13 March 2008 (gig)
14 March 2008
The every ticket holder for this sold out show had arrived before the support act he even finished. A capacity crowd of over 3,500 packed Camden’s Roundhouse to catch the symphonic glory of California’s DJ Shadow, and his partner in crime, Cut Chemist. The duo is on tour promoting their third collaborative mixtape, The Hard Sell.
Their support act for the tour, Kid Koala, a Vancouver born and Montreal based DJ/ turntablist, kicked off the nights events at a quarter to eight. Koala is equipped with two turntables, and two large screens behind him capturing the flurry of activity taking place between his hands and the vinyl. Aside from merely spinning with a creative ear and Rhonaldino-esque control, Koala has popularized a new method of scratch. He holds single notes for long stretches at different speeds, creating varied pitches. The notes bend and make unpredictable turns, and he used this sound to great effect on the song 'Drunken Trumpet,' fusing it over drunken soul vocals.
Aside from the innovative efforts, Koala played cuts from artists like Outkast ('The Whole World'), Franz Ferdinand ('Do You Want To'), M.I.A. ('Kala'), and Jay-Z ('My First Song').
DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist took the stage at a quarter past nine to a thunderous welcome of applause. Over the next two hours they ventured into nearly every thinkable genre mixing the odd vocal loop over distorted parts from various classics, and numerous unknowns. They used the giant screens behind them to a different effect. They started out by playing a sped up version of the stage being set up, and from there it was anything goes. Everything from flashing images of ad campaigns in the 40’s and 50’s to members of the crowd dancing in night vision.
They played a version of 'Stairway To Heaven,' with the Gilligan’s Island vocals mixed in, as a silhouetted figure ascended a staircase on the screens, with crashing waters in the back drop. The mixed the Digable Planets line 'We be to rap what key be to lock,' with the bass drums from 'Drop It Like It’s Hot,' and some space lasers for good measure. When they kicked into the Sugar Hill Gang’s old school classic 'Apache,' Cut Chemist chided the crowd with, 'That’s 'Apache’ on 7inch. Good luck finding that on eBay.' Though they spoke seldom, the crowds adoration was evident with laughter and applause at each instance. My favorite part came when they mixed the rollicking snares from Jr. Walker and the All Star’s Motown classic, 'Shotgun,' over various sampled soul vocals and guitar. The dancing was scattered, but the there didn’t appear to be a single disappointed fan in the building. Such is the nature of their music; it transcends dance and techno music into a separate art form all its own. It can be me marveled at and dissected to the same extent it can be raved to.
