Earlier this year, DJ Shadow teamed up with hip-hop duo Run The Jewels for Nobody Speak. It’s still easily one of the best songs of 2016, and the standout track from Shadow’s new album The Mountain Will Fall. The song has been so popular that they’ve performed it live numerous times together, including on Jimmy Fallon‘s late night show and at Coachella, they released a typographer’s wet dream of a lyric video, and now, the official video clip is here. And it is fucking amazing.
The video opens in a large United Nations style conference room, with political leaders from around the world sitting together, looking troubled. Soon, the music begins. El-P’s verse kicks in first, as spoken by a man at the table. Everyone starts to listen, shocked. It grows heated, a little violent, as everyone panics and an all-out brawl ensues. And then a little pig moves around among the scuffle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUC2EQvdzmY&mc_cid=a7e6db3b1a&mc_eid=2e7f632e23
This is absolutely brilliant. Oh, and keep an eye out for Killer Mike, El and Shadow in the background.
The video was shot in New York, London and Ukraine, was directed by Sam Pilling and produced by Pulse Films.
DJ Shadow explained that, “We wanted to make a positive, life-affirming video that captures politicians at their election-year best. We got this instead.” Killer Mike added, “It’s such a dope video. It’s what I really wish Trump and Hillary would just do and get it over with… And even in that fight I think Hillary would win – and that’s not an endorsement.”
Much like the song, I just want to watch this over and over again.
Image: Youtube
Following the recent release of his brand new album, legendary producer Josh Davis, AKA DJ Shadow has released his first BBC 1 Radio Essential Mix in 13 years, and it’s a triumphant return. After releasing his new album The Mountain Will Fall last week, Davis hit the decks for a two hour lesson in how to crush a mix. Pete Tong, the host of the show explains Shadow to be a pioneer, a don of his craft. And if you needed any further proof, here’s two hours of pure brilliance.
Shadow describes the structure of the mix in halves, with even parts new music and rare gems from waaaay back. Davis took to Twitter to explain his mix, laying out how the two hours would go. The first hour is for “killer new beats,” while the second is “strictly for the collectors,” and features “music very dear to my heart that is heretofore unknown.”
https://twitter.com/djshadow/status/749003398041645056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/djshadow/status/749004583834300416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/djshadow/status/749005563405537280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
DJ Shadow’s latest album The Mountain Will Fall released on the 24th of June, preceded by a number of singles, most notably those featuring Run The Jewels and Nils Frahm. It’s an interesting, freeing and wildly explorative effort from the Californian producer, and with a number of high name collaborators. What it isn’t, however, is a remade Endtroducing…. which is a good thing. Don’t get me wrong, Davis’ first album under DJ Shadow is still one of the best instrumental hip-hop albums out there, but it’s always good to see an artist move forward and branch out rather than stagnate and try to recreate their previous successes.
Check out the mix below, or listen to his 2003 Essential Mix below that.
https://youtu.be/qXzMCJPr1HY
Image: Fact Mag
It’s been two decades since DJ Shadow‘s experimental debut Entroducing… in 1996. It’s been five since last LP the Less You Know the Better. But if the latest helpings from the forthcoming LP The Mountain Will Fall demonstrate anything, it’s that the producer has stayed true to a densely sample-adelic and loosely experimental sound.
With the imminent release of The Mountain Will Fall this Friday the producer has shared one final track. Appearing on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 show, the producer revealed The Sideshow. Outlining his motivation behind the track, the producer shared that he wanted to make a scratch track, but playing with conventions wanted none of the breaks to be recognisable. Perhaps a bit on an in-joke. “It’s cool to scratching from the same record, but it’s always the same sounds that have been on all the battle break records from the last 20 years,” Shadow explained.
Glitchy rhythms bounce, low-end bass rumbles, and mutating beats underpin guest vocals by Ernie Fresh. The track sounds like an open love letter to the vinyl DJing of eras past. The rapid mutations and slow grooving tempo of this crate-diving throwback show there’s something more here than just a cryptic challenge to aficionados.
This is the final track to be released from the upcoming album. Previous singles have including Nobody Speak ft. Run The Jewels, Bergschrund ft. Nils Frahm, and the title track, released late last year. The Mountain Will Fall comes out this Friday, June 24.
Image: Mass Appeal
Beloved underground hip-hop/trip-hop producer DJ Shadow took to the stage of the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday to promote his upcoming album The Mountain Will Fall. Joining him for the night were collaborators Run The Jewels, who feature on the album’s incredible lead single Nobody Speak.
The trio performed the lead single from The Mountain Will Fall further accompanied by a live wind section. Killer Mike ended the performance with a dedication “to all the victims of violence from Chicago to Orlando.”
Check out the ever capable RTJ performance and DJ Shadow tear it up on the decks below.
You can also check out this incredible song again in this week’s Wednesday Rap Wrap to peep the lyric video, which dropped on America’s Tuesday. The video comes courtesy of Pitchfork.tv’s Matt Caldamone and is the first in a series of lyric videos Pitchfork is developing in-house.
The Mountain Will Fall is set to be released on June 24 and marks DJ Shadow’s first album since The Less You Know, the Better which dropped five years ago. The Mountain Will Fall also features Matthew Halsall, G Jones, Nils Frahm, and more, with Frahm and DJ Shadow having recently unveiled Bergschrund.
Read our interview with Run The Jewels.
Image: PulseRadio
Hangin’ for some new tunes to get you through the hump day blues? Fear not, for here’s your mid-week rap wrap courtesy of your loyal H&E editor.
Doomtree, Spill Me Up
This track has a sound that is just everything I love to an absolute tee – a heavy, industrial-leaning instrumental with a focus on a heavy bass and paranoid synths, all the while topped with clear verses with incredibly refined, clever lyrics. It’s the perfect blend of old and new. The track features production from Lazerbeak, with rhymes from Sims, Cecil Otter (who provides my favourite rhymes here) and P.O.S. According to Soundcloud, the entire collective are working on their own solo projects, so Doomtree have a lot to look forward to.
Logic, Flexicution
New Logic is always a good thing. Especially when it’s a song that he’s been teasing for so long. It’s a classic slice of braggadocio pie, with Logic showing off a menacing bravado – and for good reason too. His incredibly flow not only gives us reason to believe the hype, but makes for a serious banger. “Flexicution? This is what people said they wanted from the rap god.” Oh, and the female vocalist who comes in at the end? That’s his wife, Jess Andrea. Talk about a power couple.
https://youtu.be/M2NIMHVmGwk
Keke Palmer, Yellow Lights
Here’s a little R&B-pop intermission for you from famed actress and singer Keke Palmer. Keke’s electrifying voice is crystal clear and seductive as hell. Backed by a sparse, woozy beat, it’s the kind of sound that made me love Rihanna’s newest album as opposed to her last few – it’s raw, sensual, and only manufactured just enough that it’s a catchy pop banger – not something unlistenably synthetic. This is a track for a hip-slingin’ slow dance, horizontal or otherwise. She’s got a really clear natural talent and those vocal runs are absolute honey on the ears.
DJ Shadow ft. Run The Jewels, Nobody Speak (lyric video)
Alright so this isn’t new music, it is a new lyric video, but considering this song is easily in my top five tracks of 2016 I couldn’t just leave it unreported, now could I? DJ Shadow and RTJ both have albums coming out this year, and I have no doubt they’re both going to be among the greatest releases in a year already overflowing with musical ambrosia. This track absolutely slays. Every single layer – lyrics, beats, melodic instrumental layers, sampling, fucking everything. I can’t remember the last time I played a song so many times on repeat as I have with this one.
Hip-hop lyric videos can be a wondrous thing, and considering this track contains some of Mike and El’s funniest lyrics, including my personal favourite line about smoking snow cones with the entire cast of Peanuts, this colourful clip is one hell of a ride Not only does it satisfy the rap-loving word nerds, but this is a typographer’s wet dream.
It should also be noted that the track has been released on Conde Nast’s own Youtube opponent The Scene, not YouYube. Read our new feature here to find out whether or not the music industry is boycotting YouTube, and why.
Manu Crook$, Blowin’ Up ft. Miracle (Prod. DOPAMINE & Many Crook$)
For anyone who says they blankly just don’t like, or refuses to listen to hip-hop from Australia, and for anyone who just likes solid tunes and club-ready hip-hop. I got to catch both Crook$ and Miracle in the flesh a couple nights ago in Sydney and their slinky, trap-influenced beats had the crowd heaving. Not only is it crucial to understand and witness just how much the local landscape is expanding and refining, but this is just a damn fine track courtesy of Manu Crook$’s fresh rhymes and DOPAMINE’s production, as wicked as ever.
Image: Facebook / Keke Palmer
Two musicians from wildly different musical backgrounds have collaborated to bring you something that is pretty amazing. German electronic producer Nils Frahm has joined forces with DJ Shadow to create Bergschrund, a four minute track to be featured on DJ Shadow’s upcoming album The Mountain Will Fall.
Frahm, who is famous for his use of classical elements in his electronic production, featured on what is now the third single from Shadow’s record. His identity can be felt throughout, with analogue synths providing beautiful contrast to DJ Shadow’s slinky beats, more traditionally in hip-hop and trip-hop frames. Frahm’s feature comes off the back of a slew of releases, most notably Trance Frendz with longtime friend and fellow producer Ólafur Arnalds. It’s amazing to see the difference in production style from the Arnalds’ collab to the DJ Shadow track. There’s still a base of the futuristic minimalism Frahm is so well known for, but the fascinating part is how the different styles augment the production.
DJ Shadow’s new album is set to be released on the 24th of June, on Mass Appeal. Bergschrund is the fourth single release off the album, following on from Nobody Speak, which featured Run The Jewels, Swerve, and title track The Mountain Will Fall. He is also set to tour Europe and the United States extensively later this year. Check out the track below, and you can pre-order the album here.
Image: Mass Appeal
Coachella is an endless hub for surprise guest appearances, collaborations, premieres and more, and Run The Jewels have taken this in their stride at their set this weekend.
Not only did they premiere the video clip to Love Again (Akinyele Back) ft. Gangsta Boo, but they brought out Nas, Gary Clarke Jr., Despot, Gangsta Boo and Boots on stage, as well as DJ Shadow, with whom they performed his phenomenal RTJ-featuring new track Nobody Speak. Perhaps most importantly, the duo debuted a brand new song to feature on their forthcoming album Run The Jewels 3.
The pair were introduced to the stage by presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, via a short pre-recorded video. “One of the highlights of running for president over the course of this last year has been getting to know Killer Mike,” Sanders says in the message.
Killer Mike’s support for Sanders is renowned, which is unsurprising coming from Mike’s background of activism and social work. “His depth of passion, his knowledge and commitment to community is an inspiration to me and I value his friendship immensely.” Sanders also jokes that “the least I could do for both of you is help you out by bringing a few young people together.”
https://www.facebook.com/therealrunthejewels/videos/1097514653639607/
Following this, their star-studded set was by all accounts as wild as ever. Gansgta Boo came out on stage to perform her spitfire verse on Love Again, while Despot (who, along with El-P and others, recently opened a Jewish deli in Brooklyn) ripped into Big Boi‘s guest verse on Banana Clipper, Nas came out for Made You Look, Boots for Early, and Gary Clarke Jr. brought the rock ‘n roll to Angel Duster.
One of the best moments no doubt came when Killer Mike and El-P performed new track Scenes. It’s sounding aggressive and fast and frantic as hell, and that’s exactly what I’m hoping for more of on Run The Jewels 3, which is hopefully dropping later this year.
Official footage of the whole set is not yet available, but here are some snippets from social media, as well as an mp3 file of the new track here (via Stereogum):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZiymsOX6To
.@runjewels brings out @nas #Coachella2016 pic.twitter.com/c8t0Xvb3d9
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) April 17, 2016
Written with Alex Crellin
Image: Getty / Christopher Polk
DJ Shadow has released an incredible new track, Nobody Speak featuring Run The Jewels. Earlier this month, Shadow announced a new album – his first full length since 2011’s The Less You Know, The Better and his first new release since 2014’s The Liquid Amber EP. Titled The Mountain Will Fall, his sixth full album will be released on June 24. Nobody Speak is the second official single from the album, following the title track released last week. The album will also feature Swerve, which dropped last year, as a bonus track.
With Shadow’s recognisable feel for atmosphere and melody, Nobody Speak is a nice, sharp cut harking back to 90’s trip hop. With a sparse beat, an eastern tinged melodic sample and a full brass section, Nobody Speak still has a serious groove.
Meanwhile, Mike and El do what they do best up above. Slick, fast and multi-dimensional, the pair run through a plethora of topics, with a vaguely socio-political theme at its core – see El’s referential line, “eh, you wanna hear a joke? Nobody speak, nobody get choked,” before trailing through an anti-Trump jab, a hilarious couplet where Killer Mike described smoking cocaine-laced blunts with the entire cast of Peanuts comics, and what I think is a brief Jay-Z reference later on “What more can I say?”
Speaking about Run The Jewels’ appearance on the track, Davis commented; “Occasionally, I make a beat that demands a specific vocal treatment and attitude. In the case of Nobody Speak, I wasn’t going to settle for anyone other than Run The Jewels; in my mind, it was them or no one. Fortunately, they agreed, and they took the track to a place I could never get to on my own. That’s the definition of a rewarding collaboration.”
In turn, El-P was recently quoted as praising Davis as “a legend and a friend. When he makes music he often changes music forever.” And according to Run The Jewels’ press release “When he asked us to jump on the record we didn’t blink.”
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/258665732″ params=”color=ff5500″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
A digital version of the track will be included in Run The Jewels’ VRTJ viewer, as part of a Record Store Day exclusive. While premiered Nobody Speak with Zane Lowe on Beats 1, it was also announced that DJ Shadow will be hosting three Beats 1 shows. The first show, DJ Shadow Presents: #radioface, will air this June.
The Mountain Will Fall comes out on June 24 via Mass Appeal.
Track list:
01 The Mountain Will Fall
02 Nobody Speak (ft. Run the Jewels)
03 Three Ralphs
04 Bergschrund (ft. Nils Frahm)
05 The Sideshow (ft. Ernie Fresh)
06 Depth Charge
07 Mambo
08 Ashes to Oceans (ft. Matthew Halsall)
09 Pitter Patter (ft. G Jones & Bleep Bloop)
10 California
11 Ghost Town
12 Suicide Pact
13 Swerve (iTunes Bonus Track)
Image: Clash Music
DJ Shadow fans have been waiting a long time for the good news, and finally, it is here: a brand new full length album is on its way from the legendary electro-trip-hop producer. Titled The Mountain Will Fall, it will be released on June 24, and is his first full album since The Less You Know, The Better in 2011. In 2014, he also dropped The Liquid Amber EP.
Last year, Shadow dropped the stormy new track Swerve, along with hints of a new album on the way, but no concrete details. Now we’ve got the full rundown – yippee!
What’s even more exciting is the list of guest collaborators to feature on the record; Run The Jewels, Nils Frahm, Ernie Fresh and more are noted throughout the track listing (below). In an interview with Pitchfork, Josh Davis (aka DJ Shadow) said that he was careful to limit the number of guest appearances on the album – which, in my opinion, is absolutely right.
Davis apparently told his manager, “I don’t really want it to be one of these records where it’s this hot rapper, this hot rapper, this feature… I didn’t want to have to convince anybody that it was worth their time to be on my records. I just didn’t want to make that kind of record.”
The official announcement came along with a Twitter post detailing release information:
https://twitter.com/djshadow/status/718123453149224960
The Mountain Will Fall:
01 The Mountain Will Fall
02 Nobody Speak (ft. Run the Jewels)
03 Three Ralphs
04 Bergschrund (ft. Nils Frahm)
05 The Sideshow (ft. Ernie Fresh)
06 Depth Charge
07 Mambo
08 Ashes to Oceans (ft. Matthew Halsall)
09 Pitter Patter (ft. G Jones & Bleep Bloop)
10 California
11 Ghost Town
12 Suicide Pact
13 Swerve (iTunes Bonus Track)
Click here to see our photos and review of DJ Shadow live in Sydney with Cut Chemist last year
Image: Astral People
Trip-hop production mastermind DJ Shadow has just released a brand new track, Swerve. Clearly taking his cues from the heady trap beats that 2015 has really pushed forward, it’s a seductively dark, dirty track to bring you into 2016.
Opening on a slinky boom-bap beat, the track quickly spreads out and opens up into some stellar experimental layering and looping. From aggressive marching drum beats to siren synths and beyond, Shadow toys with sound, delivering a watery, flexibile atmosphere that’s entirely impossible to predict. Melding chunky, industrial distortion with spacey effects and a pitch-shifted vocal sample, the spaces between the layers are decorated by rhythmic intricacies in a head-on way that brings artists like Tipper and Squarepusher to mind.
DJ Shadow’s last album, The Less You Know, The Better, came out back in 2011. In 2014 he released the three-track Liquid Amber EP for free, to celebrate the launch of his new label imprint, also titled Liquid Amber. It’s exciting to see where his sound is progressing to next – the artist has revealed that a new album will be out next year, although we don’t have any details including a title or release date. Back in November, DJ Shadow tweeted that he was on his 124th day in the studio – so we can only assume that something pretty damn monumental is on its way.
Earlier this year, DJ Shadow graced our shores with an immediately-legendary joint vinyl DJ tour with Cut Chemist. Check out our review and photos from the event.
Photo: Getty Images