"A Lifetime of vinyl culture"

Following my post about "Vinyl collecting and the GenZ", I gotta talk about DJ SHADOW's "Endtroducing". When writing for my bachelor's degree I remembered about that album cover and took some research about it and the record as a whole. A few hours later "Endtroducing" and DJ SHADOW became a small part of my bachelor's theory. DJ SHADOW praised the haptics and the culture of vinyl and always was a supporter. He and his record stood as a lightning example for a guy hanging on to the rich history of the vinyl record. When "Endtroducing" came out in 1996, vinyl was basically on the lowest point when it comes to sales. I kinda portrayed SHADOW's debut album as a tiny, but very important part of the vinyl's "aura", with all its myths, stories and anecdotes that are connected to it. It's a very symbolic record for the history of vinyl, with its artwork, the "...a lifetime of vinyl culture"-line and the way it came togheter. The fact that vinyl was pure niche back then makes it even better...

As it would be ridiculous to take a research on a record and its history and not spinning it all the while, I did just that. I actually bought that record 10 to 15 years ago but I never got into it. Back then I had no real connection to Hip-Hop but the loose connection I had gave me false assumptions about that record. SHADOW got declared a "Hip-Hop"-DJ and it wasn't something I expected from a Hip-Hop-record, also "Endtroducing" doesn't feature any vocals, despite some voice samples...

I thought it was over-hyped and didn't understand it. That's something that happened a few times before, when I got out of my comfort zone (i.E. Hardcore and everything related). The prime example is that of the WU-TANG CLAN's debut I loathed for a very long time before getting into it at my third or fourth try of getting into it... and now I'd call it one of, if not THE best Hip-Hop-record of the 90s. 

When I got to do work (housework as well as something study-related or even writing a blog article) I always need music as my compagnion. While it's ok to listen to HC or something I sing along to, while I'm scrubbing my toilet or preparing a meal, it distracted me big time when writing my bachelor's theory. "Endtroducing" was the perfect soundtrack to write along to. It's relaxed, it doesn't get too much in your face, the record and the songs are long and while it doesn't demand your whole attention, it gets you kinda lost in it. 

Suddenly it all came into place with me and "Endtroducing". It became part of my exame and I got really into it! It's a cool and laid-back album, and I love the dark and at times gritty atmosphere it spreads. It's also very well put together without any flaws. The opener "Building Steam with a Grain of Salt" and especially "Midnight in a Perfect World" dragged me in the fastest and they're bangers no doubt, yet I can't complain about anything going on during this 60+ minutes. 

That was a stroke of fate in its purest form. I guess.