The soul cannot be entirely robbed of its life. The soul stays alive, and the music made is a testament to that. Even if we are dead, we men walking with no souls to speak of, the music creates a mental space of freedom. In his album Entroducing, DJ Shadow uses otherworldly symphonies in collaboration with a dark vibe to wake the sleeping soul into a dystopian world with early hints of sampling.
With songs like ‘Building Steam With a Grain of Salt, ’ DJ Shadow brings the magic of life into this world as a babbling babe. With his musical experience, he claims to be both a student and a master.
Musical distortion created by the collaboration of different beats and vocals creates an ethereal, distorted space set in a fast-paced scene. Experimental vocals contort the already disoriented vibe and connect with the soul.
There’s always an anchor with which the soul can connect. It’s something to hold onto as the musical experience takes you adrift. This may say something about our society’s collective consciousness. For example, we draw comfort from the mundane while being torn apart by the wild sounds of gritty urban life. It’s the grittiness of the streets contrasted by the ethereal rhythm.
The music speaks without vocals. It creates a world beyond words, producing a spiritual experience that leads the listener into the world of the one producing the music. It does so with hints of jazz, including wind instruments, taking the listener back to a simpler time.
The distorted rhythms and beats cloud a spirit of momentum like this is going somewhere. In so doing, they paint the perfect picture of the underground. Hidden in urban grittiness, the listener is drawn into seeing that DJ Shadow’s soul is owned by the streets. The momentum is carried throughout the album with an eerie vibe. It’s spiritual, dark, and clouded in a dystopic vibe.
Music can be warfare. The Avant-Garde is seen to be so. Marching on the frontlines are those musical souls willing to lose everything to lead those who march into a maddening war. That is the soul of freedom.
Can a world be set apart and, in so, be free? I get this message from DJ Shadow in this album.
In songs like ‘Stem/Long Stem,’ the roots of a stolen soul are depicted. It’s dark to think of not having an identity. So, those deprived of a soul go to war to own their life, mindset, and freedom. It’s a version of hip-hop that would go hand in hand with a horror film. The experimental vocals bring to life the dark world of the artist.
The use of a break in the music, silence, is an experimentation with death. The only way to live is to experience the magic of life, and with it comes the sounds of experimentation and music.
New waves of life contrast that which is dead and gone away. New sparks of creative visionary masterpieces carry the soul into another dimension. The dark vibes of the music carry the soul through a psychedelic experience of pain and torment as the artist discovers a world of bondage as chains of conformity wrap around the artist’s soul.
In songs like ‘Napalm Brain-Scatter Brain,’ the beats synchronize warfare, and the sound of drummers talks of the frontlines. Jazz is at the forefront of this musical revelation. Jazz is a war on the human soul, a rebellion that never died and continues to be reborn.
A solemn hymn speaks of death, but for an artist, it speaks of a lifeless world devoid of a soul. The aftermath of war leaves a soul disfigured. And all it is is sampled, a psychedelic experience that speaks of the soul, warfare, and the tortured artist in chains to a society of conformity.
Songs like ‘Blue Sky’ contrast the dark vibes of the album and give the listener an open space to imagine. For an artist, this could mean freedom—being free from the constraints of conformity. It’s all tied to music, and it’s all tied to another world, an elevated world. But chains are chains, and experimentation is freedom. And in a society where conformity is the norm, freedom could look like warfare.
This article was written by Bryan Montijo, who primarily focuses on music, spirituality, and psychedelics. Bryan has written a few novels, which can be found at wattpad@CraftedTales. He also has his own blog, where he discusses everything he loves, from music to nature and writing. You can find it here at medium@bmontijo555.
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