DJ Shadow Announces 30th Anniversary Endtroducing….. Tour

DJ Shadow has had a long, prolific career as a highly regarded producer and pioneer of instrumental hip hop. In a world where the term DJ is used far too liberally, the man born Josh Davis is an old-school legend that remains true to the game and focused on the fundamentals, while continuing to push himself and his craft forward. The 2001 Doug Pray documentary, Scratch, provides tremendous insight into the Bay Area mastermind’s approach to the craft, from his dedication to crate-digging for samples to his phenomenal turntable skills as a scratch DJ. Davis is the type to keep his head down, invested far more in the art than the charts. Three decades after his debut, he continues to pump out inspiring and exciting work, although not all of it receives the credit that it deserves. When you come out of the gate as hot as he did, it tends to create expectations that you may not have any interest in living up to. Fortunately for the rest of us, it’s material that he’s still willing to revisit.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Shadow releasing his groundbreaking debut, Endtroducing….. to universal acclaim. The 1996 effort gained notoriety beyond the music world when it was awarded the Guiness World Record for being the “first album made completely from samples.” Among those sampled on the brooding, cinematic masterpiece were names like Mort Garson, David Axelrod, and Björk. Selections from the LP were later combined with new material to score the award-winning independent documentary, Dark Days (2000), which chronicles homeless New Yorkers residing in underground subway tunnels below the city. The impact of Endtroducing….. on music and culture is impossible to measure, but Jonny Greenwood has even credited it as a “big influence” on OK Computer. It’s safe to say that, for an album that Davis created “on one sampler in a tiny little studio“ at the age of 23, it’s performed well beyond what anyone could have anticipated.

This fall, DJ Shadow will embark on a North American tour celebrating three decades of Endtroducing….. and it’s not something we plan on missing. Based on his history, we expect these shows to be something special.

Artist and VIP presales begin tomorrow, Wednesday, April 29th, at 10 am local time. Follow THIS LINK to sign up and be notified.

Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday, May 1st.