DJ Shadow is not just a cool moniker, it has been the most apt way of describing Josh Davis since he began letting us hear inside his head a decade ago. He's come off as a wallflower, quietly bobbing his head in the corner, minding his own business, doing his own thing. For most of his career he's been obscured under hoodies and a densely layered ambient sound that rings in your ears for days but escapes you every time you try to grab hold of it. And ten years in, when you are just starting to unravel the enigma, he throws you one of the nastiest curveballs you've ever seen. You think he's turned his back on you, left you out in the cold, purposely tried to alienate you, you think he tried to shake you off like a chimp clamped onto his shoulders. But thats not it at all, because now that he's shaken you up a little he has turned his back and walked away. No, in fact he's facing you, standing right next to you, almost invading your personal space, and he's staring right into your eyes. Your move.
This is the complicated series of emotions that a fan of DJ Shadow's might be experiencing right about now, after the release of his latest album, The Outsider. If you stick around long enough to experience it all it turns out to be a pretty pleasant experience, cathartic even. When for so long you were listening to genius, perceiving it as distant and cold to us mere mortals, it reveals itself to be much closer to home than you expected and you can't be more relieved.
The Outsider is not dense, it is not "shadowy," it is not so seemingly out of reach. On the contrary it is the most accessible genius has ever made itself. It almost feels like Shadow has stepped out from behind the turntables and taken a seat next to you on the couch, enjoying the ride as a consumer and listener as much as a producer and DJ.
And don't pass it off as a lesser album by any means, its a shift to be sure, but there is no degradation here. You can only say that Shadow has stepped up his game in trying to challenge himself as much as the listener on this one. And as it turns out, thats a wonderful thing.
