new dj shadow audio from his new album

that would have been class.

So, with little fanfare comes the disappointingly cover-arted I Gotta Rok:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iw0rzRsPsNc/Tcwk6-0hr2I/AAAAAAAAABw/jkiAtg044bw/s1600/shadow_1.jpg

I am listening to it for the first time right now. The first track definitely announces "ok, I got the message -- stick to your strong suits" -- I think I like it so far although I feel like I need to hear it on high-end headphones or an awesome sound system to fully appreciate it.

Second track -- meh. Sappy two-chord guitar strummy thing with the standard shadow treatment.

I liked his last single Def Surrounds Us. A return to one of his strong suits, labyrinthine drum programming.

Yeah the drums on Def Surrounds Us (track 3) are indeed impressive, although tbh they sound a little like Hive stuff from 10+ years ago. Also kind of wish he'd get past the profound-sounding spoken word quotes by now.

Actually liking The Mountain Will Far a good bit so far, more than I've liked a release from him in a long time. It's weird how I keep coming back every time he puts out a new one, still hoping for an experience somewhat like that of hearing Endtroducing in my senior year of high school when I barely even had a grasp of how sample-based music worked. It's of course absurd. It would be literally impossible for him to recreate that effect, let alone on 36-year-old me, not to mention that his batting average is so mediocre by now that Endtroducing almost feels like a fluke. But I feel like this one at least loses some of his more annoying tendencies from the last few records and has moments that almost put me into the kind of beat trance that Endtroducing could.