Review: DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist

Above: DJ Shadow multi-tasks to keep the vibe flowing. Photos by Susan Pfannmuller/Special to The Star

The techno/electronic sea change that so many experts expected in the late 1990s never washed over mainstream music. Yes, the Prodigy headlined Lollapalooza in 1997 (on a bill that included Tool, Snoop Dogg and Tricky); and the Chemical Brothers and Paul Oakenfold sold out the Uptown years later. But theirs is not a ready-for-prime-time culture.

Today, however, it is a thriving and vibrant a community (or cult). Certainly, it is bigger and healthier than a few older music communities (blues, jazz). Tuesday night -- Mardi Gras -- more than 900 people ignored the apocalyptic weather forecasts and went to the VooDoo Lounge to watch/hear three guys express their obsessive love for virtually every flavor of recorded music and to exhibit their spectacular ways of mixing and mashing them. This was an underground show with a mainstream turnout.

The headliners were DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist; their warm-up performer was Kid Koala, whose comparatively bright and spartan opening set included a tribute to his  mother's favorite song ("Moon River").

The headliners' set began with a video primer on records and the basics of turntablism. One of its morals: Vinyl good; digital downloads bad.

The two DJs stood before a long table loaded with turntables and other mixing equipment. Behind them, two large screens broadcast videos that gave the crowd something to watch other than two guys doing the Iron Chef thing with 45s -- "original press" 45s, we were assured during the instructional intro.

The images sometimes augmented the music; other times they seemed more abstract or random. A recurring theme: vinyl is good; vinyl is tactile; vinyl is warm; vinyl is people and names.

Our city got some love several times. KCK native Marva Whitney was part of the musical intro. Then Shadow announced that this was his first-ever performance in Kansas City, but not his first visit. At least twice during his set, he paid respect to the Music Exchange, where he'd drop some money on prized records.

The show was split into at least three sets. Each of the first two lasted nearly an hour. The first featured a dizzying array of styles and genres: pop (some Beatles), blaxploitation funk-jazz, mainstream rock ("Eye of the Tiger"), Middle Eastern and Brazilian beats, deep-dish disco and lots of succulent old-school R&B, soul and hip-hop (De La Soul). In a way, it felt like FM radio in the early 1970s: no borders, no formats, just good music from many genres. The centerpiece of the first set: a mashup of "Stairway to Heaven" and the theme to "Gilligan's Island."

Above: The S.S. Minnow gets some bustle in its hedgerow.

The second set, as promised by Cut Chemist, changed dramatically from start to finish. The initial wave of slow jams nearly lulled the crowd into distraction. It began with some immortal footage from "Casablanca" and a remix of "I Only Have Eyes for You."  Eventually, the boys changed gears and started mixing these very dynamic ambient soundscapes, which perked up the crowd up. Then they veered abruptly into some hard rock. One passage was especially dynamic and seamless. It featured some Foo Fighters (and Metallica, maybe), then a psychedelic blast of "Somebody To Love" and then a remix of the Doors' "Break on Through."

By the time the third set began (with the instrumental intro to "El Condor Pasa"), it was nearly 11:15 p.m., and I was getting texted about the miserable road conditions (the ride home was a long, slow adventure). Plus, three hours of DJ-watching exceeded my fill. So I split, feeling re-nourished and nostalgic. Yes: vinyl and format-free radio. Those were the days.

| Timothy Finn, The Star

Comments

[Joel Francis]

The show ended about 11:30, and the encore found Shadow and Cut Chemist patrolling the front of the stage with battery-powered portable turntables scratching along to Metallica's "One." It may sound corny on the page, but no one in the crowd thought so.
I'm not sure it was worth the 30-minute, white-knuckle drive home, though.

[Geordan]

The DJ as musical artist?? Yawn.....I can't imagine how anyone would get excited about watching anyone spin records in a club. I'd much rather see a simple band of snot-nosed kids, playing Bass, guitar and drums, making REAL music, than to suffer a turntable jockey any day.

I have been dragged to a couple of DJ shows, one being at the VooDoo lounge in fact, and I walked away reaching for reasons why anyone would enjoy such a performance. To each his own, but I'd rather see a mediocre band over the world's best DJ. Live music brings excitement because anything can happen. DJ performances just leave me cold.

[Christo da Pimp]

In response to Joel:

What you do not see and realize or understand that in fact this type of performance is one in which the DJ is using the turntable as a musical instrument. Much as one would adjust the sound of a slide trombone the disc jockey can manipulate a single sound in an array of patterns, pitches and tempos. From your mention of "snot nosed kids", I can clearly see that you do not have the deeper appreciation for music on all levels that one who is a player of instruments or a producer of music would have.

Music is for entertainment and it makes people feel good. I see by your comment that you do not understand on a deeper technical level what a DJ does. Everyone has a different type of music that they are accustomed to that makes them feel good. Since it is obviously not the sounds of the underground or of 'snot nosed punks'- I am curious as to what music makes YOU feel good.

Maybe you shouldn't go out to shows at all and just stay home and listen to your Celine Dion songs you downloaded illegally on Napster.

Sheesh- Some people are just such downers.

[Tim Finn]

Joel didn't post that; Geordan did. A 3-1/2 hour DJ show is a little long for me, especially in that environment: A lot of standing around and watching.

I prefer more casual settings, like a smaller local club (Joc Maxx, Superwolf are two of my local favorites) where you can enjoy the music but it's not the focus of everyone's attention.

However, I really respect what good DJs do, which is to fuse and blend songs from many genres and eras into fluid suites of music. The ending of the second set on Tuesday was great.

[Geordan]

Christo says:

"Everyone has a different type of music that they are accustomed to that makes them feel good."

That's the problem, dude. DJ's don't MAKE music. They don't write melodies or lyrics and there is zero sense of spontaneity to what they do. Don't you get that?? They play RECORDS! Couldn't you do that yourself at home and save 20 bucks?? What music makes me feel good? LIVE music...simple as that.

Christo Po' Pimp goes on to say:

"Maybe you shouldn't go out to shows at all and just stay home and listen to your Celine Dion songs you downloaded illegally on Napster."

Funny, but that's what YOU are doing by going to see a DJ spin a record....and you actually pay someone to do that for you! I go to many live shows, be it Rock Shows at the Record Bar, or Blues, Alt-Country, or Rockabilly shows at Knuckleheads and Live music beats what these DJ's are doing ANY day....and trust me, the stuff a DJ is blaring is a helluva lot closer to Celine Dion's music than ANYTHING I listen to.

If you want to stand around and hear some guy jerk off with his turntable, more power to ya. I'm just sayin' that it bores the bejesus out of me and that's just my opinion. For all of the technology involved, DJ culture is cold and pretty much soulless. A live band's interaction with a crowd is much more real than anything a DJ could muster, and that's just a fact, my friend.

[Celine Dion]

Please stop picking on me.

[Winston]

DJs as musicians really aren't bad at all.. If you like rock tunes and techno music that is.

I've discovered a great article about a program where you could compose your own musical beats. Perhaps you might wanna try it :

http://www.siakoi.com/computers-and-internet/beats-made-by-the-clicks.html