Bleep

DJ Shadow’s 2002 sophomore LP gets the reissue treatment courtesy of Universal. Despite the huge expectations Shadow was under to top 1996’s Endtroducing, the plunderphonics pioneer rose to the challenge with ease on his follow-up record. Indeed, there is a school of thought which decrees that this album may be of superior quality to its famous predecessor. Whether or not you feel the same way may just be a matter of personal preference, but what is undeniable is that Shadow expanded his sound here while still remembering to do the basics right. This means that ambitious takes such as the epic Vangelis-meets-Moby number ‘Blood On The Motorway’ dovetail nicely with the wacky instrumental hip-hop cuts like ‘Walkie Talkie’.