado. Samplea el bajo de "The Madness Subsides" de Pekka Pohjola y elementos de la pieza para piano "The Human Abstract" de David Axelrod. El clima es nostálgico y casi apocalíptico, sin ser agresivo. -Fav 14. Napalm Brain / Scatter Brain (★★★★⯨) -Contexto: Arranca lento, con un bajo y un loop de batería, y va acelerando a medida que se suman capas de instrumentación hasta un clímax que después se desarma solo, dejando al final un único sample de cuerdas sonando. Es el tema que más juega con la idea de "construir y destruir" dentro de una misma pista. 15. What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1 – Blue Sky Revisit) (★★★★★) -Contexto: Cierra el disco "en positivo", con saxo y teclados cálidos como base (samples de los Heath Brothers y Shawn Phillips). -Fav 16. Transmission 3 (★★⯨☆☆) -Contexto: Usa la frase "It is happening again" ("está pasando de nuevo") sampleada de la serie Twin Peaks de David Lynch, como cierre casi cinematográfico. -TOTAL = ★★★⯨☆ (3,84)

I like this type of bullshit

Loved it.

Pas fameux.

Pas dégueu pour de la musique électronique! J'ai aimé le mood quand même pesant et mélancolique. Monsieur Pitre dit que ça a fait école. Je sais pas quel diplôme M. Shadow a obtenu, mais je lui en donnerais un en atmosphère gloomy. On est quelque part dans l'univers trip-hop ici

1, 2, 3, 4, 5... Beakdown baby! Oh le gros classique, que je connais pratiquement par coeur. L'exemple ultime du sample based hip hop.

I enjoyed this album a lot more than I was originally expecting to. I'm not the biggest fan of hip-hop. It's not that I DON'T like it, but there's usually a lot of things I'd want to listen to more than a hip-hop album. And this one doesn't even have any lyrics! But even with all of that in mind, I still like this album. I love the way the samples move around each other and create really interesting grooves. Everything is layered in just the right way, and I love how DJ Shadow introduces new elements to progress the songs. Some tracks also just evoke certain moods in a way I can't really describe. "Stem / Long Stem - Medley" personally hit me hard, relating to ongoing events in my life. Is it a coincidence that the album generator gave me "Endtroducing....." right when I'm dealing with these things? Is it a coincidence that this is ALSO the day after the album turned 30? We'll never know. My one complaint with this album is that the songs are very long for what they are. If they progressed more throughout, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But because some of the longer tracks don't have very much movement, they get kinda boring halfway through. Very good album nonetheless, and one I will probably be returning to. ----- #0005 Heard on: 17 Sep. 2026 Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ (60 / 327) Favorite track: The Number Song Least favorite track: Napalm Brain / Scatter Brain

Svårbedömt album. Finns en del riktigt sköna beats men en del låter känns rätt tjatiga.

Bra jobbmusik.

I liked certain tracks more than others. Would appreciate more listens.

It’s been so long since I’ve heard this!

A major theme of my late teens and strong memory trigger.

Liked it a lot, a lot of cool beats.

i'm not sure

Decent LP, but not blown away. 3/5

DJ Shadow blazed a lot of new trails with this record. Lofi, ambient, instrumental hip-hop...We wouldn't have the ethereal hip-hop production we have today without this album.

This is the audio equivalent to Cento Poetry. Or perhaps I'm being too highbrow when it comes to overthinking about this. 4/5

Was that music?

I was really not expecting to like this this much. I was excited yes, but the atmospheric qualities of this album are amazing. I can see myself coming back to this loads this autumn, especially with how well mixed this all is, it sounds perfect. I love the drums in particular too, they range from really solid and atmospheric to almost as chaotic as IDM/breakcore drums, which is another interesting comparison I found. A lot of this reminds me weirdly a lot of that area of electronic music - ambient techno, IDM, and occasionally breakcore. Finally, the samples are amazing, and fuck the boomers on the 1001 Album site whining about it being unoriginal, I'd like to see you all make something even marginally this creative; "No", and "Painful." are not good reviews.

Fun listen

Definitely of its time. I hear music like this in resorts these days.

This may be one of those albums that just suffers because everyone has copied it. I like it. Don't love it. Won't have to go back to it.

Better than a 3 but I probably wouldn’t give it a 4 on a normal scale. It deserves more like a 3.75. I like how sample heavy it is and there are some really great melodic hooks, but the songs are repetitive and long and it makes them feel plodding. Great background music but not something I’d put on for serious attentive listening.

Another record to throw in the pile of albums where the lore and the story of the music is significantly more interesting than what is on the tape. Reading how this was made was way more interesting than the actual music. The actual music is pretty boring for the most part. I think I’m at the point with this list, where I can’t give something too high of a rating for a cool story though. 3/5.

Good atmospheric album

It's just okay. It's a cool concept and it's listenable enough, but that's about it.

419/1089 Sans Undertale randomly being in Midnight In A Perfect World lmao quite enjoyed this record, it was pretty understated in a way and had a good vibe while never feeling too repetitive or indistinct faves: building steam…, changeling, what does…, napalm brain/scatter brain 76/100

Awesome! Loved this

Very nice. 4 stars

Never seen so much color in an album, incredibly high quality, colorful, full of variety. Everything feels made for each other, tasteful, everything just in place — nothing felt off. Hard to even comment much on it, that's how interestingly and pleasantly it all comes together. Gonna give every track another listen, music like this is worth knowing well.

a cool Bay Area DJ vibe from back in the day. Some fun tracks here but runs out of steam in the back half.

No thank you

This is cool for what it is, wouldn’t listen to it on its own tho

Yeah fucking get in there lad

A little too long and a little too boring. It's fine background music, but it didn't set my world on fire.

Más o menos

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Vibing. I've been wanting to listen to this album for a while. It is a crazy feeling listening for the first time to something that so clearly was the source of inspiration for other electronic, trip hop and plunderphonics artists I admire. Fav Tracks: "Changeling", "Mutual Slump" and "Napalm Brain / Scatter Brain".

Pretty cool, last 3rd of the album was definitely my favorite part. Really cool sound but wouldn’t liked if it was even more out there.

I liked it, got a little bored. Hard to listen to an entire album of exclusively beats. But really cool and I imagine influential sound

Honestly, loved it as an album that I would put on my record player in the background just vibe. I wouldn’t say it’s anything beyond that and therefore can’t get it four stars.

This is nothing.

Quite boring and spooky

this was OK, not my usual genre, but as it was made up of samples, decent

Too long. But not as bad as I thought it would be.

Didn’t really listen but idk I know it’s supposed to be really good. I got kinda bored probably because I’m stupid

Jazzy instrumental hip-hop.

We like it, it’s cool. Stand-outs - Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt - The Number Song - Organ Donor - Midnight In A Perfect World

Pas du tout ma came

Boring, sorry....

An hour of this. It was definitely an hour. 3/5 ⭐️ 248/1089

I've done other album listening challenges. Random pitchfork lists, Rolling Stones top albums, radio stations choices. Each time Entroducing... Comes up I never quite "got it". But this time for whatever reason it clicked. Maybe because I've had Hejira, the Koln Concert, and Remain in Light in the last ten days and this list is randomized but it's just sitting real well. And this is absolutely an album which needs to be heard. May not be everyone's cup of tea but apparently it is mine, finally.

Essential.

This was a jam. 3.5/5

Glad to finally listen to this after seeing the album art on my timeline for so long. The father of “Lo Fi beats to study to”…this generation needs to respect the classics!

I can see why its 'good' but i couldn't get through it and that's a me problem probably

This was super fun

Albums like this are the reason I am doing this challenge.

Loved the chopped up drum beats right from the jump - I legit don't understand how people's brains work to create things like this. I am in awe every time I hear beats that are made of layered samples, and this album of course is no exception. This is DJ Shadow in his rawest, most creative form, and I am 100% here for it. Every song is an utter soundscape of funky experimental grooves that demonstrate DJ Shadow's mastery of his craft. 4.5/5 rounded down Favorite tracks: Changeling, What Does Your Soul Look Like, Pt. 4, Midnight In A Perfect World

Excellent uses of sampling. Some super obscure samples here, as well. I love the vibe; like a rainy day, and I'm all cozy inside, listening to this. Yes, it's. a bit repetitive. But the way he builds songs is exciting, particularly "Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain." That was sick. FOUR STARS

Pretty good.

Not bad. A bit repetitive though. Made to chill out rather than actively listening to it I think

It's like lofi hip-hop that you can sleep or study to, but minus the lofi element. There's some interesting mixing in there. Unfortunately, I really couldn't grab on to anything in particular. It kind of just washed over me like a wave. I don't think I could point out a specific song if you put a gun to my head. That's not to say it's bad. There were enjoyable beats in there, and it's clear he's good at making mixes. It just helps to have lyrics or something to help really differentiate the songs.

This is a record that I had heard a lot about, but never listened to it at the time. I had always heard about within the context of 'turntablism' and that is an element of the record, but it isn't really the only thing here. In addition to that influence, there's quite a bit that fits in with the aesthetics of trip hop, which was developing at the same time. Overall, this is a pretty technically accomplished record and its quite a bit of fun at times as well. However, there are other moments, where the more moody jazz influenced trip hop elements feel a little like generic background music. It tends to be at its best when the drums are at the front and its playing with samples.

Парочка интересных битов есть, но не более того

these are definitely some top-tier beats, but i usually prefer music with more vocals.

chill lofi beats to study to: origins

"Building Steam with a Grain of Salt" was kind of a vibe. I enjoyed that one a lot. A lot of these songs sound the exact same though, it's not a bad sound but it's not exactly an interesting one for 16 tracks.

Drumbeat heavy SXM Chill-type sound

first listen thru. i liked this album

It’s certainly fine. Tracks can be overlong for the musical style as often they don’t progress much. I didn’t have any serious issues with it at all; overall there were plenty of tracks I rather enjoyed (Midnight in a Perfect World was a highlight) but overall something that I find less interesting than other albums.

This is widely considered one of the archetypal records made from sampling, which inherently raises questions as to its very nature. Is its maker a creator or a curator, for example? What it ends up being is a pretty decent trip-hop album. The songs mostly lack lyrics, instead being instrumental compilations of DJ Shadow's favorite samples into surprisingly coherent works. But, I suppose, that's the beauty of sampling, isn't it? To pluck your favorite bits from other people's stuff and turn them into something that reflects you? In my review of Moby's Play, I said that I could recreate it very easily. I didn't believe that Moby really knew how to make art with the samples. However, DJ Shadow seems to understand the music he borrowed from in a way Moby didn't, creating a more pleasurable listening experience altogether. This album is ranked #4 of 28 albums for 1996. Other 1996 albums rated by me: The Score(1/28)-4 Tigermilk(8/28)-3 Everything Must Go(11/28)-3 Emperor Tomato Ketchup(13/28)-4 1977(14/28)-2 Better Living Through Chemistry(15/28)-2 Oedipus Schmoedipus(23/28)-3 Now I Got Worry(27/28)-4 Antichrist Superstar(28/28)-2

I always know it's going to be a good day when I open up this app and the first thing I see is one of my favourite albums of all time. We all know the schitck with this one, first ever album mde entirely of samples. I fell in love with this the first time I ever heard it, and if anything I love it even more now. It progresses in such a perfect way that keeps you captivated and always has you guessing where it's going next. The weird time signatures and key changes keep every track feeling like a completely unique experience at any given moment. Considering this is the very first album to attempt this, it's so well put together and unless you recognise any of them, you would never think the whole thing is literally just samples. And to end it all off, having the last moments on the album be a sample from one of the most iconic moments in Twin Peaks is cool as fuck.

An album I semi-dismissed at the time due to the enthusiasm of daft sods. Still not as great as everyone was making out, but remains a fascinating approach with solid results. I remain convinced that with the rights MCs this could've become a phenomenal album, even though the UNKLE album was a bit of a letdown.

Ultimately not for me

almost ok

Ha! I bought this album back in the day on the recommendation of a bunch of people, without listening to it first. I was told it was “transcendent” and a must-have. It was a good lesson and reminder to listen for myself before buying something. It actually might be the last album I bought without listening beforehand. It’s … fine. I like several of the beats. But transcendent? How?

way too long and didn’t hold my attention

81

Quand même cool mais je me rappelais pas s’était autant trippy

Brilliant! So glad to have found this!!

Es espectacular. Se lo armó todo con samples de vinilos que fue recopilando y el trabajo que hizo es increíble. Un álbum seminal para el hip hop, y muy amigo del trip hop. 8/10

Masterpiece 5/5

Surprisingly enjoyable!

This would be great if I saw it live at a club, but listening on earbuds at work is less than satisfying

Blind album and artist. Honestly wtf? Catchy but boring, had me flipping being 1 and 3 so ima go with 2.

Aluksi innostuin. Mutta alun jälkeen innostus lopahti, oli aika sekoa tavaraa.

Melkonen sämpyläkollaasi. Löytyy pelimusavibeä, perus hiimailua, ysärihiphoppibiittejä, vielä mitä. Pääosin ihan mukavaa kuunneltavaa, mut toisinaan vähän töksähtelevää - kai sitä pitää jotain mielenkiintoa löytää ku ei oo voksuja tai räppejä päällä. Se tästä vähän tekee ehkä tylsänkin, että on vaan instrumentaalia biittikokoelmaa.

I can't say it was my favorite, but for some reason, I do feel that it rightfully has a place on this list. I can't quite place it, but it does deserve it. Either way, not my favorite album.

Extremely talented beat maker and sampler, influenced the heck out of a lot of people (including musicians I really enjoy), but on the whole I found the album a bit dull. It's very low energy for the most part and almost atmospheric at times to the point where a couple of times throughout the album I'd forgotten I'd put music on. Recognise the talent, didn't click with the album.

I really enjoyed Endtroducing.....DJ Shadow. This is essentially the birth certificate of instrumental hip-hop and sample-based production as a legitimate art form. DJ Shadow built an entire album out of crate-dug fragments including jazz breaks, spoken word, dusty soul loops and stitched them into something eerie, cinematic, and genuinely emotional. It's melancholic and hypnotic in a way most sample-based music never manages, and tracks like "Building Steam with a Grain of Salt" and "Midnight in a Perfect World" still sound like nothing else. This is crate-digging alchemy that's pretty untouchable. Love it.

Day 370 Enjoyed some of this but doubt I’ll play the full album again Highlights Building steam… Stem/Long Stem

This wasn’t essential.

Trippy and so smooth, feels weird to me because it's clearly a great album but I'm not going back to it on a regular basis so I can't give it 5

Yooooo, the “Nobody Speaks” guy made the cut?? No way!!!! I love that song. Noted, it’s the only song from this guy I’ve heard up until now, but I absolutely love that song. That song came out in 2016, so it’s cool to see he’s been producing heat for so long. Endtroducing….. came out all the way back in 1996 and was the debut album for DJ Shadow. So, what do I think of his debut compared to the only other song of his I already know?? Well, it’s pretty dated. That much should be obvious after the first few minutes. It’s also over an hour long, so picking out a specific song in the crowd is a little difficult. I kinda had to just go off of vibes for my favorite here. Immediately I can see how much he evolved as an artist over 30 years, and it’s really neat getting to hear the fledgling efforts of someone who still puts out music today, even if his first album is just alright. Now, I say it’s alright, but it’s very passable overall. This is the kind of album you can have on in the background and just vibe the hell out with without focusing too hard on the music itself. Despite that, it’s still pretty good on its own. But as a workout or just regular work album, it’s great. Sure, nothing blew me away here. It’s far from an amazing album, but it accomplishes what it needs to and sneaks into your mind while you listen to it, invoking a massive sense of peace and puts you at ease. Yeah, it gets a little repetitive here and there and the songs are maybe a tad too basic and dated 90’s sounds, but for an introductory album from the 90’s, it’s still pretty damn good. Not necessarily something I’d return to often, but far from a 2. I can bop to it, and that’s all that really matters. The sound effects are all pretty fun, and the album doesn’t demand you pay attention to it, even if I wish it tried to once or twice. It’s a little boring, just a bit, but situationally when I need a good brain turn off album, I could see myself returning to it. The thing I want to do the most though is check out his newest stuff to hear a before and after. That sounds like it would be pretty cool, and I’m hoping “Nobody Speaks” isn’t just a one off, I’m hopeful his newer music sounds more like that. I dunno, I’ll check it out later, it’s irrelevant to the review. What is relevant is my aforementioned favorite song. I found that “Organ Donor” was short and sweet. It offered a nice change of pace on an album that has some very long songs like “Changeling” that, while great, just go on and on. On the flip side, “Organ Donor” has a neat, ever changing premise built around the sound of an organ, it’s very short, unique, and probably the most different sounding song on the album. For those reasons, it’s my favorite. This album is alright. I can dig it. If anything, it takes me back to the 90’s, which does add some bias points. It’s also going to make me go through more of his discography, so that’s a double win for you, DJ Shadow.

Meh. Not for me

Not for me

All the appeal of drum and bass but with added cameos from others. Sounds just a tad more organic but I still don’t really see anything to latch on to with this music.

Reminds me of walking around the mall

This is is effectively an album of samples, but a nice vibe. Foundational to a lot of music I'm into. 4*

Turntableism is his speciality apparently. There you go.

This album probably requires more time than I have given it. Sampling makes the experience muddled and stilted, masking some interesting fragments of jazz, funk and rock.

Was hopeful at the start but it never really went anywhere

Some cracking tracks. And some considerably less than cracking tracks. There's a good album trapped inside this and (not for the first time) I think the old 40 minute format would do it a lot of favours. 2*

Eh

ok

Nice

8/12/26. Need to check out the rest of DJ Shadow's work. This reminded me a lot of The Avalanches which is up my alley in the electronic/sampling world of music. Felt like this still sounds great 30 years later.

Sampling is a legit art form and not stealing in my opinion, and I appreciate the talent it takes to make a record like this. With that said I didn't enjoy this really at all, there are some cool jazz samples and lots of layers. Some songs have a chill vibe and some are too racy. It is hip-hops version of muzak, glad I heard will never listen to it again.

hip-hop electronica Favorite track: stem/long stem other picks: building steam with a grain of salt, midnight in a perfect world

I thought this was fine. I kind of thought that it would be elevated with words - there was a lot of like just the drum beat. But i bet this would go hard if you were studying or not paying attention to it. I didnt save any songs but maybe i would tell a friend whos into drum beats about it

The album was so interesting and like nothing I had heard before. It had a playful energy and was amazing to have on in the background while drawing. I don’t know if I would listen on a daily basis but definitely will keep it in mind for my next crafting session!

fav songs: building steam with a grain of salt changeling what does your soul look like, pt. 4 organ donor midnight in a perfect world what does your soul look like, pt. 1 (blue sky revision) atmospheric, nocturnal, samplesssss 95/100

This was fine but farrrrr too long. Like it was enjoyable ish??? Very middle of the road.

so refreshing listening to this after a ROUGH previous entry. not my first time but as fun as the last time. i was in awe with the samples and soo focused on recognising them, ofc when the music itself wasn't hitting hard (rarely). i remember trying to listen to this to go and distract myself from artists i was too obssessed with, only to find samples of them within this and thinking i was tripping like fucking abstention and it was COOL. i love this and how it questions how to make music. this is dj shadow's music, not compilation, not just pieces of someone else's songs. there is great mastery in sampling and this is THE prime example.

Pretty simply, I don't care if I ever hear any of this again. There is a very good chance that if I ever did I wouldn't recognize it and at no point would I be whipping out my phone to see if shazzam could find it because I wanted it in my collection. That being said, I don't dislike it at all. The dreaded 2.5 strikes again.

08/09/2026 Take a gummy, put on the headphones, and just float for an hour or so. Favorite track: Mutual Slump

Instrumental hip-hop is not something I listen to all that much, so I don't have a lot to say about this one other than that it was full of good beats and I liked it. By comparison with other albums that other people tend to refer to as "well-produced," I think this one has a claim to the same descriptor, but I don't fully understand what that means. I didn't recognize any of the samples except for the Twin Peaks one at the very end. I would probably benefit from a back-to-back comparison between this and, I don't know, Donuts and Luv(sic) Hexalogy.

No me terminó de gustar. Tiene muy buenos samples y el final referenciando a Twin Peaks es peak, pero es simplón y un toque aburrido.

Good start but lost direction before half trough

Paso mucho de este rollo

DJ Shadow was played repeatedly on Monkey Radio. Unfortunately, that stream is no longer available. At first, the fact that it was categorized as hip-hop put me off. However, I do like the styles. And that’s actually the case with this album—I like it. I’d be happy to listen to it again. 4/5

This album was surprisingly enjoyable. It creates a nice relaxing chill out atmosphere. Done without instrumentation which is amazing

Like a slightly more sophisticated version of me in secondary school music mashing buttons on the keyboard with the sound fx setting on. This was fucking awful.

Hauntingly beautiful, exceptionally competent and impossibly unique. There’s a part of me that feels robbed - with DJ Shadow never managing to recapture the brilliance of Endtroducing on his later works, but I’ll always be forever thankful we got this at all.

Good triphop but a bit long

Loved this album! Perfect to listen at work as it’s mostly instrumental hip hop with a bit of electronic. Not a style I usually listen but a great surprise

A musical collage. An encyclopedia of (mostly non-popular) samples combined into this instrumental hip-hop / trip hop album. Plunderphonics st its peak. The album can be a joy to listen to when you focus in, the endless recombination and composition of “stolen” sounds into something new. It can also just be chill music to have on in the background. Simply a cool, landmark, and influential album that pushed forward and showed the artform that sampling can be on its own.

Plunderphonics is dope

This album is a masterpiece. In composition and in concept, in execution and acoustics. Demonstrating the existence of sampling as an art form in and of itself, complex, fun, dense, and just great all around hip hop.

i was hella pissed for some reason while listening to this song but the beats were fire nonetheless

feels like wandering through someone else’s memories after midnight, dusty, cinematic, uneasy at times, but completely absorbing. It sounds like scattered pieces of the past, rebuilt into something that still feels like the future

Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Relaxing and hypnotic in a way. An amalgamation of sound closing off the millennium. Enjoyed it. Yeah.

Still hits..Anyone who's seen a pile of disorganized, dusty records and drooled knows for sure..but anyone with an open mind should see this record is made with so much care and musicality, that it puts the whole sampling is stealing trope to bed.

Machine-based "sounds of an era" age particularly poorly. There is a business built around music. Innovative sounds are quickly and widely aped by less imaginative and more cynical people. The sounds grow tiresome. (This list, with its questionable curation, demonstrates the phenomenon particularly well for 60s folk, psychedelica, English blues...) But when you turn all of the performances over to machines, your sonic product lacks expressivity; all you have to offer is "a sound." When the aping is only a matter of buying and programming the same machines, the washout comes quicker and is more thorough. Aging recordings that have no human expressivity offer only bits of nostalgia for the few people who were at an impressionable age when they were released. Kids born after 2000 can listen to Revolver and be moved by the beauty of the performances. This, no matter how cool it sounded at the time, plays like the soundtrack to an old movie that no one wants to see.

A bunch of bullshit

Reminds me of the "big beat" records on Fatboy Slim's Skint label around the same period. I guess people were dancing like loons to both them and this thirty years ago. Some excellent, inventive sampling going on here. And unlike a lot of albums from the CD era, when artists crammed as much as they could on to a disc, Endtroducing didn't feel too long. Enjoyed!

Cool

Absolute banger of a classic

Äh

I've heard worse things

Understanding that this was made entirely of samples makes it more interesting. Some songs were decent; others were somewhat repetitive and annoying. (3)

Unbeatable. Probably one of my favourite ever albums.

There is so much going on in the album. I feel like it will take multiple listens to really "get it." So many layers and grooves. I very much enjoyed it.

I enjoyed aspects but really wasn't in the mood for this kind of album yesterday! Kept zoning out but I know in a different mood it would've been more appreciated so hard to rate this one..

It’s alright.

This is a good album but I find it too overrated. While listening I felt the heavy atmosphere of sampled beats full of groove, darkness and a kind of quiet cruelty. The whole record is built from samples and it creates a dense, hypnotic mood that feels cold and immersive at the same time. The production is clever and the beats are strong, but after a while it becomes a bit samey and the hype around it feels bigger than the actual experience for me. It’s solid instrumental hip hop with a dark edge, but I don’t think it fully lives up to the masterpiece status people give it. Still worth hearing once.

Kinda atmosoheric jungle, bet su sample idomiais, fire

The GOAT. one of the most impressive instrumental albums ever made(can you even call it instrumental?) just a phenomenal achievement in art and genre and expression. I should explore his extended catalogue more since I'm sure there's other good stuff to mine there but he's just never gonna be able to top this, maybe nobody will.

Started strong but seemed to run out of ideas towards the second half. Decidedly average.

One of those “all timer” albums that has never hit with me when it should. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good! But I think I listened to SILY first so anything else sample based/plunderphonics sort of pales in comparison. Midnight in a perfect world is goated tho

Not bad for a genre I don’t normally like, but it did go on about 20-minutes longer than I think it should have.

Head-nod hip hop; interesting at first, but it goes nowhere, like that guy outside the convenience store. Sad, really.

Kind of a vibe! Would have listened to this a lot more in college while studying or something.

Mixed bag of music; some good and some not so good. Difficult to rate it average given the source.

Deserves its title as the best instrumental hip hop album of all time. Gets better with every listen too! Was going to rank at 4 but I think it’s closer to 5 now. The long cuts are just so good. (I maybe need to change my rating scale when so few albums on this list are genuinely bad.)

A masterpiece—though I don't think every single song is good, and I can understand if someone doesn't like it all that much.

Ok to put on as background music but not something I would listen to because I wanted to. 3/5

An hour of DJ music is a lot of time to spend on 808s and snippets of albums. This is what you listen to when you're too high to dance, talk or listen to lyrics. RJD2 heard this album and decided what to do with his life. It's fine as background music. Stem/Long Stem - Medley is like a 1996 Tubular Bells...could very easily be the theme music for an Exorcist sequel. It's also like some one watched Blade Runner and rescored the Vangelis. Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain - Medley is the best song on the album.

I can totally see why this album is on the list, and for my taste personally, I'm glad it was. Even though it's just instrumentals, it really just transports you to another time/world. I can totally see this being played in the background of a nighttime car meet in the 90s/early 2000's. I know some people find sampling lazy, but when it's done in such a creative way like this then I'm all for it. There were a couple songs that didn't really stick with me, but overall it was great. 4/5

The concept of this album is a lot more interesting than the end result.

This was so good! A few soundtrack for work and new inspo for creation.

This was a significant achievement, influential and well-praised by critics, but it doesn’t really work very well for me. Strong hip hop beats tend to overwhelm the ambient potential, but it doesn’t work for me as a dance record; many of the tracks could have supported extended raps, but were left as they were (platforms for rappers?); approach to samples doesn’t support harmonic progressions, so tracks don’t come off for me as songs. In field of sampledelia, I am reminded of Gotye’s Like Drawing Blood, full of tricky samples and hot rhythms but completely working as emotional and beautiful songs. This album I would rate lower if it wasn’t for the importance of the respect element, taking all into consideration I’ll say that for me it’s Okay, 6/10.

Absolute classic one of my all time fav albums this is an easy review for me I i know this album so well it was a pleasure listening to it again its probably the album that got me more into electronic music, amazing sample based music

This was my second time listening to this one and after loving it the first time, my appreciation has only grown.

Gostei de umas duas bastante, mas no geral, a vibe é boa pra ouvir fazendo outras coisas e sentindo o despertar de um deus ancestral num cenário urbano dos anos 90

Achei bem interessante. N gostei mt que as vezes as musicas as vezes repetem por mt tempo. Achei as 2 ultimas musicas meio meh tbm. Entre um 7 e um 8. Favoritos: - Building steam with a grain of salt - What does your soul look like pt 4 - Organ donor - Midnight in a perfect world Edit: está growing on me. entre um 8 e um 9.

legal ele vai ficando melhor conforme você reescuta

decent enough for background noise i guess, saved 0/16

Some great morning chill grooves from one of the originators.

Kjennskap: 0% En del kule/fine/fengende/interessante melodier, men ikke helt for meg. Kunne trengt noe rapping.

Vibes

This is trip-hop epitomized, emphasis on the "trip" - a journey inside the self, to shadowy and solitary places of deep feeling and contemplation. Besides just being a technically brilliant demonstration of how to build a sampled album in the post-sampling era, Josh Davis's opus confronts something dark and true and frightening - the possibility that we are all just made up of the little bits of knowledge and talent and culture we osmose from wherever, that there really is no capital-S Self, that we are responsible for fashioning ourselves into something like coherence. Existence precedes essence, as Sartre put it: we are who we decide to be. And, terrifying as that is, it is also liberating; it means we can love drum solos and the Beasties and Metallica and psychedelia and *Xanadu* and girls with big asses and David Lynch and rescuing the organ from the Rick Wakemans of the world. And how we put those pieces together is up to us. No wonder this album has been delivering a sense of quietly exhilarating freedom for me for a quarter century now. It occurs to me I can't do it justice other than to just recommend it as wholeheartedly as possible.

Great trip hop. 4.5?

Another one that I definitely wouldn't have heard if not for this project, and not what I was expecting. Really interesting to listen to, though I doubt I'll come back to it.

A top 25 album for me, and one that broke open a whole genre of music that I still chase. Every second of this record has so much thought and craft.

Super excited for this one. I think I'll like it more than I did before, knowing this information: And now I can actually bump it up! 😛 This is one of the most important sample-based albums ever made. The big historical reason it made the list is that Endtroducing..... is often celebrated as the first full-length album built entirely from samples. DJ Shadow basically created a whole cinematic world out of old records: drums, basslines, spoken-word snippets, jazz fragments, funk breaks, psychedelic scraps, film dialogue, and weird atmospheric debris. But it doesn’t feel like a gimmick. It feels like memory, dust, rhythm, and loneliness assembled into beats. Think late-night record store basement, headphones, streetlights, old vinyl crackle, forgotten voices, drum breaks echoing through an empty city. It has hip-hop DNA, but it’s mostly instrumental, so the emotion comes from texture, pacing, and atmosphere. The big thing to listen for is how he turns fragments into architecture. A tiny vocal sample becomes a mood. A drum break becomes a landscape. A bassline repeats until it feels ominous. The album is very cinematic, but not in a glossy movie-soundtrack way — more like a collage of scenes from films that don’t exist. This is absolutely a headphones album. The little details matter. Listen for the dust between the samples as much as the samples themselves. I love all the description around this. “Building Steam With a Grain of Salt” Is so dope! Man this whole album was pretty fucking great! 5 stars.

Standouts What Does Your Soul Look Like Part 4 Stem/Long Stem

Divido el disco es dos M, la primera algo monótono y la segunda hermoso, vibrante con cambios de ritmo que emocionan

I mean sure, this is inarguably a landmark album, both in terms of technological achievement and legal precedent, but as a piece of art in itself... Oh, it absolutely whips? Well, that makes this easier. Seriously, from the moment the piano hit in Building Steam I was just sat here grinning like an idiot, and this continued basically throughout.

I’m a bit torn on this. On the one hand I can’t imagine DJ Shadow chased down all the sample owners and paid his royalties (I suppose he might have); on the other hand, it’s really good.

Fantastic, amazing, phenomenal, what a great album. No low points to me, and one that's a pretty regular occurrence when i want something to listen to. Also, The Mountain Will Fall hits even harder if you're a fan of this :) Fave track: Building Steam With a Grain of Salt

2.5

Fortunately it is more electronica than hip-hop. Some really nice tunes on, but more in terms of background-music. Nonetheless I rate it down because it is only instrumental.

5/10

Pointless

I was expecting Tim Buckley. I'm glad I got this instead. Love it. This is what I'm here for. I would never have found this album on my own.

Overall Rating - 3.00/5 (6.00/10). Decent, but not one I'm likely to listen to again.

No fav song

Captures the vibes at the end of the millenium. Great album.

Wish I knew this was a instrumental album before hand as I really wasn’t impressed by it. If I knew I think I would have had a better listening experience

I enjoyed this. I want to like even more than I do, but it's always felt a little disjointed to me. However, it's an amazing piece of creativity and the two singles will be in my rotation for a long time

Way to good, so good.

Just seemed like a mix of different sounds, rhythms, riffs, etc without contributing to anything cohesive or meaningful. Zero lasting takeaway from this.

Heel chill, gaaf hoe experimenteel dit klinkt! Of dat ook zo is, geen idee. Een mooie plaat om in de flow te komen. Lekker voor tijdens het lezen of even mijn hersenen uit te zetten.

Lekker om naar te luisteren. Ik bleef als gehypnotiseerd luisteren. Vet ook weer gedaan met veel samples.

Ja, nu ik dit hoor merk ik wat ik miste bij Moby. Er zit veel meer compositie in. Bij Moby is het één goed sample waar het geheel aan wordt opgehangen. Bij Shadow is het veel meer in lagen en hierdoor ook veel dynamischer. Esthetisch is het veel interessanter. De samples zijn heel breed in veel verschillende genres. De sfeerwisselingen zijn op een goede manier wat grillig. Dat alles uit een mega collectie van vinylplaten komt is natuurlijk ook vet. Zonder gebruik van MIDI dwingt deze manier van sampelen tot een bepaalde integriteit waardoor de samples meer als losse instrumenten aanvoelen dan losse bouwstenen voor een nummer. Het houdt het geheel veel authentieker en dieper.

Bijzondere muziek, en ook een bijzondere manier van muziekmaken. We hebben eerder Moby beluisterd die soortgelijk te werk gaat. Wat ik tof vind is dat hij heeft zitten ploeteren door die platenzaken om de perfecte samples te vinden, extra knap dat hij al die samples als een soort mozaiekstuk bij elkaar heeft kunnen brengen, zeker wanneer je bedenkt dat de technologie destijds nog niet zo eenvoudig was als tegenwoordig. Hij heeft zijn oren goed moeten gebruiken om vervolgens handmatig op zijn AKAI MPC60 de juiste toonsoort te vinden van het nummer. De nummers vind ik erg mooi, er zit veel dynamiek in en hoewel het hiphop zou moeten zijn vind ik het tegelijkertijd ook wel iets cinematisch hebben.

Cool for what it accomplished, not worth revisiting.

bro could’ve sampled a fart and i would’ve found it more interesting.

really nice, was nice to listen to a sampled album.

I didn't appreciate this album but after conversation with 1212026-fam I can see what DJ Shadow was attempting, and props for his efforts.

Loved the vibes

Background noise. But good background noise. I don't think I'd listen again, but I didn't dislike trying it out.

Since I Left You by The Avalanches is an all time favorite album, so am not against entire albums of sampling. Listened to this a few times over the years, and there's just nothing that connects for me on this album.

Was worried I’d find this a bit much but very quickly fell in love - super influential and unlike a whole lot of music I’ve heard so far. Brilliant.

Great background music for working to. Always been a fan of Organ Donor, choon as they say.....

Pretty great, for as lynchian and dreamlike as it was I thought I’d connect more but still an impressive listen.

amazinggggg

Found music. Its interesting. 4.

Ansi erfið hlustun. Björk samdi eitt lag þarna, það bjargaði engu.

Inspirational dance hip hop album

Legendary

4/10 Fun listen. Not sure if it's a re-visit.

Interesting and pleasant instrumentals

5/10

I hadn’t heard of DJ Shadow before listening to this album. The mixing and sampling are incredible, and it feels like the foundation for so many electronic styles that would become popular later on. I especially loved the vinyl crackle woven into the samples—it gives the whole album a warm, timeless atmosphere. A really impressive listen.

Yes please, sir, can I have some more of this? Brilliant use of samples to build.. well.. perhaps not dance music, but certainly jazz inflected, hip hop adjacent material that's not as chilled as Massive Attack but not as energetic as Fat Boy Slim. Really good.

It had its moments, but also some misses.

You know it’s a bad album when the better songs sound like glorified elevator music

I am not sure if this album is super innovative or if I am too white to realize it isn't.

It was not very good techno music

Talented but repetitive.

pretty good

It builds slowly and ends on a high. I might listen again aometime

Building Steam with a grain of salt has been in my liked songs for a long time. I like the beats a lot, but dislike the glitchy/distorted sections (doesn't feel as pleasant to listen to compared to the nice horns and bass in the rest of the song(s)). Track 6 Feels like a precursor to the lofi city jazz trend

Nice beats. I enjoyed this album for the most part. Must-listen #370

It finally ended