DJ Shadow vs. Riow Arai (I hope I categorized this correctly)

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since I seem to be the only person alive who thinks riow arai could kick shadow's ass, Im guessing there is just something seriously wrong with me. if anyone can explain why shadow is so much better, I'm all ears.

― vanessa novaeris (novaeris), Friday, 13 May 2005 02:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't know Riow Arai. What do you suggest I listen to so I have some basis for my explanation of why DJ Shadow is better?

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 13 May 2005 03:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I would first reccommend device people with a close second choice of rough machine
both really great stuff

― vanessa novaeris (novaeris), Friday, 13 May 2005 03:11 (twenty-one years ago)

What do you suggest I listen to so I have some basis for my explanation of why DJ Shadow is better?

ha!

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 13 May 2005 03:14 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost

Ok, I'll try to track those down and get back to you : )

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 13 May 2005 03:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I remember a while back when RJD2 was the challenger gunning for the champ. I just couldn't see how someone who practically sounded like a Shadow clone could be touted as "better than Shadow." Especially since, as with actual clones, something was lost in the reproduction.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 13 May 2005 03:19 (twenty-one years ago)

no I actually agree with you completely here - rjd2 always sounded a little hollow to me. I guess I just think shadow's kinda lost his edge? personally I just like riow arai's stuff - it sounds more raw, & its got the benefit of pristine production that practically all japanese music seems to possess (even the pop bullshit & crap is meticulously produced - cant front on that - their shit is tight)

― vanessa novaeris (novaeris), Friday, 13 May 2005 03:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I really love Arai's CD "Beat Bracelet"- I saw him live in Tokyo at the Liquid Room and he was pretty killer- I'm pleased to see him getting some love on ILM

― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), Friday, 13 May 2005 03:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, I don't think Shadow was necessarily going for "raw" with "Private Press," which I did like a lot. It struck me as an album expressing a sort of personal struggle or crisis though -- a need to differentiate himself in a world where a million people have since tried to replicate Endtroducing. I think it's an adventurous album, sort of a brave one, in a way. Some of it fails, but some of it (esp. Six Days) is breathtaking.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 13 May 2005 03:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I really love Arai's CD "Beat Bracelet"- I saw him live in Tokyo at the Liquid Room and he was pretty killer- I'm pleased to see him getting some love on ILM
-- Drew Daniel

I'm jealous. hopefully I'll make it to tokyo for a couple months next summer.
anyway Im new to this forum & I think I might not be representative of the norm here? I thought I was going to get lynched for liking the new gang gang dance hahaha

― vanessa novaeris (novaeris), Friday, 13 May 2005 03:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, welcome to ILM, in any case. It is a sad and beautiful world.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 13 May 2005 03:58 (twenty-one years ago)

"Six Days" is pretty bad, though.

― Zed Szetlian (Finn MacCool), Friday, 13 May 2005 04:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Bad like bad or bad like good?

I think a lot of hardcore Endtroducing fans are put off by Six Days, but that's just the point man. Get past your Endtroducing-ism and appreciate how brilliant Six Days is.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 13 May 2005 04:19 (twenty-one years ago)

And before that, it was Permutation/Supermodified-era Amon Tobin. Oh, those were good times, but not nearly as good as the now-classic DJ Vadim period. Yeah, I believe that was the best; it was the formative era, serving as the basis for the "Shadow Comparison", now a formal requirement of the music journalism industry when conducting interviews with such "types."

So, what makes Shadow special? All five parts of "Entropy", "Influx", "Hindsight", "Lost and Found (Song for Lisa)", All four parts of "What Does Your Soul Look Like?". Oh, and can't forget such classic Latyrx collaborations like "The Wreckoning", "The Quickening", and "Lady Don't Tek No". Shit, I still have to do "Endtroducing....."

In Shadow, we have a producer who was lionized by the thousands his music inspired to rent/borrow/steal an MPC, only to engender the vitriol of the same exact bunch on OkayPlayer boards years later, in what's a classic case of producer envy.

And no, you can't borrow my "Bonus Scratchapella"!

― angelo flores (flores), Friday, 13 May 2005 04:32 (twenty-one years ago)

The way he drops out the most mix, and lets the bassline ride by itself near the end "Six Days" .. it's the little things, that other producers don't think to do. Although, to the RJD2's credit, he did produce that exhilirating little gem on the consequences of theft, "True Confessions".

I do agree, that he fell into a tech-induced case of wankery on The Private Press, but I'll throw down like a Baldwin brother in a barfight if some brave soul dare spills the Hatorade on "Fixed Income".

― angelo flores (flores), Friday, 13 May 2005 04:45 (twenty-one years ago)

DJ Shadow has one of the best ears for samples -- he can really completely reimagine a nugget of music so that it fits perfectly with everything around it and yet sounds strikingly different from the original. Most inferior producers either use the samples in a too-obvious way or fail to properly hide the seams.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 13 May 2005 04:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Jesus, the things he does with breakbeats on "Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain"... it's fucking mindboggling. When Jeff Chang came to town I talked with him for a while and according to him Shadow, like everyone else, has been -- wait for it -- listening to a whole lotta crunk. Watch yr back Diplo! Egads!

Gonna listen to this Riow Arai character and see what I think. Hope it's better than the Ninja Tune-b-teamer shmutz that most Shadow-alikes turn out sounding like (RJD2 not included).

― Stupornaut (natepatrin), Friday, 13 May 2005 05:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Hurting OTM. I once saw Shadow live, where he said he was bored with just matching beats and would, that night, be attempting to match the muscial key a song was in too. Heh.

― stet (stet), Friday, 13 May 2005 10:16 (twenty-one years ago)

My internet message board history just came full circle!

― The Irrelevant Man (Negativa) (Barima), Friday, 13 May 2005 11:17 (twenty-one years ago)

"Endtroducing..." is one of my favorite albums. Geez, even "The Private Press" was great too.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Friday, 13 May 2005 11:47 (twenty-one years ago)

So far Device People sounds like someone cramming a few fusion breaks into a "chop shit up and make it excessively staccato" filter. This is about as likely to kick Shadow's ass as it is for the Clippers to beat the Suns by 20. Fucking blech.

― Stupornaut (natepatrin), Friday, 13 May 2005 12:54 (twenty-one years ago)

this is great - Im getting a lot of good feedback. I gone back & listened some & I have to agree - shadow is is superior in skill, complexity & technique. but I guess, just for me personally, listening-wise, after awhile his stuff got a bit boring? I think even though it might be simpler & less innovative, right now I just happen to be enjoying riow arai more, so I guess its more like a reflection of my current personal preference, which makes more sense.
thanks all for clearing that up
xo

― vanessa novaeris (novaeris), Friday, 13 May 2005 12:57 (twenty-one years ago)

DJ Shadow's been into crunk for a long time, he's been dropping it in interviews since before The Private Press came out. I'm going to have to say I enjoy a lot of artists that get critically compared to him, as well. Maybe to a fault.

So why is this a versus, just to get the thread more noticed and draw a comparison out the gate? I think there's still room for a few more sample-chopping DJ-type people.

― mike h. (mike h.), Friday, 13 May 2005 14:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I have a similar thing with the Express Rising album. I love Endtroducing..., but I enjoy Express Rising more. It lacks the pretentiousness and ambition of Shadow, it's beautifully concise and 'simple'. And it's just so quiet and wistful in a way that Shadow never is.

― Orange (Orange), Friday, 13 May 2005 14:13 (twenty-one years ago)

I agree with Mike -- I don't think comparison is necessary. From what I heard on the web, I actually think Arai sounds closer to Prefuse 73 than Shadow.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 13 May 2005 14:15 (twenty-one years ago)

So why is this a versus, just to get the thread more noticed and draw a comparison out the gate?

no, its only cos Im new & wasnt sure how else to really categorize it? (hence the thread title)
apologies
xo

― vanessa novaeris (novaeris), Friday, 13 May 2005 15:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Nah, no apologies not necessary.

Last night I "acquired" Riow Arai's Beat Blacelet, proving that Bonobo and DJ Krush did indeed make out and spawn children. Quite a few of those samples on his website don't do his ish justice.

― angelo flores (flores), Friday, 13 May 2005 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

And, can I please write a sentence without double-negatives? I think not, no? That should be "nah, apologies not necessary."

― angelo flores (flores), Friday, 13 May 2005 16:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Is Riow Arai's "Mind Edit" a good representation of his music overall? That's the only one I've heard, but I like it a lot...

― daveheaton, Friday, 13 May 2005 18:20 (twenty-one years ago)

I once saw Shadow live, where he said he was bored with just matching beats and would, that night, be attempting to match the muscial key a song was in too.

Don't all good DJs do this?

― philip sherburne (philip sherburne), Friday, 13 May 2005 18:52 (twenty-one years ago)

In 1997, these were my peeps: Shadow, The Herbaliser, the London Funk Allstars and The Runaways.

And I doubt any of you have heard the last two, though I'm more than happy to remedy that. Anyone who likes this music should at least here the first Runaways record and the second LFA, which would easily make a top 5 of the genre, along with the Major Force boxset and perhaps a Krush album.

― The Irrelevant Man (Negativa) (Barima), Friday, 13 May 2005 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Ah, duh, Major Force came out in '97 too.

― The Irrelevant Man (Negativa) (Barima), Friday, 13 May 2005 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

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