By Grant Kelly, Contributor

[Mass Appeal; 2023]

Rating: 3/10

Key Tracks: “All My”, “Time and Space”, “A Narrow Escape”

DJ Shadow is an artist that, despite being regarded very highly in certain aspects, has had something of an awkward discography. His 1996 debut album, Endtroducing, stands as a cornerstone record within instrumental and experimental hip hop, as well as sample based popular music as a whole, whose influence can still be felt to this day. 

His 2002 follow-up album, The Private Press, while not nearly as monumental as its predecessor, still managed to garner a cult following that appreciated the expansion on his previously-established colorful production style and unique sample choices. However, either through naturally diminishing inspiration or simply through impossibly high expectations set too early in his career, the additions to his discography in the years following have been largely met with indifference- a trend which Action Adventure does no favors in turning around.

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A departure from his established hip hop sound, Action Adventure sees DJ Shadow venturing into various styles of EDM across its 14 tracks, including synthwave, footwork, dubstep, and trap, with the occasional hip hop beat sprinkled in for good measure. While the opening tracks “Ozone Scraper” and “All My” are decent while they’re on, they wear out their ideas pretty quickly, and generally lack any interesting sound design that would make them worth revisiting. 

On the following tracks, “Time and Space” and “Craig, Ingels, & Wrightson”, as well as many later tracks on the album, there are passages of the songs that feel inexplicably empty, as though they’re making space for a feature or climax that just never delivers. The emptiness on some of these tracks also exposes the lack of character in the album’s overall sound palette, which clearly draws on the spacey, plasticky aesthetics of retro electronica, but without the eccentricity or maximalism that would make such a throwback rewarding.

 “A Narrow Escape” is one of the few instances where the album really shines and does the concept justice, with a fuzzy bed of synths accenting a punchy breakbeat that drives the track. “You Played Me” and “Free For All” also utilize some tasteful sample flipping, with the former being a hazy, melancholic synthpop track, and the latter creating a bizarre fusion of rustic country guitars and frantic footwork percussion. But beyond the occasional flash of excitement, Action Adventure ranges from entirely forgettable to mildly irritating.

It seems like certain audiences are quick to turn against artists they enjoy as soon as that artist decides to venture into genres they aren’t known for working in, but I don’t think that’s why Action Adventure doesn’t land with me. Whenever an artist makes a significant transformation in their sound, I’ve always been of the mindset that it’s not an issue, so long as the songs are good (or at least interesting). Unfortunately, Action Adventure is neither memorable nor any more enjoyable than similar albums in the EDM space, despite its variety; I really wish there was more I could say about it.

Listen Here: https://open.spotify.com/album/3M1Gx8cNlowzImYN9UY0WL?si=cG9KGRB9QB2kMpw2P41JQA