Bleep

This new DJ Shadow release sees him really getting his game on. Often accused of trend-hopping or fluffing up albums with uninspired filler, The Mountain Has Fallen answers the critics with four lean, weighty cuts. Any a-side featuring Danny Brown and Nas is going to worth a listen, but the pair really go for Shadow’s instrumentals. The clown prince of contemporary hip-hop sounds quite at home on ‘Horror Show’ - unsurprising seeing as Shadow’s bombastic, overdriven beat would have slotted nicely into Brown’s Atrocity Exhibition. Nas opens proceedings with suitable pomp, sparring on tip-toes atop Shadow’s tightly-wound beat for ‘Systematic’. The wordless b-side sees Shadow first flexing his breakbeat muscles on ‘Good News’, then indulging his dubstep leanings for the closer.