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A TAV Curator’s Pick.

DJ Shadow, widely acknowledged as a crucial figure in the development of experimental, instrumental hip-hop, will return with ‘The Mountain Will Fall’ worldwide in 2016 via Mass Appeal Records, his first full length release since 2011.

The 12-track album finds DJ Shadow exploring new realms in addition to the deep samples and kinetic soundscapes that helped to launch his career 20 years ago. On ‘The Mountain Will Fall’ he’s shifted further toward original composition, a vast experimentation of beats and textures, synthesizers and live instruments including horns and woodwinds. The album features Run The Jewels, Nils Frahm, Matthew Halsall, Ernie Fresh and more. – DJ Shadow Bandcamp

“Coinciding with the comeback of fellow plunderphonic luminaries the Avalanches, Josh Davis returns with his first album in five years. Like the former, he no longer works exclusively in samples – though nor has he abandoned them entirely: an ambient 1970s composition forms the basis of the title track. But whether or not the majority of the music is original often seems besides the point – the irreverent, and sometimes slightly irritating, cut-and-paste aesthetic remains in place, proving that you can repurpose sound even if you’ve created it. On the Run the Jewels collaboration Nobody Speak, that involves clashing a brashly twanging riff with nerdily bleeping synths; on Depth Charge it means a combination of detuned guitar, sirens and drum rolls. Initially, it seems The Mountain Will Fall is walking a fine line between abrasive and amusing – particularly with the hyper-speedy scratching on The Sideshow. Once the onslaught of ideas becomes less disorienting, however, it just feels impressive in its inventiveness.”  - The Guardian

“In the booklet for The Mountain Will Fall -- his fifth proper album -- only a handful of interpolations and samples are credited. After the detailed track list, a series of images pointedly depict a wall of analog electronic gear. While this album is much less reliant upon repurposed recordings than what preceded it -- Davis voiced the intent to put his touch on what contemporary music moves him -- there are many shared qualities. The sounds of the components have varied from release to release, but The Mountain Will Fall, as much as anything else, can be classified as a sprawling, largely instrumental suite rooted in hip-hop. There are subtle and abrupt changes in mood, dashes of off-center humor, and moments of bass-drum bombardment following extended stretches of austere atmospheres. Likewise, there are tracks within tracks that slip and tumble down unexpected paths. There's even a modern-day equivalent to "The Number Song," the almost-as-cut-up and equally rambunctious "The Sideshow." The few guest appearances have true purpose, not merely the fulfillment of half-hearted offers to "work together sometime." In typically hostile and humorous form, Killer Mike and El-P mix it up with live brass and horns on the gunslinging "Nobody Speak." "Bergschrund" ("mountain crevasse"), made with Nils Frahm, is a bracing hybrid of stutter-stop beats, blips, and thrumming effects that evoke perilous suspense. An equally valuable contribution comes from a group of musicians, including Matthew Halsall, on "Ashes to Oceans." Davis seems to tug a dying drum machine across a shoreline before rapid handclap clusters and a feverish drum break arrive, only to dissolve into smeared piano and Halsall's trumpet. Some moments are so bleak that they could be titled descriptively as "What Does Your Witch House Look Like, Pts. 1-2," yet the whole thing sounds like it was created in a state of fevered inspiration.” – AllMusic

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