Customer Reviews
Can we start giving half stars? Its really worth 4 and a half...... - By: O. J. Cook, 12 Dec 2006 
I probably should have done this review earlier, but it just seems the right time to get people to listen to properly GOOD music (dance music seems to have gone down the drain a bit).
Josh Davis has come up with another winner here,in a sense that this album is quite removed from Endtroducing. As reviewers have said already (and i agree), this is a more "song"-orientated album, allowing you to skip to a favourite song, whereas endtroducing was more an album to listen throughin one go.
The reason i give it 4 (but 4 1/2in my heart), is because of the two dud tracks slap bangin the middle of the album (namely 'Right thing' and' Monosylabik'). Definitely not DJ Shadow quality.
This shouldn't detract anyone from the rest of the album though, as it is brilliant. I can't pick out any stand-out track really, but i am drawn to 'you can't go home again' & 'six days'.
Definitely an album to get especially if, like me, you're stuck at university & surrounded by cheesy music 24/7. Otherwise, get it anyway. No disappointments included.
Worthy celebration of the joys of music - By: Elliot Davies, 14 Mar 2006 Read the liner notes: This is abstract post modern music. It's not supposed to convey any messages. It's apolitical & completely without ego. Rather it's a celebration of modern popular music & the position it holdsin modern society. Mr. Davis writes that there should be something here to make everyone smile. I think he succeeded there, there is something for everyone. Unfortanately, this is the albums major downfall. The versitility makes for a fractured listen, & there's no guarantee that you'll like every track.
Me, I like pretty much all of it. However, I usually skip past the tedious old skool hip hop of Un Autre Introduction & Walkie Talkie, & Mashing on the Motorway grinds a bit, (the obscenities are funny but anachronistic) but the remainding tracks are pure quality. Letter From Home & Fixed Income make for a suitably ominous opening, setting a mood that is perfectly complimented by my personal favourite, Six Days. It's the song that made me by the albumin the first place, & it's easily as good as anything on Endtroducing, if not better.
Ah, Endtroducing, the album to which this will ALWAYS be compared. So how does it compare? Well, it's more song based. Endtroducing flowed beautifully to create an overall satisfying listening experience. With the Private Press, on the other hand, it's easier to dip in, listen to one or two songs, without missing the bigger picture. As an analogy, I'd liken Endtroducing to a stream you kayak down. The Private Press is more like a series of picturesque pondsin a landscaped garden. They should all be judged on their individual merits.
As such, there are some brilliant pieces of music on here. Everyone WILL find something they like about it, but very few people will like all of it. A fractured masterpiece then, like Electric Ladyland or The White Album for the B-Boy generation.
still waiting...... - By: Doodlebub, 28 Jan 2006 
After such a highly acclaimed fist solo albumin Endtroducing... which showed Josh Davis to be amongst the greatest & experimental of producers a follow up LP was eagerly anticipated & to an extent demanded by an over-awed audience .
'The Private Press' is as an album as experimental as its predecessor but feels like a selection of individual tracks (ranging from staggering to just plain daft) put together to fill an album just to stifle a demand . Since its release many of the tracks have been tinkered with (see The Private Repress) by a whole host of producers & made more appealing to differing tastes which would suggest that the bones are there but the flesh is missing . The album suffers for a lack of flow between tracks which was Endtroducing's greatest strength , something I'd expected would have come naturally from someone from a 'DJ' background .
If you've newly discovered Shadow from Endtroducing... my advice would be to source the 'In tune & on time' CD/DVD & buy that instead .
Awesome - By: , 23 Jul 2004 
Buy it now
Six Years... Six... - By: , 25 Jun 2004 It's really not a bad album & I would give it 3 & 1/2 stars if I could...
I don't know but I like to see that artist has progressedin some way when his new album comes out, but I find substance of 'Private Press' too similar to stuff on'Endtroducing'('Giving Up The Ghost' can easily be mistaken for a track from that album), but I guess you can't expect an artist to change his style every time he makes a new album & to make a great album too, can't you?.
More on,in comparison to 'Endtroducing' there are some tracks that seem more user friendly & I'm sure MTV audience will be very pleased, but they lack on uniqueness & depth. Like 'Six Day War' which sounds good, but is an ordinary trip-hop treat & one with a message on morality of war too, how highly original...
I must say that I actually liked 'Monosylabik' & 'Mashin On Motorway', that have some creativity & good groovein them but probably won't make you dazzled & hungry for more.
In my opinion there are some pretty cool tracks on this album too, like 'Mongrel' & 'You Can't Go Home Again' & 'Blood On The Motorway' is o.k.
Allin all 'Private Press' is a good album, & still better than majority of hip hop albums that record companies serve to the massess & DJ Shadow is a very interesting figure on the today's stagnant scene, & he did push the boundaries of the genre once before, so go ahead & try it, & please don't expect it to be 'your ordinary hip hop DJ' he is something more.
