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DJ Shadow (Josh Davis) paid homage to his musical heroes on his debut album, Endtroducing…..  From James Brown to Grandmaster Flash.  He was evidently influenced by many genres of music (soul, jazz, pop, rap, hip-hop, trip-hop, etc).  The album is loaded with a wide variety of samples (including Tangerine Dream and Bjork).  The samples are blended with real instruments (guitars, drums, etc).  On the track Why Hip Hop Sucks In ’96, the answer comes at the end: It’s the money.  DJ Shadow was clearly not a fan of the new styles of hip-hop and gangsta-rap.  He fused ‘old-skool’ hip-hop with acid-jazz and trip-hop in a unique way.

DJ Shadow embraced West Coast rap on his third album (The Outsider).  He worked with several rappers, involved in the San Francisco Bay Area ‘hyphy’ hip-hop scene.  He added some of his own ideas to the mix though.  The album inbetween (The Private Press) featured more sample-based tracks – and a few surprises.  For instance, the single You Can’t Go Home Again sounds nothing like DJ Shadow (see also Mashin’ On The Motorway).  The Private Press is more playful, compared with the nineties output (dark and melancholic).  The Less You Know, The Better (the fourth album) is more rock-orientated.  It is a mixed bag.  Josh Davis was also involved with the first UNKLE album (Psyence Fiction).

I struggled to find Dub Pistols’ debut album (Point Blank).  Firstly, I bought Six Million Ways To Live (the second album) – featuring guest vocalists Horace Andy and Terry Hall.  Point Blank is not quite the same.  It is a big-beat album (fans of Fatboy Slim may enjoy it).  I personally like it.  Six Million Ways To Live is a better album though.  There is more variety – and it is more polished.  Despite having Terry Hall on board for album number three (Speakers And Tweeters) it’s not very good at all.  Rum And Coke isn’t much better – even with guests such as Gregory Isaacs and Justin Robertson.  A new album is due to be released in July.  I doubt if anyone cares anymore.

Dubstar was another UK band which showed promise but failed to deliver.  The debut single (Stars) is a wonderful pop song – and Disgraceful (the debut album) is focused and consistent.  It basically sounds like a cross between The Smiths and Pet Shop Boys (but with female vocals).  Not So Manic Now is a good example (it sounds like a Smiths cover version).  The follow-up album (Goodbye) has its moments.  It isn’t particularly impressive though.  The final offering (Make It Better) is weak.  If you have all three albums, there is no point buying the singles collection (there’s no point buying it at all actually).  There are no exclusive tracks on it.  It serves as an overview of a short and lacklustre music career.

There is not much eighties music in my collection.  I think the nineties was a far better decade (especially for the evolution of electronic music).  I don’t have any Duran Duran albums, but I do have Decade (the first singles collection, covering the best ten years).  Duran Duran had a good run throughout the eighties.  There has only been one good album in the last twenty years (1993’s self-titled album, generally referred to as ‘the wedding album’).  Duran Duran Duran, by stark contrast, is drill ‘n’ bass breakcore.  There have been two albums and several vinyl singles.  It is manic dance music, designed for clubs.  With titles such as Manrammer and Blow Job Breaks (and pictures of naked men on the cover of Very Pleasure) I’m sure some Duran Duran fans have been startled whilst looking through the CD racks for Rio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9LoEhqyFNw

Dusted is the side-project of Rollo (from Faithless) – and, yes, it does feature Dido on a few of the tracks.  There is only really one album (When We Were Young).  It was originally released in 2000.  It was reworked and re-released in 2005 (the title of the revised version is Safe From Harm).  It is not dance music.  The songs are mellow – and often pretty boring.  Some Dusted songs are quite pleasant but it is mostly unimpressive stuff.

Last but certainly not least, The Best Of The Doors is a compilation I hear fairly often.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard one of The Doors’ albums, but I like every song on the singles collection.  I have the 1985 version (there are several ‘best of’ compilations).  It is a double CD set.  I didn’t like the idea of the ‘remastered and remixed’ version which was released in 2007.  Remastering is always a good idea but I’m not sure remixing is necessary for a band such as The Doors.  Jim Morrison would surely not approve.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DED812HKWyM

Further listening

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAcU5AHS1E8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsYa-UmoD1c

Next: Depeche Mode