About

Special 10th anniversary edition of the classic album The Mountain Will Fall

2LP pressed on classic black vinyl

Housed in premium gatefold jacket with spot gloss finishes

Featuring brand-new cover art designed by Paul Insect

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Celebrate a decade of a modern masterpiece. Originally released to critical acclaim, DJ Shadow’s The Mountain Will Fall gets a definitive reissue for its 10th Anniversary. Featuring the explosive, Gold-certified hit "Nobody Speak" featuring Run The Jewels, this album remains a towering achievement in instrumental hip-hop and experimental electronic production.  — (via Label)

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The record begins well enough. The opening title track samples Dario Baldan Bembo's orchestral "Prima Alba," giving it a boom-bap makeover that's satisfying if not predictable. (The crunch of the drums hints towards Davis's love of LA's Low End Theory crew.) Things unravel from there. Trap-influenced tunes like the spaghetti western-inspired "Suicide Pact," the half-assed EPROM rip "Ghost Town" and the all-around awful "Three Ralphs" sound like Davis is trying to fit into a trend he doesn't fully understand. The drums on "Three Ralphs" don't work: the hi-hats hit haphazardly and an ill-timed vocal sample only adds to the chaotic atmosphere. It's a misfire that kills The Mountain Will Fall's momentum early on. Only the elegiac outro, which calls back to Endtroducing....., reminds us of what we know Davis is capable of. 

What's striking about The Mountain Will Fall is how similar it sounds to post-Private Press DJ Shadow. Sure, some of the sounds and touchstones have changed, but the approach has been the same since 2006's The Outsider: vaguely glossy trip-hop and downtempo that feels out of touch and anonymous. Some of Davis's early records still sound exciting because of the raw talent and vision behind them, and because of the way he stitched together the threads of old songs into captivating new ones. Now, his music sounds bland, as if it was designed for chillout compilations or cocktail lounges. Maybe the problem isn't that he can't escape the success of Endtroducing....., but that he doesn't look back to its genius to figure out how to move forward. — (via Resident Advisor)

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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." — (via AllMusic)

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Label: Mass Appeal / Liquid Amber
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 10th Anniversary
Reissued: 2026 / Originally Released: 2016
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop
Style: Bass Music, Breaks, Instrumental, Experimental

File under: Leftfield
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