DJ Shadow.
I was fortunate enough to have a hook up to see Shadow last Saturday at Irving Plaza The Fillmore at Irving Plaza. Btw, fuck "The Fillmore." If you're gonna change the name of the venue, at least throw on a new coat of paint, and change the chandielers. I had heard nothing about this "new release" The Hard Sell, but I guess last Saturday's show was the kick-off of a big tour for it.
This was the finale of the show. Shadow and Chemist has these shoulder-strap portable turntables and mixers, and did a dueling scratch to the post-breakdown thrashing loop from Metallica's "One." Their other stunt involved running a couple mixes and loops while having a roadie bring out a table and chairs for them. They both sat down and had a drink, then went back to work. Is this funny?
The deal is Shadow collaborated with Cut Chemist to create, "Brainfreeze", then "Product Placement" and now "The Hard Sell". These sessions are mixed "live" with original 7 inches. The current set-up is 4 turntables and a guitar-style foot pedal setup (for effects and looping) for each DJ.
Shadow and Chemist took the stage, and Shadow got on the mic to "make sure everyone knows whey they're here." This meant queing up a 50's commercial-style intro video humorously explaining their setup and technique. This was a smart and interesting touch, although it was in stark contrast to rest of the video content making the latter seem like an afterthought. In a stroke of genius, Chemist had a wrist-cam that was cut intermittently amongst several other DJ camera feeds.
Was it awesome? Of course. Techincally amazing? Sure. Was it worth the $30+ to see? (Silence).
Aside from being in the completely wrong venue, I was expecting not only a more battle style performance, but one peppered with "live" elements. Shadow has toured with Akais before, and I thought maybe he would do some on the spot production. Also when you have two turntablists of this caliber you'd think that they'd really push to create new and improved creations. In addition, all the genre-bending is cool, but it's not novel anymore. These days everone is a (wince) "mashup" DJ. Really. Ask Wired. If you closed your eyes, it could have been anyone mixing.