DJ Shadow was ranked in at #68 in DJ Mag's annual top 100 DJ's. Last year he was ranked #92, so it looks like an even higher ranking once the new album is released! You can check out all the DJ's that made the top 100 cut here

Hey everybody, 

Shadow here. Thanks for contributing your names to the djshadow.com list. First off, I want to apologize for taking forever to get a site together. I think the root of the problem is that I haven't been able to find time to formulate plans on how to promote myself in the online medium. It's just not something I find myself that enthralled about doing. When I have a choice between studio work, buying records, Djing, or going through old pictures of myself, I think you probably know what comes in last. Another problem has been settling on a designer. My experience so far has been mostly limited to two types: the non-interested corporate-type, and the "I'll-do-it-because-I'm-a-fan-but-then-I-get-bored-and-drop-the-ball" type. So, you see my quandary. It's even possible that I may never have an official site, but I hope that's not the case. I'll keep pecking away. But I felt that you all deserved some sort of explanation. In other news, I wanted to inform you of a contest I'm holding. I desperately need a new logo before my next records come out, so I'm inviting all of you to submit any ideas you may have. Remember, that's a lettering rendering of the name "DJ Shadow" like you would see on a t-shirt or something, not a painting of me (although I've seen some cool ones). If you are interested in entering, click on the banner at: http://news.djshadowdirect.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/mcp?p=63DOj03DOi4H1x201200mdiq7di88 I'll use my favorite on a future release of some kind, and 25 of you will receive an ORIGINAL copy of the Brainfreeze CD. We've already had a lot of entries, so most of you aren't going to get a CD, but the better the logo the better your chances. Helpful hint: I prefer hand-drawn work to super-slick computerized stuff (remember, I'm not a rave DJ). And like most good logos, try and KEEP IT SIMPLE! Thanks everyone, and enjoy yourselves this summer! 

DJ Shadow

DJ Shadow has climbed 10 places, he is now at position 71 with 597 votes at http://www.thedjlist.com/  

If you haven't voted yet, follow the above link and put Shadow in position 1 (10 points) and whoever else you want underneath him. 

DJ Shadow is now at position 81 with 468 votes at http://www.thedjlist.com/ so go there and turn off your cookies and vote as many times as possible!

At the moment DJ Shadow is at position 83 with 432 votes at http://www.thedjlist.com/ so go there and put him further up the ladder!!

DJ Shadow posted this message at www.endtroducing.com :

Things are intentionally quiet in these parts... rest assured, the break from recording is now over and things are moving along nicely. It will be A GOOD WHILE before the album is finished, but there will continue to be a trickle of items popping up here and there for the attentive fan.

The website situation looks as though it's finally getting taken care of as well, it was all my fault before... just me dragging my feet (and buying too many damn records). So look for that eventually.

As you might have guessed by now, I'm not really sure what Richard Ashcroft was talking about, although it was nice of him to speak highly of me... I wouldn't hold my breath for anything there. I'm too firmly entrenched in studio mode to even think about taking on another tour (anyone waiting for new studio material can breathe a sigh of relief)!

I'm on a very strict day-to-day work schedule, which includes time for Quannum and family time, etc. and it is working out great. I'm enjoying just staying at home and holing up in my studio. I plan on being there most of the year, and although you won't hear much from me in terms of press or any really involved musical projects, i just wanted to reach out to you (all) and confirm that my next project is my "solo" album. Wish me luck, and keep an eye out for miscellaneous mischief in the meantime ("Dark Days" has been blowing up everywhere its' played, from Sundance to London... so I'm pretty confident everyone will be able to check it out eventually. The director, Marc, is justifiably particular when dealing with distributors and major studios, but it'll happen one way or another).

Peace, and enjoy yourselves this summer.
-S

Here are the forthcoming tour dates for DJ Shadow's Canadian and U.S. tour:

I've added some new photos. Also there's a new link to Joost's site.

American music magazine Spin published there top 90 albums of the 90's. DJ Shadow's Endtroducing ranked a respectable number 15. Nirvana's Nevermind got the pole position. Here is the snippet from the magazine regarding Endtroducing.

15. DJ Shadow
Endtroducing... (Mo'Wax/ffrr, 1996)

The most unlikely DJ savior of the '90s was a 23-year-old white kid from Davis, California, with a B.A. in communications and a record crate deeper than the San Andreas Fault. Half beathead blowout, half egghead epiphany, Endtroducing... sent the dark, edgy dub-hop of the Mo' Wax underground careening through symphonic soundscapes, surrealist spoken-word routines, and micromanaged breakbeats en route to its creator's dream of "the ultimate sample record." During a year and a half of intensive labor, DJ Shadow pulled samples from recordings by Björk, Metallica, and '60s Swedish folksinger Pugh Rogefeldt into tracks that could be as explosive as B-boy fave "The Number Song" or as arty as the doper's delight "Changeling."

"I wanted to challenge people," Shadow says. "That's what I understood hip-hop to be. If your mentor is Puffy, you have a certain mentality. If you grow up on Afrika Bambaataa or Grandmaster Flash--people who were trying to break down boundaries--you have a different mentality." Endtroducing... brought together a DJ underground obsessed with reviving the Old School and an alt-rock nation frayed with premillennial burnout. "Endtroducing... was a big influence on OK Computer," says Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood. "We liked how he was cutting up beats quite minutely."

Shadow is surprised he influenced anyone. "After the record, I'd always bump into these world-class producers who'd say, `Yeah, Endtroducing...--what a great piece of production,'" he says. "I just did it on one sampler in a tiny little studio."

JON DOLAN

There's 2 new gig reviews one from the V99 concert written by Steve and the other from Creamfields in Liverpool from Simon Thorpe. 

Mike from www.endtroducing.com  transcripted and formatted the chat -it's in the media section.

DJ Shadow took part in a chat hosted by www.endtroducing.com and the In/Flux mailing list yesterday. As soon as the I can get a hold of the transcript of the chat I'll post it here -so keep check back later today to find out what Mr. Davis had to say.

A lot of you have been asking about tour dates, so here they all are:

Mike from endtroducing.com posted this message on the In/Flux mailing list: